Hi Leviathan,
Thanks for the replay.
There are some questions from other guides.
Take a look and answer each one individually,
1.Describe decision & give examples from experience.
2.Describe intention & give examples from experience.
3.Describe free will & give examples from experience.
4.Describe choice & give examples from experience.
5.Describe control & give examples from experience.
Thank you,
l.
1.
Making a decision is the illusion of a separate self acting as the chief executive to the body, thoughts, emotions, etc. that determines the course of life. However, there is no separate self involved or acting on the thoughts, emotions, etc. from the outside.
When hearing the alarm in the morning, and deciding at what moment to get out of bed, there is the simultaneous feeling of comfort of being in bed, the thought process of knowing that I must get up, the emotional conviction of a decision made, and then the body moving out of the bed. At no point does a separate self act on thoughts, or feelings in deciding when to precisely get out of bed. Deciding and getting out of bed suddenly occur without any separate self planning them in advance.
When deciding how to respond to an email, the contents of the email are read and understood and then there is a response in thinking, on what should be written. The process is reflexive, and occurs without a separate self making a decision outside of thinking.
2.
Intention is a sudden emergent desire or conviction to meet some end, not inserted into emotions and thoughts by any separate self. Intention is an automatic focusing of attention towards some end.
If there is an intention to sit down, there is acknowledgment of fatigue in the legs, and of a desire and associated thought to sit, but there is never any separate self directing the process. Or puppeteer pulling the strings of thought, movement, desire, etc.
When there is intention to use the toilet, because I feel that my bladder has expanded, there is recognition of the need to use the toilet and subsequent action. There is no effort of a separate self to cause this to happen, or to create the intention or recognize it.
3.
Free will is the idea that there is some director behind the scenes of one’s life that is at the control panel, making one of infinite choices. But outside of thought, desire, action, etc. there is nothing else, and no separate self acting with an independent will.
I go to work everyday, and supposedly have the free will not to go also. However, the choice to go to work or not to go to work is not the choice of a separate self. There is a desire to go to work, and all associated actions, but at no point does a ‘me’ have any direction in the process. All actions and desires emerge as they do, without pre-mediation from beyond desire, action, etc.
There is no free will in taking a sip of water, as there is recognition of the feeling of thirst and proximity of the water bottle, and my arm moves without being directed by ‘me’ and proceeds to bring the glass to my mouth to drink. There is no me that creates the physiological sense of thirst, movement of the arms, etc.
4
Choice is the illusion that one of multiple possibilities is being lived out, and that one had the power to influence life in choosing the path being lived. However there is no real choice as event unfold without influence of a separate self, and reality is only being compared to this illusion of choice. This creates suffering when a separate self is asserted and the reality being lived is at ends with the illusion being asserted.
When comping on guitar, I have the choice between choosing one of several minor chords to play next in the sequence. But in the process of choosing, a choice is made without a separate self. Several possibilities are known, but the mind rests on one and the fingers position themselves accordingly without a separate self causing the finger to move or the choice to be made.
When choosing between two Nine Inch Nails songs to listen to next the desire to select one arises without a separate deciding to decide, or creating the desire to select one. Choice happens automatically, without need for a separate self.
5.
Control is the attempt to influence events with an imagined separate self. It is the illusion that there is a separate self in charge of the body, of thoughts, etc. It is also a source of stress, as there is no separate self or ability to influence anything.
When waiting to leave for work, and looking at the clock. There is the desire to control the situation so not to wait, which creates stress when a separate self attempts to resist the flow of events happening naturally. When anticipating a desire response from a person, the body tightens, and there is psychological and emotional tension as well, because of the illusion there is a separate self that can affect and be affected by the response.