When we reflect on the word «destiny» something mysterious seems to resonate within us.

What is it about? It is something real and intangible at the same time. The fate, the fate of the ancients, the goddess Fortune, evocations of a force that simultaneously oppresses us and launches us towards new horizons.

Fate determines the most important events in lifesuch as a professional vocation or finding great love.

Curiously, the less our conscious will seems to intervene, the greater the indication that destiny is acting for us. Which does not mean that, paradoxically, we have intervened in it.

Is the future written?

Every time new stages in life begin, they open new possibilities and also uncertainty. Our wishes that all the good remain and the bad recede are evident.

But what must be done to achieve it, what does it depend on? These questions have been asked by human beings without perhaps finding the answer, only approximations.

Because the concepts that precede the problem of destiny are equally difficult to specify: time, freedom, good and evil… Furthermore, Who said that our desires should be the measure of reality?. What is good for one may not be good for another, depending on the circumstances.

In all the great civilizations of antiquity (China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Tibet, Mesoamerica…) coexisted harmoniously sciences such as astronomy and astrologyboth practiced by priest-scientists.

For classical knowledge, the future (or futures) already exist in its own dimension and it is possible to capture in the current present a hint of what it can become.

It is difficult to have a rational idea of ​​practices that appeal to other types of knowledge. Oracles like I Ching can answer a question that urges us at any given moment, as well as The calculations of a good astrologer can give information about our character or more or less favorable moments to do certain things.

But Nor is total credulity in mancies healthy, nor would its absolute denial be reasonable. In any case, it is not so easy to find trained and honest people in that field.

Besides, If we could know the future, would that make us happier? If what seems like a white sheet of paper without letters could be read in advance, with everything that is going to happen, and even with the date of our death, Would it help us live better, or perhaps plunge us into great sadness?

Blessed ignorance, then. What we know for sure is apparently little: that death is inevitable and that the future is being built nowin the present. But perhaps it is enough, if we know how to understand it.

A SINGLE DESTINATION or SEVERAL DESTINATIONS?

There are those who do not believe in destiny and those who attribute everything to it. It is often said that the eastern cultures They tend to believe in him too much and that is why they are fatalists. Yeah «everything is written»why bother too much with wanting to change things.

Our culture is at the opposite extreme and is unable to recognize that certain excesses of so-called progress can have disastrous results and that we cannot escape that «destiny.»

We could say that the force of destiny represents a vectorthe convergence of several factors, some limiting and others liberating.

If we take the example of a beautiful melody played by a flute player, the final result depends on material elements (the air that passes through a narrow tube and must come out through small holes), the fingers of the player that they must move in a certain way and not another, and the music that inspires it the flutist

This last one, the most spiritual part of the processis both the final result of a material procedure, but also the original cause that makes hearing possible. That is to say, the subtle uses the grossest and vice versa. We have the flute, the greater or lesser skill of the playerand the composer of the music.

Something similar happens with the destinationbeing able to distinguish several levels.

Cosmic destiny comes first: we inhabit a specific planet and galaxy and at a specific time. This conditions our biology: we have a body of defined characteristics in terms of form and possibilities; It is no longer the same, from the outset, to be born a man or a woman.

Then we have the social realitywith their beliefs, social classes, technological development, etc. So there are two aspects of reality that constantly interact and which are usually defined as the incidence of the genetic and the socialin human behavior.

FATE AND FREE WILL: THE IMPACT OF EVERY DECISION

Now, No matter how much knowledge of the genetic code advances, it should not be understood as absolute determinism.

Rather, it must be seen as an increase in possibilities that something may happen, for example a certain illness, but there are other factors at play (hygiene, emotional state…).

For its part, The social environment clearly conditions us, but it is not without remedy either.. There are good and intelligent people who have grown up in broken families, and murderers born in normal families.

This leads us to the need to involve a third element in the game of destiny: inner freedom, the spirit.

As GK Chesterton said: “It has always been believed that there is something called destiny, but it has always also been believed that there is something else called free will; «What qualifies man and gives him agility is the balance of that contradiction.»

Let’s take the example of someone whose father is an alcoholica bad inheritance without a doubt. The chances of your liver developing cirrhosis they will be greater in proportion to the alcohol consumed during his life.

If you drink wine at home or in your culture, more chances of overdoing it given his background.

Now, if that person follows a balanced diethas a good job and a happy family, surely that will lead him to consume alcoholic beverages in moderation and never end up with a sick liver.

It may also happen that, already being an alcoholicsomeone’s love or an inner experience makes him end a painful and is still saved from the cirrhosis to which he seemed predestined.

Despite the circumstances that condition usthere is something indefinable that is above appearances, that can limit the impact of the negative in our lives.

That is what the wisdom of humanity tries to tell us, with its saints, philosophers or simple people with common sense, capable of believing in a greater good in the midst of the small things in life often filled with pain and sadness.

KARMA AND DESTINY: ARE THEY THE SAME?

The Hindu and Buddhist traditions use a useful concept when considering the topic of destiny. It is about the karmathat literally means «action»and which is understood as «law of cause and effect.»

The truth that you reap what you sowis also applicable to the most subtle aspects of existence.

Buddhism teaches that Suffering is the consequence of wrong actions and therefore we must abstain from evil and practice good.

Destiny, both in this life and in the next or previous ones, is governed by our karma. This it’s personal (what each one does) and also collective (what we do as a group, nation or humanity).

Both good and bad karma It originates from our actions and at three different levels: the mind (what we think), the word (what we say) and the body (what we do).

There are, karmically speaking, neutral, positive and negative actions.

Karma is also considered as a seed that will develop if the circumstances are favorable (land and water necessary). That is to say, that There are tendencies, or consequences, that may or may not manifest..

so that a negative action cannot be eliminated once done, but its effects can be limited if there is positive karma that opposes itor it can remain latent without manifesting itself in the event that that bad seed does not germinate.

Another possibility is «deflect» the consequences of bad karma through rituals and sacrifices.

Also degrees of malignancy must be taken into account. For an act to be negative in the strict sense must be done with intentionnot accidentally or unconsciously.

Buddhism points out that we are the ones who We are building a personal reality that imprisons us (through negative karma) or frees us (positive karma). Destiny thus ultimately depends on oneself.

TO IMPROVE KARMA

In traditional cultures such as Tibetanit is normal that at certain times of the year ceremonies to improve individual or collective karma.

They are usually carried out in monasteries, they consist of music, dance, chanting of mantras and they gather the villagers or the nomads who come, sometimes for several days.

The result sought with them is to remove obstacles that are opposed to both material goods (health, good harvests, etc.) and, above all, spiritual goods.

Bridging the gap, here are some ideasmore or less Tibetan inspired, to improve karma, remembering that we are not alone but connected with others:

• Avoid negative activities of the mind (greed, malice), speech (lying, slander), and body (physical harm, stealing, sexual perversion).
• Seek the company of kind-hearted people. Destiny has a collective component and the people with whom we interact are important in that sense. It must also be said that in this way we can help each other in a subtle way.
• Spiritual practices such as meditation or prayer or visiting sacred places such as temples or hermitages, always that provide a feeling of peacemay be recommended. Also the serene contemplation of the natural beauties can have a beneficial influence.
• Cultivate compassion towards all living beings. Help someone with their needs, visit a sick person, collaborate personally or financially in a good cause. Protect, to the extent we can, animals and plants.
• If suffering or adversity overtakes usmay it not be in vain or cause for despair. It is possible learn or purify yourself in some way through them. In any case, the best is offer that suffering for the good of allor for example of people who suffer from that same disease wishing that they are cured.

LEARN FROM DESTINY

The reality of destiny is not implacableexcept on rare occasions.

You can’t stop a hurricane, but we can leave far away if we know it’s coming or shelter ourselves somewhere safe.

As the philosopher Schopenhauer wrote: «Fate shuffles the cards and we play them.»

Fate is blind if we do not intervene appropriately.

He chess It is a very interesting game to illustrate what we say. In each play there is the freedom to choose between several possibilities, but each movement has its consequences.just like acts in ordinary life.

As long as extrapersonal factors do not intervene, Most of the time our actions are determined by our character. And it can happen to us like the impulsive chess player who does not reflect on his moves.

He…