In the realm of Eastern psychology, Osho asserts a profound notion: it is not the parents who chart the course of your life, but rather, you have intentionally chosen them. This distinctive viewpoint goes beyond the conventional wisdom of Western psychology, which often attributes life’s course to factors like parental influence, education, and heredity. The Eastern perspective suggests that this life is merely a link in an extensive chain, and pioneers of Western psychology who delved into the depths of the human mind, such as C. G. Jung, also echo this sentiment.
According to Eastern psychology, the responsibility for the life you lead lies with you, for you have consciously selected your parents. The specific parents you have chosen play a decisive role in shaping you because you have permitted their influence. This selection stems from countless actions in your past lives, weaving a complex chain of causality.
Although parental influence, education, and other factors shape you, they are not absolute determinants of your destiny. Ultimately, you remain the master of your fate, capable of breaking free from these influences. While this liberation is challenging, it is not an insurmountable task. It’s akin to shedding old skin, deeply ingrained and constituting the fabric of your being. Despite the profound intertwining of your identity with these influences, you have the capacity to transcend them. The essence of yoga revolves around this aspiration—to break free from all the forces that have defined you, to go beyond the realms of parents, education, heredity, and even past lives.
Group therapy provides an avenue for comprehending the ways you have affected yourself. Going further, beyond the boundaries of ordinary group therapy, is where Buddha’s insight lies. If you’ve chosen a particular type of parent, that, too, is your choice. This perspective challenges the common notion of blaming parents for their perceived harm. You consciously chose them for a reason, even in the context of millions of other potential combinations.
Taking responsibility for these choices, even the most challenging truth to accept liberates you. This realization creates a spaciousness for change. The possibility emerges that you can transform, that you can cease to inflict suffering upon yourself, and cease being miserable. It’s a profound and empowering concept. Group processes do not seek to return you to a state of naturalness; they aim to awaken you to your own artificiality, your veneer of phoniness.
In this holistic understanding, the Eastern perspective offers a profound shift in the way we see our lives, our choices, and our ability to break free from the chains that bind us.