The Unifying Pattern
Chapter 6 places adaptive agency at the heart of the unifying pattern of understanding the relationship between self and world, agent and fate. In the unifying pattern, fate and the realm of phenomena that extend beyond the person do not become externalized, objectified, and hypostasized. Instead, they are perceived as an integral part of the person, thereby dissolving all potential dichotomies. In the midst of this unifying view, the problem of fate disappears. Everything that is (phenomena) and everything that happens (events) belongs to the world much as to the person. Agents who understand this basic unity think and act adaptively, which leads to a playful and free existence. Huainanzi 1 “Yuandao” serves as main textual basis for analyzing the unifying pattern.