My views on Buddhism - weblog.
I am a member of an online Buddhist forum and someone in the forum came up and said that the Buddha taught no-freewill because every will is conditioned, therefore it cannot be free. I agree that our will is not totally free but it is also not totally fated either. According to a few abhidhammikas, there is no 'person' that could control or make good/bad intentions arise because all phenomena arise depending on conditions.Based on the issue of conditions, no freewill and no-control, I asked a few questions as follows:
In this world of so many people, 'you' and 'I' are subjected to conditions, and in this long, long unfathomable beginning-less universe, when we started life as a sentient being until we are here today, why is it that the conditions which arise in 'you' become different from the ones in 'me'?
Both you and I are conditioned-beings, but how does the 'good' or 'bad' conditioning come to you or to me. Both of us didn't choose this or that conditions, right? So, what are the 'conditions' that makes your conditions different from mine?
If I say the reason is kamma condition, then it is quite unfair.
Because 'I' cannot control my kamma, if 'I' was a good person, it was because of my good conditioning and 'I' was not responsible for being good. The goodness that came to me, came without my free-will, the same goes for the bad kamma.
In this scenario of 'no freewill and no-control', how is Nibbana achievable or possible? In this life alone, I have observed good intentions and bad intentions come and go. With this mixture of good and bad cetanaa and other things, how can anyone achieve Nibbana?
Does Nibbana come randomly based on conditions? Or do we need to suffer an X amount of time in samsara before all of us will be conditioned to attain Nibbana anyway?
We cannot force and control Nibbana to come at will, so we wait for Nibbana to come to us (?) As far as I know, the Buddha didn't tell us to wait for Nibbana. The Buddha said, (paraphrased) if we are diligent, we are able to achieve the path and fruition, here-and-now.
Let's say, I believe in anatta as being no-control. If I cannot decide and you cannot decide, aren't we all slaves who are subjected to conditioning? You are a slave to your conditioning and I am a slave to mine. So what-is-it that decides these different conditionings for you and me?
In the case of uncontrollable conditioning for you and I, what is the 'main factor of conditioning' that makes you or me realize Nibbana?
If we are puppets of our conditions , what makes you understand the dhamma faster then me? According to the abhidhammikas, no-one and no person understands, it is pa~n~n~a that understand. It means that your pa~n~n~a and mine are different, why? Why is it, with the conditions which you and I cannot choose, make all these differences arise in you and me? In atheistic religions, the answer is easy. It is God, who made us who we are. But in Buddhism? Who and what chooses the conditions that befall on you or me?
Both you and I are conditioned-beings, but how does the 'good' or 'bad' conditioning come to you or to me. Both of us didn't choose this or that conditions, right? So, what are the 'conditions' that makes your conditions different from mine?
If I say the reason is kamma condition, then it is quite unfair.
Because 'I' cannot control my kamma, if 'I' was a good person, it was because of my good conditioning and 'I' was not responsible for being good. The goodness that came to me, came without my free-will, the same goes for the bad kamma.
In this scenario of 'no freewill and no-control', how is Nibbana achievable or possible? In this life alone, I have observed good intentions and bad intentions come and go. With this mixture of good and bad cetanaa and other things, how can anyone achieve Nibbana?
Does Nibbana come randomly based on conditions? Or do we need to suffer an X amount of time in samsara before all of us will be conditioned to attain Nibbana anyway?
We cannot force and control Nibbana to come at will, so we wait for Nibbana to come to us (?) As far as I know, the Buddha didn't tell us to wait for Nibbana. The Buddha said, (paraphrased) if we are diligent, we are able to achieve the path and fruition, here-and-now.
Let's say, I believe in anatta as being no-control. If I cannot decide and you cannot decide, aren't we all slaves who are subjected to conditioning? You are a slave to your conditioning and I am a slave to mine. So what-is-it that decides these different conditionings for you and me?
In the case of uncontrollable conditioning for you and I, what is the 'main factor of conditioning' that makes you or me realize Nibbana?
If we are puppets of our conditions , what makes you understand the dhamma faster then me? According to the abhidhammikas, no-one and no person understands, it is pa~n~n~a that understand. It means that your pa~n~n~a and mine are different, why? Why is it, with the conditions which you and I cannot choose, make all these differences arise in you and me? In atheistic religions, the answer is easy. It is God, who made us who we are. But in Buddhism? Who and what chooses the conditions that befall on you or me?
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