Buddhism doesn't present a straightforward "yes" or "no" answer to the question of free will. Instead, it offers a nuanced perspective, suggesting that while we have a degree of agency, our choices are also conditioned by past actions (karma) and various external factors. This means we are neither fully free nor entirely predetermined.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
1. Limited Freedom:
Buddhism acknowledges that our actions are influenced by our past, our present circumstances, and our habitual tendencies.
We are not seen as having absolute, unconditioned free will.
However, we are not puppets of fate either. We have the capacity to make choices, reflect on our options, and potentially change our patterns.
2. The Role of Karma:
The concept of karma plays a crucial role. It suggests that our past actions create tendencies and predispositions that influence our present choices, but it doesn't dictate a fixed future.
The Eightfold Path, a core Buddhist practice, provides a framework for cultivating wholesome actions and breaking free from negative patterns.
3. Interdependent Origination (Pratītyasamutpāda):
This key Buddhist principle emphasizes that everything is interconnected and arises in dependence on other factors.
It suggests that our choices are not isolated events but are part of a vast web of interconnected causes and conditions.
4. Responsibility:
Despite the influence of past actions and external factors, Buddhists are still held accountable for their choices.
The emphasis on ethical conduct and the cultivation of wisdom is central to the Buddhist path.
5. The Middle Way:
Buddhism, in general, avoids extremes. It doesn't subscribe to either absolute free will or complete determinism.
Instead, it proposes a "middle way" that recognizes both the potential for choice and the influence of various conditions.
In essence, Buddhism's view on free will is that it's a complex interplay of freedom and conditioning. While we are not entirely free, we have the capacity to choose and act, and to work towards greater freedom through practice and understanding.
I gave you the "google version of Buddha's take on "free will" so you can stop poking holes at my genuine real opinion which comes from being raised Catholic and then after a near death experience studying all facets of Jesus LIFE and the cultures/religions/peoples that MADE him. Critical thinking is something Christians no offense aren't good at because they think they are the first "peoples" to do the whole "There's only one God and you can only get to him through me".
It's why I will shamelessly attack the papacy and the Bible for being more of a fear based teaching then the "infinite compassion" "Buddha and Christ" embodied in their LIFE.
Just like Jesus, Buddha had disciples and they wrote all this shit down. Do you really think they got "Jesus totally right" or "Buddha totally right" or did they merely use the language of that time to tell the same story.
Your inability to negate chronological time and pretend the world started turning in 33AD when Christ died is just hilarious to me. I don't know if Catholics are just willing to do more to know Christ and answer this question of free will.
It is so painful for you like it was for me to admit that everything mentioned in the "Bible/Quran/Torah" was said word for word in another language 1,000 years before Christ walked.
So can you answer that question loyal Christian? Where did Jesus a human being get his knowledge???? Do you honestly believe Jesus was the first being to say "I am God" or "I am one with the Father"????? Fucking Hindus said the same thing up until Buddhism became a school of thought.
That's what were talking about "schools of thought". If you want to believe the Bible was written by the physical manifestation of God by hand and the universe is 6,000 years old or whatever logical fallacy you want to take from your sacred book but know this that you are not arguing with me here..
Argue this with Buddha's or one of the other GENIUS Indians who made the Abrahamic texts look like they were written by a 12 year old.
Like I said and you erroneously have not addressed is the FACT Buddhism and Rishis addressed this question long before Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
This doesn't negate the life of Jesus Christ it actually makes it that much more important. He took great risk ultimately dying to spread what is eastern philosophy under the guise of what became the Abrahamic texts.
You keep saying this isn't real history but let's be real you didn't even know Buddha was one of the first person's to answer the question of "free will". Look at his answer to just the question of free will and then tell me if you really think Christian ideas came before Hindus.
Is 1000bce before 33ad????? That's an easy one if you believe in "chronological time" and "causation".
Edit: Hook, line and sinker is the Abrahamic texts force you to be subservient to a scripture and an "Invisible all powerful patriarchal god" and so our religions went and basically killed all indigenous cultures worldwide in the name of something that doesn't exist. The physical manifestation of God in Jesus Christ(real). The books they wrote to convince you he is the "end all be all". Total bullshit. Well written stories by learned scribes who manipulated the "word of God" since time immorium.
You do realize Sanskrit is the first original language and that everything you've ever read whether it be Latin/Aramaic/etc. has it's causal origin somewhere in India.
Now the Hindus say their ancient texts were given to them by the equivalent of aliens and when you read their Sanskrit from 1000 bce and they are talking about engineering flying crafts without jet propulsion and talking of literally gigantic space wars between "aliens" from different planets all wanting a piece of Earth.
I have not met one person who read what the Rishis had written down eons ago and it's more advanced then modern science today and said what you are saying.....
Free will because of Jesus Christ dying for our sins? You elaborate on the Christian way because you know it well. I'll give you Buddhism which predates Christianity so you can answer the "causation" thing yourself.
I respect you because I know you speak from the heart but remember the intense logic of Buddhism is not present in Abrahamic doctrine. Abrahamic doctrine is not a "full story". What the Hindus/Buddhist did is. They give you every argument for/against the existence of God/no god. etc. and they debated for a 1000 years on it and then your trying to tell me Jesus was the first?!?!
Don't believe in Jesus Christ. KNOW him. I don't know how these Abrahmic religions survived without anything more then the sword of "free will" while smashing every other "cultures" "free will" and replacing it with "Christian free will".
Don't debate me. Debate Buddha he's the one who brought up all the logical fallacies of Hinduism/Christianity which like I said are identical stories of human nature and the divine written in different ways.
Buddhism was at odds with HINDUISM UNTIL THE ABRAHAMIC went full retard saying they discovered sliced bread after the Indians built space ships.
This is supported by chronological history.
Confusing whose scripture is older with physical reality which is what Christians do but I don't see the argument.
Christianity is Egyptian through and through with a lot of the symbolism and root meaning and how people can't see that shows they actually think "Jesus was the first free thinker" or his ideas were NEW. They weren't.
I didn't think I had to dabble in Sanskrit either to prove it to myself but you have to go to before Christ lived and paint that picture to really think you are coming to know HIM. Don't know how reading the texts written after he lived do HIM anything more then push people away from "god" themselves for longer.
We all realize God in different ways through different means/methodologies.
What Vedanta and Vivekananda did was take the beautiful imagery of the Abrahamic texts and Hindu ones and then put it all through an intense logic/scientific methods. Methods that predate Christianity by thousands of years.
edit: But I'm the heathen and Satanist for looking deeper I suppose and gaining new meaning from Christ everyday. I enjoy hearing how people viewed "God/no god" "free will/ no free will" before the Abrahamic brought hell on Earth.
Heaven on Earth but the Abrahamic have to be right so we all got to die in a giant war and we all have to hate each other and worship the same "god" under names like "Yahweh" "Allah" "Jehovah". See how fucking retarded that is?
Jesus knew how retarded it all was too when he said, "Forgive them father for they know not what they do they are ignorant".
This post was edited by SwamiVivekananda on Jul 21 2025 10:45am