The Balance

“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.”

~ Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

 

I had an epiphany today.

 

I was deep in discussion with a friend at work about the subject of decision and destiny – the same paradox that I wrote of in my last entry – when an answer came to me in a flash of clarity and insight.  It was so sudden that I think I might even have stopped in mid-sentence.  I realized at that moment where the balance lies between the opposing forces of fate and free will.

 

I’m just not sure if I can express it in words.  But I’m certainly going to try.

 

I see the universe as a cosmic tapestry, a work of art, each thread woven into just the right place and pattern to create a beautiful and harmonious whole.  I see everything, great and small, forming part of a grand cosmic design – some parts in order, some in chaos, but all in their right places, all against a backdrop of perfect harmony.  The destiny of all things is to take their appointed place in this tapestry to maintain the harmony of the whole.

 

Now let us bring humanity into the picture.  I see the life of each and every person as a single thread…  not just any kind of thread, though; a thread with conscience, which can choose where it will be woven into the tapestry of the cosmos.  (I can also see the possibility that other entities have the same choices to make, from pebbles to trees to oceans to stars, and that they have simply chosen not to choose any differently.  But that is another matter entirely.)

 

This brings about a different vision.  I see the tapestry obscured by the movement of thousands of millions of individual threads, each seeking their place, trying to decide where they wish to be woven in to the fabric of the cosmos.  Like everything else, the destiny of each of us is to find a place that will maintain the harmony of the cosmic pattern – looking at both the tapestry that was here before us, and the movement of the other threads around us.

 

Destiny becomes dynamic, then, a fluid entity that is as alive as you and I.  My destiny is to find a place of harmony with the universe and everyone around me, and that will change with every choice that any of us makes.  Your choices become my circumstances; to be in harmony with my circumstances is my destiny; to follow the path of my destiny is my choice; and my choice is your circumstance.

 

At any given point in time, my destiny is to find the place of greatest harmony.  In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon – lauded in the Bible as one of the wisest men of his time, or perhaps of all times – said it best:

 

There is an appointed time for everything.  And there is a time for every event under heaven:  A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.  A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up.  A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.  A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.  A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away.  A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak.  A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

 

With each passing moment, my destiny changes; the path that I am meant to walk depends on my circumstances, and the actions that I should take are those that bring me into perfect harmony with the universe and with others.  There is no good or evil.  There is simply that which brings one into harmony with my circumstances, and that which does not.

 

So I choose the path of harmony.  I choose to accept my destiny.  And therein I find the balance that I seek.