Cap
Well-known member
The purpose of this thread is to expose widely accepted false notion that the concept of Karma is fatalistic in its nature. The general consensus among eastern philosophies is that there is a fine tune between determinism and free will, that both are, although apparent opposites, integral part of human experience, and that neither determinism nor free will are true on their own.
Some introductory articles:
Buddhism
DETERMINISM
Determinism (niyativàda) is the belief that an individual's destiny is fixed and that he or she must act accordingly. The Buddha said there are two types of determinism; (1) theistic determinism (issaranimmànahetu) which claims that a supreme being knows and controls everything and thus has determined everything before it has happened, and (2) kammic determinism (pubbekatahetu) which says that everything we experience, pleasant, painful or neutral, is due to our kamma, i.e. how we have acted in the past. According to the Buddha, both these ideas are not just false but also pernicious (A.I,173). Determinism means that the individual cannot choose one course of action over another, cannot make an effort to change anything and is not responsible for anything he or she does.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=97
FREE WILL
Buddhism does not teach that we have complete freedom or that we are determined, but that our will is conditioned or limited to a greater or lesser extent. Introspection will reveal to us that our ability to choose and act is often under the influence of and thus limited by our desires, our skill or lack of it, the power of circumstance, our health, the strength of our habits and convictions, and numerous other factors.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=142
KARMA
The doctrine of kamma is probably the most misunderstood of all the Buddha's teachings. Some of the more common misunderstandings are these.
(1) Some people have the impression that kamma is a force or energy in the universe independent of individuals but acting upon them.
(2) Another misunderstanding is that everything that happens to us is the result of our past kamma.
(3) Kamma is sometimes seen in simplistic and polarized terms; i.e. it is either good or bad, its results are either positive of or negative, etc
(4) It is sometimes claimed that we can never escape from the consequences of our past actions. If this were true then we would be completely determined by our past and be unable to change and attain enlightenment (A.I,249).
(5) Our experiences in the present life are due to what we did in our last life and what we do now will have an effect in the future life.
6). The fourth common misunderstanding is what might be called `kammic naivety', i.e. if you kick a monk in this life you will be reborn with only one leg in your next life, if you swear in this life you will have bad breath in the next life, or if you are generous in this life, you will be rich in your next life. This, of course, is rather silly.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=207
Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality)
Free Will versus Fatalism
by Swami Sivananda
The controversy between free will and fatalism is still going on in the West and no one has come to any definite conclusion. It is a great pity that the doctrine of Karma is mistaken for fatalism. Fatalism is the doctrine that all events are subject to fate and happen by unavoidable necessity.
Fate is one’s own creation. Man acts and thinks and develops his own character. He creates a web like the spider or a silk-worm and entangles himself in its meshes on account of the three knots, viz., Avidya (ignorance), Kama (desire) and Karma (action).
The doctrine of Karma is diametrically opposed to the doctrine of fatalism.
If you do an action, it creates a Samskara or subtle impression in the subconscious mind or Chitta.The Samskara causes a tendency. Tendency develops into a habit by repetition of the actions. The habit manifests as character. Character develops into destiny. This is the order: Samskara, tendency, habit, character, and destiny.
The faculty of choosing is termed will. This will is free by its own nature. Man has a free will by his birthright. It asserts itself at every moment of our lives.
Man has power to choose between the alternatives which fate brings before him. In choosing between them he may either follow his tendencies produced by his past actions or struggle against them. The will of a man is ever free.
https://www.advaita-vision.org/free-will-versus-fatalism/#more-4762
Yoga Philosophy
Free will and Determinism
In the dual-conditioned state there is some truth in both viewpoints, but neither is completely accurate.
Role of karma: Even in the dual-conditioned viewpoint where the true action-less Self is not known, the law of karma and the useful misconception of individual free will that we think we exercise are not contrary to each other. It is true that our actions have consequences in the physical world as well as the subtle and causal worlds, but that does not contradict the choice we make at every instant in how we react to our circumstances and that choice informs the next action we take. This choice is based on our current state of Self-knowledge.
Returning to the matter of free will in the dual-conditioned world, it is acceptable to provisionally accept that at every instant we do have free will to exercise our Self-knowledge and thus choose how to act, even though our prArabdha karma (the karma stock that has set this life into motion) plays out and places us in situations beyond our control. Progressing along the path it will eventually be seen that all action is through the guNas (qualities of nature), because action does not bind to the Eternal Self.
The Vedic philosophy is not fatalistic but it takes effort on the part of the aspirant to gain a deep understanding of these matters through meditation.
https://sites.google.com/site/sadhanaguidance/concepts-1/free-will-and-determinism
Some introductory articles:
Buddhism
DETERMINISM
Determinism (niyativàda) is the belief that an individual's destiny is fixed and that he or she must act accordingly. The Buddha said there are two types of determinism; (1) theistic determinism (issaranimmànahetu) which claims that a supreme being knows and controls everything and thus has determined everything before it has happened, and (2) kammic determinism (pubbekatahetu) which says that everything we experience, pleasant, painful or neutral, is due to our kamma, i.e. how we have acted in the past. According to the Buddha, both these ideas are not just false but also pernicious (A.I,173). Determinism means that the individual cannot choose one course of action over another, cannot make an effort to change anything and is not responsible for anything he or she does.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=97
FREE WILL
Buddhism does not teach that we have complete freedom or that we are determined, but that our will is conditioned or limited to a greater or lesser extent. Introspection will reveal to us that our ability to choose and act is often under the influence of and thus limited by our desires, our skill or lack of it, the power of circumstance, our health, the strength of our habits and convictions, and numerous other factors.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=142
KARMA
The doctrine of kamma is probably the most misunderstood of all the Buddha's teachings. Some of the more common misunderstandings are these.
(1) Some people have the impression that kamma is a force or energy in the universe independent of individuals but acting upon them.
(2) Another misunderstanding is that everything that happens to us is the result of our past kamma.
(3) Kamma is sometimes seen in simplistic and polarized terms; i.e. it is either good or bad, its results are either positive of or negative, etc
(4) It is sometimes claimed that we can never escape from the consequences of our past actions. If this were true then we would be completely determined by our past and be unable to change and attain enlightenment (A.I,249).
(5) Our experiences in the present life are due to what we did in our last life and what we do now will have an effect in the future life.
6). The fourth common misunderstanding is what might be called `kammic naivety', i.e. if you kick a monk in this life you will be reborn with only one leg in your next life, if you swear in this life you will have bad breath in the next life, or if you are generous in this life, you will be rich in your next life. This, of course, is rather silly.
http://www.buddhisma2z.com/content.php?id=207
Advaita Vedanta (Non-Duality)
Free Will versus Fatalism
by Swami Sivananda
The controversy between free will and fatalism is still going on in the West and no one has come to any definite conclusion. It is a great pity that the doctrine of Karma is mistaken for fatalism. Fatalism is the doctrine that all events are subject to fate and happen by unavoidable necessity.
Fate is one’s own creation. Man acts and thinks and develops his own character. He creates a web like the spider or a silk-worm and entangles himself in its meshes on account of the three knots, viz., Avidya (ignorance), Kama (desire) and Karma (action).
The doctrine of Karma is diametrically opposed to the doctrine of fatalism.
If you do an action, it creates a Samskara or subtle impression in the subconscious mind or Chitta.The Samskara causes a tendency. Tendency develops into a habit by repetition of the actions. The habit manifests as character. Character develops into destiny. This is the order: Samskara, tendency, habit, character, and destiny.
The faculty of choosing is termed will. This will is free by its own nature. Man has a free will by his birthright. It asserts itself at every moment of our lives.
Man has power to choose between the alternatives which fate brings before him. In choosing between them he may either follow his tendencies produced by his past actions or struggle against them. The will of a man is ever free.
https://www.advaita-vision.org/free-will-versus-fatalism/#more-4762
Yoga Philosophy
Free will and Determinism
In the dual-conditioned state there is some truth in both viewpoints, but neither is completely accurate.
Role of karma: Even in the dual-conditioned viewpoint where the true action-less Self is not known, the law of karma and the useful misconception of individual free will that we think we exercise are not contrary to each other. It is true that our actions have consequences in the physical world as well as the subtle and causal worlds, but that does not contradict the choice we make at every instant in how we react to our circumstances and that choice informs the next action we take. This choice is based on our current state of Self-knowledge.
Returning to the matter of free will in the dual-conditioned world, it is acceptable to provisionally accept that at every instant we do have free will to exercise our Self-knowledge and thus choose how to act, even though our prArabdha karma (the karma stock that has set this life into motion) plays out and places us in situations beyond our control. Progressing along the path it will eventually be seen that all action is through the guNas (qualities of nature), because action does not bind to the Eternal Self.
The Vedic philosophy is not fatalistic but it takes effort on the part of the aspirant to gain a deep understanding of these matters through meditation.
https://sites.google.com/site/sadhanaguidance/concepts-1/free-will-and-determinism