carnes@gargoyle.UUCP (Richard Carnes) (08/18/85)
Having studied the Talmud in his youth, and concluding that it was insufficient, Rich decided to seek out a Zen-Master for Enlightenment. So he crossed the mountains and a broad river and came into the presence of the famous Zen-Master Ma-Tsu. "Who sent you?" the Master demanded. "No one sent me," Rich replied. "You would not have come unless you had been sent by someone. Who sent you?" demanded the Master again. "But I was not sent," said Rich. "Do not try to deceive me!" cried the Master, growing angry. "Someone must have commanded you to come!" "But you are wrong!" cried Rich. "No one told me to come! No one commanded me! I came of my own free will!" At this the Master jumped up and struck Rich across the shoulders with his staff! At that moment, Rich attained Enlightenment. ______________________ From R. Smullyan, *The Tao Is Silent*: [God is speaking:] `Often one uses the statement "I am determined to do this" synonymously with "I have chosen to do this". This very psychological identification should reveal that determinism and choice are much closer than they might appear. Of course, you might well say that the doctrine of free will says that it is *you* who are doing the determining, whereas the doctrine of determinism appears to say that your acts are determined by something apparently outside you. But the confusion is largely caused by your bifurcation of reality into the "you" and the "not you". Really now, just where do you leave off and the rest of the universe begin? Or where does the rest of the universe leave off and you begin? Once you can see the so-called "you" and the so-called "nature" as a continuous whole, then you can never again be bothered by such questions as whether it is you who are controlling nature or nature who is controlling you. Thus the muddle of free will versus determinism will vanish.' So, does anyone out there care to argue with God? Richard Carnes, ihnp4!gargoyle!carnes