Free will again (Humans)

by BBella , Thursday, March 01, 2012, 22:43 (4648 days ago) @ xeno6696

"Does free will exist?".......
> The beginning of Buddhist meditation, concentrates on nothing more than sitting still, and continuously bringing your concentration to your breathing. This simple task is the most insanely difficult task I've ever had to do. 
> 
> Why? Your mind never stops! It doesn't like to be controlled.-Matt, I've been meditating for years and have a slightly different perspective on the mind and it's workings than you stated above ... thought I'd share.-To me, it's not the mind that never stops, it's the thought process that doesn't stop. I think of the two separately. The mind or mindfield/space is where the thought enters to be observed by your observer (the actual you). You, as the observer, can choose to follow the thought as it enters your mindfield...or not. So, for me, it's not that "it doesn't like to be controlled", as if thought has a mind of it's own..lol, it's that thought can't be controlled. Only what you choose to focus on can be controlled. -Also, you may know this, but I focus on the movement of breath in the area beneath my heart and not around my face, etc. Doing this brings the focus away from the mindfield and gives it a "place" to focus. ->The fact that it is so difficult to obtain exclusive control of your thoughts is truly a frightening idea.-I believe it's not just difficult, it's impossible to control thought. But it is possible to control what you choose to observe/focus on. If you choose to focus on a thought and then follow it where ever it leads, that thought has exclusive control over you (which can be a truly frightening idea!) until you choose to focus on something else. I think of thought like a radio wave and your focus as a receiver. If you choose to focus on something else the thought continues on it's way, into the ether. -For me, the trick is not to be busy trying to obtain control over the air space of the mindfield (which is where thoughts flow thru and which is impossible), but to practice "choosing" what to focus on or what to observe - like focusing on breathing, family life, school, etc. The more you control your choice of what to focus on, the less thought is attracted to your mindspace. ->We're less free than we think, definitely less free than we'd like to be... but I think its something very much like a muscle... you can exercise it and make it stronger.-Maybe the question to ask isnt "if" we have free will but "what" do we have free will of? We are not free to control thought or to control the space of the mindfield. But we do have free will to choose what to focus on.-Just lending a slightly different perspective.-bb