Wholesomeness (Kusala Kamma)

WHOLESOMENESS (Kusala-kamma)

A Buddhist Anthology Prepared for DHARMA FLOWER SANGHA

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WHOLESOMENESS (Kusala kamma)

A Buddhist Anthology

Prepared for DHARMA FLOWER SANGHA April 2012

www.dharmaflower.org

Phap Hoa Buddhist Temple . 85 Prospect Street . Vernon . CT . 06066

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Illustrations by Chalermchai Kositpipat http://www.rama9art.org/chalermchai/index.html

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“Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking & pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.

If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with renunciation, abandoning thinking imbued with sensuality, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with renunciation.

If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with non-ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with non-ill will.

If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmlessness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmfulness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmlessness.”

Dvedhavitakka Sutta (MN 19)

This booklet is an offering of the Dharma and may be freely reprinted.

Some material is copyright.

Please do not remove attributions.

Sabbe sattā bhavantu sukhitattā

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Definitions and Texts

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Renunciation, by T. Price

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The Sacred and the Lost, by Norman Fischer

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Buddhism and Psychology, by Ven. Hsing Yun

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Awakening Joy: Cultivating the Gladness of the Wholesome, by James Baraz

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Right Effort, by Bhikkhu Bodhi

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The Bodhisattva Path and Buddhist Moral Psychology, by Jay L. Garfield

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The Characteristic of Lobha, by Nina Van Gorkom 89

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DEFINITIONS AND TEXTS Wholesomeness (Kusala-kamma) Kusala: ‘karmically wholesome’ or ‘profitable', salutary, morally good, (skillful) Connotations of the term, according to Com. (Atthasālini), are: of good health, blameless, productive of favourable karma-result, skillful. It should be noted that Com. excludes the meaning ’skillful', when the term is applied to states of consciousness.

It is defined in M.9 as the 10 wholesome courses of action (s. kammapatha). In psychological terms, ‘karmically wholesome’ are all those karmical volitions (kamma-cetanā) and the consciousness and mental factors associated therewith, which are accompanied by 2 or 3 wholesome roots (s. mūla), i.e. by greedlessness (alobha) and hatelessness (adosa), and in some cases also by non-delusion (amoha: wisdom, understanding). Such states of consciousness are regarded as ‘karmically wholesome’ as they are causes of favourable karma results and contain the seeds of a happy destiny or rebirth. From this explanation, two facts should be noted: (1) it is volition that makes a state of consciousness, or an act, ‘good’ or ‘bad'; (2) the moral criterion in Buddhism is the presence or absence of the 3 wholesome or moral roots (s. mūla).

The above explanations refer to mundane (lokiya, q.v.) wholesome consciousness. Supermundane wholesome (lokuttarakusala) states, i.e. the four paths of sanctity (s. ariyapuggala), have as results only the corresponding four fru9

itions; they do not constitute karma, nor do they lead to rebirth, and this applies also to the good actions of an Arahat (Tab. I, 7380) and his meditative states (Tab. 1, 81-89), which are all karmically inoperative (functional; s. kiriya).

Kusala belongs to a threefold division of all consciousness, as found in the Abhidhamma (Dhs.), into wholesome (kusala), unwholesome (akusala) and karmically neutral (avyākata), which is the first of the triads (tika) in the Abhidhamma schedule (mātikā); s. Guide, pp. 4ff., 12ff; Vis.M. XIV, 83ff.

From Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, by Nyanatiloka

“Householders, there are three kinds of bodily conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct. There are four kinds of verbal conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct. There are three kinds of mental conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct.

“And how are there three kinds of bodily conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct? Here someone is a killer of living beings: he is murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, and merciless to all living beings. He is a taker of what is not given: he takes as a thief another’s chattels and property in the village or in the forest. He is given over to misconduct in sexual desires: he has intercourse with such (women) as are protected by the mother, father, (mother and father), brother, sister, relatives, as have a husband, as entail a penalty, 10

and also with those that are garlanded in token of betrothal.

That is how there are three kinds of bodily conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct.

“And how are there four kinds of verbal conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct? Here someone speaks falsehood: when summoned to a court or to a meeting, or to his relatives’ presence, or to his guild, or to the royal family’s presence, and questioned as a witness thus, ’so, good man, tell what you know,’ then, not knowing, he says ‘I know,’ or knowing, he says ‘I do not know,’ not seeing, he says ‘I see,’ or seeing, he says ‘I do not see'; in full awareness he speaks falsehood for his own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. He speaks maliciously: he is a repeater elsewhere of what is heard here for the purpose of causing division from these, or he is a repeater to these of what is heard elsewhere for the purpose of causing division from those, and he is thus a divider of the united, a creator of divisions, who enjoys discord, rejoices in discord, delights in discord, he is a speaker of words that create discord. He speaks harshly: he utters such words as are rough, hard, hurtful to others, censorious of others, bordering on anger and unconducive to concentration. He is a gossip: as one who tells that which is unseasonable, that which is not fact, that which is not good, that which is not the Dhamma, that which is not the Discipline, and he speaks out of season speech not worth recording, which is unreasoned, indefinite, and unconnected with good. That is how there are four kinds of verbal conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct.

“And how are there three kinds of mental conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct? Here someone is covetous: he is a coveter of another’s chattels and property thus: ‘Oh, that what is another’s were mine!’ Or he has a mind of ill11

will, with the intention of a mind affected by hate thus: ‘May these beings be slain and slaughtered, may they be cut off, perish, or be annihilated!’ Or he has wrong view, distorted vision, thus: ‘There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed, no fruit and ripening of good and bad kammas, no this world, no other world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously (born) beings,[1] no good and virtuous monks and brahmans that have themselves realized by direct knowledge and declare this world and the other world.'[2] That is how there are three kinds of mental conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, unrighteous conduct.

"So, householders, it is by reason of conduct not in accordance with the Dhamma, by reason of unrighteous conduct, that some beings here, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappear in states of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, even in hell.

“Householders, there are three kinds of bodily conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct. There are four kinds of verbal conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct. There are three kinds of mental conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

“And how are there three kinds of bodily conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct? Here someone, abandoning the killing of living beings, becomes one who abstains from killing living beings; with rod and weapon laid aside, gentle and kindly, he abides compassionate to all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he becomes one who abstains from taking what is not given; he does not take as a thief another’s chattels and property in the village or in the forest.

Abandoning misconduct in sexual desires, he becomes one who abstains from misconduct in sexual desires: he does not have 12

intercourse with such women as are protected by mother, father, (father and mother), brother, sister, relatives, as have a husband, as entail a penalty, and also those that are garlanded in token of betrothal. That is how there are three kinds of bodily conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

“And how are there four of verbal conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct? Here someone, abandoning false speech, becomes one who abstains from false speech: when summoned to a court or to a meeting or to his relatives’ presence or to his guild or to the royal family’s presence, and questioned as a witness thus, ’so, good man, tell what you know,’ not knowing, he says ‘I do not know,’ or knowing, he says ‘I know,’ not seeing he says ‘I do not see,’ or seeing, he says ‘I see'; he does not in full awareness speak falsehood for his own ends or for another’s ends or for some trifling worldly end. Abandoning malicious speech, he becomes one who abstains from malicious speech: as one who is neither a repeater elsewhere of what is heard here for the purpose of causing division from these, nor a repeater to these of what is heard elsewhere for the purpose of causing division from those, who is thus a reuniter of the divided, a promoter of friendships, enjoying concord, rejoicing in concord, delighting in concord, he becomes a speaker of words that promote concord. Abandoning harsh speech, he becomes one who abstains from harsh speech: he becomes a speaker of such words as are innocent, pleasing to the ear and lovable, as go to the heart, are civil, desired of many and dear to many. Abandoning gossip, he becomes one who abstains from gossip: as one who tells that which is seasonable, that which is factual, that which is good, that which is the Dhamma, that which is the Discipline, he speaks in season speech worth recording, which is reasoned, definite and connected with good. That is how there 13

are four kinds of verbal conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

“And how are there three kinds of mental conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct? Here someone is not covetous: he is not a coveter of another’s chattels and property thus: ‘Oh, that what is another’s were mine!’ He has no mind of ill-will, with the intention of a mind unaffected by hate thus: ‘May these beings be free from enmity, affliction and anxiety, may they live happily!’ He has right view, undistorted vision, thus: ‘There is what is given and what is offered and what is sacrificed, and there is fruit and ripening of good and bad kammas, and there is this world and the other world and mother and father and spontaneously (born) beings, and good and virtuous monks and brahmans that have themselves realized by direct knowledge and declared this world and the other world.’ That is how there are three kinds of mental conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, righteous conduct.

"So, householders, it is by reason of conduct in accordance with the Dhamma, by reason of righteous conduct, that some beings here, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappear in a happy destination, even in the heavenly world.

MN 41: The Brahmans of Sala (Saleyyaka Sutta)

“Monks, I shall point out the nearest shore and the farthest shore. Hear this, and thoroughly attend to it in mind. I shall speak.”

“Just so, Venerable One,” the monks assented to the Blessed One. “What, monks, is the nearest shore; what is the farthest shore?

“Wrong view is the nearest shore; right view is the farthest shore; 14

“Wrong intention is the nearest shore; right intention is the farthest shore; wrong speech is the nearest shore; right speech is the farthest shore; wrong conduct is the nearest shore; right conduct is the farthest shore; wrong livelihood is the nearest shore; right livelihood is the farthest shore; wrong effort is the nearest shore; right effort is the farthest shore; wrong mindfulness is the nearest shore; right mindfulness is the farthest shore; wrong concentration is the nearest shore; right concentration is the farthest shore; wrong knowledge is the nearest shore; right knowledge is the farthest shore; wrong liberation is the nearest shore; right liberation is the farthest shore. “This, monks, is the nearest shore; this is the farthest shore. “Amongst humans, very few are they, those mortals going to the farthest shore; Rather, the rest of humankind runs just along this shore.

Those who, indeed, practise in the Dhamma, in the well-taught Dhamma, They are mortals who will go beyond the sway of death, so difficult to escape.

Renouncing the dark qualities, the wise person should cultivate the bright; From home, having come to homelessness, in seclusion, where delight is difficult, One should wish to feel delight there, having destroyed sensuality, a person of nothing.

The wise person should purify himself 15

from the defilements of the mind.

Those with mind rightly well-cultivated in the qualities of perfect awakening, Who, in the giving-up of grasping, without clinging, are delighted, The brilliant ones, with unconscious influences withered away, they, in the world, are completely unbound.”

AN 10.118 The Near Shore (Orimatīra Sutta)

1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Savatthi in Jeta’s Grove, Anathapindika’s Park. There the Venerable Sariputta addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Friends, bhikkhus.” — “Friend,” they replied. The Venerable Sariputta said this: 2. “’One of right view, one of right view’ is said, friends. In what way is a noble disciple one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"

“Indeed, friend, we would come from far away to learn from the Venerable Sariputta the meaning of this statement. It would be good if the Venerable Sariputta would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it.”

“Then, friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say.”

“Yes, friend,” the bhikkhus replied. The Venerable Sariputta said this: The Wholesome and the Unwholesome 3. “When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome, and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, 16

whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

4. “And what, friends, is the unwholesome, what is the root of the unwholesome, what is the wholesome, what is the root of the wholesome? Killing living beings is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; gossip is unwholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; ill will is unwholesome; wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome.

5. “And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome; hate is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.

6. “And what is the wholesome? Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome; abstention from taking what is not given is wholesome; abstention from misconduct in sensual pleasures is wholesome; abstention from false speech is wholesome; abstention from malicious speech is wholesome; abstention from harsh speech is wholesome; abstention from gossip is wholesome; noncovetousness is wholesome; non-ill will is wholesome; right view is wholesome. This is called the wholesome.

7. “And what is the root of the wholesome? Non-greed is a root of the wholesome; non-hate is a root of the wholesome; nondelusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome.

8. “When a noble disciple has thus understood the unwholesome, the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome, and the root of the wholesome, he entirely abandons the underlying ten17

dency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit ‘I am,’ and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.”

MN 9 The Discourse on Right View (Sammaditthi Sutta)

Translator’s note Of all the monks and nuns who awakened under the guidance of the Buddha, none was more notorious than the author of these verses, the robber and murderer Angulimala. Originally named Ahimsaka (the harmless one), he was the son of the brahman chaplain to the Kosala king and became a brilliant student in the medical school at Takkasila.

On account of a number of intrigues perpetrated by his jealous classmates, he set upon a course of ambushing victims on the road and cutting off their thumbs in order to assemble a “garland of thumbs” which is the translation of his monastic name Angulimala.

The Buddha fearlessly confronted the robber and helped him to see the error of his ways. Then, in the face of tremendous opposition from the population, he allowed Angulimala to join the Sangha, and in due time he became an awakened Arahant. The karma of his previous deeds still followed him, however, and he was later stoned in the street by an angry mob. Coming into the teacher’s presence “with blood running from his cut head, with his bowl broken, and with his outer robe torn,” the Buddha simply said, “Bear it! brahman, Bear it! You are experiencing here and now the result of [your] deeds..."

It is within this context that the above verses were composed. The author is clearly referring to his own emergence from negligence and unwholesome deeds into a wiser and more wholesome understanding. I 18

cannot help but feel this story is timely, whether referring to individuals who have committed terrible deeds yet being capable of radical transformation, or to a nation looking more closely at its impact in the world.

The goodness that fills our world may well be poised to emerge, like the bright moon, from behind the clouds which far too often obscure it. ...

He who once lived in negligence And then is negligent no more, He’s the one who brightens this world — Like the moon released from a cloud.

Who follows up with wholesome deeds Unwholesome deeds he may have done, He’s the one who brightens this world — Like the moon released from a cloud.

Indeed that youthful bhikkhu who Pours himself into the Buddha’s teaching, He’s the one who brightens this world — Like the moon released from a cloud.

Thag 16.8 Angulimala Thera: The Moon Released (excerpt)

“A fool is characterized by his/her actions. A wise person is characterized by his/her actions. It’s through the activities of one’s life that one’s discernment shines.

“A person endowed with three things is to be recognized as a fool. Which three? Bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct...

“A person endowed with three things is to be recognized as a wise person. Which three? Good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct, good mental conduct...

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“Thus, monks, you should train yourselves: ‘We will avoid the three things that, endowed with which, one is to be recognized as a fool. We will undertake & maintain the three things that, endowed with which, one is to be recognized as a wise person.’

That’s how you should train yourselves.”

AN 3.2

“There are these four courses of action. Which four? There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable. There is the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable.

“Now as for the course of action that is unpleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, one considers it as not worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is unpleasant to do... and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is unprofitable...

“As for the course of action that is unpleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is profitable, it’s in light of this course of action that one may be known... as a wise person or a fool. For a fool doesn't reflect, ‘Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is profitable.’

So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, ‘Even though this course of action is unpleasant to do, still 20

when it is done it leads to what is profitable.’ So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.

“As for the course of action that is pleasant to do but that, when done, leads to what is unprofitable, it’s in light of this course of action that one may be known... as a wise person or a fool. For a fool doesn't reflect, ‘Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.’ So he does it, and thus the doing of that course of action leads to what is unprofitable for him. But a wise person reflects, ‘Even though this course of action is pleasant to do, still when it is done it leads to what is unprofitable.’ So he doesn't do it, and thus the non-doing of that course of action leads to what is profitable for him.

“As for the course of action that is pleasant to do and that, when done, leads to what is profitable, one considers it as worth doing for both reasons: because the course of action is pleasant to do... and because the course of action, when done, leads to what is profitable...

“These are the four courses of action.”

AN 4.115

I heard these words of the Buddha one time when he was staying at the monastery in the Jeta Grove near Shravasti that had been donated by the layman Anathapindika.

On that day, Anathapindika came with five hundred other lay students of the Buddha to the hut where Shariputra resided.

They bowed their heads in reverence to Shariputra and sat down respectfully to one side. Venerable Shariputra offered them

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skillful teachings, bringing them joy and confidence in the Three Jewels and the practice of the true Dharma.

Then, Shariputra and the five hundred laymen and women went together to the hut of the Buddha, where Shariputra, Anathapindika, and the other five hundred laymen and women prostrated at the Buddha’s feet and sat down to one side.

When he observed that everyone was seated, the The Mindfulness Trainings Buddha addressed Shariare not of the nature to putra, saying, “Shariputra, deceive. They are always if lay students of the Budpraised, accepted, prac ced, dha, those who wear white and guarded by the holy robes, study and practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Four Contemplations, they will realize without hardship the capacity to abide happily in the present moment.

They know they will not fall into the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, animals, and other suffering paths.

“Such men and women will have attained the fruit of streamenterer, and they will have no fear of descending into dark paths. They are on the way of right awakening. They will only need to return to the worlds of gods or men seven more times before attaining perfect liberation and the end of suffering.

“Shariputra, how do lay students of the Buddha, those who wear white robes, study and practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings and the Four Contemplations?

“Lay students of the Buddha refrain from killing, put an end to killing, rid themselves of all weapons, learn humility before others, learn humility in themselves, practice love and compassion, and protect all living beings, even the smallest insects. They up22

root from within themselves any intention to kill. In this way, lay students of the Buddha study and practice the first of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

“Lay students of the Buddha refrain from taking what has not been given, put an end to taking what has not been given. They find joy in being generous without expecting anything in return. Their minds are not obscured by greed or craving. They constantly guard their own honesty and uproot from within themselves any intention to take what has not been given. In this way, lay students of the Buddha study and practice the second of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

“Lay students of the Buddha refrain from sexual misconduct, put an end to sexual misconduct, and protect everyone — those under the care of their father, mother, or both father and mother; their elder sister or elder brother; their parents-in-law or other in-laws; those of the same sex; the wife, daughter, husband or son of another; and those who have been raped, assaulted, or sexually abused, or who have been prostitutes. Lay students of the Buddha uproot from within themselves any intention to commit sexual misconduct. In this way, lay students of the Buddha study and practice the third of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

“Lay students of the Buddha refrain from saying what are not true, put an end to saying what is not true.They say only what is true, and they find great joy in saying what is true. They always abide in truth and are completely reliable, never deceiving others. They have uprooted from within themselves any intention to say what is not true. In this way, lay students of the Buddha study and practice the fourth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

“Lay students of the Buddha refrain from drinking alcohol, put an end to drinking alcohol. They uproot from within themselves 23

the habit of drinking alcohol. In this way, lay students of the Buddha study and practice the fifth of the Five Mindfulness Trainings. “Shariputra, how do lay students of the Buddha attain the Four Contemplations and abide happily in the present moment with ease and without hardship? They practice being aware of the Buddha, meditating on the one who has come from Suchness and returns to Suchness; as one who is truly and fully awakened, without any attachments; as one whose understanding and practice are perfect; as the Well-Gone One; as one who knows and fully understands the world; as one who has attained the very highest; as one who has tamed what needs to be tamed; as a teacher of humans and gods; as an Awakened One; and as a World-Honored One. When they meditate in this way, all unwholesome desires come to an end, and impure, sorrowful, or anxious elements no longer arise in their hearts. As a result of contemplating the Buddha, their thoughts are clear, they feel joy, and they arrive at the first of the Four Contemplations, abiding happily in the present moment, with ease and without any hardships. “Shariputra, the lay students of the Buddha practice being aware of the Dharma, meditating as follows: the Dharma is taught by the Lord Buddha with great skill; it can lead to complete liberation; it can lead to a state of no afflictions; it is cool and refreshing; its value is timeless. When lay students of the Buddha meditate on and observe the Dharma in this way, all unwholesome desires come to an end, and impure, sorrowful, or anxious elements no longer arise in their hearts. As a result of contemplating the Dharma, their thoughts are clear, they feel joy, and they arrive at the second of the Four Contemplations, abiding happily in the present moment, with ease and without any hardship.

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“Shariputra, the lay students of the Buddha practice being aware of the Sangha, meditating as follows: the noble community of the Tathagata is advancing in a good direction; it is on an upright path; it is oriented toward the Dharma; it lives the teachings in the way they are meant to be lived. In that community, there are the Four Pairs and the Eight Grades — realized arhats and those who are realizing the fruit of arhatship, nonreturners and those who are realizing the fruit of nonreturning, once-returners and those who are realizing the fruit of once-returning, and stream-enterers and those who are realizing the fruit of stream-entry. The noble community of the Tathagata has successfully realized the practice of the mindfulness trainings (shila), the practice of concentration (samadhi), and the practice of insight (prajña). It has liberation and liberated vision. It is worthy of respect, honor, service, and offerings. It is a beautiful field of merit for everyone. As a result of contemplating the Sangha, their thoughts are clear, they feel joy, and they arrive at the third of the Four Contemplations, abiding happily in the present moment, with ease and without any hardship.

“Shariputra, the lay students of the Buddha practice being mindful of the mindfulness trainings, meditating as follows: the mindfulness trainings have no drawbacks, flaws, impurities, or unsound points; and they help us abide in the land of the Tathagata. The Mindfulness Trainings are not of the nature to deceive. They are always praised, accepted, practiced, and guarded by the holy ones. As a result of contemplating these Trainings, the students’ thoughts are clear, they feel joy, and they arrive at the fourth of the Four Contemplations, abiding happily in the present moment, with ease and without any hardship.

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“Shariputra, remember that white-clad disciples of the Buddha who practice in this way will not descend into hell realms, hungry ghost realms, animal realms, or any other realms of suffering. They have experienced the fruit of stream-entry, which means not falling into paths of hardship or wrongdoing. Having entered the stream, they cannot help but go in the direction of right awakening. They will only need to return to the world of gods or humans seven more times before they arrive at complete liberation and the end of sorrow.”

As you begin to prac ce mindfulness of the body, you discover that it is the storehouse of all the physical and emo$onal events of your life to this point, star$ng with your gene$c inheritance. Through reflec$on you gain the insight that these condi$ons, while unique to you, are actually impersonal, like condi$ons in nature, and that clinging to them with anger, resen+ulness, or self-pity only adds to your suffering. Your libera$on lies not in what the body has stored from the past but in how you respond to whatever manifests in your body in any given moment. This is the insight of karma—that what is happening in this moment is dependent on past seeds of ac$on that are now blossoming due to the right causes and condi$ons. Your freedom, now and in the future, will be determined by how you respond to these impersonal condi$ons. Are your ac$ons wholesome or not? This is awakening in the body.

--Phillip Moffi4, “Awakening in the Body,” Shambhala Sun magazine, Sept. 2007

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RENUNCIATION T. Price I. The idea of renunciation has never been a particularly attractive one for most people, even when its importance as an ideal has been admitted. For much of the Western world today, however, renunciation seems not so much unpalatable as unfamiliar, and indeed all but incomprehensible. This was not always so, of course. The people of the Middle Ages were well acquainted with the traditional Christian conception of this world as something which presents many snares for the soul, and is of little importance when compared with the eternal life to come. That this conception has ceased to be as influential as it once was, is the result of a number of complex historical processes, but as far as present-day attitudes are concerned, the factor of the greatest and most immediate importance would probably be the rapid development of science and technology in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

Science has, I think, influenced people’s attitudes towards the world in three ways. Firstly, it appears to have confirmed by its achievements the ancient Greek philosophers’ faith in the ability of human reason to fathom all the mysteries of the universe.

Secondly, these impressive achievements have led people to feel the physical world, which has up till now been the province of scientific investigation, is the only world worth investigating, and even the only “real” world. And thirdly, by providing, through the technology which it has made possible, an abundance of good things for our enjoyment, science has encouraged 27

a preoccupation with the objects and pleasures of the senses, and a corresponding indifference to those things which are presumed to lie outside the range of the senses.

If, then, this world we perceive is the only reality, and the senses and the reason are the only valid means of knowledge, it follows that renunciation of the world is pointless, and that aspiration to a reality which transcends the reason and the senses is bound to be futile.

There have always been many people who would agree with this, and materialist philosophers were not lacking even in the Buddha’s day. But I think it would be true to say that ideas of this nature have never been so widely accepted as they are in Western and Western-influenced countries today. Even religious thought has been affected, and a number of progressive Christian theologians are trying to adapt their doctrines to the spirit of the age by glossing over the element of renunciation in Jesus’ teaching and Christian tradition, and stressing, after the Jewish fashion, involvement in the world rather than detachment from it. A similar tendency can be observed elsewhere: in many of the “new religions” of modern Japan, for example, or in the writings of Indian thinkers like Radhakrishnan and Sri Aurobindo.

In light of all this, Buddhism must be considered somewhat unfashionable. Some critics have accused (and still accuse) it of being pessimistic, nihilistic and life-denying. Of course, Buddhism is not pessimistic. In fact, it is the most optimistic of religions, for it teaches that man can perfect himself here and now, and free himself by his own efforts from all suffering and unhappiness. Nor is it nihilistic. As the Buddha has often pointed out, he taught only the annihilation of suffering and ignorance. And if Buddhism is life-denying, it is only because it is death-defying, for life and death are inseparable. Nevertheless, these critics 28

have sensed an important truth about the Dharma; that it is essentially a teaching of renunciation. In one sense, Buddhism is more “this-worldly” than any other religion, since it takes as its starting point, not some remote and transcendental Being or Act, but the world as it is experienced by ordinary living beings.

In another sense, however, it is more “other-worldly” than most, for according to the Buddha, the world as we know it has three fundamental characteristics: it contains nothing that is permanent; it is, for that reason, essentially unsatisfactory to those who see it as it really is, and are not led astray by superficial appearances; and finally, it contains nothing worth consideration as “me” or “mine,” nothing that is in any way unchanging or substantial.

These three characteristics are the basis of the Buddha’s Teaching, and the second of them, known as “ill” or “suffering,” is the theme of the Four Truths which the Buddha expounded in his first sermon.

There is nothing ambiguous about this. The Buddha was well aware that much pleasure and happiness is to be found in the world as it is ordinarily experienced, but he insisted that these pleasures were transient and therefore relative and limited, and that true happiness is only to be found by renouncing what is worldly, transient, relative and limited, and seeking instead what is transcendental, unchanging, absolute and unlimited.

This absolute state (if one can describe it so) is what is called Nirvana. It can be defined, if at all, only in negative terms, for what is completely transcendental is necessarily indescribable.

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It is certainly not a God creating and sustaining the world, nor is it a Godhead which is the source or substance of the world. In fact, although it can be attained by those still living in the world, it really has no connection with the world whatever, and for that reason its nature cannot be conveyed by means of such an earthbound thing as language, although the poetic (i.e., nonliteral) use of language may certainly be able to suggest something of its quality, as in the following famous passage: “There is, monks, a realm where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind... neither this world nor the next, neither sun nor moon. There, monks, I say there is neither coming, nor going, nor remaining; neither deceasing nor being born. Without foundation is it, without continuity, without support: this is the end of suffering” (Udana).

II. Buddhism, then, is a teaching of renunciation. It remains to see what is renounced and why. The Buddha said: “What I teach is just ill (or suffering) and its cessation.” What is renounced, then, is ill, suffering, unsatisfactoriness. But what is unsatisfactoriness? Here is the Buddha’s answer: “Birth is ill; old age and decay are ill; death is ill; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are ill; not to get what one wants is ill. In short, the five groups that are the object of clinging are ill.” These “five groups,” taken together, constitute the totality of what we call a “being,” and what that being feels to be its “self.” They may be translated as follows: form or matter, feeling, perception or ideation, motivation or mental activities, and consciousness. It is oneself, then, that is the source of suffering, and it is self that must be renounced if one would be free from suffering. This is a truth which is recognized by most religions, but only in Buddhism is it fully understood. The feeling of “self,” the deep30

rooted sense of “I-ness,” involves the desire for the continued existence of self. It generates, in other words, greed and attachment, both for the self and also for those things which enhance the existence of the self and make it feel secure, such things as sense-pleasures, possessions, kinship with others, and so on. It also generates hatred for or aversion from what is anti-self, that is, from those things which threaten the continued existence or the happiness of the self by attacking it (or whatever it identifies itself with) or by frustrating it in any way. Thus the self can never be really happy, for it is continually agitated by desires and fears which bind it tightly to the world, and cause the “ill” for which the Buddha has prescribed the cure.

It will be seen from this brief analysis that the self and the world are interdependent, our emotional responses to the world strengthening our sense of self, and our sense of self causing the illusory appearance of a permanent and substantial world with objective qualities of desirability and undesirability. Therefore, renunciation of the world and the renunciation of the self are but two aspects of the same thing, and what we see as the world may, on deeper analysis, be found present within ourselves. So the Buddha said: “In this very body, six feet in length, with its sense-impressions, its thoughts and ideas... are the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the Way that leads to the cessation of the world” (A.N.).

III. In the practice of renunciation, three stages may be distinguished. First of all, there is outward renunciation, as when a man or woman leaves the household life to become a monk or a nun. Outward renunciation has no intrinsic value, and may theoretically be dispensed with, but there is no doubt that it makes true renunciation very much easier. True renunciation is a mat31

ter of the heart and mind rather than the body. It is renunciation of the world of desires and aversions within, rather than of the world of “objects” without. Finally, there is the ultimate renunciation, which is the renunciation of one’s “self” in its entirety, and the consequent destruction of all ill.

To illustrate the traditional Buddhist method of renunciation, I should like to examine a stereotype passage which occurs, with slight variations, at a number of places in the Pali canon. It describes the ideal life of the monk, beginning with his first hearing of the Dharma and concluding with his attainment of Nirvana. It starts as follows: "Suppose that a Perfect One (Tathagata) arises in the world, an Accomplished One (Arahant), fully Awakened, complete in knowledge and conduct, knower of the worlds, sublime (literally “well-gone"), incomparable, trainer of those to-be-tamed, teacher of gods and men, Awakened (Buddha), blest (Bhagavant). Having thoroughly understood, by his own supernormal insight, this world with its gods, its Mara (the personification of death), its Brahma (the most exalted of the gods), its ascetics and brahmans, its gods and men, he declares his knowledge. He preaches the Truth (Dharma), good in its beginning, good in its development, good in its consummation. He makes known the holy life in all its fullness and purity.

"A householder, or a householder’s son, or one born into some good family, hears that Dharma. Having heard it, he comes to feel faith in the Perfect One. Possessed of this faith, he reflects thus: ‘The household life is cramped. It is a path choked with dust. To leave it is to come out into the open air. It is not easy for one who lives at home to lead the holy life in all its perfect fullness and purity, bright as mother-of-pearl. Surely I should now shave off my hair and beard, go forth into the homeless 32

life.’ In course of time, he gives up his possessions, be they many or few, and his circle of kinsmen, be it small or large, shaves off his hair and beard, puts on the yellow robe, and, leaving his home, goes forth into the homeless life."

So far, this is outward renunciation.

Just as one only renounces Samsara Now the new monk in order to obtain Nirvana, so the must turn his atsole purpose of renouncing bad or tention to the unwholesome quali es is to allow world within. The good or wholesome ones to take first step is to free his mind from the their place. domination by unwholesome emotions and sense-desires, and to this end he begins to discipline himself by strict observance of morality. The text continues: “So he lives the homeless life, observing self-restraint according to the rules of the Order, possessed of good conduct, seeing danger in the slightest offense, accepting and training himself in the precepts.� There follows a detailed account of over forty things which the monk must shun. The first seven are of basic importance, for they are the most general in character. They are also worth looking at because they stress the positive qualities of mind which the monk should be developing at this time, thereby helping to dispel the impression, which a series of prohibitions tends to give, that observance of the moralities is something dry and negative. In fact, just as one only renounces Samsara in order to obtain Nirvana, so the sole purpose of renouncing bad or unwholesome qualities is to allow good or wholesome ones to take their place. The wording of these first seven precepts makes this quite clear: 33

“Here, the monk, having abandoned the taking of life, continues to abstain therefrom. Having once used stick and sword, now feeling shame, he is kind and compassionate to all living things... Having abandoned the taking of what is not given, he continues to abstain therefrom. Taking only what is given, he waits for the gift. Committing no theft, he lives as one who become pure... Having abandoned unchasity, he is chaste and keeps aloof, abstaining from coition, from the practice of the village-folk... Having abandoned false speech he continues to abstain therefrom, and is a speaker of truth. Pledged to truth, he is reliable and trustworthy, never lying to the world... Having abandoned slander, he continues to abstain therefrom. What he hears here, he does not repeat elsewhere in order to raise a quarrel against the people here. What he hears elsewhere, he does not repeat here i order to raise a quarrel against the people there. Thus he reconciles those who are divided, and encourages those who are friends. Harmony is his pleasure, his delight and joy, and he speaks words that creates harmony... Having abandoned harsh speech, he continues to abstain therefrom. Whatever words are gentle, pleasing to the ear, affectionate, touching the heart, polite, pleasant and agreeable to the people — such are the words he speaks... Having abandoned trivial chatter, he continues to abstain therefrom. His words are timely, in accordance with the truth, meaningful, concerning the Dharma and the Discipline and the Order. He speaks words that are worth treasuring. They are uttered at the right time, are accompanied by reasons, are well-defined, and profitable.�

These are the first seven moral observances. The rest concern other things to be avoided, such as harming vegetation, and various activities connected with mealtimes, personal adornments, entertainments, games, trading, and so on. The section on morality concludes as follows: 34

“Then the monk, being thus complete in morality, sees no reason for fear on any side, as far as self-restraint in his conduct is concerned. Just as a ruler, duly anointed, whose enemies have been crushed, sees no reason for fear on any side, as far as enemies are concerned; so the monk, thus being complete in morality, sees no reason for fear on any side, as far as self-restraint in his conduct is concerned. And, possessed of this noble group of moralities, he experiences unalloyed happiness within himself.”

So far, the monk has progressed through two stages of renunciation. First, he has publicly renounced the world and left the household life. Then, by strict self-discipline, he has ensured that no moral lapse on his part will cause him to become entangled once again in the life that he has left behind, and his success in this self-discipline has given him a confidence and a happiness that he never had before. Thus, he has made his initial, outward renunciation secure. Now he is free to turn his attention to renunciation of the other, inner world, of the psychophysical life which is his “self.” He begins by endeavoring to become detached from the activities of his senses, and of his mind and body, by the practice of mindfulness. He will now observe the things which impinge on his senses, watching to see that he does not react to them in an unwholesome or “unskillful” manner. Thus morality becomes mind-control. Then, when senseimpressions are no longer capable of agitating his mind unduly, he learns to become aware of his bodily actions as he performs them, contemplating his body disinterestedly, as though it were somebody else’s: “How is the monk guarded as to the doors of his senses? (1. The senses are considered metaphorically as so many doors through which impressions enter the mind.) Having perceived a form with his eye, he does not fasten on its general appearance, or on 35

its secondary characteristics. (2. In other words, he does not allow himself to become fascinated by it, or by any aspect of it, or to feel that it is “mine.” He simply watches with equanimity as phenomena come and go.) As long as he lived with his faculty of sight unrestrained, he fell prey to craving and unhappiness, to evil and unskilled states of mind. So he undertakes restraint, watching over his faculty of sight and restraining it. (And similarly with the other faculties: hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and cognizing things with the mind.)

The monk, possessed of this noble restraint of the faculties, experiences unalloyed happiness within himself. And how is the monk mindful and aware? The monk, in going forth or returning, is clearly aware of his action. So also when looking ahead or looking around, when bending his arm in or stretching it out, when wearing his robe or carrying his alms bowl, when eating, drinking, chewing or tasting, when defecating or urinating, when walking, standing, sitting, sleeping, waking, speaking or keeping silent; in all this he is clearly aware of what he is doing. Thus is the monk mindful and aware.”

The monk has now shaken off most of his worldly desires, and has gained a considerable degree of detachment from himself.

As a consequence, he is perfectly content with his lot and with his few necessary possessions: “He is contented with the robes that protect his body and the alms food that protects his belly...

Just as a bird carries its wings with it wherever it flies, so the monk is contented with the robes that protect his body and the alms food that protect his belly, and he has only them with him 36

wherever he goes. Thus he is content.”

Now, having surrendered attachment both to the world and to his own body, the monk can concentrate all his efforts on the true source of ill, which is his mind. Sitting in a quiet spot, he strives to cleanse his mind of what are known as the “five hindrances.” The text describes the process as follows: “Having given up covetousness for the world, he remains with his heart (or mind) free from and cleansed of covetousness. Having given up ill will and hatred, he remains with his heart free from ill will and hatred. Friendly and compassionate to all living things, he remains free of them. Conscious of light, mindful and fully aware, he cleanses his heart of sloth and torpor. Having given up restlessness and worry, he remains free of them. Inwardly calm, he cleanses his heart of restlessness and worry.

Having given up doubt, he remains having passed beyond doubt.

No longer uncertain of what is skillful (or wholesome), he cleanses his mind of doubt.”

Having brought about a subsidence of the five hindrances, he is filled with an exhilarating sense of freedom. The Buddha compares his feelings of relief and happiness to those of a man who has just discharged a debt, or recovered from a painful illness, or been freed from prison, or released from slavery, or who has safely crossed a dangerous wilderness. This subsidence of the five hindrances, and the ensuing calmness and happiness of the body and mind, make it possible for the monk to attain what is called the first “absorption.” This is the first of a series of levels of consciousness which can be achieved by the successful practice of intense concentration of the mind — a process which is often called, rather vaguely, “meditation.” The attainment of these absorptions not only produces a blissfulness that is far beyond the range of worldly pleasures, it is also (and this is more 37

important to the Buddhist) makes the mind an instrument of knowledge that can transcend the limitations of the senses.

After attaining the first absorption, the monk passes on to the second, third and fourth, shedding successively thought conception, the exhilarating and blissful sensations that arise in him, and finally all feelings of happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and displeasure. He is now in a state of pure mindfulness and equanimity, and his mind — which has become “composed, purified, spotless, undefiled, pliant, workable, firm and imperturbable” — is capable of that direct and penetrating insight into the true nature of existence which brings deliverance. Now he has left the world a long way behind, but he must turn his mind back to it, if he would complete the process of renunciation; for the final deliverance comes, not from looking away from the world or the self, but from seeing through them. So he scrutinizes his self, his body and his mind, noting that “this is my body, possessed of form, composed of the four elements, springing from father and mother, built up by solid and liquid food; a thing impermanent by nature, fragile, perishable, and subject to total destruction. And this is my consciousness, bound up with and dependent on it."

At this point he is said to be able to acquire certain supernormal powers if he wishes, including the ability to recall his own innumerable past lives, and the direct awareness of the death and rebirth of other beings in accordance with their past actions.

His final deliverance, his ultimate renunciation, comes now with the destruction of what are known as the asavas (Pali) or asravas (Sanskrit), a word which defies translation. (Literally, it means a flowing in or a flowing out.) These “cankers” (as they may be called for convenience) epitomize the forces which bring about continued existence or “becoming,” and their destruction in38

volves complete and perfect understanding of the conditioned and unsatisfactory nature of becoming, as it is summed up in the Four Truths. “It is as if,” the Buddha says, “there were a pool of water in the mountains, limpid, clear and still, and a man were to stand on the bank and see with his eyes the various shells, the gravel and pebbles, and the shoals of fish moving about or at rest.” So the monk, “with his mind composed, purified, cleansed, spotless, undefiled, pliant, workable, firm, and imperturbable, directs his mind to the destruction of the cankers. He knows as it really is: ‘This is ill, this is the origin of ill, this is the cessation of ill, and this is the Way that leads to cessation... These are the cankers, this is their origin, this is their cessation, and this is the Way that leads to their cessation.’ Knowing and seeing thus his heart is freed from the cankers of sense-desires, the canker of becoming (that is, the desire for continued existence), and the canker of ignorance. Free, he knows that he is free, and he understands: ‘Exhausted is birth, the holy life is fulfilled, what was to be done has been done, there will be no more of the present state.’”

With this final and certain insight, renunciation of both self and world becomes complete, and the monk, now an arahant, has attained the deathless state, Nirvana.

IV. Having considered the theory and practice of renunciation as it is set forth in the Pali texts, I should like to conclude by examining some possible misconceptions concerning the nature of renunciation in general and Buddhist renunciation in particular.

First of all, one may note that the text quoted in the previous section deals with the life of a monk. This is true of the great majority of the discourses in the Pali canon, and some people 39

have concluded that Buddhism teaches a path of total renunciation which can only be followed by monks and nuns. To show that this is a misunderstanding, one need only point to the many instructions on political, social, moral and religious matters which the Buddha addressed to lay people. One might also mention the many lay men and women throughout Buddhist history who have successfully followed the Buddha’s Teaching even to the There is no need for the Buddhist to threshold of Nirvana. And hurry unless he truly desires to do finally, there is the fact that, so. An infinity of deaths and births although a discourse may be stretches before him, and he has plenty of me in which to prepare addressed to monks, it is not necessarily intended for himself for renuncia on. them exclusively. So the Commentary to the Greater discourse on Mindfulness (D.N.No. 22), for example, says:” The monk is given here as an example of those dedicated to the practice of the Teaching... Whoever undertakes that practice... is here included under the term ‘monk.’”

Nevertheless, while the Buddha never neglected his lay followers, it cannot be denied that he gave more attention to his monks and nuns. It is as if, he says, there were a farmer with three fields; one good, one middling, and one poor. He would sow the good one first, then the middling one, and he may or may not sow the poor one. These three fields the Buddha likens respectively to his monks and nuns, his lay followers, and “recluses, brahmans, and wanderers of other sects.” Just as the farmer sows his crop in the fields, so the Buddha teaches 40

Dhamma to all impartially, even to the last of the three groups, for “if they were to understand even a single sentence, that would be a blessing and a happiness for them for a long time” (S.N.). It is clear, however, that, as the farmer will expect a greater yield from the first field so the Buddha expected his teachings to bear more fruit amongst his monks and nuns then among the laity. The reason is that the Dhamma, as has been said, aims at an inner renunciation, and the outward renunciation of the monastic life consequently provides the best conditions for its practice. To perfect oneself in morality, mindfulness and concentration is no easy task, and monks and nuns are not hampered in their pursuit of it by having to worry about earning a living, about money, property, family, and all the daily noise and bustle that distracted the householder’s life even in ancient India, and no doubt do so still more in our modern urban civilization. In short, although the Path of renunciation is theoretically open to all, whoever and wherever they are, yet success in following it can be greatly affected by one’s outward circumstance, and a layman will have to overcome many more obstacles than a monk.

What, then, of the weaker vessels among the laity who may not have the opportunity, the ability, or even the desire to renounce the world? It would be a mistake here to imagine that the Buddhist is called upon to make an immediate, once-and-for-all choice between Samsara and Nirvana, renouncing the world in the same spirit as the candidate for Christian baptism renounces Satan and all his works. For a start, there is no need for the Buddhist to hurry unless he truly desires to do so. An infinity of deaths and births stretches before him, and he has plenty of time in which to prepare himself for renunciation if he is not yet ready for it — provided, of course, that he continues to lead a morally blameless life, thus ensuring that he will continue to be 41

born in more or less favorable circumstances in future.

Again, there is no sharp distinction in Buddhism between the saved and the damned. There are many degrees of spiritual development, and, as a skilled teacher should, the Buddha always adapted his message to the needs and capacities of his audience.

To those who were aware of the hollowness of worldly things he taught the path of final deliverance, while to those who were still in love with the world he simply pointed out the way to lead a good life, one which would bring as much benefit as possible, and as little harm or suffering, for themselves and others. He never demanded more from anybody than they were capable of at any given time, saying that, just as the great ocean deepens gradually as one goes further out from shore, and does not plunge down abruptly, so “in this Dharma and Discipline the training is gradual, the practice is gradual, the progress is gradual. There is no abrupt attainment of the ultimate knowledge (i.e., the liberating insight of him who has won Nirvana)” (Udana).

So there is no need for anybody to try and plunge into deep water before he has first learned to swim in the shallows. Such a procedure would in fact be very dangerous, as the Dhammapada warns (verse 311): “As a blade of grass will cut the hand when wrongly grasped, so the ascetic life will drag one down to hell if wrongly taken up.” And the disciple need not lack for means of self-improvement even at the beginning of the path. Devotional practices, living as blameless a life as possible by observing the precepts, trying to be kind to others and speak and think kindly of them, study of and reflection on the Dharma, degree of selfknowledge through mindfulness, and some practice of meditation perhaps; all of these things, among others, are within the reach of the most worldly-minded, and will have a good result.

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One does not have to be a saint, or even a monk or nun, to attempt them. Patience and persistence are all that is necessary to ensure progress. Here one might recall the words of the Dhammapada: “Do not underrate goodness, thinking ‘it will not come to me.’ By falling drops of water a water jug is filled, and a wise man will be full of goodness, even though he accumulates it bit by bit”(122). And again: “Let the wise man gradually remove the impurities form himself, as the smith from silver, bit by bit and from moment to moment”(239).

A second misconception is that renunciation is a gloomy and depressing business. A biographer of the Christian mystic St. John of the Cross says that on a first reading of his work: “Few persons, however spiritually minded, will fail to find it repellent.

It strikes a deadly chill, not only into the unhealthy heat of sense-affection, but into the glowing warmth of what one had hoped and believed to be pure love of God. It calls on one to go out from God-given light into a black and unknown darkness.” I think that, God aside, many people are repelled in a similar way when they first encounter the Buddha’s Teaching of renunciation, which may be one reason for the recurrent charges of nihilism and pessimism. The reason for this reaction is not far to seek, and the clue lies in the words “unknown darkness.”

For most people, the pleasures of the senses (and in Buddhism, one must remember, this can include the pleasures of the mind) are the only pleasures, the only source of happiness that they know. Naturally, they do not take kindly to the suggestion that they give these up for some far-off and indescribable goal. But it is only ignorance that makes the goal appear dark. The darkness is, as it were, only the objective counterpart of a subjective blindness, and, in fact, as those who have had experience of this forbidding “darkness” repeatedly assert, the successful aban43

doning of sense-pleasures brings a happiness far greater than anything that they had known hitherto.

It is not difficult to see why this should be so, when one considers the way in which sense-pleasures come about. A sensepleasure arises from the gratification of a desire, in the following way. First of all, a desire arises and creates a kind of tension in the mind of the being which feels the desire. Since this tension is felt as unpleasant, the being is then impelled to get rid of it by gratifying the desire. When the desired object is obtained, the desire is gratified, and the tension in the mind is relaxed.

From the relaxation of the tension flows a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, a greater or lesser degree of happiness or pleasure. Now, as long as existence continues (for the continuity of existence itself is, in the Buddhist view, contingent upon the desire for it), desires of one kind and another will be continually arising, at every moment, and agitating the mind. This means that the relaxation of tension, and hence the pleasure of happiness, which comes from their gratification can never be anything but temporary and incomplete.

If, then, happiness comes, not from desire itself (which in fact causes pain), but from its subsiding, it follows that the renunciation of sense-desires, so far from making one miserable, really opens up the only path to true and lasting happiness. And when the goal has been attained, becoming has ceased, and the mind is no longer troubled by the arising of any kind of desire. The result must be a state of calm and imperturbable happiness that ordinary beings, still enmeshed in worldly desires, can scarcely comprehend. Even the temporary quiescence of the mind in deep “meditation� is said to create a sense of bliss that far surpasses anything in ordinary experience, and in this way to give a foretaste of the unutterable peace of Nirvana. It is important to 44

bear all this in mind, otherwise it might be easy to imagine that Buddhism is “pessimistic” and that Buddhists seek to renounce the world out of hatred for it. But there is no more un-Buddhist emotion than hatred, whether for the world or anything else, and to attempt renunciation for that reason would not be only futile but deadly. The correct motive for renunciation is rather that given in the Dhammapada (290): “If by surrendering a slight happiness one may realize a great happiness, the wise man should give up the slight happiness, considering the greater one.”

Another error would be to suppose that Buddhists, like followers of some other religions, think that one should renounce the world because it is corrupt, or evil, or ugly; but no Buddhist has ever held such a view. It is not that worldly happiness and beauty are non-existent, or sinful, or even worthless. It is just that they are flawed by their transience and their liability to change into suffering and ugliness. The Buddhist ideal is to feel neither attachment in the case of happiness and beauty, nor revulsion in the case of suffering and ugliness, but simply to observe things as they really are, with equanimity and perfect freedom of mind.

A different kind of mistake is to think that renunciation is impossibly difficult, only to be achieved, if at all, by a superhuman effort of will and forcible suppression of natural desires. Of course, to sever the ties that bind one to the world are rarely an easy or a pleasant task, and strict self-discipline and persistent effort are necessary until the goal has been attained. Nevertheless, renunciation should never be forced. The man who has to force himself to renounce the world only shows that he is not 45

yet ready to do so, and he must learn to be more patient, for otherwise he will only strengthen his bonds instead of loosening them. We do not have to compel ourselves to abandon the games and toys of our childhood; we simply outgrew them. So should it be with one who renounces worldly pleasures and preoccupations. Even though he may not yet be entirely free from nostalgia for these things of his spiritual childhood, he is beginning to outgrow them, and he no longer truly desires them. For him, renunciation, while it may be difficult, is not a forbidding and distasteful task. It is, on the contrary, the only way to genuine and lasting happiness. True renunciation does not involve “driving Nature out with a pitchfork”: it is simply a question of learning to let go.

Finally, I would like to consider the objection that renunciation is a flight from the world’s problems, a selfish escapism. I think that enough has already been said to show that renunciation is by no means an easy way out of anything. On the contrary, it requires a considerable effort of self-discipline. Again, the aim of renunciation is to overcome the ills of the world, to understand and destroy the suffering that is at the root of the world’s problems, and not run away from it. As for the charge of selfishness and lack of concern for the welfare of others, it could be answered in a number of ways. First, one might point out that, in the Buddha’s words, “it is not possible for one who is himself sunk in a mire to pull out another who is in the same situation.

But it is possible for one who is not sunk in a mire to pull out another who is” (M.N. No.8). In other words, no one can give effective help to others unless he has first helped himself. Nobody can solve for others problems that he has not yet solved for himself, and that is why self-development must precede altruistic activity.

Secondly, one might reply that not only is deliberate selfishness 46

impossible for a true follower of the Buddha, for he will be aiming at the destruction of “self,” but also, as was seen above, kindness and compassion towards all living things are enjoined on the monk as an indispensable part of the path. After he has succeeded in his aim, and attained final deliverance, he will continue to live only for the sakes of others, in order to pull them “out of the mire.” The Buddha himself set the example in this, and when his first sixty monks had realized Nirvana, he sent them out singly to preach with those words: “Go your way, monks, for the benefit of the many: for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the welfare, the benefit, the happiness of gods and men” (Vinaya, Mahavagga).

Finally, it should be remembered that compassion for the world and detachment from the world are not incompatible. On the contrary, they are inseparable, for compassion is purest only where it is totally disinterested. It is easy to see that if I help another from some ulterior motive, such as expectation of a reward, my compassion, if compassion is present in me at all, will be tainted by self-interest. What is perhaps not so obvious is that if I am in any way concerned about my action or its results, if I care about the person I am helping, my motives are still touched with selfishness, for I am identifying myself (my self) with my action or with the other person. Furthermore, since a sense of self is an indication that ignorance has not been completely eliminated, it shows that I am not yet “out of the mire,” and my help will, for that reason, be less effective than the help of someone who is completely disinterested. Thus one arrives at the paradoxical conclusion that perfect compassion can arise, and perfect help can be given, only where there is perfect detachment, and that those who have totally renounced the world are precisely the people who can be of most benefit to it. The clearest illumination of this is the life of the Buddha himself. He began by renouncing the world, 47 and finally transcended it. And

THE SACRED AND THE LOST Norman Fischer But didn't the Buddha, facing a choice, leave home, renounce the world and his family and devote himself to a life of dedication to Dharma? And don't we as practitioners face a similar choice?

The story of the Buddha’s renunciation comes to us through the Theravadin canon, one of the several versions of the canon that were handed down in the various schools that existed after Buddha’s time. That this particular version of the story is the one that has been given to us in the West is simply an historical accident. It is not the “official” version or in any way the best version or the truest version. It is simply the one we happen to have given our attention to over the years.

I'd like here to briefly give another version of the re­nun­ciation story, a version that exists in the canon of ­another major early school, the Sarvastivadin school.

According to this version of the story Buddha didn't leave his wife and child in the middle of the night to go off to seek enlightenment. In this version in fact the Prince and Princess do not have a son. As he is leaving the palace, ­passing his wife’s room, Siddhartha looks in at her, is overtaken by her loveliness and his affection for her, and doesn't want to go. He goes to her and they make love, conceiving on that very night their child.

The Sarvastivadin version of the story then proceeds remarkably and mythically along a dual track. All of the events of Buddha’s quest are matched exactly by the course of Yasodhara’s pregnancy, which, like Buddha’s journey, lasts for six years. And the moment when Buddha attains enlightenment under the Bo tree 48

is exactly the moment when Yasodhara gives birth to their son Rahula. In the Theravadin version of the story the word Rahula is etymologized as fetter. But in this Sarvastivadin version “Rahula” is said to derive from the word meaning Moon God, because the dual event of Buddha’s enlightenment and Rahula’s birth takes place on the night of the full moon.

This story, as I understand it, is about sacredness and particularity and the loss these entail. Buddha does leave home and Yasodhara does stay. They give each other up and each must pursue his and her own path with full de­votion. And as a result of this opting with full commitment to the path taken, fruition comes about: inner and outer birth ensue. But I think the story, read on a structural level, is not simply about, on one hand, the Buddha, his solitary heroic quest for enlightenment, and, on the other hand, the girl he leaves behind. Structurally, the story is clearly presented as a single narrative with two halves. The implication is that the enlightenment of the Buddha isn't just something that happens to him or is effec­ted by him alone. Nothing in the way the story is told in the original privileges Siddhartha over Yaso­dhara. It’s quite clear that it is the whole situation, both the outer birth and the inner turning, that describe the fullness of the Path. Leaving home and staying home, re­nouncing the world and accepting the world, are seen here as parts of a seamless whole. On the one hand we can't have it all. Our path is particular, and as such, involves renunciation. In the story Buddha is a renunciate. But so is Yasodhara. Buddha gives up the home life but Yasodhara gives up the homeless life. Both together, through their loss of each other and devotion to the individuality of their own lives, create the whole of enlightenment. Both appreciate the world as it really is.

--from NEW Magazine, Issue 1, 2005

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BUDDHISM AND PSYCHOLOGY Ven. Hsing Yun Psychology is a science that investigates the mental activities of human life. In the West, it originated from medical science, philosophy, natural science, religion, education and sociology, and extends into a myriad of other disciplines and practices. In today's society, psychology is applied to education, industry, business, health care, national defense, law, politics, sociology, science, arts and even sports. Its importance increases as time goes on.

Psychology examines the mental functions of mind and the modes of human behavior. Psychologists in the West use it to study the development of personality and the determinants of behavior. Because of its inherent limitations, Western Psychology has been only partially successful in personality transformation and improvement. Buddhism, on the other hand, understands very deeply the psychological nature of human beings and has developed some effective methods for treatment. As revealed in The Avatamsaka Sutra, “Our perception of the Three Realms arise from the mind, so do the twelve links of dependent origination; A birth and death emanate from the mind, they are extinguished when the mind is put to rest.�

The analysis of mind in Buddhism is both multifaceted and sophisticated. As a spiritual practice, Buddhism contains numerous descriptions of the nature and function of the mind and instructions on how to search for, abide with and refine it. In this regard, Buddhist Psychology has a lot to offer along with Western Psychology.

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How Buddhism Looks at the Mind At first, “psychology” meant “a science which explains the psyche.” Later it was expanded to “a behavioral science for studying human problems.” This development is consistent with how life and the universe are viewed in Buddhism: “from the mind all phenomena arises.” Buddhism interprets everything in the world as the manifestation of our mind. It investigates and analyzes human behavioral problems at the most fundamental level. From this perspective, Buddhism can be considered a fully developed system of psychology.

All the Buddha’s teachings deal with the mind, as shown in the multitude of sutras and sastras. Among them, the psychological understanding spoken of by the Mind-only (Yogacara) School is closest to its counterpart in today’s psychology. The Yogacara texts are used to explain Buddhist Psychology.

The Yogacara view that the mind consists of eight consciousnesses clearly indicates that it is not made of a single element, but an interactive complexity of factors. These factors are the functions of the six sensory organs of the human body (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mental function) plus the consciousness which constantly grasps the “self” (the Manas) and the Alaya consciousness (the supra- unconsciousness, referred to as the “master of the mind” in Buddhist texts) which collects and stores all karmic seeds of the mind in the ongoing cycle of birth and death of all sentient beings. To a Buddhist, the “self” at this moment reflects everything accumulated from the past.

The “self” in the future depends on the actions of the present.

That is, “what one receives in this life is what one had cultivated in previous lives; what one receives in a future life is what one creates in this life.”

“The Three Realms are mere manifestation of mind; so are the 51

myriad of dharmas.” All phenomena in this life, and in the universe, are nothing but mirror images imprinted on our mind through the eight consciousnesses. Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind discriminate and grasp sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and thoughts. In accordance with each individual's capacity for discernment, these images are further processed and recognized as real or unreal, and then used to construct what one believes to be “this life and the world.” In reality, all things constantly change in a cycle of formation, abiding, destruction and emptiness. Our thoughts and ideas also arise, abide, change and disappear instantaneously in the cycle of birth and death.

Where can one find a life or a world which truly exists without change? Everything in the universe can only be found in perceptions and interpretations!

The Alaya consciousness is like a big storehouse full of past memories of love, hatred, goodwill and animosity which we may no longer recall in this life. It perpetually influences our actions and behaviors in this life and is referred to as ignorance in Buddhism. Because of the karmic influence of this ignorance, we go through the cycle of birth and death. When the unwholesome seeds from the past mature, we become afflicted and are tempted to commit non-virtuous acts, which in turn become unwholesome seeds for the future. When the wholesome seeds from the past mature, our hearts are pure and noble, our minds are clear and intelligent and we perform virtuous deeds which become wholesome seeds again in the Alaya consciousness. In the teachings of the Mind-only School, it is said, “Seeds give rise to actions, then actions turn into new seeds.” The psychological motives of all human behaviors are explained through this model.

Due to the influence of our ignorance from the past, we are prone to make judgments which result in negative feelings. Re52

inforced by greed and anger, our minds become confused and form incorrect views about things in the world. However, just as plants require sunshine and rain to blossom and bear fruit, similar conditions are required for the development of human behavior. Although deep in the unconscious level of the human mind lie feelings of love, hatred and positive or negative intentions, at the time when these feelings are provoked by people or things from outside surroundings, one can rely on our true mind and wisdom to avoid negative deeds from occurring and create virtuous conduct instead.

The development of our true mind and its wisdom relies on the diligent practice of upholding the precepts, developing concentration and increasing awareness and insight. This process which transforms a deluded mind into our true mind is described in Buddhism as “converting consciousness into wisdom.” Consciousness carries the psychological baggage of past experiences. The wisdom emitted from our true mind is the therapy or treatment for human beings in their attempt to resolve any internal conflicts within their minds, to transcend suffering in this lifetime and to escape from the cycle of birth and death in coming lives.

The Mind-only School further classifies the psychological responses of human beings into fifty-one categories and refers to them as “the attributes of the mind.” These include: 1. Five basic psychological functions: mental and physical contact, attention, feeling, identification and analysis.

2. Five deliberately created mental conditions: aspiration, comprehension, memory, concentration and wisdom.

3. Eleven wholesome psychological states: trust, diligence, humility, remorse, no greed, no hatred, no ignorance, tranquil53

ity, attentiveness, equanimity, and no harm.

4. Six root afflictions: greed, hatred, ignorance, arrogance, doubt and incorrect view.

5. Twenty unwholesome psychological states: anger, hostility, irritation, conceit, deceit, flattery, arrogance, malice, jealousy, stinginess, no remorse, no regret, no trust, laziness, insensitivity, apathy, agitation, forgetfulness, incorrect perception and heedlessness.

6. Four neutral states of mind: remorse, sleepiness, applied thought and sustained thought.

The above categorization of human psychological responses in Buddhism is rather comprehensive and sophisticated. Today's psychology researchers will gain a lot if they can study Buddhism in addition to psychology.

The Allegories of the Mind In Buddhism, the root cause of human suffering, and other problems, is identified as the mind. It thus proposes to tap into this invaluable resource by transforming any unwholesomeness into wholesomeness. Buddhism instructs sentient beings on how to recognize the mind, calm the mind and handle the mind. The Buddha taught, in his life time, for forty-nine years. Whether his teachings were about the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, the Six Paramitas, or the Four Encompassing Principles, they invariably involved mind. The mind dictates a person's behavior. If a person's mind is pure, all his/her thoughts, speech and actions, will necessarily be pure. If a person's mind is impure, what he/she hears and sees becomes impure. Therefore, it is said in one sutra, “When the mind is im54

pure, the being is impure; when the mind is pure, the being is pure.�

All the pain and suffering in this world are created by the mind.

Our minds have wandered among the Six Realms in numberless lives. It seems that we are never in control. The mind always attaches to colorful external surroundings, seeking tirelessly for fame, fortune, power and love, constantly calculating and discriminating. The truth is, our mind was originally capable of embracing everything just like that of the Buddha's. It was like the sun and moon, capable of breaking through darkness. It was like fertile soil, capable of enriching the roots of virtue and growing trees of merit. It was like a bright mirror, capable of reflecting everything clearly and truthfully. It was like an ocean, full of immeasurable resources and treasures. In the Buddhist canons, the Buddha often used simple stories to describe the mind. A summary of ten of them is listed below: 1. The mind is like a monkey, difficult to control: As is said in an old proverb, “the mind resembles a monkey and the thoughts resemble horses.�

The mind is compared to a monkey that is hyperactive, jumping and swinging between tree limbs without any moment of rest.

2. The mind is as quick as lighting and thunder: The mind is compared to lighting, thunder, or a spark created by striking a stone. It functions so rapidly that at the moment of thought, it has traveled throughout the universe without 55

any obstruction. For instance, when one thinks about taking a trip to Europe or America, immediately the scenery of Europe and America will surface in his/her mind, as if he/she were already present in those places.

3. The mind is like a wild deer, chasing after sensory pleasure all the time: The wild deer runs in the wilderness and becomes thirsty. To search for water, it scrambles in four directions, looking for a stream. Our mind is like this wild deer, it can hardly resist the temptation of the five sensual desires and the six sensory objects. It chases after sight, sound and other sensory pleasures all the time.

4. The mind is like a robber stealing our virtues and merits: Our body is like a village, with the five sensory organs as the five entrances, and the mind is the thief in the village who steals beneficial deeds and merits that we have laboriously accumulated, leaving us with a negative impression in other's minds and a poor life style. Confucian scholar Wang Yangming once said, “It's much easier to catch bandits hidden in the wilderness than to eradicate the thief in our mind.” If we can tame the thief in our mind, making it obedient and compliant, we will become the master of our mind and capable of fostering superior virtues and merits.

5. The mind is like an enemy inflicting suffering upon us: the mind acts like our foes and enemies, aiming at creating trouble for us, causing us all kinds of pain and suffering. In one sutra, it says, “Unwholesomeness in itself is empty because it is a creation of the mind; if the mind is purified, unwholesomeness will be gone in no time.” Our mind has Buddha Nature as its original quality which is pure, free and contented.

But numerous delusions have caused afflictions to our body and spirit. If we can eliminate our delusions and false views, 56

we will be able to make friends with this enemy.

6. The mind is like a servant to various irritations: The mind acts as if it is the servant of external objects, catering to and driven constantly by these objects, resulting in numerous afflictions. In another sutra, it says that our mind has three poisons, five hindrances, ten defilements, eighty- eight impediments, and eighty-four- thousand aggravations! These hindrances, obstacles, defilements and impediments are all capable of impeding our wisdom, restraining our mind and spirit and making us restless. To turn our mind from a servant into a master depends largely on how we train it.

7. The mind is like a master having the highest authority: The mind is the boss of the body. It possesses the highest authority. It leads, governs and commands everything including our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mental activities to produce sensory feelings and cognitive functions.

8. The mind is like an ever-flowing spring: Our mind is similar to running water gushing incessantly. It holds unlimited potential and contains immeasurable treasures. If we can effectively utilize our spring of wisdom, we will be free from the fear of being scarcity.

9. The mind is like an artist who paints: The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “The mind is like a master painter experienced at painting all sorts of things.” Our mind is very much like a skillful painter who can draw various pictures. When one's mind is inspired by wise ones and sages, one's appearance will seem wise and enlightened. When one's mind is occupied by malice and hostility, one's appearance will look fierce and repulsive like that of a devil or ghost. In other words, “As one's mind changes, so does one's appearance.”

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10. The mind is like space without limit: The nature of mind is as expansive as the limitless space. It is capable of encompassing everything in the universe. In another sutra, it says, “If one wants to comprehend the enlightened state of a Buddha, one has to purify his/her mind so it becomes empty like space.” Space is vast and enormous without borders or edges. Space supports everything but grasps nothing. If we want to understand the enlightened states of the Buddhas, we have to expand our mind so that it becomes limitless and boundless like the sky, friction-free and carefree like space.

Then our mind will be able to embrace all things in the universe and benefit all sentient beings.

Ways to Purify the Mind Modern medicine is very advanced. All kinds of pharmaceuticals are available. The variety of drugs corresponds to the numerous ailments modern people now have which were non-existent before. There are cancers in our physical bodies, but aren't there cancers in our minds also? Greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and doubt are illnesses that we cannot ignore. When we have physical disorders, we treat them with medicines, intravenous injections and nu- tritional supplements. There is an old Chinese saying, “ Medicine can only cure symptoms of ailments. It will not heal the real illnesses.” The real illness is the illness of the mind. As a matter of fact, many physical diseases are caused by psychological factors. The most obvious examples are illnesses of the stomach and digestive system. Eighty percent of these disorders are related to emotional distress. If we can maintain a balanced and peaceful mind, many diseases will disappear.

If we have psychological disorders, what medicines will benefit our spirit? The Buddha is said to have created eighty-four58

thousand instructions to remedy our eighty-four-thousand tenacious maladies. For example, if we do not eradicate our greed by upholding the precepts, our mind will follow our greed by running wild. If we do not overcome our anger by practicing meditation, our spirit will live forever in a “flame of fire” which makes perfect tranquility difficult to reach. Finally, the affliction of ignorance can only be cured by wisdom, because wisdom is capable of penetrating the darkness of ignorance, uncovering the magnificent and tranquil state of our There are cancers in our physical bodies, original mind. but aren't there cancers in our minds also?

In addition to the maGreed, anger, ignorance, arrogance and jor illnesses caused by the three poisons, and doubt are illnesses that we cannot ignore. ignorance, there are all kinds of psychological sicknesses that need to be healed, transformed, or overcome. The following are treatments as prescribed in the Buddha's teachings: 1. A calm mind is an antidote to a busy mind: The tempo of modern life is rather fast and compacted. Most people suffer from distress caused by anxiety and insecurity. Therefore, in our daily lives, it's beneficial if we have a few minutes to practice the art of self-healing through mind calming and purification. When the “impurities” in our mind are cleansed, insight and wisdom will emerge from calmness.

2. A benevolent mind is an antidote to a malevolent mind: Our mind sometimes is like that of a “sage,” but at other times like that of a “troubled one,” rambling up and down, in between the positive and the negative. When the benevolent mind arises, everything goes well; when the malevolent mind arises, millions of defilements result. Therefore, we 59

have to eradicate the unwholesome mind, and guard and keep our correct thoughts, in order to cultivate a mind of loving kindness and compassion.

3. A trusting mind is an antidote to a doubtful mind: Many mistakes and tragedies in the world are due to doubt and suspicion, for instance, suspecting the betrayal of a friend, infidelity of a spouse, or ill will of a relative. When doubt arises, it's like a restraining rope on the body, making movement almost impossible. Treatise on the Perfection of Great Wisdom (Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra) says, “The Buddha's teachings are as large as an ocean. Trust provides the only means to reach it.� Building trust not only allows us to realize the truth in the Buddha's teachings, it also enables us to be more tolerant toward others, to accept the world as it is and to strengthen our belief in the Dharma.

4. A true mind is an antidote to a deluded mind: Because of an attachment to the notion of self, personal preference and judgments, ordinary people's minds are constantly discriminating and deliberating, creating countless illusions and unwarranted responses. To lead a life of truth, beauty and virtue, we have to use our mind without discrimination and duality, perceiving things as they are and treating all sentient beings as inherently equal.

5. An open mind is an antidote to a narrow mind: We need to make our mind become like an ocean capable of receiving all the water from hundreds of rivers and tributaries without changing their characteristics. Only an all-embracing mind of gratitude and forbearance can relieve us from a jealous and intolerant mind.

6. A balanced mind is an antidote to a fragmented mind: If material wealth is the only thing valued in life, we will become 60

extremely anguished when we lose our fortune. If ordinary love is the focal point of life, we will suffer tremendously if that love relationship can no longer be maintained. Whenever there is grasping and clinging, there is differentiation and bondage. How can one be free? It's better that one react to the transient, worldly possessions and the attached illusions with an even and equitable mind. By doing that, one will become free and unperturbed at all times and in all occasions without any attachment or restriction.

7. An enduring mind is an antidote to an impermanent mind: Although Buddhism maintains that all things and phenomena, including thoughts and feelings, are impermanent and constantly changing, it also holds that when we vow to serve others and not just ourselves, the power of the vow and devotion is so immeasurable that it reaches beyond the universe. The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “As soon as one invokes the bodhicitta (the vow to attain Buddhahood), one is immediately enlightened.” A Bodhisattva who has just pledged his/her vow has a mind as pure as that of the Buddha's.

However, he/she has to maintain that momentum, without falling back, in order to attain perfect enlightenment.

8. A non-attached mind is an antidote to an impulsive mind: Modern men and women fancy novelty and fads. They are curious about any new gimmick, and thus become easy targets of bizarre and eccentric scams and frauds perpetrated by con artists. Chan Buddhism states that, “A non-attached mind is the path to enlightenment.” Maintaining a nonattached mind in our daily life will enable us to appreciate that, “Every day is a delightful day, every moment is an enjoyable moment.”

In addition to these eight observations, we ought to cultivate a 61

mind of patience, humility, thoughtfulness, filial piety, sincerity, honesty, innocence, purity, loving-kindness, forgiveness, joyfulness, charity, reverence, equanimity, forbearance, contrition, repentance, thankfulness, wisdom (prajna), compassion (a trait of a Bodhisattva) and enlightenment (a trait of a Buddha) to fully develop its boundless potential.

The temple bell dies away The scent of owers in the evening Is s$ll tolling the bell.

--Basho (1644-1694)

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AWAKENING JOY: CULTIVATING “GLADNESS OF THE WHOLESOME”

James Baraz Buddhist medita on has been my salva on. It has helped open my heart and led me to greater peace than I ever knew possible.

However, after several years of practice I began to find I was approaching the Dharma with a grim and solemn attitude. At one point in my practice I mistook the teachings to mean that to enjoy life was un-Buddhist. Being passionate by temperament— whether with sports or music or meditation—this caused me much confusion. Although I had learned something about getting less caught in attachment and accepting things as they are, gone were the vitality, aliveness and enthusiasm for life that were so much a part of who I knew myself to be. During this period, I remembered with nostalgia the earlier days, when there had been such zeal and gratitude for the transformation that I felt was taking place. I had somehow lost my joy along the way and wondered if there was even a place for it in the spiritual journey?

In my narrowness of vision I had a missed basic point: Buddhism is really a path that cultivates genuine happiness. After all, the Buddha was known as The Happy One. In fact, in the first sentence of his book The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama says, “The purpose of life is to be happy.”

I don’t think my experience is so unusual among earnest Buddhist practitioners. Although one can see a smile on every Buddhist statue, joy is sometimes overlooked as being an integral part of the spiritual journey. We hear about getting off the wheel of samsara and may think that the aim of practice is to reject 63

enjoyment of life’s blessings. But that is a misunderstanding. The way Ajahn Sumedho puts it, “Sometimes in Theravada Buddhism one gets the impression that you shouldn't enjoy beauty. If you see a beautiful flower you should contemplate its decay, or if you see a beautiful woman, you should contemplate her as a rotting corpse…That's a good reflection on anicca, dukkha and anatta, but it can leave the impression that beauty is only to be reflected on in terms of these three characteristics, rather than in terms of the experience of beauty. Once you have insight, then one finds one enjoys, delights in the beauty and the goodness of things. Truth, beauty and goodness delight us; in them we find joy.”

When I finally emerged from my dark period and reconnected with my natural joy, I decided to take a fresh look at the teachings to flesh out what I considered an under-emphasized but key component of practice. By shifting the emphasis from the usual stated Buddhist goal of ending suffering to that of developing happiness, we find a wealth of teachings and practices that offer a powerful prescription for awakening joy, not only in deep meditative states but in our day-to-day life. For instance, joy is one of the Factors of Enlightenment, as well as one of the Divine Abodes. Various other teachings on well-being can be found throughout. These states are referred to in Pali in several ways: pamojja (gladness/delight), piti (rapture/joy), and sukkha (happiness/contentment). When I found these teachings I wanted to share them.

A few years ago I began offering a course called “Awakening Joy,” presenting these Buddhist principles of happiness online and in Berkeley where I live. With over 2000 people having now gone through the Awakening Joy program, I’ve found that whether one is a seasoned meditator or not, the teachings are 64

profoundly effective in changing the default setting of one’s mind and heart towards greater well-being and joy.

Joy comes in many different flavors. For some, it's an energetic radiance; for others it's a quiet feeling of connection. We each have our own way of expressing this state of well-being.

We do not have to create joy. It is an innate quality already within us, however hidden or dormant it may be. As innocent babies we all have a natural joy. We all can still squeal with delight given the right circumstances.

When we're not overwhelmed with stress or suffering, this natural state becomes revealed (as often happens on meditation retreats).

The good news is happiness can be consciously developed.

A key teaching of the Buddha states: “Whatever the practitioner frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of their mind.” We are either making skillful grooves or unpleasant ruts with repetitive habits of thought. They become deeper still when we act on those thoughts. Through inclining the mind toward wholesome states and then acting on those impulses, we begin to shift out habitual thinking. Research has shown that through repetition we strengthen positive neural pathways in the brain.

By nourishing our spirit in healthy ways we create the conditions for well being as well as the ability to be balanced with all experience. In one discourse (MN #99), the Buddha points out that when we are performing a wholesome action, for example a generous or kind act, a feeling of gladness naturally arises. He says, 65

“That gladness connected with what is wholesome I call an equipment of mind for overcoming ill will and hostility.”

Cultivating wholesome states of well-being in our lives begins with clarity of intention. The clearer we are about our aspiration to open to joy (or happiness or well-being), the more we fuel the process. “Everything rests on the tip of one's motivation,” says a Tibetan wisdom teaching. Embodying the metta phrase, May I be happy orients our life in a profound way. As we practice facing in the direction of true well-being, with strong intention and patience, we begin to awaken joy.

Alice, a woman with a history of chronic pain accompanied by depression, got very clear on her intention to create more joy in her life. After six months practicing with the support of the group and a ‘joy buddy’ she reported, “Setting the intention to be more alive and to experience joy has been incredibly powerful. I find that I am less afraid of my constant physical pain. My friends are noticing also that I am having fewer episodes of extreme despair. My long-time on-again off-again boyfriend proposed. I was very surprised, as I thought he still had doubts about the future of our relationship. Later he explained that he had seen so much progress in the stability of my moods and my ability to live life that he no longer doubted my commitment to ‘getting better’.”

With clarity of intention, we next use the basic tool of a joyful heart, mindfulness, particularly with regard to noticing wholesome states when they arise. It's easy to miss them unless we have them on our radar. When we feel grateful or happy or calm or compassionate, it registers more deeply if we are present right in the middle of the experience. Paying close attention to when we are feeling good—noticing with interest how it feels in the body and mind—helps us become more directly familiar with 66

the “gladness of the wholesome.” Brain research corroborates that when we pay particular attention to positive experiences (or wholesome states) they are registered more deeply in our brains and mind.

What about when we go through hard times? How does inclining towards well-being work then? As the First Noble Truth teaches, dukkha is part of life. Awakening joy does not mean living in denial. Tragedies happen. Someone we love goes through major difficulty or dies. We get a bad diagnosis. These are all part of the fabric of life. It’s not a question of if the hard stuff comes but when it comes. We can’t slap on a happy face and simply think we should get over it. Our feelings need to be acknowledged and honored.

It helps to understand that the very act of opening up to suffering is part of our practice of awakening joy. Truly happy people are not happy all the time. The Buddha taught that our relationship to what’s happening is what determines our suffering or our happiness. We can learn how to open to difficulties honestly while letting ourselves still be nourished by the goodness in life.

While going through a particularly challenging period in her life, Diane practiced staying connected to what was good as well.

She described her experience this way: “I have been bombarded with an exceptional number of difficult experiences in the recent weeks. While I haven’t been joyful in the conventional sense, I have maintained awareness of my intention to cultivate joy. I’ve been very aware of compassion and loving kindness in each situation; and I’ve been conscious of allowing positive feelings and happiness to co-exist with the sadness that has naturally accompanied these situations.” When we open up to the joys— the beauty and goodness around us—it gives us a larger container in which to hold the suffering.

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Whether we are in the 10,000 joys or the 10,000 sorrows there are many ways to cultivate qualities of well-being. We can choose to do our dharma practice—cultivating generosity, integrity, gratitude, letting go—with the conscious intention of awakening joy. The choice is ours. As Michael, a lifelong selfproclaimed aversive type put it, “I understand now that I have a lot more to do with experiencing joy than I thought. To be joyful had always seemed like luck, or some sort of accident even, and I felt like I was a victim of life’s circumstances. I now see that I have more ‘control’ over how often I experience joy. I can choose to be happy and choose to be unhappy, even miserable.

Joy seems to occur more often as a result of this realization.”

By developing and increasing wholesome states, we not only create the conditions for happiness and joy in this moment, but also create the conditions for awakening a liberated heart. Cultivating goodness, aliveness and joy within us also has a ripple effect. As we access these qualities in ourselves, we help awaken it in others. Our own practice then becomes our gift to everyone we meet.

Spirit Rock Newsletter, Spring 2007

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RIGHT EFFORT Bhikkhu Bodhi The puriďŹ ca on of conduct established by the prior three factors serves as the basis for the next division of the path, the division of concentration (samadhikkhandha). This present phase of practice, which advances from moral restraint to direct mental training, comprises the three factors of right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. It gains its name from the goal to which it aspires, the power of sustained concentration, itself required as the support for insight-wisdom. Wisdom is the primary tool for deliverance, but the penetrating vision it yields can only open up when the mind has been composed and collected. Right concentration brings the requisite stillness to the mind by unifying it with undistracted focus on a suitable object.

To do so, however, the factor of concentration needs the aid of effort and mindfulness. Right effort provides the energy demanded by the task, right mindfulness the steadying points for awareness.

The commentators illustrate the interdependence of the three factors within the concentration group with a simple simile.

Three boys go to a park to play. While walking along they see a tree with flowering tops and decide they want to gather the flowers. But the flowers are beyond the reach even of the tallest boy. Then one friend bends down and offers his back. The tall boy climbs up, but still hesitates to reach for the flowers from fear of falling. So the third boy comes over and offers his shoulder for support. The first boy, standing on the back of the second boy, then leans on the shoulder of the third boy, reaches up, and gathers the flowers.[1] 69

In this simile the tall boy who picks the flowers represents concentration with its function of unifying the mind. But to unify the mind concentration needs support: the energy provided by right effort, which is like the boy who offers his back. It also requires the stabilizing awareness provided by mindfulness, which is like the boy who offers his shoulder. When right concentration receives this support, then empowered by right effort and balanced by right mindfulness it can draw in the scattered strands of thought and fix the mind firmly on its object.

Energy (viriya), the mental factor behind right effort, can appear in either wholesome or unwholesome forms. The same factor fuels desire, aggression, violence, and ambition on the one hand, and generosity, self-discipline, kindness, concentration, and understanding on the other. The exertion involved in right effort is a wholesome form of energy, but it is something more specific, namely, the energy in wholesome states of consciousness directed to liberation from suffering. This last qualifying phrase is especially important. For wholesome energy to become a contributor to the path it has to be guided by right view and right intention, and to work in association with the other path factors. Otherwise, as the energy in ordinary wholesome states of mind, it merely engenders an accumulation of merit that ripens within the round of birth and death; it does not issue in liberation from the round.

Time and again the Buddha has stressed the need for effort, for diligence, exertion, and unflagging perseverance. The reason why effort is so crucial is that each person has to work out his or her own deliverance. The Buddha does what he can by pointing out the path to liberation; the rest involves putting the path into practice, a task that demands energy. This energy is to be applied to the cultivation of the mind, which forms the focus of 70

the entire path. The starting point is the defiled mind, afflicted and deluded; the goal is the liberated mind, purified and illuminated by wisdom. What comes in between is the unremitting effort to transform the defiled mind into the liberated mind. The work of self-cultivation is not easy -- there is no one who can do it for us but ourselves -- but it is not impossible. The Buddha himself and his accomplished disciples provide the living proof that the task is not beyond our reach. They assure us, too, that anyone who follows the path can accomplish the same goal. But what is needed is effort, the work of practice taken up with the determination: "I shall not give up my efforts until I have attained whatever is attainable by manly perseverance, energy, and endeavour."[2] The nature of the mental process effects a division of right effort into four "great endeavours": (1) to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states; (2) to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen; (3) to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen; (4) to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.

The unwholesome states (akusala dhamma) are the defilements, and the thoughts, emotions, and intentions derived from them, whether breaking forth into action or remaining confined within. The wholesome states (kusala dhamma) are states of mind untainted by defilements, especially those conducing to deliverance. Each of the two kinds of mental states imposes a double task. The unwholesome side requires that the defilements lying dormant be prevented from erupting and that the active defilements already present be expelled. The wholesome side requires that the undeveloped liberating factors first be brought into being, then persistently developed to the point of full maturity.

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Now we will examine each of these four divisions of right effort, giving special attention to their most fertile field of application, the cultivation of the mind through meditation.

(1) To prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states Herein the disciple rouses his will to avoid the arising of evil, unwholesome states that have not yet arisen; and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.[3] The first side of right effort aims at overcoming unwholesome states, states of mind tainted by defilements. Insofar as they impede concentration the defilements are usually presented in a fivefold set called the "five hindrances" (pancanivarana): sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and worry, and doubt.[4] They receive the name "hindrances" because they block the path to liberation; they grow up and over the mind preventing calm and insight, the primary instruments for progress. The first two hindrances, sensual desire and ill will, are the strongest of the set, the most formidable barriers to meditative growth, representing, respectively, the unwholesome roots of greed and aversion. The other three hindrances, less toxic but still obstructive, are offshoots of delusion, usually in association with other defilements.

Sensual desire is interpreted in two ways. Sometimes it is understood in a narrow sense as lust for the "five strands of sense pleasure," i.e. agreeable sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches; sometimes a broader interpretation is given, by which the 72

term becomes inclusive of craving in all its modes, whether for sense pleasures, wealth, power, position, fame, or anything else it can settle upon. The second hindrance, ill will, is a synonym for aversion. It comprises hatred, anger, resentment, repulsion of every shade, whether directed towards other people, towards oneself, towards objects, or towards situations. The third hindrance, dullness and drowsiness, is a compound of two factors linked together by their common feature of mental unwieldiness. One is dullness (thina), manifest as mental inertia; the other is drowsiness (middha), seen in mental sinking, heaviness of mind, or excessive inclination to sleep. At the opposite extreme is the fourth hindrance, restlessness and worry. This too is a compound with its two members linked by their common feature of disquietude. Restlessness (uddhacca) is agitation or excitement, which drives the mind from thought to thought with speed and frenzy; worry (kukkucca) is remorse over past mistakes and anxiety about their possible undesired consequences.

The fifth hindrance, doubt, signifies a chronic indecisiveness and lack of resolution: not the probing of critical intelligence, an attitude encouraged by the Buddha, but a persistent inability to commit oneself to the course of spiritual training due to lingering doubts concerning the Buddha, his doctrine, and his path.

The first effort to be made regarding the hindrances is the effort to prevent the unarisen hindrances from arising; this is also called the endeavour to restrain (samvarappadhana). The effort to hold the hindrances in check is imperative both at the start of meditative training and throughout the course of its development. For when the hindrances arise, they disperse attention and darken the quality of awareness, to the detriment of calm and clarity. The hindrances do not come from outside the mind but from within. They appear through the activation of certain tendencies constantly lying dormant in the deep recesses of the 73

mental continuum, awaiting the opportunity to surface.

Generally what sparks the hindrances into activity is the input afforded by sense experience. The physical organism is equipped with five sense faculties each receptive to its own specific kind of data -- the eye to forms, the ear to sounds, the nose to smells, the tongue to tastes, the body to tangibles. Sense objects continuously impinge on the senses, which relay the information they receive to the mind, where it is processed, evaluated, and accorded an appropriate response. But the mind can deal with the impressions it receives in different ways, governed in the first place by the manner in which it attends to them.

When the mind adverts to the incoming data carelessly, with unwise consideration (ayoniso manasikara), the sense objects tend to stir up unwholesome states. They do this either directly, through their immediate impact, or else indirectly by depositing memory traces which later may swell up as the objects of defiled thoughts, images, and fantasies. As a general rule the defilement that is activated corresponds to the object: attractive objects provoke desire, disagreeable objects provoke ill will, and indeterminate objects provoke the defilements connected with delusion.

Since an uncontrolled response to the sensory input stimulates the latent defilements, what is evidently needed to prevent them from arising is control over the senses. Thus the Buddha teaches, as the discipline for keeping the hindrances in check, an exercise called the restraint of the sense faculties (indriyasamvara): When he perceives a form with the eye, a sound with the ear, an odour with the nose, a taste with the tongue, an impression with the body, or an object with the mind, he apprehends neither the sign nor the particulars. And he strives to ward off that through 74

which evil and unwholesome states, greed and sorrow, would arise, if he remained with unguarded senses; and he watches over his senses, restrains his senses.[5] Restraint of the senses does not mean denial of the senses, retreating into a total withdrawal from the sensory world. This is impossible, and even if it could be achieved, the real problem would still not be solved; for the defilements lie in the mind, not in the sense organs or objects. The key to sense control is indicated by the phrase "not apprehending the sign or the particulars.” The “sign” (nimitta) is the object's general appearance insofar as this appearance is grasped as the basis for defiled thoughts; the “particulars” (anubyanjana) are its less conspicuous features. If sense control is lacking, the mind roams recklessly over the sense fields. First it grasps the sign, which sets the defilements into motion, then it explores the particulars, which permits them to multiply and thrive.

To restrain the senses requires that mindfulness and clear understanding be applied to the encounter with the sense fields.

Sense consciousness occurs in a series, as a sequence of momentary cognitive acts each having its own special task. The initial stages in the series occur as automatic functions: first the mind adverts to the object, then apprehends it, then admits the percept, examines it, and identifies it. Immediately following the identification a space opens up in which there occurs a free evaluation of the object leading to the choice of a response.

When mindfulness is absent the latent defilements, pushing for an opportunity to emerge, will motivate a wrong consideration.

One will grasp the sign of the object, explore its details, and thereby give the defilements their opportunity: on account of greed one will become fascinated by an agreeable object, on account of aversion one will be repelled by a disagreeable object.

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But when one applies mindfulness to the sensory encounter, one nips the cognitive process in the bud before it can evolve into the stages that stimulate the dormant taints. Mindfulness holds the hindrances in check by keeping the mind at the level of what is sensed. It rivets awareness on the given, preventing the mind from embellishing the datum with ideas born of greed, aversion, and delusion. Then, with this lucent awareness as a guide, the mind can proceed to comprehend the object as it is, without being led astray.

(2) To abandon the arisen unwholesome states Herein the disciple rouses his will to overcome the evil, unwholesome states that have already arisen and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.[6] Despite the effort at sense control the defilements may still surface. They swell up from the depths of the mental continuum, from the buried strata of past accumulations, to congeal into unwholesome thoughts and emotions. When this happens a new kind of effort becomes necessary, the effort to abandon arisen unwholesome states, called for short the endeavour to abandon (pahanappadhana): He does not retain any thought of sensual lust, ill will, or harmfulness, or any other evil and unwholesome states that may have arisen; he abandons them, dispels them, destroys them, causes them to disappear.[7] Just as a skilled physician has different medicines for different ailments, so the Buddha has different antidotes for the different hindrances, some equally applicable to all, some geared to a particular hindrance. In an important discourse the Buddha explains five techniques for expelling distracting thoughts.[8] The first is to expel the defiled thought with a wholesome thought 76

which is its exact opposite, analogous to the way a carpenter might use a new peg to drive out an old one. For each of the five hindrances there is a specific remedy, a line of meditation designed expressly to deflate it and destroy it. This remedy can be applied intermittently, when a hindrance springs up and disr u p t s meditation on the primaMindfulness holds the hindrances ry subject; or it can in check by keeping the mind at be taken as a prithe level of what is sensed. It mary subject itself, rivets awareness on the given, used to counpreven ng the mind from ter a defilement embellishing the datum with repeatedly seen to ideas born of greed, aversion, and be a persistent delusion. obstacle to one's practice.

But for the antidote to become effective in the first role, as a temporary expedient required by the upsurge of a hindrance, it is best to gain some familiarity with it by making it a primary object, at least for short periods.

For desire a remedy of general application is the meditation on impermanence, which knocks away the underlying prop of clinging, the implicit assumption that the objects clung to are stable and durable. For desire in the specific form of sensual lust the most potent antidote is the contemplation of the unattractive nature of the body, to be dealt with at greater length in the next chapter. Ill will meets its proper remedy in the meditation on lovingkindness (metta), which banishes all traces of hatred and anger through the methodical radiation of the altruistic wish that all beings be well and happy. The dispelling of dullness and drowsiness calls for a special effort to arouse energy, for which several methods are suggested: the visualization of a bril77

liant ball of light, getting up and doing a period of brisk walking meditation, reflection on death, or simply making a firm determination to continue striving. Restlessness and worry are most effectively countered by turning the mind to a simple object that tends to calm it down; the method usually recommended is mindfulness of breathing, attention to the in-and-out flow of the breath. In the case of doubt the special remedy is investigation: to make inquiries, ask questions, and study the teachings until the obscure points become clear.[9] Whereas this first of the five methods for expelling the hindrances involves a one-to-one alignment between a hindrance and its remedy, the other four utilize general approaches. The second marshals the forces of shame (hiri) and moral dread (ottappa) to abandon the unwanted thought: one reflects on the thought as vile and ignoble or considers its undesirable consequences until an inner revulsion sets in which drives the thought away. The third method involves a deliberate diversion of attention. When an unwholesome thought arises and clamours to be noticed, instead of indulging it one simply shuts it out by redirecting one's attention elsewhere, as if closing one's eyes or looking away to avoid an unpleasant sight. The fourth method uses the opposite approach. Instead of turning away from the unwanted thought, one confronts it directly as an object, scrutinizes its features, and investigates its source. When this is done the thought quiets down and eventually disappears. For an unwholesome thought is like a thief: it only creates trouble when its operation is concealed, but put under observation it becomes tame. The fifth method, to be used only as a last resort, is suppression -- vigorously restraining the unwholesome thought with the power of the will in the way a strong man might throw a weaker man to the ground and keep him pinned there with his weight.

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By applying these five methods with skill and discretion, the Buddha says, one becomes a master of all the pathways of thought. One is no longer the subject of the mind but its master. Whatever thought one wants to think, that one will think.

Whatever thought one does not want to think, that one will not think. Even if unwholesome thoughts occasionally arise, one can dispel them immediately, just as quickly as a red-hot pan will turn to steam a few chance drops of water.

(3) To arouse unarisen wholesome states Herein the disciple rouses his will to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen; and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.[10] Simultaneously with the removal of defilements, right effort also imposes the task of cultivating wholesome states of mind.

This involves two divisions: the arousing of wholesome states not yet arisen and the maturation of wholesome states already arisen.

The first of the two divisions is also known as the endeavour to develop (bhavanappadhana). Though the wholesome states to be developed can be grouped in various ways -- serenity and insight, the four foundations of mindfulness, the eight factors of the path, etc. -- the Buddha lays special stress on a set called the 79

seven factors of enlightenment (satta bojjhanga): mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity.

Thus he develops the factors of enlightenment, based on solitude, on detachment, on cessation, and ending in deliverance, namely: the enlightenment factors of mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity.[11] The seven states are grouped together as "enlightenment factors" both because they lead to enlightenment and because they constitute enlightenment. In the preliminary stages of the path they prepare the way for the great realization; in the end they remain as its components. The experience of enlightenment, perfect and complete understanding, is just these seven components working in unison to break all shackles and bring final release from sorrow.

The way to enlightenment starts with mindfulness. Mindfulness clears the ground for insight into the nature of things by bringing to light phenomena in the now, the present moment, stripped of all subjective commentary, interpretations, and projections. Then, when mindfulness has brought the bare phenomena into focus, the factor of investigation steps in to search out their characteristics, conditions, and consequences. Whereas mindfulness is basically receptive, investigation is an active factor which unflinchingly probes, analyzes, and dissects phenomena to uncover their fundamental structures.

The work of investigation requires energy, the third factor of enlightenment, which mounts in three stages. The first, inceptive energy, shakes off lethargy and arouses initial enthusiasm.

As the work of contemplation advances, energy gathers momentum and enters the second stage, perseverance, wherein it pro80

pels the practice without slackening. Finally, at the peak, energy reaches the third stage, invincibility, where it drives contemplation forward leaving the hindrances powerless to stop it.

As energy increases, the fourth factor of enlightenment is quickened. This is rapture, a pleasurable interest in the object. Rapture gradually builds up, ascending to ecstatic heights: waves of bliss run through the body, the mind glows with joy, fervour and confidence intensify. But these experiences, as encouraging as they are, still contain a flaw: they create an excitation verging on restlessness. With further practice, however, rapture subsides and a tone of quietness sets in signalling the rise of the fifth factor, tranquillity. Rapture remains present, but it is now subdued, and the work of contemplation proceeds with selfpossessed serenity.

Tranquillity brings to ripeness concentration, the sixth factor, one-pointed unification of mind. Then, with the deepening of concentration, the last enlightenment factor comes into dominance. This is equanimity, inward poise and balance free from the two defects of excitement and inertia. When inertia prevails, energy must be aroused; when excitement prevails, it is necessary to exercise restraint. But when both defects have been vanquished the practice can unfold evenly without need for concern. The mind of equanimity is compared to the driver of a chariot when the horses are moving at a steady pace: he neither has to urge them forward nor to hold them back, but can just sit comfortably and watch the scenery go by. Equanimity has the same "on-looking" quality. When the other factors are balanced the mind remains poised watching the play of phenomena.

(4) To maintain arisen wholesome states Herein the disciple rouses his will to maintain the wholesome things that have already arisen, and not to allow them to disap81

pear, but to bring them to growth, to maturity, and to the full perfection of development; and he makes effort, stirs up his energy, exerts his mind and strives.[12] This last of the four right efforts aims at maintaining the arisen wholesome factors and bringing them to maturity. Called the "endeavour to maintain" (anurakkhanappadhana), it is explained as the effort to "keep firmly in the mind a favourable object of concentration that has arisen."[13] The work of guarding the object causes the seven enlightenment factors to gain stability and gradually increase in strength until they issue in the liberating realization. This marks the culmination of right effort, the goal in which the countless individual acts of exertion finally reach fulfilment.

Notes 1. Papancasudani (Commentary to Majjhima Nikaya).

2. MN 70; Word of the Buddha, pp. 59-60.

3. AN 4:13; Word of the Buddha, p. 57.

4. Kamacchanda, byapada, thina-middha, uddhacca-kukkucca, vicikiccha.

5. AN 4:14; Word of the Buddha, p. 57.

6. AN 4:13; Word of the Buddha, p. 58.

7. AN 4:14; Word of the Buddha, p. 58.

8. MN 20; Word of the Buddha, p. 58.

9. For a full treatment of the methods for dealing with the hindrances individually, consult the commentary to the Satipatthana Sutta (DN 22, MN 10). A translation of the relevant passages, with further extracts from the subcommentary, can be found 82

in Soma Thera, The Way of Mindfulness, pp. 116-26.

10. AN 4:13; Word of the Buddha, pp. 58-59.

11. AN 4:14; Word of the Buddha, p.59. The Pali names for the seven are: satisambojjhanga, dhammavicayasambojjhanga, viriyasambojjhanga, pitisambojjhanga, passaddhisambojjhanga, samadhisambojjhanga, upekkhasambojjhanga.

12. AN 4:13; Word of the Buddha, p. 59.

13. AN 4:14; Word of the Buddha, p. 59. 窶認rom The Noble Eightfold Path, by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Supported by and in part arising from the worldview(s) and ideals of Buddhism, what are the central values that have been and are espoused? While greed, hatred and delusion are seen as the roots of unwholesome ac$ons...non-greed, non-hate and non-delusion are regarded as the roots of wholesome ac$on, and can thus ben seen as the central values in Buddhism. (from Buddhist Ethics, by Peter Harvey, p. 60)

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THE BODHISATTVA PATH AND BUDDHIST MORAL PSYCHOLOGY Jay L. GarďŹ eld Buddhist ethics is directed at solving the problem of suffering in the context of the nexus of dependent origination. Careful attention to the nature of suffering and its causes in this context reveals that the causes and effects of any one sentient being’s suffering include the states of indefinitely many other sentient beings, and that there is nothing special about the suffering of any particular sentient being that gives it pride of place in moral consideration. Together these drive one to a universal concern for the enlightened welfare of all sentient beings and to the cultivation of states of character that reflect this awareness and commitment. Let us take these points in turn, and then consider the relevant range of virtues as adumbrated in Buddhist moral psychology.

First, it is an important fact about human beings in particular, but more generally about any beings with sufficient sentience to have moral standing that their cognitive, affective and motivational states are linked inextricably with those of indefinitely many others in a vast causal nexus. For present purposes, let us focus on the case of those social animals we know as Homo sapiens. Our happiness, suffering and moral progress depends at all times on the actions and attitudes of others, as well as on their welfare. If others cooperate and support our projects and our development, success is far more likely; if their attitudes are hostile, happiness and progress are difficult to obtain. If we know of others' weal or woe, we are either motivated to celebrate of to regret. Celebration of others' welfare benefits both 84

ourselves and others; Schaudenfreude is not only detrimental to those around us but ultimately, through undermining the relations that sustain us, to ourselves as well. Similarly, our own actions, mental, verbal and physical have endless ramifications both for our own affective and moral well-being and for that of those around us. These are natural facts and to ignore them is to ignore the nature of action and its relevance to our moral, psychological and social lives.

Confusion regarding the nature of reality in the moral realm manifests itself most directly in the grasping of oneself and of that which most immediately pertains to oneself as having special importance and justifiable motivational force. In the Buddhist literature this is referred to as the two-fold self-grasping involving the grasping of the I and of being-mine, and issues directly in the moral duality of self and other. Such a duality leads to the distinction between prudential and moral concern, selfregarding and other-regarding acts and between those to whom one owes special regard and those to whom one does not, all taken by Buddhist philosophers to be spurious, and in general to a view of the world as comprising me, et al., a view not rationally sustainable once one sees that it is equally available, and so equally unjustifiable, for any moral subject. It is for this reason, at bottom, that confusion is a root moral delusion, and not simply an epistemological problem.

In the MahÄ yÄ na, moral attention is focused on the cultivation of a set of perfections, or virtues, including those of generosity, patience, propriety, effort, meditation and wisdom. Once again, this list might seem odd to the Western ethicist, in virtue of the inclusion of such prima facie non-moral virtues as those of effort, meditation and wisdom on the same list as generosity, patience and propriety. Once again, though, attention to the focus 85

of Buddhist ethics on solving the problem of suffering, and attention to the role of inattention, failure to develop the insights and traits of character cultivated in meditation, and ignorance as causes of and maintainers of suffering should dispel this sense of oddness.

It is also important to recognize that while one signal conceptual innovation in the Mahāyāna movement is the overlay of this distinctively aretaic conception of moral development on the framework of the eightfold path with its delineation of areas of concern, and on the account of the nature of action and karma familiar from earlier Buddhism, this is not an abandonment of the more basic framework, but an enrichment and a refocus. The eightfold path remains a central guide to the domains in which the perfections figure, and the perfections are manifested in the propensity to perform cognitive, verbal and physical actions of the kind assessable in the familiar framework of Buddhist action theory. The framework of the perfections hence only represents an approach to morality more focused on states of character than on their manifestations as the fundamental goals of moral practice.

The most important innovation in Mahāyāna moral theory, however, is not the framework of the perfections but the instatement of compassion as the central moral value and the model of the bodhisattva’s compassionate engagement with the world as the moral ideal. Candrakrti begins Madhyamakāvatāra by saying: A compassionate mind, non-dualistic awareness and The aspiration for enlightenment are the causes of the bodhisattvas.

However, chief among all of these is compassion.

Like nurturing a seed with water, in time 86

It ripens the causes of the victors.

So, I praise compassion above all else.[1:1cd, 2] The compassion at issue is not a passive emotional response, and not a mere desire. Instead it is a genuine commitment manifested in thought, speech and physical action to act for the welfare of all sentient beings. It is in this most sophisticated flowering of Buddhist ethics, with the anticipations of such moral theorists as Hume and Schopenhauer that Buddhist moral theory makes its closest contact with Western ethics.

Compassion in this tradition is founded upon the fundamental insight the Buddha announced in Sarnath that suffering is bad, per se, regardless of whose it is. To fail to take another’s suffering seriously as a motivation for action is itself a form of suffering and is irrational. Compassion hence is the wellspring of the motivation for the development of all perfections, and the most reliable motivation for morally decent actions. Compassion is also, on this view, the direct result of a genuine appreciation of the emptiness and interdependence of all sentient beings. Once one sees oneself as non-substantial and existing only in interdependence, and once one sees that the happiness and suffering of all sentient beings is entirely causally conditioned, egoism ceases even to be motivated, and the only rational attitude one can adopt to others is a compassionate one.

Candrakrti continues: I prostrate to this compassion arising for all living beings Who have first generated self-grasping through thinking I And then attachment to things through thinking being mine So that they are driven around like a waterwheel. [I:3] 87

Compassion is the ground of the perfections, and the enabler of the pursuit of the path. It is fundamental to Mahāyāna ethics that one cannot adequately cultivate the perfections or pursue the path successfully without a foundation in compassion.

—from “Buddhist Ethics,” by Jay L. Garfield (http://www.smith—.edu/ philosophy/Banu/faculty/jgarfield/papers/in_draft/BuddhistEthics.pdf )

The Dhamma, in its broadest sense, is the immanent, invariable order of the universe in which truth, lawful regularity, and virtue are inextricably merged. This cosmic Dhamma is reflected in the human mind as the aspira$on for truth, spiritual beauty, and goodness; it is expressed in human conduct as wholesome bodily, verbal, and mental ac$on. (from What the Buddha Taught, by Bhikkhu Bodhi)

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THE CHARACTERISTIC OF LOBHA Nina Van Gorkom Cittas [consciousness or moment of consciousness] are of different types. They can be classified as kusala cittas (wholesome cittas), akusala cittas (unwholesome cittas), vipākacittas (cittas which are result) and kiriyacittas (cittas which are neither cause nor result). All these kinds of cittas arise in a day, yet we know so little about them. Most of the time we do not know whether the citta is kusala, akusala, vipāka or kiriya. If we learn to classify our mind we will have more understanding of ourselves and of others. We will have more compassion and loving kindness towards others, even when they behave in a disagreeable way. We do not like the akusala cittas of others; we find it unpleasant when they are stingy or speak harsh words. However, do we realize at which moments we ourselves have akusala cittas? When we dislike other people’s harsh words, we ourselves have akusala cittas with aversion at that moment. Instead of paying attention to the akusala cittas of others we should be aware of our own akusala cittas. If one has not studied the Abhidhamma which explains realities in detail, one may not know what is akusala. People may take what is unwholesome for wholesome and thus accumulate unwholesomeness without knowing it. If we know more about different types of citta we can see for ourselves which types arise more often, kusala cittas or akusala cittas, and thus we will understand ourselves better.

We should know the difference between kusala and akusala.

The Atthasālinī (Book I, Part I, chapter I, 38) speaks about the 89

meaning of the word “kusala”. The word “kusala” has many meanings; it can mean “of good health”, “faultless”, “skillful”, “productive of happy results”.

When we perform dāna (generosity), sīla (good moral conduct) and bhāvanā (mental development), the citta is kusala. All different kinds of wholesomeness such as the appreciation of other people’s good deeds, helping others, politeness, paying respect, observing the precepts, studying and teaching Dhamma, samatha (tranquil meditation) and vipassanā (development of “insight”, right understanding of realities), are included in The sa sfac on in sense-pleasures is not true happiness. Those who do not know the Buddha’s teachings may think that a achment is wholesome, especially when it arises with pleasant feeling. …[A] ci a accompanied by pleasant feeling is not necessarily kusala ci a.

dāna, sīla or bhāvanā. Kusala is “productive of happy results”; each good deed will bring a pleasant result. The Atthasālinī (Book I, Part I, chapter I, 39) states about akusala: “A-kusala means “not kusala”. Just as the opposite to friendship is enmity, or the opposite to greed, etc. is disinterestedness, etc., so “akusala” is opposed to “kusala”. . .

Unwholesome deeds will bring unhappy results. Nobody wishes to experience an unhappy result, but many people are ignorant about the cause which brings an unhappy result, about akusala. They do not realize when the citta is unwholesome, and they do not always know it when they perform unwholesome deeds.

When we study the Abhidhamma we learn that there are three 90

groups of akusala cittas. They are: Lobha-mūla-cittas, or cittas rooted in attachment (lobha) Dosa-mūla-cittas, or cittas rooted in aversion (dosa) Moha-mūla-cittas, or cittas rooted in ignorance (moha) Moha (ignorance) arises with every akusala citta. Akusala cittas rooted in lobha (attachment) actually have two roots: moha and lobha1. They are named “lobha-mūla-cittas”, because there is not only moha, which arises with every akusala citta, but lobha as well. Lobha-mūla-cittas are thus named after the root which is lobha. Akusala cittas rooted in dosa (aversion) have two roots as well: moha and dosa. They are named “dosamūla-cittas” after the root which is dosa. Akusala cittas rooted in moha (ignorance), have only one root which is moha. Each of these three classes of akusala cittas includes again different types of akusala citta and thus we see that there is a great variety of cittas. …

The satisfaction in sense-pleasures is not true happiness. Those who do not know the Buddha’s teachings may think that attachment is wholesome, especially when it arises with pleasant feeling. They may not know the difference between attachment and loving kindness (mettā), phenomena which may both arise with pleasant feeling. However, a citta accompanied by pleasant feeling is not necessarily kusala citta. When we learn more about akusala cittas and kusala cittas and when we are mindful of their characteristics, we will notice that the pleasant feeling which may arise with lobha-mūla-citta (citta rooted in attachment) is different from the pleasant feeling which 91

may arise with kusala citta. Feeling (vedanā) is a cetasika which arises with every citta. When the citta is akusala, the feeling is also akusala, and when the citta is kusala, the feeling is also kusala. We may be able to know the difference between the characteristic of the pleasant feeling arising when we are attached to an agreeable sight or sound, and the characteristic of the pleasant feeling arising when we are generous.

—From Abhidhamma in Daily Life, by Nina Van Gorkom (http://www.zolag.co.uk/ADL/abh.pdf)

I have finished with intrigues, with the fervent cascades of schemes and decep$ons; I am winding my way into the expanse of the Dharma.

--Yeshe Tsogyal (8th C)

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