Amor Fati is a latin phrase for ‘Love Fate,’ which means ‘Accept your Fate’ as it is. This ancient virtue recommends accepting our fate, which is beyond our control, and instead utilizing our energies, time, and resources in things that are in our control. Acceptance of one’s situation seems like a defeatist way of living. Ambitious people are always trying to improve their situation in life and go against the grain to fight for a better destiny.
What does the ancient teaching of ‘Amor Fati’ imply in such an ambitious world?
Are we recommending accepting things and events as they are and not doing anything about them?
How does Acceptance of a situation help one to overcome it?
Love of Fate:
As a minute spiritual entity, several events are happening around us and with us that are beyond our realm of control. Such circumstances or external factors should be accepted according to the Amor Fati principle.
Yet, accepting one’s situation is not a defeatist way of living. It is a powerful acknowledgment of the reality we are in. Ambitious people are always trying to improve their situation in life, and accepting fate is not a hindrance to this ambition. Instead, it empowers us to work within the parameters of our reality and strive for a better destiny.
Amor Fati is a virtue that all wise men are recommended to practice. It is not about resignation but about understanding the nature of fate and our role in shaping it. Let us understand the importance of this virtue in the context of Vedic teachings, specifically, the Bhagavad Gita, an ancient Sanskrit wisdom text that is the essence of all Vedic knowledge.
Nothing happens by accident:
Based on the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita, we understand that each living entity (soul) has free will to choose its path of action in any given situation. Based on their actions, they shape their future destiny. The current fate they suffer or enjoy is similarly designed based on their past actions- sinful or pious (law of karma).
We must understand that fate is determined by our past actions; it does not ensue by chance or accident. It is the result calculated by a perfectly designed software that accounts for our past ‘actions and reactions’ to assign us a certain fate.
Since our past actions are not in our control anymore, the fate that we are being subjected to is also not in our control. Therefore, we cannot exert control over several external events, bodily aspects, and adversities dealt per the universal laws.
Control:
Based on Vedic teachings, the adversities that come upon us, external events, and fluctuations in life’s circumstances are not in our control. For instance, the type of body we get, the family we are born into, the city, country, gender, status, etc, are beyond our control. Similarly, the outcomes of our past actions, people’s opinions, responses, environmental factors, world tragedies, etc., are all beyond our control.
Therefore, the Bhagavad Gita teaches us to accept and tolerate these situations. The nature of this world is temporary; nothing here is everlasting. Thus, situations come and go and fluctuate like a pendulum swinging back and forth. Lord Krsna instructs us to endure such temporary changes, which are like seasons and should be tolerated just like one bides their time through summers or winters.
Instead, we spend our time and energy complaining about the opposing hand dealt by fate. This is a futile venture, and learned souls recommend avoiding engaging our mind and intelligence in this harmful habit.
As these setbacks dealt by fate during the course of our journey are beyond our control, our energies are better spent on those aspects of life that we can influence positively and mold into a promising future. The most important elements we can control are- our response to a situation, our values, our character, and the lessons we derive from the adverse outcomes of life.
Positive Attitude:
The wise souls focus on what they can control- i.e., their internal attributes, lessons they learned, future actions they should perform, and transformation of character. Thus, they are able to achieve growth, transformation, and purpose even amidst a negative situation and construct a meaningful course of action and response that positively recreates their future destiny.
They are able to handle a seemingly difficult situation with grace and elegance. By simply accepting fate, they can redirect their focus on their response, proper management of a dire situation, and the future course of action. Thus, they emerge stronger, better, and wiser from the situation.
Negative Attitude:
Those unable to accept their fate often waste time lamenting and trying to fix the unfixable. Thus, they waste valuable time, energy, and resources and ultimately face frustration, dissatisfaction, and disappointment. This makes them cynical, bitter, resentful, and often pessimistic.
They label this fate to be unfair, may develop a victim mentality, become depressed, and dwell excessively in the pain of failure, loss, or adversity. Also, this attitude takes away time from potential growth, spiritual transformation, acquiring new values, and redesigning a better destiny.
The difference between a Negative and positive attitude is: ‘It happened TO me versus It happened FOR me.’
Embracing the Circumstances
Accepting one’s fate and then building an adequate response towards it is definitely a better and more constructive proposition than languishing in the sorrow of our failed endeavors and fighting a lost battle. It is a better policy to recognize our limitations promptly and duly understand the unfavorable aspects of our lives. Then, we can focus on looking for purpose and meaning in an adverse situation, assembling strong attributes, and practicing favorable virtues, thus steadily advancing towards a successful destiny.
Bhagavad Gita recommends tolerating unwanted circumstances, training our minds to focus on the present task, and accomplishing it with vigor, attention, and intelligence. This ensures a successful destiny.
To love life and to live a wholesome life means to accept both the ups and downs that life offers with courage, wisdom, faith, and optimism whilst soliciting divine mercy and investing your emotions and resources in a beneficial cause. This is the expectation that life has from each of us. We must accept human life’s good, bad, and ugly with humility and patience, yet practice determination while pursuing the highest values and looking for purpose amidst all hardships. This is the principle of:
AMOR FATI
Fantastic writing. Loved the switch from: It has happened to me -->It has happened for me!
"Truly wonderful! It teaches us about the law of karma so clearly and effectively."
Keep posting such valuable blogs ,Thanku