Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book…
© Mahabodhi Burton
13 minute read
This excerpt is from the chapter ‘The Undiscovered Foundations’ and it explores the way in which feeling (vedana) conditions happiness / Awakening. This excerpt follows on directly from Mindfulness and Conditionality: the body.
vi Mindfulness of feeling conditioning happiness / Awakening
Feeling
When we are trying to transform feeling into a source of happiness, we need to bear in mind that when the condition of feeling is in place—as it always is, it affects body, mental states and views, contributing towards Awakening or suffering in the future, through the processes of expression, emotion and acceptance.
EXPRESSION
Firstly, there is expression. Feeling is expressed in the body; this is helpful to Awakening when it aids awareness of feeling, unhelpful when it is simply indulgent. Only mindfulness will help the monk discern that which will drive him towards Awakening and it is here that he places his attention and his effort.
How might feeling affect the body? Firstly, we need to remind ourselves that feelings are expressed in the body.
Feeling —–Expression—–> Body
We need to ask ourselves; ‘Does that expression of feeling in the body lead to happiness or not?’
Expression that leads to happiness
When we experience a feeling of pleasure or pain that feeling is often expressed in some way through the body, for instance in laughing or crying. When then should we laugh and when should we cry?
We should laugh or cry when it helps us connect with how we are feeling, when it helps us to know how we are. Sometimes we need to have a good cry to connect with feelings which are present, but buried (and affecting us all the same). It is about sensing the tone of our grief, or joy; Does it feel like we are connecting through expressing it or are we only escaping?
When we sit in meditation we are looking to be still and stable in our posture, though by sitting naturally, not rigidly. We try and set our body up to be as comfortable as we can, perhaps aiding this by doing bodywork beforehand. And whenever we experience physical pain or discomfort, unless we sense it may lead to injury, we try not to move.
The principle behind this injunction is that in meditation we are trying to gently and kindly turn towards our experience, and that includes feelings of whatever kind. We are looking, over time, to deal with them rather than avoid them; this also applies to pleasant, joyful feelings. We seek to make our mindfulness and meditation practice a container for dealing with feelings appropriately.
Expression that leads to suffering
But if every time we experience a feeling in meditation we act on it, by fidgeting or moving about, this is to allow the feeling to ‘run’ us, and not the other way around. Expressing it, we are unable to hold the feeling in awareness, and our posture and our continued focus on the meditation object collapse. As this focus is an attempt to create happiness for ourselves and others, fidgeting causes suffering.
Thus, tension release can be healthy or unhealthy; we need to be clear when it is best to express a feeling and when it is not.
EMOTION
Secondly, there is emotion. Emotion is mental activity that is conditioned by feeling. Whilst thinking is a factor in directing us to skilful goals, emotion is more telling in the effects it creates in the world; emotion is the main driver in life; thus it needs to be harnessed to the path; it includes craving and hatred; also loving kindness and compassion; it includes faith and confidence; also doubt.
There is much confusion about what emotion is, I find it helpful to think of emotion as being about wanting; we want a new computer / a new car; we don’t want to go to work / have that encounter with that ‘awkward’ person. Emotion is mostly a response to actual or imagined pleasure and pain: the pleasure of possessing our new ‘toy;’ the pain of that experience we do not want.
But emotion is never only about wanting; as we saw earlier emotions are influenced by views. We want material things to the extent that we believe they will bring us lasting satisfaction. Our wanting is supported by this belief; weaken this belief, and we do not want those things so much; views condition emotions.
Self Esteem
People today often complain about low self-esteem. This doesn’t surprise me, given how much pressure people are put under to perform. From a Buddhist point of view, we have no business making estimations[1] of ourselves or others. Every living being is of inherent worth and value. Every living being is a centre of experience; that strives for happiness; is subject to suffering and disappointment; and thus, worthy of care. We can—and should—make estimations of the skilfulness of our actions, but this is a different thing.
Loving kindness—getting our emotions ‘behind’ ourselves and others
Loving kindness is a positive emotion in which we really get behind the welfare of ourselves and others; we really want it. In Pali the word for loving kindness is metta and it is largely left untranslated in order to avoid the kind of romantic connotations a word love would bring. In the Karaniya Metta Sutta (‘The scripture on what need to be done in terms of practising loving kindness’)[2] the Buddha talked about the path to Nirvana (‘the deepest peace’) as first becoming a capable human being with limited wants, with plenty of time to devote to the spiritual life, and with concern for the opinion of the wise;
This must be done by one who is skilled in the Good,
Who understands the way to attain (the deepest) Peace.
He should be capable, straightforward
perfectly straightforward, beautifully spoken,
responsive and free of all conceit.
Contented, easily satisfied, with few wants and not overbusy.
With peaceful senses, intelligent, modest,
not greedy after gifts (and status).
Nor should he do the slightest thing
for which wise men might criticize him.[3]
Then a person should meditate–practising the metta bhavana (‘The cultivation of Universal Loving Kindness’)—and should try to cultivate the same love for all living beings that a mother feels for her only child;
(Then he should meditate like this:)
May all living beings be happy and at peace:
May they have deep-welling happiness.
May all living beings: weak or strong,
omitting none—tall, middle-sized, or short,
subtle or gross of form, seen or unseen,
Those dwelling near or far away,
Born or unborn—may every living being abound in Bliss.
May none deceive another,
nor despise any person whatsoever in any place.
May they not wish any harm to one another
out of anger or ill will.
Just as a mother protects with her life her child
— her only child —
Bring forth an all-embracing (loving) mind.
Bring forth unbounded love for all the world:
Above, below, across, in every way,
Love unobstructed; without any enmity.[4]
Metta Bhavana–Repeating a phrase
There are various ways to cultivate loving kindness. A common way is set oneself up in a comfortable seated posture, tune into oneself and one’s feelings, and then repeat a number of phrases, such as ‘May I Be Well. May I Be Happy. May I Be Free from Suffering. May I Make Progress’, silently to oneself, all the while looking for a sympathetic emotional response from within oneself that matches the sentiment. One then repeats the process directing one’s kindness towards a good friend, a neutral person, someone we find challenging and finally extending our kindness to all living beings.
Metta Bhavana—Reflecting on our views of ourselves and others
Another way is to work on our emotions towards ourselves and others by transforming our views. We can often find ourselves being indifferent or even critical of ourselves (and others) and this is usually because we have ceased to see ourselves as a human being—with everything that entails, and instead have come to see ourselves as an object, even an object in our own way. Identifying ourselves with our job, or whether we have completed our To Do list, it is difficult to feel care for ourselves. But if we can shift our view of ourselves and see that we are a sensitive living being, with hopes and fears, who cares about what happens to themselves, then it will be much easier to care for ourselves.
Metta Bhavana—Representing metta with an image
We might also stimulate metta using images, such as imagining a warm red glow in our heart that envelopes living beings or a lotus flower opening in our heart, whatever works to stimulate the actual emotion of greater kindness.
The qualities of metta
Any emotion can be weak or strong; we can be mildly interested in getting a new car, or we can be completely obsessed with getting one. It is the same with metta ; we can want our own well-being (or that of others) just a little bit, or we can be passionate about it. As well as being a universal emotion, metta has two other qualities; it is unlimited; there is no limit to how strongly we can want our own or another’s’ happiness, and it is unconditional; we don’t care for living beings in order to get something back, we do it because care is needed in the world.
They should then carry this attitude into their life throughout the day;
Standing or moving, sitting, lying down,
Whatever you are doing, (be) free of laziness and
Wield this blessing power of mindfulness of boundless love:
For this is what wise men call: ‘Abiding in the Divine.’[5]
Not falling into views, skilful, filled with perfect vision,
With all craving for sense desires gone,
Truly he is liberated from repeated birth.[6]
As well as cultivating positive emotion through developing kindness towards all sentient beings, another way that skilful emotion needs to manifest is through getting our emotions behind the goal of Awakening itself; if we do not feel much emotion towards the Buddha, or towards the idea of Enlightenment, we are unlikely to make the effort to become like him.
Shraddha–Getting our emotions behind the Goal
Shraddha is a positive emotional response to the goal of Buddhism.[7] Like metta it is best left untranslated.
‘According to Sangharakshita, the Sanskrit word shraddha comes from a root meaning “to place the heart upon”.[8] Shraddha is what we feel for what we place our heart upon, for what has the deepest emotional meaning for us.’[9]
When a person has shraddha, the spiritual discipline of Buddhism is seen as something on which their heart can rest, and be a foundation for emotional stability, thus shraddha has been translated as confidence-trust.[10] It has sometimes rendered as ‘faith’, although Kulananda clearly expresses exactly why this translation has unhelpful associations;
‘In translation, shraddha is often rendered as ‘faith’, but that can easily lead to confusion. Faith, in Western religious discourse, has many meanings, but it is not the same as shraddha. In the monotheistic religions, faith is demanded by God. Loss of faith is sinful, and can even lead, in some cultures to punishment. Faith is often presented as if it were opposed to reason. In that sense, it is blind: it is the capacity simply to accept what must be accepted, without the intervention of the intellect and without reference to experience. Concepts such as these are completely alien to the Buddhist approach. Shraddha is a response of the whole mind—its reason and its emotions—to what is higher and more worthwhile. At its best, it is the response of what is highest in us to what is highest in the universe. It is the sympathetic resonance that occurs when the faculty for perceiving goodness, truth, and beauty, innate in all of us, encounters goodness, truth, and beauty in the world.’[11]
Shraddha gives us ‘an intuitive sense of our direction in life’,[12] and can include elements of admiration, aspiration and commitment.[13] It represents our emotional interest in our Buddhist practice and the confidence that it will bring ourselves and others the happiness we desire. To the extent that shraddha is present, a person’s attention, thought and emotion—that is, the whole of their citta—will be oriented towards the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. This is reflected in the Mahayana teaching of the three grounds for shraddha; reason, intuition and experience; Buddhism needs to;
- Make sense
- Feel right
- Work in experience
Shraddha is not just a feeling, but ‘a faculty that connects us with our deepest ideals and values.’[14] It is our view of the way things are that leads us to want to put the thing we think will bring us happiness into the centre of our lives. As with metta, views condition emotions.
‘Of course, not all ideals we might base our life on are of equal value. Someone might “place their heart on” worldly ambition, or comfort and security, or the pursuit of sense pleasure, and make this the value that guides their life. This would not be shraddha. Shraddha is our response to ideals and values that are higher or deeper or more universal than the small concerns of our self as we are now. As Sangharakshita has said: “[Shraddha is] a lifting up of the heart… you… have been lifted up to something higher, have touched something higher, have experienced, even if only for a moment, something higher”.’[15]
I would go further that this: Shraddha is not just our response to something higher, it is specifically our response to something Buddhist, specifically the Three Jewels, just as Wisdom is specifically an Enlightened perspective, not just a higher perspective. We need to refine the direction of our aspiration until it becomes shraddha, just as we have to refine the quality our emotion towards living beings until it becomes metta. Just as it is essential to have an accurate view of ourselves—as a living being who desires happiness—if we are to cultivate metta, it is equally essential to have an accurate view of the path—that the solution to suffering lies in Nirvana—if we are to cultivate shraddha. That view is Wisdom (prajna).
Thus:
Prajna conditions shraddha; we need to have the view that Nirvana is the sole solution to overcoming suffering before we will rest our heart on achieving it.
But equally:
Shraddha conditions prajna; we won’t maintain that view unless our reason, emotion and experience hold us there.
Just as metta –being an emotion–can be weak or strong, it is also the case with shraddha. It is therefore crucial, if we are to attain Nirvana, that we strengthen our shraddha as much as possible.
Emotion that leads to happiness
When an emotion is skilful, it leads to happiness for ourselves and others. While it may bring pleasure in the short term, still it has no downside in creating future suffering. For instance, there is no downside to caring for ourselves and other living beings, except where that caring could be stronger and more robust; there is no downside wanting to be generous; being patient; or being content with what one has, except when those qualities could be stronger and more robust; and there is no downside to wanting to be emotionally involved with the path to Nirvana, except when our involvement could be stronger and more robust.
Emotion that leads to suffering
When an emotion is unskilful, it leads to suffering for ourselves and others. While it may bring pleasure in the short term, it has a downside in creating future suffering. For instance, there is a downside to feeling aversion toward ourselves and other living beings, and the stronger that aversion is the bigger the downside; there is a downside wanting to take the not given; being impatient; or being discontent with what one has, and the stronger those desires are the bigger the downside; and there is a downside to wanting to be emotionally involved with worldly ideals that do not conduce to Nirvana, and the stronger one’s connection with those worldly ideals the bigger the downside.
ACCEPTANCE
Thirdly, there is acceptance. The monk’s views are not only transformed by keen observation, but also by whether or not he accepts his experience. When he pushes away his experience because it feels too painful (or even too pleasurable), this is to deny an aspect of reality, and is therefore is out of line with how things are. Acceptance is the process by which feeling influences views.
Feeling —–Acceptance—–> Views
We may have looked after our body to the best of our ability, by being mindful of our body and its movements, there is always the unexpected–we may get ill or experience a sudden injury.
Breathworks is a Manchester-based organization teaching mindfulness, specifically aimed at helping people learning to live with chronic pain or suffering from depression or stress. Breathworks trainers utilize a Buddhist teaching known as the Two Arrows, that comes from the Sallatha Sutta (The Sutta of the Arrow). The Buddha distinguishes between those well trained in his teaching (of mindfulness) and those untrained. He says that when an untrained person is hit by the ‘arrow’ of painful physical experience (kayika vedana),[16] they agonize and beat their breast. Thus, directly on top of the first arrow of physical pain they experience a second arrow of painful mental feeling or mood (cetasika vedana).
We might say that a second arrow only arises because a person has particular expectations about the level or duration of physical pain they will experience in life; a person well-trained in the Buddha’s teaching doesn’t go on to experience a second arrow[17] upon being hit by a first, because they have no fixed view about the level or duration of pain to expect from life; their expectations around pleasure and pain are realiztic. Experiencing pain, instead of thinking ‘This should not be happening’, they accept whatever is happening. Such a person lives out the words of the Serenity Prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
This prayer is frequently cited on mindfulness courses, which teach us that in order to minimize suffering, we need to accept the difficulties that we cannot change, do our best to change whatever we can, learn how to respond rather than react, but to be kind in our approach towards ourselves.
The arrow of Conditionality can go in the direction from feeling to views. When we experience the first arrow and cannot accept it, it probably means our view of our experience is something like ‘This should not be happening.’ But when we accept the difficulty (as real), we will have modified our view of what to expect from life into ‘such things happen’; resisting the real only keeps us in delusion.
If we wish to maximize our happiness, and that of others, we need to keenly discern the conditions that are under our control and those that are not.
Self-acceptance
As we saw in the last section, many people today suffer from low self-esteem, and many counteract that through practising self-acceptance. But while it is helpful to accept ourselves as fallible human beings en route to self-care and self-forgiveness, it is not helpful to accept ourselves carte blanche, if this means excusing our every action as acceptable including those that lead to suffering. Self-acceptance—like self-care—needs always to be practised, but only in the context of the general good.
Acceptance that leads to happiness
When we accept all of our experience as real, then we do not experience the second dart of painful mental feeling. When we accept that we are human, and fallible, this gives us a basis for self-care and self-forgiveness.
Acceptance that leads to suffering
When we don’t accept difficulties when they arise, our views remain (stubbornly) out of line with reality, and we suffer the second dart. When accepting ourselves means accepting our every action, including those that are unskilful, this is a cause of suffering.
The chapter goes on to explore how the Foundation of Mind conditions the others.
[1] The origin of the word ‘esteem’ – meaning worth or reputation – is in the Latin aestimare, to estimate.
[2] Karaniya (Pali): ‘that ought to be, must, or should be done.’
[3] Karaniya Metta Sutta. Translation: Ratnaprabha.
[4] Ibid.
[5] In the Buddha’s day, the Brahmins were the priestly caste of the Vedic religion; they were held in the highest esteem among all the castes because they were seen to be closest to God or Brahman. However, the Buddha taught them that that the true Brahmin (the ‘truly divine’ person) didn’t arrive at that through their birth, appearance or scholarship (which qualify one as a Brahmin in the Vedic religion), but through their acting skilfully and possessing wisdom. See Sonadanda Sutta: The Qualities of a True Brahmin (DN4)
[6] Ibid.
[7] ‘Shraddha is present in one who places faith in the enlightenment of the Tathagata thus, “The Blessed One is an arahant, perfectly enlightened, etc.”; it is “seen” in the four factors of Stream Entry.’ Samyutta Nikaya 1670-1.
[8] Shraddha is derived from the root noun srat, meaning ‘heart’ and the verb dha, to place.
[9] Vadanya. Triratna Dharma Training Course for Mitras, Year One, 1.5.4 Ritual and Devotion; The Purpose of Ritual.
https://thebuddhistcentre.com/mitra/
[10] Vaman Apte defines shraddha as ‘trust, faith, belief, confidence, sedateness, composure of mind, intimacy, familiarity, respect and reverence.’ V. Apte (1959) A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
[11] Teachers of Enlightenment: The Refuge Tree of the Western Buddhist Order. p36.
[12] Triratna Dharma Training Course for Mitras, Year One, 1.5.4 Ritual and Devotion: The Purpose of Ritual.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Triratna Dharma Training Course for Mitras, Year One, 1.5.4 Ritual and Devotion; The Purpose of Ritual.
[16] Vedana is pleasure or pain, or the lack thereof, and it comes about through different sources; physical sensation is pleasure or pain that arises by virtue of having a body equipped with five senses, in contact with ‘bodies’ in the world.
[17] Awakened beings are said not to experience mental feeling: they have no view about reality, only knowledge: the Buddha does not agonize about anything, but experiences ‘patient acceptance of all phenomena.’
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