Being vs Becoming

Dear Dino

Philosophical history is often divided between the philosophies of Being (such as Plato, Descartes, Kant) and the philosophers of Becoming (such as Heracleitus, Spinoza, Nietzsche). Deleuze has written on this topic at great length. What we need to explain to westerners is that the philosophy of Becoming did not originate among the Greeks but rather in Asia and - if not even earlier - by no other thinker than Zarathushtra.
Actually, more than anything else, Mazdayasna is the RELIGION of Becoming. The theme of Becoming is also central to Daoism and Zen (I hope Peter can correct me here if I'm wrong). But in Mazdayasna it is everywhere.
Philosophy of Becoming is evident when we see things as flows and stops, causes and effects constantly intervowen with each other, rtaher than as a universe consisting of isolated objects. Monism is another distinction common to philosophies of Becoming. Plus of course the idea that values and valuations are relative and constitutive to the subject rather than constructed by an external judge (such as God) as it is in moralistic religions and philosophies.
Since "freedom" and "will" are central themes (especially when combined) in all philosophies of Being, we need to stress that as Mazdayasni we are interested in "will" as an indepedent force on the move, more or less requiring no freedom to exist. Because what would the will need to be free from, if there is no paternalistic external judge waiting in the wings?
In Mazdayasna, we are our own judges. We might even be tougher than any extrernal judge would be. But at least this is where things are at. It is the truth we are confronted with.

Ushta
Alexander

2008/9/23 Special Kain

One more thing:
Maybe the 'free will vs determinism' game is also rooted in the distinction between nature and culture, something that we've gotten past thanks to Gender Studies and Queer Theory.
According to my humble opinion, everything is natural and our perception, understanding and interaction is always culturally mediated and biased. Thus, we don't have to keep the distinction between nature and culture anymore.
Just collecting,
Dino