My emotional dysregulation is fading. Had some paranoid thoughts that caused no anxiety today. Making time to meditate to try and sort myself out. Went out and decided to get out of my house and the paranoid thoughts faded - did what you mentioned - showed myself compassion - they just went after a couple of hours - also went to a spot of nature and used mindfulness. I do find letting go is a process that will take some time I think. I did hear you once that patience is necessary and that this is impermanent. Thank you once again for this talk. I often listen to them more than once.
Thank you Ajanh for the Dharma talk , for Mr sEddy question , I think the free wills that Ajanh was talking about base on Dharma , he absolutely can have a free wills to earn money as much as he wants but if he wants a free will to take things that doesn’t belong to him it against the Dharma when you need a person to lean on , to give you strength and patience to contemplate you should think about the Buddha rather than Ajanh Bramble , we actually have a sutra which the Buddha said that not me If you want to put Dharma in your driver seat , you must learn and trust the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha Being doubtful about the Buddha Dharma and Sangha is the wrong view 🙏🙏🙏
This is my take from what Ajahn Brahmali’s talk (he has been teaching us regarding ‘free will’ in many of his talks before). We’re all functioning under delusion/illusion that we have free will (which is a privilege and very fortunate thing to have in our world even though it is a delusion) where as in Dhamma view, things/people are conditioned in very deep-rooted way that we are not aware of that we are conditioned. We ‘assume’ that we come/listen to this Dhamma talk by our free will amongst other choices that we do everyday. But for this thing to happen, there are a lot of favourable conditions to meet this to happen such as there is a teacher to teach Dhamma, the place for people to gather around, the recording, internet connection, UA-cam is allowed in your country, you have an interest in the teaching or have a curiosity to know or wish to practice, etc. An example if you live in the middle of nowhere with no knowledge of Buddhism exits (another conditioning), then you wouldn’t be listening to this Dhamma talk. OR an easy example, you choose freely between an apple and an orange but in fact you don’t even know you have a choice for grapes. So where does this ‘Freedom’ come from when you’re conditioned to have only 2 choices? So we have Will and choices but none of them are Free as we’d like to think. That’s why Dhamma is very profound and I am very grateful that we are living in this moment with very good Sangha teachers who can teach/guide us and our previous conditions led to here.🙏🙏🙏
@ English is my second language languages so I might didn’t understand fully what you are talking about but you have free will to believe or don’t believe I repeat this one more time “Being doubtful in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the wrong view
This raises a big question about the Buddha's teachings itself: if everything is conditioned and we don’t have choices we can make freely, then how do we understand the role of our actions? It makes sense to say that past actions create conditioned circumstances in the present moment, but in the present, we still seem to have choices that shape our future. If we claim that our current awareness and understanding of things like grapes are conditioned by past actions, it makes sense. However, for the future, we can still make positive choices in the present moment to create good conditions that will help us progress on the path, as you said, conditioning the ability to find the grapes.
@@Nirvan-y8u Sadhu sadhu sadhu. Thank you. The key Buddha teaching is ‘Dependent Origination’. It itself is the meaning of no ‘Free Will’. We are here in Samsara because we haven’t been able to fully grasp the meaning of it yet. We can sort of understand this at intellectual level only but not fully and truly. At the end of day, what we’re discussing is purely philosophical. So it is a moot point. Therefore whether there is true ‘Free Will’ or not does not matter. Buddha teaching can be only understood by practising it. I wish you be in peace, tranquillity and able to attain what you wish to attain. 🙏🙏🙏
@@opinionisjustopinion6599 Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Thank you for this information . I have not read about dependent origination - Does it say our present action does not matter?
I have great respect and admiration for Ajahn Brahmali’s teachings, but I find myself a bit confused by his recent explanation on free will. If there is no free will now, then how do we account for the choices made in the past that have led us to encounter the Dhamma in this life? The past was once the present for us, and it seems we must have exercised some form of will to arrive where we are today. Perhaps Ajahn Brahmali's view on free will could be explained more clearly, as it feels somewhat difficult to grasp fully. If this concept is said to be against the Buddha's teachings, it would be helpful to receive practical and supportive guidance rather than general hints. The Buddha had a way of addressing such questions with clarity or sometimes choosing silence when he felt an answer might lead to further confusion or hinder one’s progress on the path.
It's all based on each person's ability to comprehend the dhamma right? .. for most of us it takes time. but in a way it made us think and want to explore, which is again another cause and affect of it. i can understand how it can confuse some, but after a while most will forget , a few will dig deeper into their practice to help them understand. my understanding on this no free will, is there cannot be 'free' will as all is cause and effect. all our current thought patterns, actions and way we talk have stemmed from past experiences that have been influenced by those around us, their actions and our reactions to those. even the way we reacted/(or still react) to them had been conditioned as such. Hence, there cannot be any true 'free' will as there is no real 'beginning' to the cause of effect. its the fruit of other causes, which were also fruits of their causes and so on.. This is my understanding. which may have its own faults as i am also in the journey of learning and practicing dhamma. if it helps someone, good. if not, hopefully they can still go with what they can digest and continue building their path, which one day could lead to clearer views.
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Thank you for the clear explanation. I understand that the past is conditioned, but what about the present moment? If everything is just cause and effect, and we have no choices, then why did the Buddha teach that we should abandon unwholesome actions? I accept that the past cannot be changed, but I believe the future can be. If everything is merely conditioned, then there would be no right effort in the Noble Eightfold Path. I am learning the Dhamma, but if the teachings are not clear on free will, then perhaps it is best to set aside this question and simply practice what purifies the mind.
@@Nirvan-y8u I think Buddha taught dhamma such as the necessity to abandon unwholesome actions and to practice wholesome actions, to help us condition ourselves correctly. The present moment is no different from past with regards to cause and effect really. We will go with the 'illusion' of choice and experience its consequences but the factors that contributes to our choices made in present moment would have been completed (hence they are the past, giving arise to the present, and it continues so on). Similarly there is no 'random' choice especially in this context. The choices that we think 'we' make along with the illusion of 'I' is all results of the past causations. I'll start by saying I cannot say why Buddha taught or did something but only why I think he did, as I am obviously nowhere near that level of comprehension. But since you seem to ask these questions genuinely and there is value in trying to understand this, that's why I hope to share my understanding or at least my view of it, as it helps me as much as it might someone else. So going back to the first point, in my understanding, Buddhas teaching was to help us follow the noble eightfold path which he realised as the only true way to end sansaaric suffering. Therefore the teachings were to provide the right conditions for us to do that. As you may know people like Upathissa, who become Most Ven. Sariputta after ordaining, the wisest of Buddha's deciples, only had to hear this to become a stream-winner ""Of those phenomena which arise from causes, The Tathagata has told the cause, And also what their cessation is: This is the doctrine of the Great Recluse"" (Vinaya Pitaka (Mahavagga I.23).) Lots of other including us have heard it but no such understanding.. yet. why? Upatissa, had already gone through the practice enough many many lifetimes in the past, to become the result that he was in his last. So his conditioning was that. Ours is not yet. So if someone upon hearing this teaching about 'no free will', then wrongly decides to just lie in bed lazy well that is part of their own conditioning and past practice. Another would take it as the importance of making sure they get more and more of the right conditioning through 'Kalyana-mitta' (noble friends) which I think is one of the essence of Ajahn Brahmalis talk here. were they both pre-conditioned to do each?.. yes sure. Would that stop each from doing what they do?.. No, I don't think so. They will both go with their illusion of 'choice' or 'free will', although each would walk their own path. I believe this to be why when Ven. Ananda asked ""Venerable sir, this is half of the holy life: good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship."", to that Buddha stated "Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda! ..This is the entire holy life, Ānanda, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship. When a bhikkhu has a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, it is to be expected that he will develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.. (AN 9.1)" Here's another one I though you might find interesting that came to my mind when thinking about this. You probably hear of Maha Mangala Sutta. you can look it up in Suttacentral etc. I found it very interesting the very first response from Buddha when asked what's considered as the highest blessings for humans and Deva beings, Buddha starts the sutta with these two versus "Not to fraternize with fools, but to fraternize with the wise, and honoring those worthy of honor: this is the highest blessing. Living in a suitable region, having made merit in the past, being rightly resolved in oneself, this is the highest blessing." In the same sutta it later mentions "timely listening to the teaching," ".. and timely listening to the teaching: this is the highest blessing".
@@KM-dr8tc I understand what you’re trying to convey. It can indeed be confusing when analyzed deeply, but I prefer to keep it simple-focusing on making the right effort to abandon unwholesome qualities in the present moment. Ajahn Brahmali puts in a lot of effort to explain free will in his Dhamma talks.I strongly believe that there is some free will in the present moment, which allows us to create the right causes and conditions for the future. In this, the Buddha’s teaching on the right effort becomes essential to our practice. While Ajahn Brahmali’s dedication is admirable, I personally find that astrology, which he supports, was discouraged by the Buddha, as it can lead to superstition and divert one from the true path. Being open-minded out of compassion is valuable, but it’s equally important to gently guide people toward the original teachings of the Buddha. Thank you for taking the time to explain this. I truly appreciate it. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu
@@Nirvan-y8u Indeed, I also agree that keeping it simple is a good strategy. Because the practice you build up from that (e.g. with daily mediation) helps you much more than any pure theoretical knowledge would. So it's great to hear you keep an open mind and not get tied to any strong views.., but still keep enough to keep floating i.e. keep the practice going without loosing sight. Sometimes, we see people and even ourselves at both ends, either forgetting or just loosing interest in continuing our practice, or these days many peoplee trying to always understand everything through intellect alone like a math equation, even that is not bad, but that usually leads to people strongly holding to certain views.. so its really good if someone can keep that open mind, humble nature, listen to other teachers as well (within reason) and most importantly of all, continue their practice forward so they can start seeing the dhamma through their own practice and realise it within themself, as that is how i believe all Buddhas intended. 🙏
Great talk, always love Ajahn Brahmali talks, many thanks
Really appreciate your lightness of touch and relaxed humour in your talks. You put things so well, great healthy re-conditioning!! 🙏
Peace to you thank you for your clarity and insight into the Dharma
Thank you so much ❤❤❤
My emotional dysregulation is fading. Had some paranoid thoughts that caused no anxiety today. Making time to meditate to try and sort myself out. Went out and decided to get out of my house and the paranoid thoughts faded - did what you mentioned - showed myself compassion - they just went after a couple of hours - also went to a spot of nature and used mindfulness. I do find letting go is a process that will take some time I think. I did hear you once that patience is necessary and that this is impermanent. Thank you once again for this talk. I often listen to them more than once.
Happy for you, dharma helped me in a simmilar way too. Best wishes for your practice🙏
incredible talk, a lot to take in. using mindfulness and right view i listened well. thank you
Think what you want about Eddie or whether he is right or not but he is being very brave and honest here.
41:20 ❤
Thank you Ajanh for the Dharma talk , for Mr sEddy question , I think the free wills that Ajanh was talking about base on Dharma , he absolutely can have a free wills to earn money as much as he wants but if he wants a free will to take things that doesn’t belong to him it against the Dharma when you need a person to lean on , to give you strength and patience to contemplate you should think about the Buddha rather than Ajanh Bramble , we actually have a sutra which the Buddha said that not me If you want to put Dharma in your driver seat , you must learn and trust the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha Being doubtful about the Buddha Dharma and Sangha is the wrong view 🙏🙏🙏
This is my take from what Ajahn Brahmali’s talk (he has been teaching us regarding ‘free will’ in many of his talks before). We’re all functioning under delusion/illusion that we have free will (which is a privilege and very fortunate thing to have in our world even though it is a delusion) where as in Dhamma view, things/people are conditioned in very deep-rooted way that we are not aware of that we are conditioned.
We ‘assume’ that we come/listen to this Dhamma talk by our free will amongst other choices that we do everyday. But for this thing to happen, there are a lot of favourable conditions to meet this to happen such as there is a teacher to teach Dhamma, the place for people to gather around, the recording, internet connection, UA-cam is allowed in your country, you have an interest in the teaching or have a curiosity to know or wish to practice, etc. An example if you live in the middle of nowhere with no knowledge of Buddhism exits (another conditioning), then you wouldn’t be listening to this Dhamma talk. OR an easy example, you choose freely between an apple and an orange but in fact you don’t even know you have a choice for grapes. So where does this ‘Freedom’ come from when you’re conditioned to have only 2 choices?
So we have Will and choices but none of them are Free as we’d like to think. That’s why Dhamma is very profound and I am very grateful that we are living in this moment with very good Sangha teachers who can teach/guide us and our previous conditions led to here.🙏🙏🙏
@ English is my second language languages so I might didn’t understand fully what you are talking about but you have free will to believe or don’t believe I repeat this one more time “Being doubtful in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the wrong view
This raises a big question about the Buddha's teachings itself: if everything is conditioned and we don’t have choices we can make freely, then how do we understand the role of our actions? It makes sense to say that past actions create conditioned circumstances in the present moment, but in the present, we still seem to have choices that shape our future. If we claim that our current awareness and understanding of things like grapes are conditioned by past actions, it makes sense. However, for the future, we can still make positive choices in the present moment to create good conditions that will help us progress on the path, as you said, conditioning the ability to find the grapes.
@@Nirvan-y8u
Sadhu sadhu sadhu. Thank you.
The key Buddha teaching is ‘Dependent Origination’. It itself is the meaning of no ‘Free Will’. We are here in Samsara because we haven’t been able to fully grasp the meaning of it yet. We can sort of understand this at intellectual level only but not fully and truly. At the end of day, what we’re discussing is purely philosophical. So it is a moot point. Therefore whether there is true ‘Free Will’ or not does not matter. Buddha teaching can be only understood by practising it.
I wish you be in peace, tranquillity and able to attain what you wish to attain. 🙏🙏🙏
@@opinionisjustopinion6599 Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Thank you for this information . I have not read about dependent origination - Does it say our present action does not matter?
I have great respect and admiration for Ajahn Brahmali’s teachings, but I find myself a bit confused by his recent explanation on free will. If there is no free will now, then how do we account for the choices made in the past that have led us to encounter the Dhamma in this life? The past was once the present for us, and it seems we must have exercised some form of will to arrive where we are today. Perhaps Ajahn Brahmali's view on free will could be explained more clearly, as it feels somewhat difficult to grasp fully. If this concept is said to be against the Buddha's teachings, it would be helpful to receive practical and supportive guidance rather than general hints. The Buddha had a way of addressing such questions with clarity or sometimes choosing silence when he felt an answer might lead to further confusion or hinder one’s progress on the path.
It's all based on each person's ability to comprehend the dhamma right? .. for most of us it takes time. but in a way it made us think and want to explore, which is again another cause and affect of it. i can understand how it can confuse some, but after a while most will forget , a few will dig deeper into their practice to help them understand.
my understanding on this no free will, is there cannot be 'free' will as all is cause and effect. all our current thought patterns, actions and way we talk have stemmed from past experiences that have been influenced by those around us, their actions and our reactions to those. even the way we reacted/(or still react) to them had been conditioned as such. Hence, there cannot be any true 'free' will as there is no real 'beginning' to the cause of effect. its the fruit of other causes, which were also fruits of their causes and so on..
This is my understanding. which may have its own faults as i am also in the journey of learning and practicing dhamma. if it helps someone, good. if not, hopefully they can still go with what they can digest and continue building their path, which one day could lead to clearer views.
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu. Thank you for the clear explanation. I understand that the past is conditioned, but what about the present moment? If everything is just cause and effect, and we have no choices, then why did the Buddha teach that we should abandon unwholesome actions? I accept that the past cannot be changed, but I believe the future can be. If everything is merely conditioned, then there would be no right effort in the Noble Eightfold Path. I am learning the Dhamma, but if the teachings are not clear on free will, then perhaps it is best to set aside this question and simply practice what purifies the mind.
@@Nirvan-y8u I think Buddha taught dhamma such as the necessity to abandon unwholesome actions and to practice wholesome actions, to help us condition ourselves correctly. The present moment is no different from past with regards to cause and effect really. We will go with the 'illusion' of choice and experience its consequences but the factors that contributes to our choices made in present moment would have been completed (hence they are the past, giving arise to the present, and it continues so on). Similarly there is no 'random' choice especially in this context. The choices that we think 'we' make along with the illusion of 'I' is all results of the past causations.
I'll start by saying I cannot say why Buddha taught or did something but only why I think he did, as I am obviously nowhere near that level of comprehension. But since you seem to ask these questions genuinely and there is value in trying to understand this, that's why I hope to share my understanding or at least my view of it, as it helps me as much as it might someone else.
So going back to the first point, in my understanding, Buddhas teaching was to help us follow the noble eightfold path which he realised as the only true way to end sansaaric suffering. Therefore the teachings were to provide the right conditions for us to do that. As you may know people like Upathissa, who become Most Ven. Sariputta after ordaining, the wisest of Buddha's deciples, only had to hear this to become a stream-winner ""Of those phenomena which arise from causes, The Tathagata has told the cause,
And also what their cessation is: This is the doctrine of the Great Recluse"" (Vinaya Pitaka (Mahavagga I.23).)
Lots of other including us have heard it but no such understanding.. yet. why? Upatissa, had already gone through the practice enough many many lifetimes in the past, to become the result that he was in his last. So his conditioning was that. Ours is not yet.
So if someone upon hearing this teaching about 'no free will', then wrongly decides to just lie in bed lazy well that is part of their own conditioning and past practice. Another would take it as the importance of making sure they get more and more of the right conditioning through 'Kalyana-mitta' (noble friends) which I think is one of the essence of Ajahn Brahmalis talk here. were they both pre-conditioned to do each?.. yes sure. Would that stop each from doing what they do?.. No, I don't think so. They will both go with their illusion of 'choice' or 'free will', although each would walk their own path.
I believe this to be why when Ven. Ananda asked ""Venerable sir, this is half of the holy life: good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship."", to that Buddha stated "Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda! ..This is the entire holy life, Ānanda, that is, good friendship, good companionship, good comradeship. When a bhikkhu has a good friend, a good companion, a good comrade, it is to be expected that he will develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path.. (AN 9.1)"
Here's another one I though you might find interesting that came to my mind when thinking about this. You probably hear of Maha Mangala Sutta. you can look it up in Suttacentral etc. I found it very interesting the very first response from Buddha when asked what's considered as the highest blessings for humans and Deva beings, Buddha starts the sutta with these two versus
"Not to fraternize with fools,
but to fraternize with the wise,
and honoring those worthy of honor:
this is the highest blessing.
Living in a suitable region,
having made merit in the past,
being rightly resolved in oneself,
this is the highest blessing."
In the same sutta it later mentions "timely listening to the teaching," ".. and timely listening to the teaching: this is the highest blessing".
@@KM-dr8tc I understand what you’re trying to convey. It can indeed be confusing when analyzed deeply, but I prefer to keep it simple-focusing on making the right effort to abandon unwholesome qualities in the present moment. Ajahn Brahmali puts in a lot of effort to explain free will in his Dhamma talks.I strongly believe that there is some free will in the present moment, which allows us to create the right causes and conditions for the future. In this, the Buddha’s teaching on the right effort becomes essential to our practice. While Ajahn Brahmali’s dedication is admirable, I personally find that astrology, which he supports, was discouraged by the Buddha, as it can lead to superstition and divert one from the true path.
Being open-minded out of compassion is valuable, but it’s equally important to gently guide people toward the original teachings of the Buddha.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this. I truly appreciate it. Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu
@@Nirvan-y8u Indeed, I also agree that keeping it simple is a good strategy. Because the practice you build up from that (e.g. with daily mediation) helps you much more than any pure theoretical knowledge would. So it's great to hear you keep an open mind and not get tied to any strong views.., but still keep enough to keep floating i.e. keep the practice going without loosing sight.
Sometimes, we see people and even ourselves at both ends, either forgetting or just loosing interest in continuing our practice, or these days many peoplee trying to always understand everything through intellect alone like a math equation, even that is not bad, but that usually leads to people strongly holding to certain views.. so its really good if someone can keep that open mind, humble nature, listen to other teachers as well (within reason) and most importantly of all, continue their practice forward so they can start seeing the dhamma through their own practice and realise it within themself, as that is how i believe all Buddhas intended. 🙏