Fate, Karma, and Levels of Consciousness: Where Does Destiny End and Free Will Begin?
- Liza Dragoy
- Jun 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 24
Not long ago, during a session with a client, we found ourselves in a deep conversation.
She asked me:“If everything is already written, if we live in some kind of karmic matrix… then what’s the point in trying? No matter what I do, I’ll still end up poor or unable to build a happy family. Or do I actually have a choice?”
It’s a question I hear often. When life gets tough, we all start looking for meaning. Is it fate? A punishment? A fixed script we can’t change? But as always, the truth is more layered, more nuanced.
Why do certain things happen in our lives and not others?Do we have the power to shift our path, or is everything already decided?These questions have been asked for centuries. And they become especially relevant during moments of transition, crisis, or awakening.
So, What Is Karma — Really?
In Sanskrit, karma simply means action.But not just physical action - it includes our desires, intentions, thoughts, and reactions. Every inner movement leaves a trace, creating a ripple effect - a chain of cause and effect that can stretch across lifetimes.
According to ancient texts, karma begins the moment the soul separates from the Divine and starts creating its own reality.To do this, it incarnates in a physical body.
Karma isn’t punishment. It’s the soul’s mechanism for growth.We’re not being “paid back”, we’re given the exact circumstances we need to evolve, to awaken our strength, or to overcome a weakness. Karma is not a life sentence. It’s a pathway for evolution.
The Four Layers of Karma
Vedic philosophy describes four primary types of karma:
1. Sanchita Karma – the total collection.
This is the full backlog - the sum of all past actions, intentions, desires, and choices across lifetimes. Think of it as your soul’s hard drive.
Not all of it is active at once, some parts are “asleep,” others are already playing out. It includes what you’re aware of and what you’re not.
2. Prarabdha Karma – the activated portion.
This is the slice of Sanchita that’s unfolding in this lifetime.
It shows up as your birth circumstances: your body, family, country, social status, talents and tendencies. This is the karma reflected in your birth chart.
3. Kriyamana Karma – your current actions.
This is what you’re creating right now, through your choices, awareness, and responses. It’s your present karma-in-the-making.
4. Agama Karma – intentions and vision.
Even if you haven’t acted yet, the direction of your thoughts, plans, and goals is already shaping future karma. This type of karma is deeply connected to your ability to think strategically, recognize patterns, and envision consequences, often linked to intuitive insight and the Ajna chakra (third eye).
Agama karma is the bridge between your free will and your future experience.
What Jyotish Astrology Reveals
An astrological chart doesn’t lock you into a fate.Instead, it reveals:
the energies you were born with,
your strengths and growth points,
key lessons and hidden opportunities,
which directions are open to you and what they might lead to.
In other words, astrology isn’t fatalism - it’s a tool for conscious living.
Who’s Driving: Victim, Adult, or Creator?
How we live out our karma depends on one thing: our level of consciousness.The same Saturn transit can feel like a breakdown to one person… and a breakthrough to another.
Ask yourself: What role do I most often step into?
Victim Consciousness | - “Nothing works for me.” “It’s just fate.” “It’s all out of my control.” - You give away your power - to people, to circumstances, to the stars. In this state, karma plays out unconsciously. Life happens to you. |
Adult Consciousness | - “Yes, I have challenges - but I choose how I respond.” - You face reality with awareness and resilience. This is where Kriyamana karma begins - where new paths are formed through conscious choice. |
Creator Consciousness | - “I shape my reality. Even hardship can become fuel.” - You collaborate with life. You see your chart not as a prison, but as a map of possibilities. This is where Agama karma becomes especially powerful. Through clear intention and presence, you begin to steer your destiny. |
That’s why mindset work as therapy, coaching, meditation, spiritual practice is so important.Through it, you’re shaping the karma that hasn’t yet unfolded.
Can You Change Your Fate?
Prarabdha karma is like a seed that’s already planted — it will grow.But how you nurture it… that’s up to you.
how you react,
what you intend,
and the choices and effort you consistently bring.
No, we can’t control everything. But we can influence far more than we think once we step out of helplessness and into empowered action.
Vedic astrology (Jyotish) isn’t fortune-telling. It’s a mirror of your soul and a guide for your journey. It shows you your limits — and your way through them. Karma isn’t a verdict. It’s a curriculum. And the more consciously we engage with it, the more freedom, strength, and wisdom we gain.
My Approach
I combine the wisdom of Vedic astrology with transformational coaching to offer not just insight, but clarity, grounded support, and direction for deep inner growth and real-life change.
During astrology reading, we explore your unique karmic map: key themes, life lessons, hidden potentials, and turning points.In coaching sessions, we move beyond limiting patterns, creating new perspectives, decisions, and actions that lead to real transformation, step by step.
If you’re ready to understand yourself more deeply, shift your experience, and break out of the loop of repeating stories I invite you to work with me.
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