March 18th

Fate


Dispel time
And you will
Dispel fate.

Fate is the force that interferes with our lives, wrecking things at the worst moments. Yet what we call fate is nothing more than the consequence of our own actions. Each time we act, we generate a chain of events that is tied to us completely. The faster we run from these links, the faster they follow us. They cannot be severed; our every act binds us further.The operative element here is time. The events of the past are the curse. Beginning followers of Tao learn to manipulate past, present, and future. They learn how circumstances operate and seek to take advantage of that. More advanced followers of Tao eschew this process of manipulation. They obliterate all regard to past, present, and future as definitions in order to negate the concept of fate.
In order to attain a state of being where there is no past to weigh upon the present and no future to be determined, followers of Tao must reach a profound merging with Tao. The follower then acts no differently than Tao would. There is no fate to oppose them, for they are existence, they are causality, they are Tao itself.

Personal Interpretation


Fate is a product of time and our relationship to it. We  may choose to believe that our lives are dictated by forces beyond our control. In truth, it is our actions that determine our circumstances. We are connected to all things. Even a solitary action has far-reaching implications. We may find ourselves regretting past mistakes or thinking of the future with anxiety. Both of these tendencies keep us from living in the present, where all life happens. We must try to think of time differently, to merge with Tao, to become one with the Universe, which makes no distinction between past, present, and future. Time is ultimately a human construct. Without it, we could not make sense of our world. Practitioners of Tao strive to reach beyond the bounds of the World, though. They seek to transcend the selves that are bound to this realm. When this transcendence happens, fate loses its power over our minds. We recognize that we determine our own course. Mistakes are a part of the fabric of our selves. They are not to be lamented. Anxiety is the result of uncertainty, but an embracing of that very uncertainty gives us a peace of mind that the uninitiated may fail to comprehend.