When we are talking about ‘thought’ what we are really pointing to is memory. By night when we dream it is memory and fragments of memory. By day what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell is intrinsically linked to memory. Even prophecy is memory. So called past, present and future is already ‘out-there.’ All is memory.
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It seems to me that life is a series of independent, disconnected events, with each event having its own unique dynamic. That there is no singular ‘me’ having experiences and thinking up thoughts. Rather, an event happens, which is the stimulus. Then, via memory, the response comes to the fore of its own volition. So stimulus and response are tied in together. Not a separate movement and not a ‘me’ orchestrating.
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When we look at something what we see is frames of memory. Same with all senses. When you really ‘see,’ it is not something you ‘do’ because the movement of thought has burned up into itself and is disengaged. It’s as if seeing for the very first time. It is both mysterious and astonishing.
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The movement of thought is such that a stimulus occurs and thought comes to the fore for the duration of need, then of its own accord burns up into itself and recedes to the background into not-thought. Until the demand arises again. And so on and so on.
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Free will or no free will? A better question would be, is there a singular, separate ‘me’ independent from frames of memory? Or does what has gone before - the backstory - direct the ‘choices’ we make? Stimulus and response.
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The quest for spiritual liberation is flawed. It assumes there is a separate ‘me’ to liberate. How can you free ‘me,’ when there is no ‘me’ to free in the first place? So called ‘freedom’ already is.
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