Destiny can be changed

7 posts · started by piggy on 09/20/02 at 03:59:36 · last post 09/22/02 at 12:36:45

piggy09/20/02 at 03:59:36#1

I have been through sad times before and during that time I bumped in to Liao Fan's story
(the four essays on karma) it's a story which inspired me a lot. But somehow there are still things which confuse me.
It's said that you can change your destiny by commiting charity deeds. Fisrt you make a wish
then you correct yourself and finally you start doing charity.
I am reading " An overview of the buddhadharma" where buddha lian shen says you should have the right faith to learn the buddhadharma and not a superstitious faith.
This confusses me. If you want to change your destiny, is this not wishing for something?
Is this not a superstitious (faith)thing to do?

And it's said often, you must have suffered your bad karma. But why than are we chanting mantra's to protect us from our bad karma?
So can destiny realy be changed?

I truly believe destiny can be changes, but my questions,...they sometimes confusse me while I do not wish to.

I hope some of you can help me out..

thnx vicky ( I am new here... ;D)

lian hua dance09/20/02 at 05:56:11#2Re: Destiny can be changed

:)
Yes, some destiny can be changed.
Destiny is the direction we are going and the momentum that carries us forward. If we do nothing to change direction, we will hit the things that are in front of us on our path.
Maybe some things can't be avoided, if they are too close and we have too much momentum on our current path - some things are aimed at us from our past deeds and we can't get out of the way - but we can still change who we are when they catch up with us.

I read somewhere something like -
ordinary people are unmindful of their actions, and are afraid of consequences. serious cultivators are unconcerned with concequences and afraid of causes. If you really believe you will get the results of everything you are doing, you have to be very careful about what you do (cause). Whenever something "bad" happens, catching up with you from past deeds, you can sigh a sigh of relief, since at least that one is out of the way now, one less karma chip to fall on you in the future. You can thank people who seem to wrong you for no reason, as they are helping you pay off your debts.

Destiny is what happens if you keep doing what you are doing. To change that, somehow you have to change your path. This is really immensely difficult. If I am a greedy person with selfish motivation, no matter what I do, seemingly good or not, everything will be colored by my inner sense of why to do things - for some subtle benefit for myself. But people do change, sometimes inexplicably, unpredictably, wonderfully. Who would have guessed!

So how can you know why you change? - even the circumstances that lead you to want to and be able to change can be seen as ripening of past karma, part of your destiny. It may be your destiny to change your destiny! You could use this argument to stifle any efforts to change. That is the whole point of Liao Fan's story - to encourage you to take the right steps so good things will happen.

Everything is very clear when you realize that you don't know the answer!

lian hua dance
prior to morning tea

Last edited 09/20/02 at 05:59:46 by lian_hua_dance

darrellmc09/20/02 at 06:59:38#3Re: Destiny can be changed

Lian Hua Dance has said it all very well. Maybe the problem lies in the word 'wish'. It is not like "I wish I had a better car" or something like that. The wish being talked about here is your innermost wish....your heart's desire. That central point around which all your thoughts and minor wishes revolve. The overriding wish that makes you who and how you are and which is determining your destiny. If I were editing this, I would (if someone would let me) substitute 'focus' for 'wish'. Sorta like 'tell me what you spend your time thinking about, and I will tell your future."
>So how can you know why you change? - even the >circumstances that lead you to want to and be able to >change can be seen as ripening of past karma, part of your >destiny. It may be your destiny to change your destiny!
Wow! Without an understanding of this short and powerful paragraph, it is impossible to understand why things happen or don't happen. But nothing just drops out of the clear blue sky, even if we can't trace the beginnings just now.

Luljeta09/20/02 at 12:16:39#4Re: Destiny can be changed

Hi Vicky,

I am reading " An overview of the buddhadharma" where buddha lian shen says you should have the right faith to learn the buddhadharma and not a superstitious faith.

#Grand Master also said that having superstitious faith is better than having no faith at all. Yet in order to practice the Buddha Dharma, superstitious faith will not be enough. One needs to have faith in the Guru, in the Buddha, and in the Dharma. This is what Grand Master meant when he said we need to have the right faith.

This confusses me. If you want to change your destiny, is this not wishing for something?
Is this not a superstitious (faith)thing to do?

#I don't think that is a superstitious faith. It's just having a wish! If you have the right faith, you can certainly change or improve your destiny. How? By cultivating diligently and sincerely. Having right faith is crucial for your practice.

And it's said often, you must have suffered your bad karma. But why than are we chanting mantra's to protect us from our bad karma?

#When we do practice or chant mantras, it's not to protect us from our bad karma. It's to help us eradicate the negative karma we already have, and to help us prevent ourselves from creating more negative karma.

I truly believe destiny can be changes, but my questions,...they sometimes confusse me while I do not wish to.

#Destiny can be changed if one is sincere in one's cultivation. When you being to immerse yourself in cultivation, you will naturally begin to have a deeper insight into your life and to everything else around you. You might even find that destiny is fine the way it is--it's just that something inside you begins to change.

I hope this helps

Om mani padme hum

Lu

Last edited 09/20/02 at 12:19:46 by Luljeta

Lyciss09/20/02 at 14:08:45#5Re: Destiny can be changed

The way i like to think of destiny is not that you only have one option... for example if you ever read about the life of Buddha Shakyamuni... there is an amazing piece in there that talks about this very thing... it says that Siddhartha had to things that he could of been, the king of the Shakya people and he would of ruled the land so peacefully that there would had been no wars... or he would become the master of the world, realizing that the pleasure of the senses are not satisfactory and he will renounce the home life in search for liberation from suffering...

the point im trying to make is... i think we have many destinies at different times... the result destiny is determined by our current thoughts, actions and by the things we say... karma (just like Dance pointed out) well at any time you have the option to fall into a bad destiny, unfavorable, painful... ect... or you have the option to travel on a fortunate destiny, one of release, contentment... ect...

so to me to say you can change your destiny is more like... you might be heading toward an unfavorable one but by putting faith into the Buddhas, Dharma and Sangha and cultivating your Thoughts, Actions and the things you say will change and steer you away from heading down that unfavorable destiny (just like Dance mentions) and now you reside on a more favorable path... and if you keep up creating positive karma, all unfavorable destinies will be closed off and you will never need to worry about falling...

ofcourse this does have a few more layers to it, like one being past miss deeds from countless lives ago... still effect you... but by purifying yourself, may weaken any major bad karma that hasnt come to fruit yet... and the ones that are weak may completely disappear...

om mani padme hum

Buddhafly09/20/02 at 16:47:31#6Re: Destiny can be changed

Welcome Vicky.

Many times I go with the flow. Kind of like saying why tempt fate. This is because I fear change. Silly huh!

Sometimes I find that change is necessary. Perhaps to break out of a karmic loop that I have finally recognized.

A nice saying is:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Mahatma Gandhi

Last edited 09/20/02 at 16:51:14 by Buddhafly

piggy09/22/02 at 12:36:45#7Re: Destiny can be changed

not knowing you all I am happy to have so many dharma friends giving advise to me. thank you all so much, it's very useful thank you!

greetings from vicky :-*