Emptiness misconceived
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 4 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 4: ‘Postmodernism and the academic mindset.’ Sunyata Those casually or more deeply involved with Buddhism often bandy around the word Sunyata (pronounced shun-yata) or Emptiness, without necessarily comprehending—or even getting very close to—its true meaning: they assume it means something like ‘nothing is real.’ The truth is that the ‘mother of all (Buddhist) doctrines’—and the basis for sunyata—is praticca-samutpada or Dependent Arising: in short, Conditionality. This doctrine expresses the Buddha’s central insight that ‘all phenomena are dependently or conditionally arisen,’ thus they have no ‘own-nature / inherent-existence (svabhava).’ Nothing is self-supporting; nothing exists independent of (other) conditions. Sagaramati: ‘Sunyata means that some “X” is “empty [sunya] of inherent existence,” that’s all. As we have said, sunyata and praticca-samutpada are the self-same doctrine seen in two ways. Therefore the doctrine of sunyata does not negate phenomena, but only negates that which has never existed, i.e. the illusion of “self-nature” that we attribute to phenomena. After insight into the emptiness of phenomena, the “same” phenomena are leftover: pots still carry on being pots; They don’t suddenly disappear into some fictitious emptiness. Fire still produces heat to keep us warm, etc. All that changes is our deep seated attitude to things: the way we are attached and dependent on them, the way we see and relate to them and cling to them for a sense of who we are, a sense of identity.’[1] In fact, according to Nagarjuna, sunyata, praticca-samutpada and the Middle Way are coterminous in meaning: ‘Whatever is dependently arisen (praticca-samutpada) That is explained to be emptiness (sunyata,) That, being a dependent designation (prajnapati,) Is itself the Middle Way[2] Non-self The Middle Way is the path between the two extreme views of ‘Eternalism’ and ‘Annihilationism,’ where Eternalism is the belief in fixed unchanging essences, such as an eternal creator God or an unchanging fixed self. Annihilationism is the belief that at death nothing of the person continues. These two views lead to the corresponding extreme religious outlooks of puritanical theistic religion in the former case and laissez faire hedonism in the latter. As with most things, the helpful option is somewhere in the middle: that is, acknowledging that there is some moral structure to the Universe, but approaching that humanely: in a way that is based in awareness and experience rather than dogma and religious doctrine. There is a self, an agent, but that self can be changed, for better or worse (ethically) moment-to-moment. The reaction of Lauren...
Nirvana as Perpetual Self-Transcendence
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 2 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from Insight and Ethics. Nirvana as Perpetual Self-Transcendence ‘Staying right there’ means being steady in that insight, and ‘the ending of the mental fermentations’ is a synonym for Nirvana. I think what this scripture is saying is we attain Nirvana when we are steady in the insight that the higher mental state we are in (represented by any of the eleven states) is conditioned and volitionally produced, and thus is impermanent. We know it will decay (if the conditions that support it change;) we know we will need to keep bringing it into being volitionally (i.e., want it to continue be present; for the reason that it is helpful to living beings). The state of Nirvana then is not a static state but a dynamic one, one of perpetual self-transcendence. As insight arises you begin to no longer slide down the hill, or at least only to a lesser degree. As insight deepens the oscillations lessen until finally at Enlightenment it is as if you come to rest on the hilltop, a state which looks static but which is actually dynamic; when abiding in the elevated state the Enlightened person is constantly aware of its conditioned nature and of the need to counteract any tendency of the state to decay; it therefore does not decay. In dependence on knowledge and vision of things as they really are there arises disenchantment (Sanskrit: nirveda; Pali: nibbida) Disenchantment[1] As we begin to see into the nature of things as they really are, we begin to expect disappointment from that which is impermanent; we know it will eventually go and so, while we might enjoy the experience as it lasts, we become disenchanted with it. Buddhaghosa offers a simile; a man fishing thinks he has caught a fish; however when he puts his hand into the mouth of the net underwater, instead of pulling out a fish he grasps a snake with three marks on its’ head (i.e., the laksanas). Terrified, he uncoils the snake from his arm, swings it around his head a few times to weaken it, and then flings it back into the water; the man sees the dangers in Samsara. In dependence on disenchantment there arises dispassion (Sanskrit: vairagya; Pali: viraga) Dispassion As the person with insight becomes disenchanted with those things that he was formerly passionate about dispassion naturally grows for them. In dependence on dispassion there arises liberation (Sanskrit: vimukti; Pali: vimutti) ...
Insight and Ethics
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 2 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from Insight and the Spiral Path. Insight and Ethics Some Buddhists posit an experiential disconnect between the samatha practices of ethics (sila) and meditation (samadhi), and wisdom or insight, making statements like: ‘The attitudes, worldviews, motivations and teachings that best support sila and samadhi are not the best for approaching prajna (wisdom). When taken at face value, some teachings helpful for insight practice may contradict teachings oriented to ethics and concentration. This can be a barrier to insight practice.’ But I wonder if such statements are not based upon the misreading of anatta as ‘no self’ (i.e., no agent) instead of as ‘non-self’ (i.e., part agent), as evidenced by a passage in the same document; ‘there is no question of getting rid of a self, because there has never been one there to begin with.’ If there was a shift from (part) agency at the level of ethics and meditation to no agency at the level of insight that would be a problem, but I do not think that is the case; (part) agency carries all the way through ethics, mediation and wisdom, like the lettering in a stick of rock. Rather than the Buddhist path culminating in a still state at the bottom of a ‘spiritual well’ the path is more dynamic than that; in a Buddhist scripture called the Atthakanagara Sutta[1] a householder called Dasama asks the Buddha’s cousin Ananda a question: “Venerable sir, is there a single quality declared by the Blessed One (the Buddha)—the one who knows, the one who sees, worthy & rightly self-awakened—where the unreleased mind of a monk who dwells there heedful, ardent, and resolute becomes released, or his un-ended fermentations go to their total ending, or he attains the unexcelled security from the yoke that he had not attained before?” In other words, a single quality, that mindfully dwelt upon, leads to Nirvana. Ananda replies that there is, but he then goes on to describe not one but eleven elevated meditative states, each of which he describes as that single quality, that mindfully dwelt upon, leads to Nirvana. The eleven states are: the four dhyanas of form[2] the first three formless dhyanas the state of mind called ‘liberation of mind through loving kindness’[3] the state of mind called ‘liberation of mind through compassion’[4] the state of mind called ‘liberation of mind through sympathetic joy’[5] the state of mind called ‘liberation of mind through equanimity’[6] And, crucially, when the meditator has attained one or another of those states,...
Insight on the Spiral Path
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 7 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The Fourth Dhyana. Vipassana meditation In general, vipassana meditation takes place on a firm foundation of samatha meditation. ‘Vipasyana, the insight method of meditation, reveals our self and our world as they are beyond our assumptions and self-referencing emotions. It is direct experience, not abstract understanding, and contrasts with samatha methods such as mindfulness of breathing that prepare the mind for vipasyana by cultivating profound concentration and strong, positive emotional integration. Vipasyana is generally preceded by samatha practice, because if concentration is wavering, the mind will be unable to rest in the special object of vipasyana meditation. And when insight comes, a stock of calm, strength and happiness is needed in order to absorb its revelatory, visionary impact.’[1] Hence: In dependence on concentration there arises knowledge and vision of things as they really are (yathabhutajnanadarshana) Knowledge and vision of things as they really are On the basis of the fourth dhyana, the monk is now ready to reflect on the nature of reality. ‘Then with the mind composed, quite purified, quite clarified, without blemish, without defilement, grown pliant and workable, fixed, immovable, he directs his mind to …’[2] To some extent we have already been reflecting on the way that things are; in the sense of understanding that the bottom line for all sentient beings is that they desire happiness and do not want to suffer, and that the way that happiness is brought about is through wanting it for all beings—in the cultivation of metta towards them—and in bringing mindfulness to the situation to see precisely what needs to happen in order to bring it about. And we saw that we needed to understand how the mechanism of Conditionality pervaded all aspects of that process, so that a constructive approach to overcoming suffering could be followed, as represented by the dhyanas. With insight—or wisdom—practice, we now come to explore the more destructive aspect of Conditionality; the fact that whatever we possess; create; love; are attached to, to the extent that it exists in Samsara; Unenlightened Conditioned Existence, will eventually fall apart. This truth is expressed in the three laksanas (Sanskrit: trilakshana; Pali: tilakkhana), or marks of Conditioned Existence; that all such phenomena are impermanent (anicca), insubstantial (anatta) and thus unsatisfactory (dukkha). To understand how the former fits in with the latter, it will be useful to consider a metaphor. The Anatta Doctrine and the potential hill[3] The Buddha was born 2,500 years ago in India, into a...
The fourth dhyana
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 7 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The Third Dhyana. Concentration Fourth dhyana In the fourth dhyana the experience of happiness fades and is replaced by one-pointed concentration; the monk has now developed the qualities of mindfulness and equanimity to an unshakeable degree; there are now no situations under which he can be distracted from being mindful or skilful by the experience of pleasure or pain, he is therefore as mindful and skilful as he possibly can be. His whole being is practically absorbed in bringing about Awakening—for himself and for others, and he is ready to deal with things as they really are. ‘Furthermore, with the giving up of (attention to) pleasure and pain and the earlier disappearance of elation and distress, the meditator enters into and abides in the fourth dhyana, which is beyond pleasure or pain and purified by equanimity and mindfulness. And they sit suffusing this very body with a completely pure and translucent mind, so that there is no place in their body that is not suffused with a completely pure and translucent mind.’[1] The Buddha gives a simile for the fourth dhyana of a man wrapped in a clean white sheet after having taken a bath: ‘Suppose a man were to sit enveloped from the head down with a white cloth, so that there would be no place in his body that was not enveloped with the white cloth. In this way, the practitioner sits suffusing their body with a completely pure and translucent mind, so that there is no place in their body that is not suffused with a completely pure and translucent mind.’[2] I have used ‘unshakeability’ as the quality characteristic of the fourth dhyana because it is at this stage that the meditator develops equanimity. The fourth dhyana subsumes within itself all of the qualities of the third dhyana, in that the person is unquestionably skilful, but what is added to that is that the monk’s skilfulness is maintained under ALL circumstances; whatever pleasure or pain they are experiencing, they remain in distracted; their focus of care and awareness is undiluted by anything that they might experience. The mind in the fourth dhyana is described as being ‘completely pure’ (Pali: parisuddha). We normally understand purity in terms of the essence of a person being unsullied, but while such essences feature in Hinduism and in other theistic religions, Buddhism does not recognize them (it only recognizes impermanent phenomena), therefore we need another explanation. The Samanaphala Sutta teaches that the mind in the fourth dhyana...
The third dhyana
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 11 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The Second Dhyana. Calming down Pacification In the transition from the lucid confidence and inspiration of the second dhyana to the ‘calm abiding’ of the third dhyana, the mind is said to go through the stage of pacification (passaddhi).[1] Kamalashila identifies pacification with the process by which the rapture that characterizes the second dhyana is ‘contained’ by the subtler feelings of bliss which characterize the third. ‘Bliss is gentler and subtler. But though less dramatic, it is in its quiet way actually more intense. Rapture is traditionally compared to the delicious feeling of anticipation when you know that you are about to get the very thing you’ve always wanted. Bliss is more like enjoying the satisfaction of actually possessing it. Bliss is thus a deeper stage of integration in which the mind has begun to absorb the wilder and less refined sensations of rapture. With experience, you become less attached to these relatively coarse feelings and move towards a deeper, stronger state of happiness. The occurrence of rapture and bliss show that increased concentration is an intensely satisfying experience.’ [2] There is a strong idea in the West that the aim of meditation involves a withdrawal from the world into an unhindered and detached world of bliss; it is very common in the New Age narrative, which takes its’ cue from Hinduism, but Buddhism is not like that. In fact, personal happiness can be a trap, a beautiful prison. Flow Aristotle identified happiness as predominantly to do with activity. Based on the same idea, the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975 identified the concept of flow. ‘A flow state, also known colloquially as being ‘in the zone’, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one’s sense of time.’[3] When a person has a set of challenges, and their skills out-match those challenges, they feel bored; when their skills are not up to the challenges they face, they feel anxious; But when their skills match their challenges they enter into the happy and absorbed state of flow. This is because spiritual pleasure arises on the basis of actual achievement; of meeting and addressing various real-world challenges. We can experience something similar to flow–called ‘hyperfocus’–when playing video games, but...
The second dhyana
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 7 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The First Dhyana. Rapture Second dhyana Each remaining dhyana is a development of the first dhyana; involving a further withdrawal from concern with sensory experience; a deeper involvement with skilfulness; and a signal that a certain process is complete. The main change from the first to the second dhyana are that thought disappears and is replaced by a state of lucidity or in Pali pasada (Sanskrit: prasada), and the monk’s predominant experience is now rapture. ‘Furthermore, with the subsiding of initial thought and sustained thought, the meditator enters into and abides in the second dhyana, which is accompanied by internal peace, (lucid) confidence (pasada)[1] and unification of the mind,[2] is free from initial thought and sustained thought, and is filled with the rapture and happiness born of concentration.’[3] The Nyingmapa Buddhist School talks about three kinds of faith;[4] lucid confidence or pasada (sometimes called inspired or vivid faith), longing or eager faith; and the deep (trusting) confidence that comes when we feel a thing is completely reliable. “While confident faith in the three jewels, from the heart’s depth, once their blessings and extraordinary qualities are understood.” [5] In other words, faith or confidence-trust has a cognitive aspect; a volitional aspect; and a deeply emotional aspect. Of these, the second dhyana is concerned with cognitive conviction; we understand how things work, and what we need to do. Ratnaguna illustrates the quality of pasada in an image. He says that when we first arrive on retreat, it can be difficult to take in the world around us; we are still somewhat preoccupied with whatever we have been doing before the retreat; perhaps we feel regret over some of the things that we have done and this weighs on our conscience. But as we practice meditation in the following days, slowly purifying our mental states, after a few days we might walk out of the shrine room and the world looks amazing. Having purified our karma and clarified our thinking, we experience pasada. We see another person, and bang. ‘It is as if you’ve never seen this person before; they are completely new to you; fresh. … Like in the springtime you get these leaves don’t you, these tiny little baby leaves that are this incredible colour green, and they are so fresh and innocent and pure you can’t believe it, and you think, how did that happen, incredible.’[6] Image by anncapictures on Pixabay. The rapture and happiness that arises in the first dhyana does so...
The first dhyana
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 4 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from Hindrances to Meditation. First dhyana In the first dhyana the five hindrances, and sinking and drifting, are completely absent. As a result, the monk abides in a happy human existence, and is able to focus on what is of real importance to him, namely. he can think clearly because the energy levels within his body and mind allow it he is focused exclusively on cultivating skilful mental states, because this is where his confidence truly lie his interest and investment are no longer with sensory experience This situation is laid out in the Samannaphala Sutta, where the Buddha states that the first dhyana takes place in seclusion from sensuality and unskilful mental states: ‘Quite secluded from sense desires and from unskilful states, the monk enters and abides in the first dhyana, which is accompanied by thinking and pondering, filled with the rapture and happiness born of seclusion.’[1] And this experience ‘pervades his whole body’, by which the Buddha usually means something like ‘thoroughly informs his thoughts, emotions and even deeper unconscious tendencies’; in other words, his experience feels complete and unified; integrated: ‘He pervades, drenches, saturates and suffuses his very body with the rapture and happiness born of seclusion, and there is no place in his entire body that is not suffused with this rapture and happiness.’[2] The first dhyana marks the transition from relying on sensual experience and unskilful mental states to relying only on inner experience and skilful mental states for happiness. Having completely let go of the hindrances the monk has; Confidence (i.e., no more doubt) in the ‘path of skilfulness’ as the route to happiness Energy in mind and body that will support that path (i.e., no ‘energetic’ hindrances) Non-reactivity to sensual experience (i.e., neither sense desire nor aversion) and is thus able to focus solely on cultivating skilful mental states. The presence of thought means that the details of such skilfulness are being worked out in this stage; he is able to bring objects to mind (vitaka), reflect upon them (vicara) and thus experiences ‘rapture and happiness born of seclusion.’ The first dhyana need not necessarily take place in seated meditation, it can arise while the monk is sat in an armchair, just as long as he is reflecting upon a skilful theme to become clearer what it means in practical terms. And as insights occur, he experiences rapture and happiness, which because they arise from a skilful source, are of a spiritual nature; it is that joy which arises...
Hindrances to meditation
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 16 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The Dhyanas. Morality By morality the Buddha doesn’t mean conventional morality, but the natural morality that consists in first seeing, and then bringing into being, the conditions that actually lead to happiness in experience. Hence morality is keenly tied to the practice of mindfulness, in particular the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, thus: Mindfulness of the body We usually think of morality as being concerned with curbing our desires so that we do not do harm, and promoting beneficial outcomes, but Buddhism has a broader remit, because there are conditions other than these that have a positive or negative bearing on suffering; the body is one. I feel that many Buddhists are vague about this; they do not view the state of their body as an ethical issue, only their intentions. As a result, they may wilfully disregard their bodies’ state, and, as a result, when they come to meditate will effectively waste much of the session fighting their body, rather than getting on with the meditation. Although the monk can in theory practice mindfulness of the body in all situations, in practice it is most easily developed in sitting meditation, in which new input is reduced to a minimum, allowing the bodily state of the meditator to gradually become apparent and be dealt with. By allowing his body to sit in a balanced way so that its’ bones take its’ weight, and its’ muscles relax in the knowledge they are supported, the mind will experience the singular, stable, reassuring physical presence of the body. Thus, the monk achieves the best conditions to support mental concentration and absorption; this is why the meditative state is so stable (no will is involved in maintaining it; only natural conditions that support concentration). It is only when this balance is not maintained that his mind is forced back from its’ singular focus to the world of bodily concerns. His ability to maintain his posture is supported or constrained by the energy levels in his body. Morality in the sphere of the body includes making sure that his energy Is neither sluggish nor over-stimulated. Counteracting bodily energy that is sluggish In life in general it is obviously extremely important that we have constant access to good physical energy, if we are to contribute anything substantial to the ‘world community.’ Shantideva puts it bluntly in relation to ‘The perfection of vigour’: ‘Without vigour there is no merit, just as there is...
The Dhyanas
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 6 minute read This excerpt is from Chapter 10 and follows on from The Spiral Path. Samatha meditation The traditional understanding of meditation is that it is the way we work directly on our mind and emotions in order to bring happiness into the world and overcome suffering, for ourselves and others. What we are going to do is first look at samatha or calming meditation and then at vipassana or insight meditation. The literal translation of samatha is ‘calm abiding’;[1] but by calm we don’t just mean unruffled; the implication is much broader than that. The dhyanas Successful samatha meditation is represented by the dhyanas. It could be argued that all Buddhist meditation is meditation on ethics and nothing else, leading as it does to increasingly skilful mental states; symbolized by dhyana. The first and most basic of the dhyanas is described by the Buddha as ‘secluded from unskilful mental states’; the others building upon it, in the sense of being states of increasing skilfulness. In the highest—the fourth dhyana—the meditator is completely focused on Awakening for themselves and others; acting on that vision with power and robustness fortified by equanimity. The hindrances to meditation are five states that in one way or another are un-conducive to bringing happiness into the world. Two concern the mind or body being unready to be skilful because of their energies being too high or too low; with ‘restlessness and anxiety’ the energy in the mind or body is too high to be able to focus clearly; with ‘sloth and torpor’ it is too weak to be useful. The other hindrances to meditation are ‘(irrational) doubt’, ‘sense desire’ and ‘ill-will’; unskilful mental states which I will explore later on. Once the hindrances are completely eradicated one enters into the full mental absorption of the dhyanas, which are, in all likelihood, a —systematisation imposed upon the Buddha’s meditation experience by monks compiling the Buddhist texts at a later date.[2] And while those texts mention eight dhyanas— it is clear that only the first four refer to the Buddha’s experience.[3] The dhyanas are basically a ‘schematic’, representing the four stages a person has to go through in order to be as skilful as they can be and also to clearly see things as they really are, and are exclusively Buddhist.[4] The main thrust of the dhyanas is they manifest increasing mindfulness and skilfulness of mind and body, with two outcomes: The monk maximizes the skilfulness–and thus happiness, brought into the world for himself and others. He makes himself as...
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