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Fate and Randomness

There is a Chinese saying on how ones destiny is determined - by "fate, luck, feng shui, altruism and learning", in that particular order of influence. The idea is generally more fatalistic than deterministic, in the sense that how things turn out to be in a person's life are always not in her hands of control.

Indeed, paradoxically, things in life may not readily be explained in the certain manner of cause and effect as in the physical world. Success or failure, as movements in the financial markets, for example, are more often the results of sheer randomness than readily explained scientifically - though many people, particularly those self-serving experts or so-called gurus in any particular fields of knowledge, would like to believe they really know the answers to life mysteries.

But if randomness is a matter of luck, it is still within the reign of fate - according to the particular order of life's fatalistic elements of influence. I guess it is in this sense that the idea of cause and effect is at the heart of Buddhism - that good deeds lead directly to good karma and vice versa, though not necessarily all played out in one life time. So when Po fell from the sky and landed hard in front of the pointing finger of the tortoise, just in perfect timing to be designated as the Dragon Warrior in Kung Fu Panda, the master stressed philosophically "there is no accident" - as a sense of destiny.

For an interpretation of the meaning of fate and randomness in other words, with or without luck, everything one does matters in life - though, frankly, I am not entirely sure of what I am talking about.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"I am not entirely sure of what I am talking about" - Haha..
I agree of your very first sentence and I always believe in Feng Shui. A person's life is always not at her hand's control but you can change it with the help of feng shui or change your attitute towards life.
Very coincide, I just watched the Kung Fu Panda in the flight back from Taiwan.

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