New Acropolis Toronto

Destiny, Free Will & Karma

By Lorinda Crawford

Three oft-misunderstood words that hold keys to living with more purpose and intelligence.

Destiny offers an answer to the big existential question, “Where am I going?” Destiny is related to our direction in life. Destiny implies destination. To what am I walking? What does my life serve? What is the purpose of my life? Why am I alive? What is our destiny, but the fulfillment of our journey of life? It is the path of evolution.

Destiny calls us to the full blossoming of our authentic Self. To respond to the call of our Destiny, we need give time and space to listen to the depth of our heart … which is difficult in the hustle-and-bustle of everyday life. Destiny requires that we know ourselves, our highest dreams and ideals. To fulfill our destiny, we need to cultivate the most noble qualities in ourselves.

Beyond our individual life, let’s also consider that we are not alone. How is the individual’s destiny also related to the collective Destiny of humankind?

Many people wonder if destiny means that life is pre-determined. Not at all! Every day we build our destiny, with every thought, decision and action, according to our free will. Free Will is the great tool at our disposal – to act in harmony with life, to make our acts as just as possible, to cultivate wisdom and discernment. Or, by our free will, we can act selfishly and unjustly, which generates suffering for ourselves and others. Sometimes we disempower ourselves and let our will become imprisoned by circumstances, moods and others’ expectations.

With a little bit of reflection we can observe the consequences and effects of our thoughts, feelings, decisions, behaviours. This constant dynamic of action-reaction is called Karma, which is one of the Laws of Life. Any discussion of Karma requires that we speak also of Dharma. Dharma is the Direction of the Just. It is the Universal Law that governs the Universe. Karma is our experience to realize this direction. Karma is a great teacher of life, if we pay attention to our experiences. The degree to which we stray away from the Path of Life generates a proportionate response, which we experience as suffering. However, karma is not a burden, nor a law of punishment.

Wisdom teachings tell us:

• How we can set in motion our individual destiny
• About our role in the destiny of humanity
• How we can better activate our free will
• How we can move beyond the clichés about karma and more clearly recognize karma’s teachings in our life and that of humanity
• How we can learn from our suffering

For MUCH more development of these ideas and how to make them super-practical in our own lives, check out our two upcoming Tibetan Wisdom seminars in Toronto!
Destiny, Dharma, Karma - The Path of Evolution
Thursday. June 21 @ 7:30pm

Tibetan Mandalas: Journey into the Soul...
Thursday. July 5 @ 7:30pm