There's a lot of interesting stuff here, Orn, imo, some very good observations. A few short comments:
One approach which I find useful is the question: "Freedom from what?" - and the implication, freedom for what? Regrettably, Wallace occasionally wanders into the (false) dichotomy free/not-free, although I appreciate that it's difficult not to when trying to make arguments in this context. That said, his basic intent seems to be to go beyond this dialectic. This problem arises frequently in many presentations of Buddhist teaching when people work with the image of not-enlightened/enlightened - although I think that this has more to do with the difficulty of expressing some ideas in clear language/argument. I find the ideas he develops from the concept of Vajrayana interesting. Although (as most of those who have been around here for longer know) I definitely do not describe myself as a Christian, I find it similar to the Christian concept of "Eschatology" in the sense in which more creative theologians work this out in the idea of the contemporaneous interaction of the "now" and the "not yet." All of this can be put in a general context of various thought/idea models, which can help us move on a bit farther and need not necessarily be put into direct opposition to each other (a bit like the blind men and the elephant). From my personal stand-point, I find various thought-models which focus on "becoming" more useful - at this particular point in my own story. For that reason, I'm inclined to use images/metaphors like "journey", "adventure", "vector", (perhaps even "pilgrimage", although this term has some problematic connotations). This gives a picture of life as a journey into depth, experiencing more wonder and beauty, discovering simultaneously more complexity and simplicity, moving from less freedom to more freedom, from less enlightenment to more enlightenment, from ignorance to more wisdom, etc. Growth, with all that involves. Not that this journey is continually linearly progressive, like most ways it takes all kind of twists and turns and like any good adventure sometimes takes side- tracks or even goes backwards for a while. But all that goes to make up the story, the personal artistic masterpiece that is every individual life. I'm reminded of Bilbo's dangerous road, starting right outside your front door ... Francis On 25 Okt., 08:58, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > I guess I was also looking for criticism, analysis, opinions, etc. > about this too...In other words: > > What do you think? > > On Oct 24, 4:53 pm, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > "B. Alan Wallace addresses the topic of free will: how Buddhism > > focuses on how we may achieve greater freedom in the choices we make, > > rather than struggling with the metaphysical issue of whether we > > already have free will. > > Central to the question of free will is the nature of human identity, > > and it is in this regard that the Buddhist view of emptiness and > > interdependence is truly revolutionary..." > > > A new article by Alan, the entirety of which can be read at: > > >http://www.sbinstitute.com/readinglibrary.html > > > (the first link on the page) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
