Can anybody tell me what's fate?
Originally posted by Arena:Can anybody tell me what's fate?
In Buddhism, we do not believe in fate, and nothing is pre-determined. Buddha taught that Fatalism is a false view.
We believe in karma, as well as causes and conditions.
When causes meets conditions, something happens... but it is in no means 'fated'.
We must understand that karma is only one out of many factors, and without conditions there is no ripening of karma.
Our karma are entirely our own doing, in fact karma literally means 'Action'. And karmic causes can lead to karmic effects when conditions are met. There is no judge or higher power or something that determines 'fate'. It is simply the natural way/law the universe work - of causes, conditions and effect.
The early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of the present moment
Karma is
one of
those words we don't translate. Its basic meaning is simple enough --
action. But because of the weight the Buddha's teachings give to the
role of action, the Sanskrit word "karma'' is packed with many meanings
and the English word "action'' can't carry all its luggage.
This is why we've simply airlifted the original word into our
vocabulary.
But when we try unpacking the connotations the word carries, now that
it has arrived into everyday usage, we find that most of its luggage
has gotten mixed up in transit.
In the eyes of most Westerners, for example, karma functions like fate
-- bad fate, at that: an inexplicable, unchangeable force coming out of
our past, for which we are somehow vaguely responsible and which we are
powerless to fight.
"I guess it's just my karma,'' I've heard people sigh when bad fortune
strikes with such force that they see no alternative to resigned
acceptance.
The fatalism implicit in this statement is one reason why so many
people are repelled by the concept of karma, for it sounds like the
kind of callous myth-making that can justify almost any kind of
suffering or injustice in the status quo: "If he's poor, it's because
of his karma.'' "If she's been raped, it's because of her karma.''
From this, it seems a short step to saying that he or she deserves to
suffer, and so doesn't deserve our help.
This misperception comes from the fact that the Buddhist concept of
karma came to the West at the same time as non-Buddhist concepts, and
so ended up with some of their luggage.
Although many Asian concepts of
karma
are fatalistic, the early Buddhist concept was not fatalistic at all.
In fact, if we look closely at early Buddhist ideas of karma, we'll
find that they give even less importance to myths about the past than
most modern Americans do.
For the early Buddhists, karma was non-linear. Other Indian schools
believed that karma operated in a straight line, with actions from the
past influencing the present, and present actions influencing the
future. As a result, they saw little room for free will.
Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the
present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions;
present actions shape not only the future but also the present.
This constant opening for present input into the causal process makes
free will possible.
This freedom is symbolised in the imagery the Buddhists used to explain
the process: flowing water. Sometimes the flow from the past is so
strong that little can be done except to stand fast, but there are also
times when the flow is gentle enough to be diverted in almost any
direction.
So, instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist
notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is
doing with every moment.
Who you are -- what you come from -- is not anywhere near as important
as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the
past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our
measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand
can change at any moment.
We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got. If
you're suffering, you try not to continue the unskilful mental habits
that would keep that particular karmic feedback going.
If you see that other people are suffering, and you're in a position to
help, you focus not on their karmic past but your karmic opportunity in
the present: Some day you may find yourself in the same predicament
that they're in now, so here's your opportunity to act in the way you'd
like them to act toward you when that day comes.
This belief that one's dignity is measured, not by one's past but by
one's present actions, flew right in the face of the Indian traditions
of caste-based hierarchies, and explains why early Buddhists had such a
field day poking fun at the pretensions and mythology of the Brahmans.
As the Buddha pointed out, a Brahman could be a superior person not
because he came out of a Brahman womb, but only if he acted with truly
skilful intentions.
We read the early Buddhist attacks on the caste system and, aside from
their anti-racist implications, they often strike us as quaint.
What we fail to realise is that they strike right at the heart of our
myths about our own past: our obsession with defining who we are in
terms of where we come from -- our race, ethnic heritage, gender,
socio-economic background, sexual preference -- our modern tribes. We
put inordinate amounts of energy into creating and maintaining the
mythology of our tribe so that we can take vicarious pride in our
tribe's good name. Even when we become Buddhists, the tribe comes
first. We demand a Buddhism that honours our myths.
From the standpoint of karma, though, where we come from is old karma,
over which we have no control. What we "are'' is a nebulous concept at
best -- and pernicious at worst, when we use it to find excuses for
acting on unskilful motives.
The worth of a tribe lies only in the skilful actions of its individual
members. Even when those good people belong to our tribe, their good
karma is theirs, not ours. And, of course, every tribe has its bad
members, which means that the mythology of the tribe is a fragile
thing. To hang onto anything fragile requires a large investment of
passion, aversion, and delusion, leading inevitably on to more
unskilful actions in the future.
So the Buddhist teachings on karma, far from being a quaint relic from
the past, are a direct challenge to a basic thrust -- and basic flaw --
in our culture. Only when we abandon our obsession with finding
vicarious pride in our tribal past, and can take actual pride in the
motives that underlie our present actions, can we say that the word
karma, in its Buddhist sense, has recovered its luggage.
And when we open the luggage, we'll find that it's brought us a gift:
the gift we give ourselves and one another when we drop our myths about
who we are, and can instead be honest about what we're doing with each
moment -- at the same time making the effort to do it right.
what abt parents whose child has major sickness .
that's something that cannot be changed .
what i see fate as are those stuff in life that cant be changed like your parents , ur birthplace , ur nationality or born with severe defects...............
we have to sort of accept it .
like born in poor family ......
maybe practise doing charitable deeds or trying to cultivate oneself or seek liberation from samsara .
or work hard to break free from poverty .
what about strong karmic bond ?
Nothing is fated and all is merely causes and conditions. Nothing is pre determined, karma is not a determining entity.
If an illness cannot be cured, it simply is that there is no conditions for the illness to be cured. There is no pre-determining forces that makes the illness 'fated'.
I dont think this world works as easily as cause and effect. In fact, buddha have said that karma is only 1 out of i think 5 factors for something to occurr. In Buddhism, we dont call fate as it is. We usually say destiny. Destiny that are current is pre-destinied, and destiny in your future is not. Why is it pre-destinied? It is because of our karma in our past lives. What we experience now is what we have done previously. Our current destiny is already set according to our past karma. The reason why some people are ill is because of their unwholesome actions which they have done in their past. This is the law of cause and effect. It is not appropirate to say that getting this illness is un predestinied. In fact, its already destinied that this will happen. Destiny is not controlled by some outer or supreme force, but we control our own destiny.
Destiny is 'fated' because of karma. Therefore, there is something call Fate/Destiny or whatever you call it. Ever wondered why when you meet some people, you have a strong liking for them or both of you are sort of very close although it is the first time meeting? Thats because of our past karmic afflictions with them. Therefore we change our own fate, we seal our own fate and control it all through karma.
All Dharma may be empty, but Cause&Effect is not empty!
Originally posted by wilsonhao:I dont think this world works as easily as cause and effect. In fact, buddha have said that karma is only 1 out of i think 5 factors for something to occurr. In Buddhism, we dont call fate as it is. We usually say destiny. Destiny that are current is pre-destinied, and destiny in your future is not. Why is it pre-destinied? It is because of our karma in our past lives. What we experience now is what we have done previously. Our current destiny is already set according to our past karma. The reason why some people are ill is because of their unwholesome actions which they have done in their past. This is the law of cause and effect. It is not appropirate to say that getting this illness is un predestinied. In fact, its already destinied that this will happen. Destiny is not controlled by some outer or supreme force, but we control our own destiny.
Destiny is 'fated' because of karma. Therefore, there is something call Fate/Destiny or whatever you call it. Ever wondered why when you meet some people, you have a strong liking for them or both of you are sort of very close although it is the first time meeting? Thats because of our past karmic afflictions with them. Therefore we change our own fate, we seal our own fate and control it all through karma.
All Dharma may be empty, but Cause&Effect is not empty!
Actually we cannot say that karma is pre-destined, because as you said karma is merely one of the conditions. When causes and conditions meet, an effect occurs. But karma is not a pre-determining force... and the Buddha taught that pre-determinism or fatalism are false views.
Rather than pre-determinism, we should simply see all as merely the arising of the congregation of causes and conditions. Karma is volition and in this moment negative karma or positive karma may arise depending on your mind, speech, action. And these positive or negative karma will result in positive or negative effects and conditions are met.
Originally posted by wilsonhao:I dont think this world works as easily as cause and effect. In fact, buddha have said that karma is only 1 out of i think 5 factors for something to occurr. In Buddhism, we dont call fate as it is. We usually say destiny. Destiny that are current is pre-destinied, and destiny in your future is not. Why is it pre-destinied? It is because of our karma in our past lives. What we experience now is what we have done previously. Our current destiny is already set according to our past karma. The reason why some people are ill is because of their unwholesome actions which they have done in their past. This is the law of cause and effect. It is not appropirate to say that getting this illness is un predestinied. In fact, its already destinied that this will happen. Destiny is not controlled by some outer or supreme force, but we control our own destiny.
Destiny is 'fated' because of karma. Therefore, there is something call Fate/Destiny or whatever you call it. Ever wondered why when you meet some people, you have a strong liking for them or both of you are sort of very close although it is the first time meeting? Thats because of our past karmic afflictions with them. Therefore we change our own fate, we seal our own fate and control it all through karma.
All Dharma may be empty, but Cause&Effect is not empty!
I agree with what you say,especially about the example whereby some people can like each at the first meeting.