Fate
Accepting one’s fate may be very beautiful if it comes from deep inside. Any other kind is worth little.
An animal runs away from a predator.
The predator grabs it. The animal struggles and dies. It all happens in a short time. Until the last moment, there is little question of fate as far as the dying animal is concerned.
Humans die much longer. They also yearn and suffer much longer. They know fate, which they may accept or not.
Thinking about fate comes with thinking consciously.
In all this, the only Compassionate stance feels to me the following:
Fate must be free.
This is, nobody should coerce anyone else to ‘accept his fate.’
For instance, during a pandemic, the choice may be between either the protection of old people or the freedom of younger people to socialize. Here, the argument ‘accept your fate’ is no good argument, as it never is.
Yet, the choice needs to be made ― here as in many other occasions in which people live together in a society.
Thus, tragedy exists.
This doesn’t lie in the coercion to accept one’s fate but in accepting that fate exists. It is part of the deal, part of the gift of consciousness that we received from nature.
It throws one out of a garden, but only as an illusion.
In reality, fate may be the most Compassionate issue,
but only in freedom. In coercion, there is no fate, but only coercion ― as in “You must accept your fate.” You see, what’s the difference with “You must accept my coercion”?
In free fate, there is the free choice to accept one’s fate, as there is also the free choice to keep hoping, or Hoping. [see: “About Hope”]
Both may be immensely beautiful.
Accepting fate
This is what makes it beautiful to me. Then again, ‘acceptance’ in this is crucially challenging. [see: “The Tough Concept of ‘Acceptance’”]
For one thing, it is incompatible with ‘making one accept something.’
It all hangs quite together, doesn’t it?
Meanwhile, decisions need to be taken; policies need to be made.
Making them with Compassion makes a difference for everyone.
Is it possible to die with a smile?
Is it possible to postpone living with a smile?
Absolutely, and more: both are worth living and dying for.
Related Posts
The Autonomy and the Meaning
To be autonomous. To be an individual. To be alive. Indeed, autonomy is needed to be meaningful, to be anything at all. Then, there is more. Let’s start with the beginning. To be meaningful, one needs individuality, autonomy. Any living being strives towards autonomy. A thing has no autonomy. Chaos has no autonomy. Within its Read the full article…
The Meaning of ‘Meaning’
What is the meaning of something? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of your life? These questions are familiar, almost worn — yet strangely inexhaustible. This blog turns to the question that hides behind them all: what is the meaning of meaning itself? Not to close it with a definition, but Read the full article…
Are People Parrot-Like?
Imagine a parrot repeating phrases, seemingly engaging in conversation but without understanding. It’s a curious image, one that might hit closer to home than we’d like to admit. Are we, too, parrot-like in some ways? Do we mimic without truly comprehending? The answer isn’t simple, but exploring it reveals a lot about who we are Read the full article…