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Buddhism and free will.
Just some vague thoughts that may be complete poop but I'm sharing anyway.
It seems like Buddhism is an exercise in realizing true free will. The catch, however, is that, the more free will a person has, the less they have a need for it. The result? Sitting in a monastery all day doing nothing.
It seems like Buddhism is an exercise in realizing true free will. The catch, however, is that, the more free will a person has, the less they have a need for it. The result? Sitting in a monastery all day doing nothing.
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Your statement is just not logical. How can it be so that, "the more free will a person has, the less they have a need for it"?
You have lots of choices. The point is making the right ones.
Exercise your free will to go help out in a homeless shelter.
Turn out that investigating the very nature of reality happen to require lots of work, it just doesn't look like it.
I suggest a retreat, to get a taste of it
Where did you come across this conclusion? Or did you come up with this yourself?
Buddhism is a focus on the origin of suffering and the cessation of suffering.
This talk of 'realizing true free will' is either new-age claptrap - or you might like to lift the hood and see if you got some wires crossed....
SERIOUSLY crossed.....
I am looking at things in my life, in my head, that trouble me or have troubled me.
I wish to suffer less from them so I will , freely, attempt to give these troubles/thoughts less sway. I will not ignore those things that I must deal with but I will examine , on a case by case basis any thought , troubling or not, for its usefulness. As I watch the thoughts, I encounter those I have rejected (on some level) before and turn from them. It becomes easier with time and there are less internal encounters because I send them on, so to speak. For me it is somewhat mechanical and an act of will.
The four Noble Truths and the Eight whatchamacallits help avoid the "New Age" label; see to them.
I am told that eventually a reflective mind can empty. Not mine though: it is very full.
I am not a Buddhist, but I play one on TV.
Wait a minute. First you say there's no "agent", "self", or "I". But then you start talking about "we" having control.
I've also seen monks being actively engaged with the lay community, meditating, etc.
There is freedom in Buddhism, that's what counts.
When there is pain, there is pain. Not my pain. Just pain. When there are thoughts, there are thoughts. Not my thoughts, just thoughts. So on and so forth.
I think the very definition of existence ("the fact or state of living or having objective reality ") needs for there to be an object and a subject. So I think the problem is more with the verbs than with the nouns.
"I" IS. It exists. It exists because it's an object. It exists because it can be perceived as an object. We are not separate, but in order for us to even BE we must be perceived as separate.
Am I making any sense?
We only have words to communicate, unfortunately. So words are important. We already know how a bad translation from Pali to English can create a lot of confusion. It's a testament to the power of words in our minds.
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ROFLAO!
Did you ever try to do nothing? Do you know anyone who ever succeeded in doing nothing? How is it possible to do nothing? If it were possible to DO nothing, wouldn't that be doing something? Isn't "doing nothing" more a reflection on the person using the phrase in the first place ... calling into question what "nothing" s/he is referring to?
Thanks for the laugh.
When in doubt, do a random act of kindness. There's certainly no specific reason to do that, but it could make a world of difference for another person.
Freedom from attachment frees you to do lots of good things. Why not do those, but just don't be attached to the outcome?
When it comes to matters of the heart, never hesitate
This is where the concept of "skillful means" or "the middle way" comes in. Say for instance you wanted to discover a cure for cancer or become a great brain surgeon. This would be an appropriate desire. Buddhist practice helps us accept the inevitable bumps on the road with equanimity.
I guess I would say IMO that it's not about removing desire and motivation completely, because then life itself would be completely pointless. I myself have been a nurse for 30 years. Sometimes my patients got well and sometimes they died. Buddhism has helped me deal with that with relative equanimity. We do what we do with good intentions, but we cannot be particularly attached to the outcome either way.
It's more about moving through life with equanimity rather than just extinguishing desire completely. Otherwise Buddhism would be very nihilistic.
Almost certainly from someone (or a source) that doesn't understand Buddhism, or has come to personal conclusions based on superficial observation.
Or if you are more interested in Theravada, look up metta.
The Buddha advised against going to the extreme of nihilism. Buddhism is about living life skillfully. That means different things to different people, but it's definitely not about nihilism.