Dysfunctional Imagination
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 5 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘The Evidence Bases in Religion, Science and Politics.’ It follows on from the section on ‘Poetic Logic.’ Dysfunctional Imagination The second sequence—called ‘Dysfunctional Imagination’—illustrates how a person engages reactively with symbols in a way that deepens their delusion. By taking symbols literally; by engaging with ones of low intrinsic value; by being skeptical about them (when acting ‘as if’ they are true would be helpful); and by approaching reality with fear and superstition, the person will be negatively transformed by the experience, moving further away from reality and deeper into fantasy. Take literally I explored earlier how literalism comes about through focusing on the details of the symbol and questioning their veracity, rather than letting the symbol be a conduit through which a message from the Universe can come through; this is an example of unwise attention, and often of laziness. Of low intrinsic value The second way that we can fall prey to dysfunction when we are dealing with symbols and myths is when we do not engage with symbols of high enough value. Concerned to remain loyal to the group, we settle for folk art or ethnic religion, rather than approach more transcendent values. Or, if we engage with such values, we fail to refine our awareness so that we can truly appreciate them. In short, we veer towards philistinism: philistine: ‘a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts.’ The romantic intrigue and dramatic action of a Hollywood blockbuster may be emotionally stimulating, but may not say much about how we should live our lives; we need to really ask: ‘Does this story make me want to be a better person or deal with my life in a better way?’ Treat with skepticism The third thing that we can fall prey to when we are dealing with symbols and myths is being skeptical about the value of imagination per se: we treat all imagination as fantasy, placing our faith instead in dry reason, as does British-American essayist and avowed atheist Christopher Hitchens: ‘Faith is the surrender of the mind; it’s the surrender of reason, it’s the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other mammals. It’s our need to believe, and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me.’[1] But...
Poetic Logic
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 12 minute read This excerpt is taken from the chapter on ‘The Evidence Bases in Religion, Science and Politics.’ It follows on from the section on ‘Tantric Deities’ and explores ‘Functional Imagination.’ The five wisdoms (jnanas) The Mandala of the Five Buddhas expresses the fact that a whole range of often complementary qualities are present in the Enlightenment experience. Whatever is at the centre of a mandala orders the mandala: as the king his kingdom. Each Buddha has a specific wisdom: Vairocana’s Supreme Wisdom could be said to be the combined effect of the other four: Aksobhya: Mirror-like Wisdom Ratnasambhava: Wisdom of Equality Amitabha: Discriminating Wisdom Amoghasiddhi: Action-Accomplishing Wisdom We will see how these wisdoms can be brought to bear on current world problems at the ends of Chapters 2 to 6. Poetic logic In Tibetan ritual practice one enters the mandala from the east; then proceeds to the south, the west, the north and finally moves into the centre. This sequence, combined with the symbolism and associations of the Five Buddhas, illustrates the process in operation when we are dealing with the field of Imagination: which includes symbolism, myth; and therefore religion. Imagination and symbolism may be the only way we have to engage our emotions with those patterns in the universe that we wish to respect and remember. And like concepts, they have an inner logic, which I choose to call ‘poetic logic.’ There are five elements to poetic logic: The way that we view imagination, poetry and symbolism The quality of the symbol in representing Right View The degree to which we believe in / dwell upon the symbol The actions we take in relation to it The degree to which we are transformed by it, and into what Or, in one word; 1) Reason, 2) Beauty (the object itself), 3) Emotion, 4) Action (the action in relation to it), 5) The Change brought about; Imagination engages all of our faculties in order to bring about change. However, it cuts both ways; Imagination can lead to growth, but it can equally lead to delusion. The former I call Functional Imagination, the latter Dysfunctional Imagination. Functional Imagination The first sequence—called ‘Functional Imagination’—illustrates how a person engages creatively with symbols to bring about personal growth and transformation. By taking symbols poetically; by engaging with ones of high intrinsic value; by repeatedly dwelling on them with confidence (perhaps acting ‘as if’ they are true: suspending disbelief and stepping into them as if they are the reality); and by...
The Buddha of fearlessness
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 8 minute read This excerpt is from the chapter ‘Safetyism,’ and explores its remedy in the fearless qualities of the dark green Buddha Amoghasiddhi (‘Unobstructed Success.’) Fearlessness So, what is the remedy for Safetyism? Obviously, fearlessness: a quality that the Buddha was known for. Vessantara: ‘On another occasion the Buddha’s cousin, Devadatta, in a fit of jealousy, bribed someone to let loose a wild elephant against the Buddha. We can imagine the scene: people scattering in all directions; Devadatta perhaps hidden somewhere out of harm’s way where he could watch events; the great beast rushing, maddened, towards the one still figure in a mud-dyed yellow robe. It is an extraordinary contrast. The elephant out of control, head tossing, trunk waving, furious; the Buddha still, erect, serene. … As the beast came towards him, the Buddha suffused it with maitri, loving-kindness. Nothing could have entered that enchanted circle of love around the Buddha and maintained thoughts of violence. The mad elephant discovered it was bearing down on the best friend it had in the world. Gradually its charge slowed to a walk, and it reached the Buddha docile and friendly. In this incident we could say that elephant met elephant, for the Buddha was often described as being like a great elephant because of his calm dignity and steady gaze. Perhaps elephant met elephant in a deeper sense too. The Buddha, having gone far beyond dualistic modes of thought, did not feel himself a separate, threatened identity opposed by the huge creature bearing down upon him. His maitri (love) came from a total feeling for, and identification with, the charging animal.’[1] Fear is not overcome by bravado: ‘… ultimately (fearlessness) can come only from insight into Reality. At that point we realize the illusoriness of the ego which we feel for. In particular, fear of dying, the primary fear of which all other are reflections, disappears. … The double vajra reminds us that fearlessness comes from a full and balanced development of all sides of ourselves. Without that, we shall always have a weak side, a vulnerability that we fear for, and keep having to protect. Even more, we shall have an unexplored aspect, an area of uncharted terrain within, whose characteristics we may experience, projected onto the outside world, as people and situations that are unpredictable and threatening. … It is all too easy to keep developing one’s strengths, and to try to make use of them in all situations. Some people even manage to become totally identified with a single talent or a powerful position. From the spiritual point of view...
The Religious Tradition
Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book… © Mahabodhi Burton 6 minute read This excerpt is from the chapter ‘The Evidence Bases in Religion, Science and Politics,’ and explores how a Wisdom or Religious tradition comes about. It follows on from The Scientific Tradition. The Wisdom tradition But what about a Wisdom tradition such as Buddhism? Here the authors [of The Embodied Mind] draw upon the philosophical tradition of Phenomenology, in particular the work of Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The Greek word logos traditionally means ‘word, thought, principle, or speech’ and has been used among both philosophers and theologians, and the word phenomenon—which because it comes from the Greek phainomenon, from the verb phainesthai, meaning “to appear, become visible”—means ‘appearance’ and so the word Phenomenology can be glossed; ‘what you can say about the phenomena of experience / what appears to be in the world, (by implication) if you set aside speculative theories, for instance theories about whether you and the world exist, whether there are “real objects” out there.’ Martin Heidegger’s’ answer was ‘you appear in the world as if thrown here’ and the appropriate response to your existential situation was ‘care;’ you should look after yourselves and your world (Heidegger has a critique of technological excess that is very pertinent today). Phenomenology ‘pushes us back onto our experience’, and the authors call this experience ‘first-person experience’ or ‘first-person evidence;’ because it is only accessible to a first person (to an ‘I;’ to oneself). This is relevant today: Critical Race Theory and proponents of Woke assume that all white people are racist. Obviously, it is possible to tell whether someone is racist from their words and actions, but beyond that, such a realization can only come from self-knowledge and awareness: in other words, from a first-person perspective. The only person who can truly know for certain whether they are racist is the person themselves: as they are the sole person with access to their inner world. And what they do with that knowledge is their business: this is how conscience works. In Buddhism, for true confession to take place, the practitioner must see their failing for themselves; any person hearing a confession is only witness to an inner process. Confession therefore is a ‘first-person to first-person’ matter, just as a preceptor witnesses a Buddhist ordinand’s effective going for refuge to the Three Jewels. Varela [co-author of The Embodied Mind] went on the create a new field; Neurophenomenology, bringing together neuroscience—including the scientific study of brainwaves of meditating monks—with first-person reports of meditative experience. I explored these ideas in a Shabda[1] article entitled ‘Consciousness and...
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