Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The free will dilemma: are we mere puppets of our past conditioning? Or are we somehow magically able to rise above all causes to act with pure spontaneity? The Buddha rejected both these alternatives, and provided us with a third answer: freedom is something we can learn and train for.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Book mentioned:
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained -- amzn.to/484Jetn
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn2/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an3.61/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an6.63/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/ud5.5/en/sujato
✅ Videos mentioned:
A Hidden Meaning Behind the Buddha's Second Sermon on Non-self -- youtu.be/Ro0BV84dci4
Karma in Buddhism playlist -- youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0akoU_OszRgwcF_eKqxg8ok0w_dz2sj_
✅ Other source material:
Asaf Federman, "What Kind of Free Will Did the Buddha Teach?" Philosophy East & West, 60:1, January, 2010.
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail image courtesy of MasterTux from Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (4)
Omar
John Oborne
Debbie Mattison
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Roland Harris
karen
Rob
John
Jenn A.
Hieu Chi Tran
Kenneth Sorensen
Will Mosse
Sharon E.
Ken M
Marc Belanger
Kyaw Thurein
noted bones haver maia cash
Rebecca Duncan
Satibacon
Brooks Fleet
James Ravencroft
Gil
Martin Dinov
Karl H
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
The free will dilemma: are we mere puppets of our past conditioning? Or are we somehow magically able to rise above all causes to act with pure spontaneity? The Buddha rejected both these alternatives, and provided us with a third answer: freedom is something we can learn and train for.
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Book mentioned:
Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained -- amzn.to/484Jetn
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn2/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an3.61/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an6.63/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/ud5.5/en/sujato
✅ Videos mentioned:
A Hidden Meaning Behind the Buddha's Second Sermon on Non-self -- youtu.be/Ro0BV84dci4
Karma in Buddhism playlist -- youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0akoU_OszRgwcF_eKqxg8ok0w_dz2sj_
✅ Other source material:
Asaf Federman, "What Kind of Free Will Did the Buddha Teach?" Philosophy East & West, 60:1, January, 2010.
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail image courtesy of MasterTux from Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (4)
Omar
John Oborne
Debbie Mattison
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Roland Harris
karen
Rob
John
Jenn A.
Hieu Chi Tran
Kenneth Sorensen
Will Mosse
Sharon E.
Ken M
Marc Belanger
Kyaw Thurein
noted bones haver maia cash
Rebecca Duncan
Satibacon
Brooks Fleet
James Ravencroft
Gil
Martin Dinov
Karl H
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
