Posted By Mahabodhi on Feb 15, 2024 | 0 comments

Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book…

© Mahabodhi Burton

6 minute read

This excerpt is from the chapter ‘The Undiscovered Foundations’ and it explores the way in which views condition the other Foundations of Mindfulness. This excerpt follows on directly from Mindfulness and Conditionality: mind.

viii Mindfulness of views conditioning happiness / Awakening

Views

When we are trying to transform our views to be sources of happiness, we need to bear in mind that when the condition of views is in place—as it always is, it affects body, feeling and mental states, contributing towards Awakening or suffering in the future, through the processes of perspective, mood and thought.

The Satipatthana Sutta teaches the monk to develop mindfulness of his views with regard to:

The five hindrances

By becoming clear about which mental states lead directly to suffering, or hinder it being overcome, and are therefore unconducive to Awakening, he is motivated to root them out.

The fluid nature of his person

By becoming clear that his personality is fluid, being made up of five impermanent qualities, called heaps (skandhas)—namely form, feeling, apperception, volition and consciousness, he is motivated to let go of all notions of an unchanging self.

Fetters that arise to spiritual development in relation to sense experience

By becoming clear that the source of happiness for himself and others does not lie in sense experience (including mental imaginings) but rather in cultivating skilful mental states in meditation, leading to pleasant spiritual feeling.

The seven factors of Awakening

By becoming clear about the spiritual qualities that do lead to Awakening–namely mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, ethical robustness, joy, tranquility, meditative concentration and equanimity.

The four Noble Truths

By becoming clear (developing insight into) how suffering is overcome, he realizes the four Noble Truths.

In practising mindfulness of views, the monk ensures that the views he holds about everything pertinent are in line with reality and conducive to wisdom, to Awakening, to Nirvana.

The above categories form a kind of ‘inverse hierarchy’ in terms of views.

Before he can do anything, the monk needs to be clear he is in a mental state which is going to hinder his progress before he even starts. Secondly, he needs to understand that he can change. Thirdly, he needs to know to look for that change not in the ’outer world’ of the senses but in the ‘inner world’ of skilful mental states. Fourth, he needs to clarify which positive qualities he needs to develop if he is to attain Awakening. And finally, he needs to underpin his practice with wisdom, by understanding the nature of reality (in relation to suffering) in realizing the four Noble Truths, without which his efforts will be undermined.

PERSPECTIVE

Firstly, there is perspective. The views the monk holds are important, in that they give him perspective on whatever is tangible, and thus contribute to the possibility of a skilful response to his body and the world.

Views —–Perspective—–> Body / World

He can only treat his body skilfully to the extent that he understands what it is and how it works. Likewise, he can only treat the world and everything in it skilfully to the extent that he understands what it is and how it works. How he deals with his body and the world are completely dependent on the views held, and how aligned they are to reality. 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.

Perspective that leads to happiness

We need to look after our body, being mindful of what it can and cannot do, as the craftsman is mindful of his materials. We need to use our body in the way that it is designed to be used, being mindful of our bodily position and posture and moving in a way in which we don’t introduce unnecessary tension, preserving our energy. We need also to be mindful of our environment, so we don’t go bumping into things!

We cannot but be embodied, and as our bodily experience forms a large part of the whole, we need to take it seriously. This is why bodywork techniques such as the Alexander Technique, Chi Kung and Yoga are a valuable adjunct to meditation practice and why the Body Scan is the first practice taught on most mindfulness courses.

Likewise, we need to be mindful of the world, including other people, and the sources of happiness thereby, treating them appropriately.

Perspective that leads to suffering

If, however, we don’t consider our body as all that important, just a vehicle for getting us about, or if we are unaware of its structure, then we are not going to be able to look after it all that well. The resulting tension or lack of vitality in the body will distract us from or hinder our attempts to be aware in our quest for Awakening.

And if we aren’t mindful of the world, including other people, and what they consist in, and the sources of happiness thereby, we won’t treat them appropriately, causing suffering.

These then are the pertinent conditions for happiness and suffering concerning the body. Tension and relaxation, we notice, arise from these three conditions. If we want to avoid tension and promote relaxation in the body, we need to be clear that tension arises:

1. as a manifestation of constricted mental states like irritation, fear or anxiety
2. due to destructive views about oneself, others or the world
3. due to physical, emotional and mental pain

Whereas relaxation arises;

1. as a manifestation of expansive mental states like contentment, care, openness and patience
2. due to constructive views about oneself, others or the world
3. due to physical, emotional and mental pleasure

We need to act accordingly with these conditions.

MOOD

Secondly, there is mood. Mental feeling or mood^[1] is feeling conditioned by views.

Views —–Mood—–> Feeling

Mood is the kind of feeling that arises in conjunction with a thought. We saw in the CBT model how a person’s mood is affected by their thinking, so that catastrophic thinking leads to a low mood. In the language of the Law of Conditionality, this translates as.

‘Catastrophic thinking being,

Depressed mood becomes

Catastrophic thinking not being,

depression does not become.’

Applying the same formula to the four foundations of mindfulness we arrive at:

‘Views being,

Mental feeling becomes

Views not being,

Mental feeling does not become.’

Suppose we undervalue our true abilities, thinking; ‘I’m a failure’, this leads to us feeling depressed; conversely when we overvalue our abilities, thinking; ‘I’m the best’, we feel elated. In both cases our thinking may not have that much to do with reality; the truth about ourselves usually in the middle somewhere.

Mood that leads to happiness

We may feel elated when things are going well for us, only to feel depressed at a later date when our fortunes have turned. We may therefore get temporary pleasure from our mood swings, and this is ok, just as it is good that we experience sensory pleasure even though this doesn’t last either. But the more in line our thinking is with reality the more even our moods will be. There is a deep satisfaction in knowing that we cannot be buffeted about by the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.’ So, an even mood in the long term leads to happiness.

If have looked after our body to the best of our ability—by being mindful of it and its movements, but then we get a sudden injury or unexpected illness, we save ourselves from additional suffering if we accept our situation rather than rail against it. Then we don’t experience the second arrow of painful mental feeling.

Mood that leads to suffering

But if when we get a sudden injury or unexpected illness, we rail against it, then we create unnecessary suffering for ourselves, experiencing the second arrow.

THOUGHT

Thirdly, there is thought. Thought is mental activity that is conditioned by the presence of views.

Views—–Thought—–>Mind

We largely absorb views unconsciously, via parents, teachers, peers, media and society and we are often perfectly happy with our own viewpoints until there comes a challenge and someone presents a new view to us. Now we have to think about our own view and decide whether it still feels valid. Through the process of thinking we may recognize the new point of view as true and want to align ourselves with it. Or we may discount it, having thought about it, feeling sure that our original point of view was right.

Of course, reality can also throw us a curve ball that can ride roughshod over our views at any point. We may think we feel comfortable with the concept of death, until it suddenly strikes a loved one, then realize that we are not. And the kind of views we hold will determine whether they stand up in the face of such a challenge. That aspect of citta which we call thought is the psyche moving in the face of conflicting views.

The mind can be trained through study and meditation to be alert, agile, malleable, and proficient. Thought being a quality of the mind too can train to be precise, logical, adaptable, inclusive, intelligent, if conflicting views are attended to with breadth and precision. But if a person only sticks with certain views, the mind never gets trained to think or become agile.

Thought that leads to happiness

If conflicting views are explored over a period of time with subtlety of thought, then the views arrived at through that process are likely to be subtle, refined and appropriate to the situation, thus leading to happiness.

Thought that leads to suffering

On the other hand, if conflicting views are seldom explored, the mind does not get trained to be subtle and adaptable, and the views arrived at are likely to be rigid and dogmatic, and inappropriate to the situation, thus leading to suffering.

The chapter goes on to explore Secondary conditional relations.

^[1] Cetasika vedana, or mental feeling, is described by the Buddhist scholar Herbert Guenther as ‘abstract feeling’ or ‘mood.’ Mood is usually understood to be an emotion – as when we say a person appears ‘moody.’ However, cetasika vedana simply refers to the pleasure or pain that arises due to views held. Optimistic views likely engender brighter more pleasurable moods: while pessimistic views likely lead to darker and more painful moods. Once a person has become ‘moody’, they will have acted on or expressed a painful mental feeling. This is the point at which a mood becomes an emotion; and while a person might not feel as if they have a choice in whether they express a mood, they actually do, emotion being an aspect of citta. With awareness—therefore—a person may choose against expressing a moody response when experiencing mental pain; and instead, actively behave differently, as CBT teaches, they can choose to do.