When it comes to fortune-telling there are many charlatans out there. There are, however, also some who actually can foresee and predict future. This presents a Black Swan problem. Namely, a billion white swans are not enough to disprove the existence of a black swan but a single black swan is enough to prove that not all swans are white. Then the question becomes – what makes fortune-telling possible?
Even if everything was pre-determined there are millions and millions of event that will need to be taken into account for any such valid conclusion to be drawn – kind of like a mathematical equation with a trillion inputs that would eventually lead to an accurate answer unless the input themselves were flawed or tainted in some respect. Even if one were to assume availability of complete and accurate data it would still take many supercomputers to come to an answer within any practical time limits. And yet there are people who are able to tell the future without such intensive calculations. How?
What if there was another way that did not require computation at all.
Could it be so that we are unable to see the future or the very distant past because we don’t believe we can do so or because we lack the mental ‘skill’ needed for the same? It is recorded that in the moment of enlightenment – when Buddha’s mind became absolutely quite – he could clearly see all the millions of his past lives. So is it a chattering mind that keeps us from looking into distant past or future? Or is the ability to see the future to be considered a gift (or a curse?) bestowed on a chosen few by this Universe?
Future prediction, however, is not to be confused with a future expectation. If I drive for six hours from Place A to Place B, which is about 6 hours drive from Place A, I expect to arrive at place B at the end of this travel. It, however, may not be my future. This is so since the expectation of an outcome – my reaching B at the end of 6 hours – is not the same as the actual outcome – an accident, flat tire, being lost etc. And the probability by which the expectation differs from the actual outcome is what makes life unpredictable, unforeseen and above all – insecure.
The future, however, where predicted, is usually stated with a warning to be careful (if it were a precarious future) as if it could be avoided if one was aware of its coming. And in some ways it is. So future is not entirely determinate. It can be interrupted, changed, or affected. There exists an element of free-will to it. Indeed all matter is subject to laws of nature. However, that which moves matter itself must surely be free of it?
There is another way of looking at this problem. Consider a ball that is set rolling in a giant maze (we will assume that the ball is self-propelled) and a camera is mounted on the ball through which one can report on the immediate events that the ball is experiencing – turning, falling, rising etc – at any given moment. These events constitute the ball’s present state. If, however, an overhead view of the entire maze could be had one could ‘predict’ the ball’s ‘likely’ future. Perhaps similar is the case when it comes to predicting people’s future or fortune.
This would imply that there is a ‘higher plane’ of existence from where the events, participants, and their trajectories in the present plane can be witnessed and reported upon, should one choose to do so. And the ability to access this plane has a lot to do with the allurement of the masses towards spiritual practices that claim to bestow such powers.
The bottom-line, however, continues to be the basic question of human existence – how does this relieve people of their suffering? Should people live in perpetual fear and consult oracles and soothsayers for every step of their lives? And even if they knew of what was coming, would that make them more secure or would it add to their worries, fears, anxiety, impatience, or greed? In essence – what place does fortune-telling have in cessation of human suffering? If none or insignificant, then what is the point of pursuing such powers?
Suffering is of the mind. A restless mind, like a poisoned spoon, would make impure anything that is presented its way be it of the past, present or of the future. A serene mind that is in command of itself on the other hand is composed enough and intelligent enough to not ask for anything from the past, present of the future. It is fully secure in just being. Only such a mind is a religious mind and only such a mind truly knows that there exists no future outside the present.
