In fact a recent article in nytimes talks abt how a common thread in successful people is there willingness to accept help from other people and resources.
Imo both ideas - you are in control and the divine is in control are imagination. Because accepting life as it is at times can be very hard, this notion that "there is a divine presence whose actual, cosmic job is to keep us alive, to keep us fed, to keep us happy, and to keep us intelligent" seems like a good coping mechanism. Some recent events will question this assumption. This has also been the usp of most religions.
See, this is a very good question, and I think it's important to understand that when your beliefs are just ideas and opinions that you have formed from life experience versus if you have studied a tradition.
If you have studied Vedanta, then you know. If you have studied and practiced Vedanta in daily life, then you actually revel and appreciate the fact that existence, consciousness, bliss is an anvil of a definition of the divine, and it's not a mere idea.
It's easy to call this an opinion when someone is not submerged in the tradition. And if that is the case, then yes, it is an idea.
My point being that if you are a practitioner of Vedanta, if you have self-studied Vedanta, if you appreciate and see that there is truth in this, then these very ideas become convictions, and you live with those convictions in your mind and your heart completely synced with it, versus thinking of them as mere opinions, which changes every other day.
Study and practice doesnt make false true. "Doctrines and dogams, books and rituals, temples and forms are but secondary details. " - Swamiji. They all are pointers, like maps. They are useful and help develop and strengthen one's "bhaavana" (no sutiable english translation). But they are not Truth. And anything other than Truth is a notion/idea/imagination only.
Beautiful and inspiring, and deeply comforting ❤️
In fact a recent article in nytimes talks abt how a common thread in successful people is there willingness to accept help from other people and resources.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/opinion/successful-people-help.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Imo both ideas - you are in control and the divine is in control are imagination. Because accepting life as it is at times can be very hard, this notion that "there is a divine presence whose actual, cosmic job is to keep us alive, to keep us fed, to keep us happy, and to keep us intelligent" seems like a good coping mechanism. Some recent events will question this assumption. This has also been the usp of most religions.
See, this is a very good question, and I think it's important to understand that when your beliefs are just ideas and opinions that you have formed from life experience versus if you have studied a tradition.
If you have studied Vedanta, then you know. If you have studied and practiced Vedanta in daily life, then you actually revel and appreciate the fact that existence, consciousness, bliss is an anvil of a definition of the divine, and it's not a mere idea.
It's easy to call this an opinion when someone is not submerged in the tradition. And if that is the case, then yes, it is an idea.
My point being that if you are a practitioner of Vedanta, if you have self-studied Vedanta, if you appreciate and see that there is truth in this, then these very ideas become convictions, and you live with those convictions in your mind and your heart completely synced with it, versus thinking of them as mere opinions, which changes every other day.
Study and practice doesnt make false true. "Doctrines and dogams, books and rituals, temples and forms are but secondary details. " - Swamiji. They all are pointers, like maps. They are useful and help develop and strengthen one's "bhaavana" (no sutiable english translation). But they are not Truth. And anything other than Truth is a notion/idea/imagination only.
Swamiji’s definition is to point out the fact that you yourself are Existence, Consciousness and Bliss Absolute.
Everything else is how you use this truth for your need.
Where is the disagreement here?