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will, again
Well Luke, it makes sense to me, another geek. I had forgotten and taken for granted that I registered way back when. One of the less wonderful things about getting old. I have actually used cookies before, way back when I worked for a living. Don't tell Rick you do dot.net; he will try to recruit you!
Comments
Carl mentions many times one of the main thrusts of taoism is the absence of free will. Is this different from the 'will' mentuioned here: 'whose will is bent on what he ought to do'? Are they the same, or are free will and this will exclusive of each other?
Maybe this is a stupid question from one who's claimed to be a buddhist for 20 years, but hey, I never said I was a scholar...
'Will' is synonymous with desire. Thus, "whose will is bent on what he ought to do" is the same as "whose sole desire is the performance of his duty" . It's just brings home the point. You can think of will as what you really want - seriously - as though you were going to die moments from now.
Will - fundamental to life - is that need to survive which is shared by all life. Even viruses I suppose. Our myth of will being 'free' and somehow under our 'control' is rationally unsupportable. It is wishful thinking conjured up by a species that does too much thinking for its own good. Of course, I speak for myself.
PS. scholar shmallar. Dead man's words, as Chuang Tzu said. Mystery transcends scholar's skill to convey. Words only obfuscate, including mine. Though they are valuable to help us connect with our brother and sisters, as I'm doing right now. Using words to say words are useless is useful. [chref=78]Straightforward words, Seem paradoxical.[/chref]
We must each find our own way. Hey, kind of like the Christian's 'born again' thing, without any "everybody's got to do it my way or go to hell aspect".
and I actaully was 'born again' thru a Baptist church, way back in my teens, (before I discovered the Eastern viewpoints)...that didnt work out, wasnt what i needed...not what anyone needs, if you ask me...