2 Answers

  1. In the Buddhist tradition, it is believed that every living being has the potential to unleash the freedom of the mind-the Buddha nature. The factors that limit the freedom of the mind are hatred, greed, ignorance, illusions, selfishness…If a being restricts his mind to these things, he exists in samsara , a world of interconnected cause and effect. In samsara, karma works: when there is a cause, then there is an effect. Being in samsara, the being is not free from causes. That is, the creature's natural freedom is hidden. It's like a small child who has just been born, does not know that he has eyes, accepts vision as a given. And only in the process of development does he learn to use his eyes, to show freedom of vision. Until the child learns to control his vision, he sees what is shown to him. Therefore, it feels like it is being controlled. The consciousness of each being includes groups of elements of perception and reaction to pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. When a being is unaware of the freedom of the mind, external events are perceived as pleasant and unpleasant, successful and unsuccessful. If the child sees his mother's smile, it will be pleasant for him. If a terrible grimace, then he will feel uneasy. External events are then perceived as fate or chance. And in the Buddhist tradition, it is believed that events in samsara are determined by previous actions of the mind. That is, everything that happens to a person in samsara is a consequence of his previous decisions. Even birth is the result of the desire to be born. That is, from the Buddhist point of view: both fate and chance are illusions. Results of inadequate perception of reality. And only the freedom of the mind is real. That is, the mind is free from both external phenomena and internal ones, such as the will. The unfolding of this free state of mind means an irrevocable transition to a different way of being – nirvana.

  2. In Buddhism, there is both the concept of fate (daiva) and free will in the sense of choosing what to do, thereby changing the upcoming (purusha-kara – human action). These two parts make up karma. At the same time, fate is not predetermined from outside or from above, but is natural according to past actions.

    The highest act of free will or purusha-kara is the choice to leave the cycle of reincarnation and achieve nirvana (nibbana).

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