Greetings, Fleetinginsight, A well-considered post! Welcome.
Regarding the matter of free will in a Buddhist context, remember that, among monastics and lay people, there are... "Vows". The monastics of course take many more of the Precepts than lay people do; and, at least three times per day, monastics in their daily practice -- and lay people, say, on sesshin or zazenkai -- chant the four Bodhisattva Vows. Now, what do you make of the matter of free will, and the practice of taking, making, and practicing according to, and in accord with... Vows? We can ask the same things you ask about free will: WHO takes the vows (who makes them; who adheres to them... )? And, we can note that we can "keep" a vow, but we might also "break" it. Granted, the Zen sect, like others, takes hetu pratyaya -- conditioned arising -- as gospel: as reality. Yet... Vows are considered -- known -- to have power. I simply put this out there for all to consider. I'll work on it, too, over the next hours or days. Just a brief reply, and a "Welcome!" to the Group. --Joe --- In [email protected], "fleetinginsight" wrote: > > > Greetings, all, from a new member. > > This is an interesting question; I thought I'd try exploring it from a > slightly different direction. > > In a strictly philosophical sense, "free will" doesn't make any sense from a > Buddhist (or Zen) framework, does it? > > First, free will is the notion that I have ultimate dominion over my choices > and actions. But, of course, Buddhism teaches that there is no inherent or > lasting "I" that could act as the controller. So, who is it that controls > these choices? The self that appears to be in control is itself fleeting and > arisen from causes and conditions, so it can't be that, can it? > > Second, free will usually comes with the requirement that in any particular > situation (i.e., holding constant the forces at play), I *could have* done > otherwise. This seems quite incoherent with the notion that all phenomena > (including the momentary experience of the self) arise sufficiently on the > basis of causes and conditions. The decision or choice could be different -- > but first you'd have to find a way to change the causes and conditions that > give rise to the self who decides. In this sense, most decisions, in the > moment they are made couldn't have been different than how they were. > > So, in some sense our decisions are fully the product of our karma (I'm using > "karma" here to simply mean conditioned patterns of perceiving, judging, and > acting upon the world). But karma is not fixed (there's that darn > impermanence thing again). Karma, too, is subject to causes and conditions. > One such condition, mindfulness, seems to "open up" our habitual ways of > acting to alternative possibilities. Mindfulness means awareness of the > arising and ceasing of particular perceptions or thoughts. It seems that > this awareness takes away some of the usual "power" of habits and allows for > alternative courses of action. This isn't really "free will" in any > meaningful sense, but it is greater flexibility in our ways of relating to > the world, which itself sews the seeds for future behavior. > > Anyway, these are the musings of my karmic mind. ;) I'd love to hear what > others have to say. ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> 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/
