user16678: What is the position of Buddhism in regards to free will and Determinism? What would be the correct position of Buddhism and could you use an analogy  to describe to me the correct view of Buddhism 
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

user43: When I asked my teacher, he said "both". Why?  Because these are two different perspectives on the same reality, one is looking objectively (determinism) and one is looking from the subjective perspective of a sentient being (free will).
From Wikipedia:

Causal determinism [...] in physics is known as cause-and-effect. It is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states.

Imagine a Robotic Vacuum, the kind that builds a map of the house internally and then orients itself by the map. It runs according to program, right? This program is deterministic, it works according to rules, correct? 
And yet, from the perspective of the robot (or rather its software program), it receives inputs from its "sensory organs", it "knows" where it is at the moment, and "makes decisions" about where to go next.
Now, imagine if we said, "Since the world is deterministic, the robot does not need the software. Everything is  predestined, so we can just leave it unprogrammed and everything will happen as it should. We don't even need to charge the battery. If it is destiny, it will get charged somehow..." Funny, right? Thinking like this you will end up with a dirty house. Even though the robot's behavior is completely deterministic, it still needs the right software and the right sensory information in order to build the right map, so it can make the right decisions (where to turn etc.)
Same with people. Even though the world is actually deterministic, each of us learns, thinks, and makes decisions. If we don't understand what's good, what's bad, and which actions lead to what results, if we simply let it all happen by itself, how can we get any results?
This is why the Buddha basically said, yes, the world operates according to Law, and the results of our actions are deterministic, but each of us has responsibility to build "the map of the house", evaluate our "inputs", and decide where to go next. We can't just sit there and expect Enlightenment to happen automatically - exactly because the world is deterministic.
The world is deterministic and this is why Nirvana is possible. If we don't create a cause, the result will not follow. 
This includes me answering this question. If I tell you that there is no free-will and you believe my authority and stop trying, then I will create bad causes for you. However, if I tell you that even though the world is deterministic, you are still responsible for your (local) decision-making, then I will create good causes for you. In this case, again, your future behavior is influenced by me, it is a result of the causes I create. This is why the Buddha was so much against the no-free-will teachers - because by denying free-will they create causes that lead to people giving up and surrendering to the hopeless suffering! But when we say that people are creators of their own destiny we create causes for the Right Effort, which quite deterministically leads in the right direction.
Now, in real life the relationships between events are complex. It's never as simple as the abstract billiard balls, one pushing another. Instead, something I say to you is added to the mix of other things you hear, and the final result is a complex formula aggregating all of these. Many past causes taken together shape the future results. This is why it is usually impossible to trace one future event to one past event, but in general none of the future events happen without some influence from the past events. In other words, the world is temporally continuous, it does not have gaps with something appearing out of absolute nothing. Everything develops continuously, mixing and changing shapes like the drifting clouds.
So the world is deterministic and this is why we must create good causes and not create bad causes. The world is deterministic and this is exactly why our choices matter. The world is deterministic and this is why karma works. The world is deterministic and this is why Teaching works.
Like those Robotic Vacuums, once our battery is charged with good karma and our software is updated with the wisdom of Dharma, we can build the right map of the house and make the right decisions, each one of us acting from their unique perspective and making the best decisions possible with the information we have.
Some people call this view "compatibilism". Meaning, this is a view that determinism is compatible with personal agency and decision-making; determinism is compatible with Right Effort - and not only compatible, determinism is what makes karma and Right Effort work.

user471: When your mind is agitated, your heart beats faster. When your mind calms down, your heart rate slow down. When you consume caffeine, your heart beats faster and your mind becomes agitated. If you take some medication that causes drowsiness, your heart rate slows down and also affects your mind. Does the mind control the body or does the body control the mind? It's in between.
Similarly, there is no 100% free will and no 100% determinism in Buddhism. It's in between.
We all know that the circumstances of one's birth - in which country, in which family, with which level of affluence and character - will affect how one turns out. Bill Gates wouldn't be Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, if he was born in Kazakhstan. That's determinism.
However, two identical twins with identical genetics and upbringing may turn out to be two completely different individuals. Let's say they attended the same school. Due to free will, one twin gave in to bad company and eventually became a criminal. Due to free will, the other twin decided to choose different company, and eventually became a Buddhist monk after being exposed to Buddhism. His criminal brother heard about Buddhism but thinks it's nonsense.
There is free will. That's why the twins can make their own choices.
But if no one introduced the second twin to Buddhism, would he have chosen to become a Buddhist monk? No. There's some element of determinism there.
To follow the five precepts, practise virtues and learn the Dhamma, is completely within your free will. But how and when did you first come to know of the five precepts, virtues and the Dhamma? That's determinism. But would all people who hear the Dhamma practise the teachings of Buddhism? No. Some instead choose to become Christians or Muslims. That's free will.
There's no perfect free will and there's no perfect determinism.
Free will and determinism are two sides of the same coin. That's the coin of impermanence.

user13694: In my opinion, the Dhamma is in-between those two extremes. The Dhamma teaches us Dependent Co-arising.
One's mind is not free from the influence of past conditions. What affects the aggregates in the present will influence its future state (or the state of the next group of aggregates causally derived from and connected to a past group of aggregates). In that sense, the mind is not free, at least not in an absolute sense.
On the other hand, is not only the past what influence the way the aggregates are or present themselves; the present, "external conditions" (external to the aggregates) also play a part in determining the state of the mind and the body. When we say "external conditions", we mainly refer to sensory stimuli and sense information, including thoughts (which are the stimuli of the mind, the sixth sense door in buddhism). That's why I think "external" is not a precise word for what I'm trying to say; maybe a better word could be "sense objects". In sum, sense objects contacting with sense organs/doors influence the aggregates, so we cannot say that only the past is responsable for present conditions; and so, we are not determined only by the past, at least not in the absolute sense.
The aggregates are conditioned by both past and present events, and this is precisely what allows us to change and to overcome and eradicate past kamma, to create new habits and tendencies leading to liberation. 
Kind regards, and welcome to the site!

16678: <p>What is the position of Buddhism in regards to free will and Determinism? What would be the correct position of Buddhism and could you use an analogy  to describe to me the correct view of Buddhism </p>

<p>Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu</p>
 43: <p>When I asked my teacher, he said "both". Why?  Because these are two different perspectives on the same reality, one is looking objectively (determinism) and one is looking from the subjective perspective of a sentient being (free will).</p>

<p>From Wikipedia:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Causal determinism [...] in physics is known as cause-and-effect. It is the concept that events within a given paradigm are bound by causality in such a way that any state (of an object or event) is completely determined by prior states.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Imagine a Robotic Vacuum, the kind that builds a map of the house internally and then orients itself by the map. It runs according to program, right? This program is deterministic, it works according to rules, correct? </p>

<p>And yet, from the perspective of the robot (or rather its software program), it receives inputs from its "sensory organs", it "knows" where it is at the moment, and "makes decisions" about where to go next.</p>

<p>Now, imagine if we said, "Since the world is deterministic, the robot does not need the software. Everything is  predestined, so we can just leave it unprogrammed and everything will happen as it should. We don't even need to charge the battery. If it is destiny, it will get charged somehow..." Funny, right? Thinking like this you will end up with a dirty house. Even though the robot's behavior is completely deterministic, it still needs the right software and the right sensory information in order to build the right map, so it can make the right decisions (where to turn etc.)</p>

<p>Same with people. Even though the world is actually deterministic, each of us learns, thinks, and makes decisions. If we don't understand what's good, what's bad, and which actions lead to what results, if we simply let it all happen by itself, how can we get any results?</p>

<p>This is why the Buddha basically said, yes, the world operates according to Law, and the results of our actions are deterministic, but each of us has responsibility to build "the map of the house", evaluate our "inputs", and decide where to go next. We can't just sit there and expect Enlightenment to happen automatically - <em>exactly</em> because the world is deterministic.</p>

<p>The world is deterministic and this is why Nirvana is possible. If we don't create a cause, the result will not follow. </p>

<p>This includes me answering this question. If I tell you that there is no free-will and you believe my authority and stop trying, then I will create bad causes for you. However, if I tell you that even though the world is deterministic, you are still responsible for your (local) decision-making, then I will create good causes for you. In this case, again, your future behavior is influenced by me, it is a result of the causes I create. This is why the Buddha was so much against the no-free-will teachers - because by denying free-will they create causes that lead to people giving up and surrendering to the hopeless suffering! But when we say that people are creators of their own destiny we create causes for the Right Effort, which quite deterministically leads in the right direction.</p>

<p>Now, in real life the relationships between events are complex. It's never as simple as the abstract billiard balls, one pushing another. Instead, something I say to you is added to the mix of other things you hear, and the final result is a complex formula aggregating all of these. Many past causes taken together shape the future results. This is why it is usually impossible to trace one future event to one past event, but in general none of the future events happen without some influence from the past events. In other words, the world is temporally continuous, it does not have gaps with something appearing out of absolute nothing. Everything develops continuously, mixing and changing shapes like the drifting clouds.</p>

<p>So the world is deterministic and this is why we must create good causes and not create bad causes. The world is deterministic and this is exactly why our choices matter. The world is deterministic and this is why karma works. The world is deterministic and this is why Teaching works.</p>

<p>Like those Robotic Vacuums, once our battery is charged with good karma and our software is updated with the wisdom of Dharma, we can build the right map of the house and make the right decisions, each one of us acting from their unique perspective and making the best decisions possible with the information we have.</p>

<p>Some people call this view "compatibilism". Meaning, this is a view that determinism is <em>compatible</em> with personal agency and decision-making; determinism is <em>compatible</em> with Right Effort - and not only compatible, determinism is what makes karma and Right Effort work.</p>
 471: <p>When your mind is agitated, your heart beats faster. When your mind calms down, your heart rate slow down. When you consume caffeine, your heart beats faster and your mind becomes agitated. If you take some medication that causes drowsiness, your heart rate slows down and also affects your mind. Does the mind control the body or does the body control the mind? It's in between.</p>

<p>Similarly, there is no 100% free will and no 100% determinism in Buddhism. It's in between.</p>

<p>We all know that the circumstances of one's birth - in which country, in which family, with which level of affluence and character - will affect how one turns out. Bill Gates wouldn't be Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, if he was born in Kazakhstan. That's determinism.</p>

<p>However, two identical twins with identical genetics and upbringing may turn out to be two completely different individuals. Let's say they attended the same school. Due to free will, one twin gave in to bad company and eventually became a criminal. Due to free will, the other twin decided to choose different company, and eventually became a Buddhist monk after being exposed to Buddhism. His criminal brother heard about Buddhism but thinks it's nonsense.</p>

<p>There is free will. That's why the twins can make their own choices.</p>

<p>But if no one introduced the second twin to Buddhism, would he have chosen to become a Buddhist monk? No. There's some element of determinism there.</p>

<p>To follow the five precepts, practise virtues and learn the Dhamma, is completely within your free will. But how and when did you first come to know of the five precepts, virtues and the Dhamma? That's determinism. But would all people who hear the Dhamma practise the teachings of Buddhism? No. Some instead choose to become Christians or Muslims. That's free will.</p>

<p>There's no perfect free will and there's no perfect determinism.</p>

<p>Free will and determinism are two sides of the same coin. That's the coin of impermanence.</p>
 13694: <p>In my opinion, the Dhamma is in-between those two extremes. The Dhamma teaches us Dependent Co-arising.</p>

<p>One's mind is not free from the influence of past conditions. What affects the aggregates in the present will influence its future state (or the state of the next group of aggregates causally derived from and connected to a past group of aggregates). In that sense, the mind is not free, at least not in an absolute sense.</p>

<p>On the other hand, is not only the past what influence the way the aggregates are or present themselves; the present, "external conditions" (external to the aggregates) also play a part in determining the state of the mind and the body. When we say "external conditions", we mainly refer to sensory stimuli and sense information, including thoughts (which are the stimuli of the mind, the sixth sense door in buddhism). That's why I think "external" is not a precise word for what I'm trying to say; maybe a better word could be "sense objects". In sum, sense objects contacting with sense organs/doors influence the aggregates, so we cannot say that only the past is responsable for present conditions; and so, we are not determined only by the past, at least not in the absolute sense.</p>

<p>The aggregates are conditioned by both past and present events, and this is precisely what allows us to change and to overcome and eradicate past kamma, to create new habits and tendencies leading to liberation. </p>

<p>Kind regards, and welcome to the site!</p>
