> > Some of us, myself and millions of Buddhists > > included, don't believe in God, either. :-) > > Uncle,yes. But 1) to not believe in free will, you do not necessarily > have to believe in a personal God.
True. And I know many people who believe strongly in a God and still believe in Free Will. I would believe in Free Will regardless of any belief in God. It's the pivotal teaching at the basis of karma. If Free Will did not exist, no one would have any choice as to how, or whether, to react to one's samskaras as they arise. One does. > This is just, so to say a way of > speaking. 2) Buddhist AFAIK don't believe in the existence of a > seperate 'self', which could have the notion of being the doer. The Buddhists I have met and interacted with are very pragmatic, and base their teachings on a variant of Maharishi's "knowledge is different in different states of consciousness." So while on *one* level of creation it makes sense to say that there is no individual self, on other levels of creation that is patently untrue. It's not a question of either/or; it's an issue of both/and. > I have here a quote attributed to Buddha: > "Events happen, deeds are done. There is no individual doer of any > deed." (Translation by Balsekar) True at one -- and *only* one -- level of creation and state of consciousness. Useless to ponder of live one's life by if one is *not* functioning 24/7 from that state of consciousnes. Actually *counterproductive* to try to live by if one is not in that state of consciousness. "I am not the doer" is Just One More State Of Attention. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
