Should We Be Resigned to Destiny?

We all know the power of motivational speech and technique like Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Yet, it is often contradicting that people who attend motivational talk organised by the likes of Anthony Robbins also consult fortune tellers. Presumably,it could be that they are eager to improve their fortune and curious about their future. For the Chinese, destiny has always been a fundamental aspect of one’s belief.

If everything is fixed by Fate, then why do we need motivation? Yet, deep down our mind, we know that blindly following Fate is often fatalistic and can be an enemy of motivation. Having discussed the issue of destiny with a fellow forum member, I felt that there is a need to discuss more about the concept of one’s destiny.

The many sayings claiming about Destiny’ s all pervasive influence on all walks of life showed that the Chinese culture acknowledges Destiny’ s stronghold. We all tend to have a passive resignation to Destiny because Destiny seems so mysterious and so powerful. When one studies carefully the record of human experience, we would have noticed that the majority of humanity are not living in good fortune. If Destiny really rules, then Destiny is more prone to create misfortune. Realising this, we must cultivate the desire to alter Destiny. And this is where motivational technique and chinese metaphysics come hand in hand.

Let me list one example whereby the ancient Chinese classic I Ching motivates us to overcome the hurdle of Destiny.

…the Book of Changes; hence it enables us to penetrate and understand the movements of the light and dark, of life and death, gods and demons. This knowledge makes possible mastery over Fate, because Fate can be shaped if its laws are known (Wilhelm 1951, p 296)

Hence, to overcome Destiny is to first understand that Destiny is real and that you need to know what Destiny is before you could overcome it! Know the rules of the game and you can bend it!
‘Fate is decided by Heaven, happiness is sought by oneself.’


Posted by Willy (Fengshui Forward blog)