Ethical feeling

Posted By Mahabodhi on Mar 21, 2024 | 0 comments

Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book…

© Mahabodhi Burton

2 minute read

This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘Buddhist Practice’ and follows on from ‘The Metta Bhavana.’

Recognizing worldly and spiritual feeling

Worldly feeling

It might be helpful, when we are practising the metta bhavana, to bear in mind the meanings of worldly and spiritual feeling. When we are in the unskilful mental state of hatred and see our enemy and the experience is painful to us, this is worldly feeling. Likewise, when we are in the unskilful mental state of craving and get what we want and the experience is pleasant, this too is worldly feeling.

Imagine you are walking down the street, and you see your enemy coming towards you: as a result, you experience a painful worldly feeling. You then have a choice: you can either act on the feeling and turn down a side street and avoid the person. Or, you can recognize the feeling as a worldly feeling and decide to not act on it. By not acting on it you will continue to experience it, that is, until you address the underlying cause: the unskilful mental state of aversion. By practicing the metta bhavana you can work on this mental state and come to see your former enemy as a human being, rather than as an ‘object in your way,’ and it is at this point that the painful worldly feeling will go away.

Similarly, imagine seeing something you desire in a shop window: the newest iPhone or Android: as a result, this time you find yourself experiencing pleasurable worldly feeling. Again, you have a choice: you can either act on the feeling and go into the shop and buy the phone. Or, you can recognize the feeling as a worldly feeling, and not act on it. By not acting on the feeling you will be forced to address the underlying cause: the unskilful mental state of craving. By cultivating contentment, through practising being happy with what you have got, you will avoid the mire of compulsion and addiction, and the painful worldly feelings of unsatisfied avarice that comes with it.

Spiritual feeling

On the other hand, when we are in the skilful mental state of sympathetic joy and see our friend doing well and the experience is pleasurable to us, this is spiritual feeling. Likewise, when we are in the skilful mental state of compassion and we see somebody suffering and the experience is painful to us, this too is spiritual feeling.

Imagine encountering a beggar in the street, who looks in a really bad way: as a result, you experience a painful spiritual feeling. Again, you have a choice: you can either recognize the feeling as a spiritual feeling and act on it by helping them out in some way. By acting on it you are expressing the skilful mental state of compassion and reinforcing your bond with humanity. Or you might not recognize the feeling as a spiritual feeling and therefore not act on the feeling, and thus, the beggar’s level of suffering will continue as it was.

Finally, imagine you are with your friend and they just received some good news: as a result, seeing them in a joyful state, you experience pleasurable spiritual feeling. Yet again, you have a choice: you can either recognize the feeling as a spiritual feeling and act on it by congratulating them, which will add to their happiness. By acting on it you are expressing the skilful mental state of sympathetic joy. Or you might not recognize the feeling as a spiritual feeling and therefore not act on the feeling: thus, your friend might begin to doubt you care about them all that much.

Ethical precepts

Inspired by a solid foundation in mindfulness and metta cultivated in meditation, the practitioner consciously undertakes to observe a number of ethical training principles, called precepts. If they adopt the customary five, they will carry out bodily actions of loving kindness and generosity; will adopt an attitude of stillness, simplicity and contentment in relation to the world of sensory experience. They will see the value in truthfulness as a principle: building not only a firm relationship with reality, but one marked by honesty with themselves and others. And they will practise mindfulness in everyday life.

Those committed to a more thoroughgoing ethical practice—such as Triratna Order members—will endeavour to add to the above further precepts: helpful, kindly and harmonious speech; and to purify their minds of covetousness, ill-will and wrong views.

The chapter goes on to explore Insight Meditation.