We are all responsible for our own conditioning, in the sense that we choose how we deal with it. We may not choose our immediate emotions, but we control our subsequent actions, which includes everything we do, not just physical action, but mental as well.
What about children? Are they responsible for their conditioning and their actions? If not, why not? If so, why?
It is a part of my nascent “philosophy” that personal responsibility is what separates a child from an adult. Responsibility, and its understanding, is developed. Responsibility is not necessarily something we are born with. Perhaps, responsibility is something we are all born with, but it is the taking and accepting and wielding of it that is developed, like wisdom, like personal power. The potential is there, the possibility. We are all born with the seeds, but only those who cultivate and nurture them will realize their potential.
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From my personal notes, 8/19/99
