Does a dog have free will? /lifts leg
Thanks, Chris Austin-Lane Sent from a cell phone On Jan 9, 2013, at 17:17, "Joe" <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > > > ------------------------------------ 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/
