Do We Have Free Will?
A Buddhist Point of View
A friend recently asked me if I believe that we have free will. My response was “yes, but not yet.” So, if not yet, when? I believe it will be when we fully discover the true nature of our mind through the paths of meditation, contemplation and analysis. The Buddha said that we can attain enlightenment as he did, and be fully free through walking these paths and living them in our daily lives.
We come into this samsaric world with certain predispositions based on our genetics and environment – nature and nurture. We then develop habitual tendencies that become ingrained. In addition, from the viewpoint of reincarnation, we are born with the “karmic seeds” of the chronic predispositions that we have not extinguished through walking on and practicing what Buddha called The Noble Eightfold Path of wisdom, ethical conduct and mental discipline.
The karmic seeds and predispositions that have not been extinguished remain in what is called the “storehouse consciousness.” This is similar to Freud’s concept of the unconscious, where we act out in unhealthy or unbeneficial ways due to unconscious tendencies that have not been brought into the light of day.
The path to freedom/enlightenment includes working with these predispositions, through (1) becoming aware of them with eyes wide open, (2) working with them as they arise in our daily lives, (3) contemplating our habitual responses and gaining some insight and compassion about them, and (4) letting them go as we walk the Noble Eightfold Path.
Enlightenment is about letting go, one by one, of what we hold on to, including those predispositions and karmic seeds, especially our good old ego. It’s not a linear process, but a “long and winding road.” It’s a path with many obstacles, resulting from years of conditioning, resistance to change, deeply ingrained habitual tendencies and the defenses that keep them in place, and the stories we tell ourselves.
The good news is that our true nature of mind, our Buddha Nature and true freedom is always there, hiding under our habits and predispositions. It’s like the sun obscured by clouds. The sun is always there, even when it’s cloudy. As Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace has noted:
The basic idea in Buddhism is that by cultivating the mind,
we causally move toward greater freedom, liberation,
awakening, and one day in the future we will become buddhas.
The underlying premise is that every sentient being has the capacity
to be perfectly enlightened, every sentient being has the capacity to be free,
liberated from suffering and its causes.[a]
The first step, as noted above, is becoming aware of our tendencies. For example, until I started meditating regularly, my chronic propensities, such as perfectionism and self-denigration, were simply a background noise. After becoming aware of these propensities through meditation, I was able to work with them and gain some insight and compassion about where they came from. It’s still a work in progress and I have a long way to go to be free of them, but I’m on the road to get there.
[a] B. Alan Wallace, “Achieving Free Will: A Buddhist Perspective.” Mandala Magazine. January-March 2009. pp. 55-58.
I think the idea of Free Will is deceptive. How are we free? Are we free to do as we will? Maybe,but only within the confines of our own minds and bodies. And then, we may not have the resources to exercise that freedom, as we may not have the money, the health or the ability to expand beyond that freedom. We may believe we can kibbitz with God. But, dang! Why didn't he talk with me? I asked my boss for a raise so I could take some time off to go to Europe for a month, and what did that SOB do instead?! He fired me!
If free will is absolute, from the mathematicians point of view, all past present and future occurrences could be predicted with accuracy by obscenely complex mathematics, traditional physics and now quantum computing. So are we really that free? I am not qualified to speak to that, but I will comment on the word “free."
Here in the US we cherish this word “Free” and “Freedom.” So much so that I think the biggest mistake is that we believe are free to do and be whatever we wish, regardless of harm to others. We get greedy for that freedom. We become avaricious, desirous and coveting then take what we want, creating what we want no matter how dangerous or helpful, forgetting the needs of others, ignoring the idea of moderation, ignoring self discipline, but mostly ignoring responsibility that freedom demands. The result is American society has slowly degraded into a hierarchical culture of gross excess. (I think we forget all the empires and similar hegemonies that have collapsed under the weight of its own ignorance and liberties taken at the expense of others.)
Sure, some religions maintain doctrinal beliefs in free will such granted by God in Judeo Islamic Christian ideologies. But even in these cases, if mankind subverts and supercedes "God’s will,” they will suffer the consequences. This is specific to many faith based beliefs. However there is some pragmatic and provable truth to them. It is based upon the simple truth behind the same “Reap what you sew” found in Biblical Galatians: In science and logic it's called cause and effect.
If we choose (as in “will”), to act, the activity will likely have a resultant circumstance. I think the best way to temper this to a more affimative result is to expand ones “will” beyond the “self.” I do not think it is enriely about renouncing oneself. But it is about considering others with or beyond oneself. In theistic religions the practice of prayer for others can help. In Vedic religions, there are hundreds of meditations one can practice. But, there is little doubt that the best way to understand what is “free” about will -and what isn’t free- is to cultivate awareness. The afforementioned practices certainly are foundational to this. But, all the prayer meditations and contemplations in the world won’t keep a tobacco addict wth cancer with smoking just one more cigarette.
We have to take resonsibility for our actions, with both ease and enjoyment fo what we do, while knowing what we shouldn’t do. The idea of the middle way, not too tight, not too loose applies. As the title of Chogyam Trungpa’s books accurately pronounces, we a "Myth of Freedom.” to despell the myth so we understand what freeome means to us as individuals, we first have to consider others and eh rest of the world before we act.