Hi Rob

I’m glad that you’ve found liberation in Buddhism. Gratitude for the positive, acceptance of the negative and being. It’s all we can ask for.

I had a similar experience recently with meditation. I realised that thoughts are just stories we tell ourselves repeatedly and it was time for me to put some of those stories away.

Do I exist? As much as anyone else.

It’s unique because we are made up of our experiences and the people we have spent time with. We also have our own unique natures and gifts. At any point different people think of you in different ways with their own nature reflected in their ideas.

I do think there are very limited choices though. Our actions. If we don’t like something we can change. We learn and we grow. Although I’ve seen enough of life to have experienced some ludicrous circumstances with ridiculous odds.

Dear Rob:

I am glad you posted again. First, I will add my answers (in parentheses)  to the boldfaced questions asked in the comic strip you attached:

Do you think the chemistry of the brain controls what people do? -Of course. (yes).

Then how can we blame people for their actions? -Because people have free will to do as they choose (most people have some degree of free will, some or much of the time, yes)

Are you saying that ‘free will’ is not part of the brain? – Of course it is. But it’s the part of the brain that’s out there just being kind of free. (no, the “free will” part of the brain is very much part of the brain).

So, you’re saying the ‘free will’ part of the brain is exempt from the natural laws of physics – Obviously. Otherwise we couldn’t blame people for anything they do. (no, the “free will” part of the brain operates according to the natural laws of physics and chemistry).

Do you think the ‘free will’ part of the brain is attached or does it just float nearby? (attached).

I will elaborate: we are never free from the laws of physics and chemistry and we cannot change these laws. The concept of Free Will is most relevant in the context of the Law, Crime and Society: society has to put dangerous people away: in prisons,  or in mental institutions for as long as they are considered dangerous. Therefore, the Law divides people’s actions into Free (and send them to prison) or Not free (and send them to a mental institution for treatment). But in reality, there is no such division between these two groups (therefore there are many people in prison who are very mentally ill).

In every discipline, every topic of study, the academic community divides things, living things and people into groups (for the purpose of organizing), but these divisions are often nothing more than an academic practice aimed at coming up with solutions to problems. These divisions do not exist in real life.

Free Will in real life simply means the following: before you did X, did you or could you have thought about the consequences of doing X? If the answer is Yes, then you are considered to have had free will; if the answer is No, then you are considered to not having had free will. It is a very good idea for us to have free will: to think about the consequences of considered actions, a smart way to go about life.

To consider the question what words and actions are likely to bring me and others well-being?, and to choose those words and actions, is what I refer to as Creating, while acting with no such consideration is what I consider Reacting. Does this make sense to you?

anita

You are welcome, Rob.

anita

Dear Rob:

I wanted to respond further to your thread: it helps me to do so. I hope it’s okay with you:

“I don’t exist… Anybody else not exist?“- I tend to think literally and have problems with figurative language, but this figurative imagery is making the principle of existence in Buddhism/ in  life as clear as can be for me: life is like the ocean, huge and as permanent as can be, made of many material water molecules, salt molecules, etc., and each living thing (ex., a unicellular organism, a plant, an animal) is a single, unique wave in this ocean, an energy-in-motion,  rising and then falling within a unit of time.

I am not the ocean (huge, permanent, powerful); I am a single wave in the ocean, existing temporarily as energy, but permanently as part of the material ocean. Never separated, never apart.

In Western thinking we tend to think of ourselves as The Ocean, a God (and god was made in the image of man, not the other way around). Many believe in a literal permanence, a-forever-living as the individuals that we are (souls/ spirituality; ghosts/ sci-fi) in a heaven or hell or a paradise earth. It calms the fear of death somewhat, sometimes, to believe that the individual person that we are will never die.

The imagery of the ocean and the wave calms me because it is a relief to not think of myself as a god, as bigger or more powerful than I really am (I was told by western thinking that I am can make my dreams come true,  if only I believe it, and if I work hard enough, or smart enough, then I will become anything I want to be). It makes me feel content in my powerlessness… I am only a wave, it’s okay. And you are a wave that happens to exist.. as a wave, in the same unit of time.

“I don’t get to be a Creator, I went the other way to you, I thought I got to make choices and design my life but that’s not my story. Much respect for those who can create though. Life is quite spectacular“- the real ocean wave is subject to the wind, isn’t it, to turbulence in the water: no choosing or creating on the part of the wave. This is where the imagery is partly lacking: a person too is subject to life-circumstances. And at first, a person automatically/ instinctively/ impulsively reacts to people and circumstances..  like a wave reacting to the wind, but then, unlike an ocean wave, a person can choose to react differently to the same life circumstance.

About regrets and what you referred to (on another thread) as Perfet Pete- the wave in the ocean imagery comforts me in regard to regrets: the wave rises and falls no  matter the choices, if any are made, regardless of the successes and failures, so these italicized here are not that important, no big deal, or no deal at all in the bigger picture of reality.

anita

Hi Rob

The Buddhist perspective is interesting. I’m not sure if you’ve come across it in your studies.

During the process of death and rebirth there is an opportunity to choose which realm you are born into. There are 6 realms, yet only the human realm provides the opportunity for enlightenment and to end the cycle of rebirth. I remember a story about a Buddha that was able to predict how many rebirths it would take individuals to attain this.

I like the idea that we are all here to learn.

Wishing you all the best 🙏