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Summary of Question:	Is There Fate In Sikhism?
Category:	General Sikhism
Date Posted:	Tuesday, 12/23/2003 10:08 AM MST

Do we believe in fate? Are all things meant to happen or happen because they just do. Is one incident in life connected with another incident 2,3,10,20 years down in life. Are we meant to marry someone who is already selected for us by God..if so then why do we have bfs or lost loves? Are we meant to be at a certain place ...at a certain time? I have often been confused about the concept of FATE and whether or not it exists. Any ideas?

(REPLY) Sat Nam. Yours is a good question. There is not a simple answer, but rather we have to understand that God created us with free will to make choices within the parameters of the tendencies and attitudes that we brought with us from past lives (the karma that we created through past actions). However, you might say that "where there's Dharma, there's no karma." In other words, Aspiration can save us from many disasters in life. One way of thinking about this is that we each have a "Destiny" to achieve higher consciousness, to experience the God within us (the purpose of life). We can achieve this by consciously striving to live according to God's will. "Fate" is just like being on a speeding locomotive with no brakes, heading for wherever our karma takes us. God's will includes ALL the choices. Please study Japji Sahib to gain an understanding of the Divine wisdom our Guru shared with us. Prayer, meditation, aspiration, chanting God's Name, these are means and methods to "change our fate" and get out of our suffering. SP