Buddhism has nothing to do with fatalism, for it does not admit the existence of anything like destiny or the decree of fate. According to Buddhism all living beings have assumed the present life as the result of self-creation, and are, even at present, in the midst of creating themselves. In other words, every being is a stage of dynamic becoming. Although the grade and form of life vary in each birth, one should not think of the strict distinction of time as past or future. In truth there is present only. That is to say, we have a long continuity of existence, birth and death being simply the rise and fall of the waves in the ocean of life. Birth and death are not the predestined fate of a living being but a ‘corollary of action (karma),’ as it has been called by some. One who acts must sooner or later reap the effect; while experiencing an effect, one is sowing seeds anew, thus causing the next wave of life to be high or low according to the nature of one’s preceding actions.