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Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina  I wrote a nifty blog entry about this very topic as I was trying to figure it out as well. Here tis: Destiny vs. Free Will |
excellent insightful interpretation. you are describing a compatibility of free will with determinism.
this is a complicated subject.
there is no such thing as free will or determinism, in the same way there is no such thing as temperature or time. temperature and time are averages of particles moving through space. the same is true with each of us. we are all products of causality. however, causality does not equate determinism (despite my previous posts). i'll explain and expand.
we are connected, not independent of our environment.
just as a flower will bloom under the right environment, the same is true with each of us. if we are in a bad, non-productive environment, moving to a better area is not a indicator or exercise of free will. it is an indicator of growth - the following of our path. but likewise, the following of our path does not mean literally destiny, fate or determinism, for we must take action to walk our path, we must take action for growth, which goes back to an implication of free will.
the terms "free will" and "determinism" are not adequate labels explain what happens.
the Buddhas phrase "inter-dependent arising" seems a better-suited term.