I'm going to make more some comments:
>I believe we all have great freedom of choice. Moreover, I believe that
>we are not at all limited by the models we hold of our world. What limits
>us, or at least what has limited me is my own fear of the consequences of
>one choice or another. For me the fear is founded in my desire for some
>goal or reward.
You said it: "I believe we have great freedom of choice." In other words,
by the assumptions you employ to understand human nature, you believe
there is freedom of choice. Could you change your mind about that?
Possibly, but only if you got new information and/or insight that made
more sense to you than your presently held perspective. Could you search
for such information and hope for such insight? Yes, if that it was
consistent with what you thought was in your best interest. Could you
will yourself into a new understanding just as an act of will? No. Could
I? No. Since choice is consistent with understanding (that is we choose
to do that which is consistent with our sense of the order of the
situation in which we find ourselves at any time), and since we cannot
will ourselves to understand anything other than the way we do right now
(or in the past or sometime in the future), don't you see that choosing,
in the sense of free choice, is not what's going on here?
>So, a choice places the goal or reward in jeopardy and I am immediately in
>a time of uncertainty and transition. The Buddhist's word for a period of
>transition is 'bardo', and they see in it an opportunity. It has been my
>experience that the opportunity is to create something new and better than
>the existence before making the fear filled choice.
I see nothing inconsistent here with the idea that choice is really just
one acting in accordance with one's understanding of a situation. If you
are in a situation where there is uncertainty, your view of that, your
understanding, will lead you to perhaps try something you haven't before.
But if that's the case, you'll do that because it's consistent with you
think you should do under such circumstances. > >In fact in looking back
on the period before the choice it is always a >period of unrest. My mind
was distracted and unable to make the >connections essential to creative
work. The Buddhist's philosophy also >teaches that one must detach from
the goals and rewards of life to clearly >perceive reality and make good
judgements. It, detachment from temporal >rewards and goals, is also a
precept central to Christian thought. What >imprisons us is the model
that money or power, or any of the other >currently popular reward, makes
us more or less a person.
Actually, what I think your saying here with regard to choice is that
seemingly important "choices" are those that come when you're trying to
understand a situation in a new way. If we are unsure of something, this
usually suggests, at least according to how I see the world, we need to
gather more information, think about things, look for order, and when we
see it, then act.
I think the Buddhist idea is to desire desirelessness. When we are at one
with the world, this is not so difficult to do, for in this state, we
already have everything, and have no need to desire. To want something is
to suggest that you don't have it. If we are one, if you have it, I have
it. I believe this is what the Buddha knew.
>What frees us to use our creativity is the confidence in our own value.
>Then we are limited only by the categorical imperative, that we can
>recommend our choices and our actions as models for everyone. This
>freedom requires that we be responsible for the consequences of our
>choices, and where they are unjust to other people we must make other
>choices.
>
>I am on a soap box for which I apologize. But in joining groups of people
>who act without regard for the rewards, and with sensitivity for others I
>joined the most rewarding learning experiences of my life. This is one of
>the attractions of volunteer work, there is no payback but improving the
>lot of other people.
>
>Altruistic? yes, spiritual? yes. Soft stuff? yes. Hard to do? you bet.
>Worth doing? yes. Makes for a powerful group of people all pulling hard
>for a purpose. Call them a high performance work unit. Now, figure out
>how to establish the necessary environment in commercial, governmental, or
>non-profit enterprises. It is easier in the non-profits.
Altruistic you say. Well, perhaps altruistic, but perhaps as well just
what one naturally does when one feels a profound sense of connection with
the world, including the poorest among us who are part of that world. To
volunteer to help them is an opportunity to experience that connection in
a deep and personally rewarding way. So is that altruistic? Is that
selfless? For some it may be, but I take such judgments as dualistic.
But if we are all interconnected, then helping the poor is just one way to
acknowledge this--and you can be sure that you will feel good when you do
so.
John Woods
jwoods@execpc.com
>I selected Buddhist's thought in this Christian and Jewish season for we
>often neglect all of the richness our Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist's (and
>others) friends bring to our lives.
>
>A happy season for all and thank all of you for your contributions here
>and in your work throughout the world.
>
>Bill Hobler
>bhobler@cpcug.org
-- jwoods@execpc.com (John Woods)