Posted By Mahabodhi on Feb 16, 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 further ways in which the Four Foundations of Mindfulness condition each other: such as through the processes of intention, motivation, acceptance and reinforcement. It also explores how the Foundations combine: for instance as sources of tension, relaxation, and so on. This excerpt follows on directly from Mindfulness and Conditionality: views.

ix Secondary conditional relations

These twelve ‘processes’ illustrate the primary processes in play between the four foundations.

For completion, it is important also to extend the Conditionality model to include all the ‘secondary’ processes that exist between the foundations and the primary processes associated with them. Here are some examples;

INTENTION

Intention is the process by which emotion is conditioned by the presence of views.

Views—–Intention—–>Emotion

Our emotion—in the sense of our wanting—can be quite vague; we vaguely want to amass pleasurable experiences and to avoid painful ones. The clearer our view is about what will bring us happiness, the more we can form an intention. For instance, we might be clear that it will be beneficial to us to meditate at 7am every morning and might set an intention to do just that. This intention will condition our emotion to do so. However, although on the surface we might think we have set a clear intention, other views lurk beneath the surface, such as the unarticulated view that ‘comfort is the way forward.’ This view sets up a countervailing intention that leads us to want to stay in bed. If that intention is the stronger, then we stay in bed.

Intention that leads to happiness

An Enlightened person who holds Right View^[1] possesses Skilful Intention because their views always lead to emotions which bring about happiness, for instance loving kindness. However, short of Enlightenment a person will exhibit unskilful emotions, which is evidence that they do not possess Right View and that their intentions consequently are not always skilful. Such people need to make a conscious effort to make skilful intentions and stick to them, if the world is to be as happy a place as it might be, and they do so by examining their views, conscious and unconscious.

Intention that leads to suffering

Obviously, an intention that leads to suffering is one that arises from a wrong view about what pursuits will lead to happiness. Although we might make an intention to do something skilful, like quit smoking or meditate regularly, we often fail, due to our subconscious intentions to do something else. But this doesn’t mean we should give up making intentions altogether, we just need to closely examine and challenge what we actually believe. We need to keep bringing our views close to reality and let our intentions flow from there.

MOTIVATION

Motivation is the process by which views are conditioned by the presence of emotion.

Emotion—–Motivation—–>Views

When we want something strongly enough, we are highly motivated to get clearer how to get that thing to happen. In contrast, when we don’t really know what we want, it is very difficult to know what the next steps are that we need to take.

A good friend used to say to me that the first thing I need to know is:

1. where I am trying to get to (A)
2. I need to work out where I am now (B)
3. I need to look at the various routes of getting from B to A
4. I need to choose the route that is most likely to deliver the required result

So, knowing what the experience is that we want is crucial in providing us with the motivation to bring it about.

Motivation that leads to happiness

If our motivation comes from skilful emotion, then it will lead to happiness. The stronger our motivation is the more likely we will be to get clear about how to bring our desired result about, and thus achieve it.

Motivation that leads to suffering

If our motivation comes from unskilful emotion, then it will lead to suffering. The weaker our motivation is the less likely we will be to get clear about how to bring our desired

SERENITY

Serenity is the process by which our attention is calmed by accepting a difficult situation that we cannot change.

Acceptance—–Serenity—–>Attention

For example, the Serenity Prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous states:

‘Higher Power, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the ones I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’

When we accept a situation as the case there is less conflict between opposing views (‘This shouldn’t be happening;’ ‘But it is.’) and therefore fewer conditions to stimulate thought.

Serenity that leads to happiness

The more we accept a difficult situation, the less our mind is disturbed by thoughts of what might have been or by agonizing about how things are.

Serenity that leads to suffering

One way that serenity can lead to suffering is if the thing we are accepting is our own behaviour when that behaviour is unskilful.

REINFORCEMENT

Reinforcement is the process by which emotion is conditioned by outward expression.

Outward expression—–Reinforcement—–>Emotion

When we express an emotion outwardly, for instance during devotion, the emotion tends to become stronger. This is the case with both skilful emotion: such as loving kindness, and unskilful emotion: such as ill-will.

Reinforcement that leads to happiness

When we express a skilful emotion outwardly it leads to greater happiness.

Reinforcement that leads to suffering

When we express an unskilful emotion outwardly it leads to greater suffering.

By working with all of these primary and secondary processes in a way in which happiness is augmented for ourselves and others we find the (one) path to Nirvana.

Conditions in combination

In fact, the four foundations of mindfulness combine to condition each other, as sources of happiness and suffering, across the whole field of human endeavour. Here are four examples of the way in which they do so: in this case how relaxation / tension in the body; and kindness / aversion in the mind are brought about; I go into these and more examples in Appendix II.

The chapter ends here.

^[1]‘Right View without taints’ or asamoha sampajanna (complete non-delusion).