Free Will is the proof that YOU ARE. That there is a Self.

[Arthogaan]

Some users here on the forum (who I respect ) often like to claim that there is no self, there is no You and that Reality just is. That reality just happens and to put any "You/I" into that is a delusion. And I want to argue against that with the notion of Free Will. 

Of course I am not speaking about the Ego which is just an illusion/effect of You misperceiving what you Are. Just like rainbow is an illusion of light hitting against the water particles, the ego is the illusion of You hitting against the concepts, drama and life-story.

You (as pure consciousness) can decide in each moment to focus your attention on Yourself (being aware of awareness itself, meditation) or on thoughts and concepts inside of consciousness. This free will proves agency. It proves that there is an agent here. You.

People that claim that you cannot say that, that reality just is, could argue that you do not make that decision to meditate, that it just happens on itself, that it is just reality being reality. But that is delusion. That is a concept. An idea. THE DIRECT EXPERIENCE CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOU CAN MAKE THAT DECISION ANY SECOND. In each moment you can decide to meditate, to focus your attention on Consciousness. To focus You onto You. To say that you didn't make that decision, that it just happened is ignoring the direct experience and creating an idea. 

Free Agency is a fundamental property of Consciousness/God/You. It is always with You. Just like in a nightly dream, when you are asleep and you believe that the dream just happens on its own you could say, "well the dream just is, there is no me". But in each moment you have the choice to become lucid, to awaken. Which shows you that you are The Mind, the creator of the dream. If there was no You, you would not have the possibility to make such decisions, because reality would just flow, would just be. But in each second you have the choice to awaken. In each second you can choose to focus on the beingness (on yourself). Which proves that YOU ARE.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Arthogaan

[Schizophonia]

Free Will is an illusion.

[Arthogaan]

2 minutes ago, Schizophonia said:

Free Will is an illusion.

You chose to respond to my thread. And then you chose to delude yourself that you didn't decide that, that it just happened.

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Arthogaan

[Someone here]

@Arthogaan

I'm not gonna start citing the scientific studies that were done in the last century that shows that the brain takes a decision 10 millisecond before your conscious decision.  So for example..I decided to take a cigarette..putting it into my mouth and smoke .what happened here ?the brain decides before I have the thought of smoking and then it appears that I made the decision consciously .while in fact it was completely inevitable.

 

Let's try this simple experiment:

 

Get a piece of paper and pen.. and write down the first movie that comes to mind.. no deliberation.

Notice how the content of whatever movie it was..was completely unanticipated and random..It just happened. perhaps it was related to a recent memory.. or experience you had today. Notice how that was also out of control.

Now extend the realization of this experience of happening..of thinking of a movie.. to your entire existence.

Free will ain't there. It's all just pure happening.

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

As Schopenhauer said, a man can do what he wants but not want what he wants. Which by extension can also be applied to the universe as a whole.

So yes, free will is ultimately an illusion.

[Arthogaan]

1 minute ago, Someone here said:

@Arthogaan

I'm not gonna start citing the scientific studies that were done in the last century that shows that the brain takes a decision 10 millisecond before your conscious decision.  So for example..I decided to take a cigarette..putting it into my mouth and smoke .what happened here ?the brain decides before I have the thought of smoking and then it appears that I made the decision consciously .while in fact it was completely inevitable.

 

Let's try this simple experiment:

 

Get a piece of paper and pen.. and write down the first movie that comes to mind.. no deliberation.

Notice how the content of whatever movie it was..was completely unanticipated and random..It just happened. perhaps it was related to a recent memory.. or experience you had today. Notice how that was also out of control.

Now extend the realization of this experience of happening..of thinking of a movie.. to your entire existence.

Free will ain't there. It's all just pure happening.

 

You chose to respond to my thread. And then you chose to delude yourself that you didn't decide that, that it just happened.

[Schizophonia]

9 minutes ago, Arthogaan said:

You chose to respond to me topic. And then you chose to delude yourself that you didn't decide that, that it just happened.

 

Choice is an illusion 

To choose to do something rather than another, you are a prisoner of the determining factors of that choice in the relative world.
My brain (well me, but you see where I'm going with this) made the decision to respond to this topic, but could it have been otherwise? If the neurons were led to this decision it was because it was logical, otherwise it would have been different, wouldn't it?
Did I "choose" my "choice" ? 

Edited September 19, 2023 by Schizophonia

[Arthogaan]

5 minutes ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

a man can do what he wants but not want what he wants

You can always choose to focus attention on the beingness itself.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Arthogaan

[Someone here]

1 minute ago, Arthogaan said:

You chose to respond to my thread.

Define "you ".

[Someone here]

1 minute ago, Schizophonia said:

Choice is an illusion 

To choose to do something rather than another, you are a prisoner of the determining factors of that choice in the relative world.
My brain (well me, but you see where I'm going with this) made the decision to respond to this topic, but could it have been otherwise?
Did I "choose" my "choice" ? 

Dude you are fucking hilarious. ?

[Arthogaan]

1 minute ago, Schizophonia said:

Did I "choose" my "choice" ? 

This is a monkey mind thinking about the experience that happened in the past. That is conceptualizing, ego playing it's games. The direct experience is that you can make a choice to respond or not. Ideas about some factors in the brain are just stories. Just as brain is a story. @Someone here

[Arthogaan]

1 minute ago, Someone here said:

Define "you ".

Pure, ego-less Consciousness/God.

[Someone here]

Just now, Arthogaan said:

Pure, ego-less Consciousness/God.

Really? Is that ⬆️ honestly how you consider to be yourself ?

[Arthogaan]

2 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Really? Is that ⬆️ honestly how you consider to be yourself ?

Yes. And You are too.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Arthogaan

[Someone here]

@Arthogaan When you experience a thought ..it just arises in your awareness..you don't literally will it into existence. And that's something you can notice especially when you are meditating.  You've got what Buddhists call "the monkey mind " which is simply another way to say that thoughts run rampant in your mind and you can't really control them .all we can do is observe them .become the awareness that is aware of thoughts instead of identifying with thoughts. 

 

[Schizophonia]

1 minute ago, Arthogaan said:

This is a monkey mind thinking about the experience that happened in the past. That is conceptualizing, ego playing it's games. The direct experience is that you can make a choice to respond or not. Ideas about some factors in the brain are just stories. Just as brain is a story. @Someone here

Because you are omitting part of reality. You tell yourself that you have the choice to eat this apple or not, because both choices are a priori "technically possible".
But it is an illusory one-eyed vision, what will happen in the dream will happen.
Basically I don't have a choice whether to post this answer or not, if you think about it 

bbjbibiadbiabibdeùùùù%%%%%

 

10 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Dude you are fucking hilarious. ?

La zizanieeeee dans ma peaaaaauuuu 

 

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

13 minutes ago, Arthogaan said:

You can always choose to focus attention on the beingness itself.

But you cannot choose to choose to do so. There's the rub, my man.

[Arthogaan]

2 minutes ago, Someone here said:

all we can do is observe them .become the awareness that is aware of thoughts instead of identifying with thoughts. 

Yes! And notice the word "can" in your sentence! This "can" is the proof of your Free Will. You CAN choose to observe and meditate.

[Arthogaan]

1 minute ago, Bazooka Jesus said:

But you cannot choose to choose to do so. There's the rub, my man.

Choose to choose doesn't make sense without the notion of linear time. There is only NOW, and I CAN CHOOSE to meditate NOW.

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

14 minutes ago, Arthogaan said:

This is a monkey mind thinking about the experience that happened in the past.

And who is choosing the monkey mind thinking?

If your answer is "nothing/nobody", then your answer is correct.