Reply To: Determinism

#50301
cubibobi
Participant

@pathfinder

Yes, I should not have mentioned “anatta“; that was habit.

My main point, which I of course bungled, was this: it’s usually not beneficial to contemplate in terms of self/no self (whether from sakkaya ditthi or anatta), since it too often spawns speculations of “what if” scenarios; it tends to lead to arguments as to whether there is free will, whether things are determistic, etc. I often see this in people who contemplate self / no self, and thus just wanted to share.

BUT, a disclaimer here: this is my personal experience and observation as a puthujjana working toward the sotapanna anugami stage. Others’ approaches will be vastly different.

In my experience, contemplating sakkaya ditthi as the ditthi that the world is of nicca, sukha, atta nature, and what a folly that ditthi is, is of great benefit; one can make enormous progress with it.

The “perception of self” (māna samyojana) is, as we know, removed at the arahant stage. In this community, if there are anagamis working on this samyojana then that is fantastic!

Best,
Lang

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