Category: Buddhism

Buddhism and modern psychology

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I put up a post yesterday about the ‘erasure’ of dysfunctional psychological schema and how to achieve that. The article that post is based on, How the Science of Memory Reconsolidation Advances the Effectiveness and Unification of Psychotherapy is good and well-worth reading.

Today, I want to explain how that take on modern psychology fits very well with Buddhist practice.

Buddhist practice is best understood by understanding the Noble Eightfold Path:

Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Samadhi.

If the Noble Eightfold Path is followed diligently, it will erase all dysfunctional schema from the mind. The complete erasure occurs in the eighth element of the path, Right Samadhi.

Right Samadhi is an elixir of the mind. It bathes and cleanses the mind like nothing else. Right Samadhi erases all delusion, all suffering, all dysfunctional schema. Right Samadhi is one part of the Noble Eightfold Path and also it can be understood as a culmination of the Path, the ultimate or penultimate reward of Buddhist practice.

On this site, I add something to the Noble Eightfold Path that, in my opinion, makes it even better. What I have added is FIML practice. FIML can be understood to be an addition to Right Speech and Right Mindfulness. FIML works by getting us to pay close attention to what we hear as well as what we say. When we do that using the tools FIML provides we also greatly improve our Right Mindfulness.

I deeply hope readers of this site will improve their understanding of Buddhism and learn how to do FIML.

The hardest thing about FIML practice is finding a Right Partner, someone who is able to understand the practice and willing to do it with you. The second hardest thing is overcoming a very deep-seated, instinctive human speech prohibition which prevents us from quickly shifting from talking to talking calmly and wisely about the minutia of the talking and listening that just occurred.

If you have a suitable partner, learning how to do FIML is much easier and more fun than finding a suitable therapist. Like Buddhism itself, FIML works directly with the unique reality of the lives of you and your partner.

Buddhism: The rupa jhānas

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In the sutras, jhāna is entered when one ‘sits down cross-legged and establishes mindfulness’. According to Buddhist tradition, it may be supported by ānāpānasati, mindfulness of breathing, a core meditative practice which can be found in almost all schools of Buddhism. The Suttapiṭaka and the Agamas describe four stages of rūpa jhāna. Rūpa refers to the material realm, in a neutral stance, as different from the kāma-realm (lust, desire) and the arūpa-realm (non-material realm).[33] While interpreted in the Theravada-tradition as describing a deepening concentration and one-pointedness, originally the jhānas seem to describe a development from investigating body and mind and abandoning unwholesome states, to perfected equanimity and watchfulness,[34] an understanding which is retained in Zen and Dzogchen.[35][34] The stock description of the jhānas, with traditional and alternative interpretations, is as follows:[34][note 2]

  1. First jhāna:Separated (vivicceva) from desire for sensual pleasures, separated (vivicca) from [other] unwholesome states (akusalehi dhammehi, unwholesome dhammas[36]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is [mental] pīti (“rapture,” “joy”) and [bodily] sukha (“pleasure”) “born of viveka” (traditionally, “seclusion”; alternatively, “discrimination” (of dhamma’s)[37][note 3]), accompanied by vitarka-vicara (traditionallly, initial and sustained attention to a meditative object; alternatively, initial inquiry and subsequent investigation[40][41][42] of dhammas (defilements[43] and wholesome thoughts[44][note 4]); also: “discursive thought”[note 5]).
  2. Second jhāna:Again, with the stilling of vitarka-vicara, a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the second jhana, which is [mental] pīti and [bodily] sukha “born of samadhi” (samadhi-ji; trad. born of “concentration”; altern. “knowing but non-discursive […] awareness,”[6] “bringing the buried latencies or samskaras into full view”[52][note 6]), and has sampasadana (“stillness,”[53] “inner tranquility”[50][note 7]) and ekaggata (unification of mind,[53] awareness) without vitarka-vicara;
  3. Third jhāna:With the fading away of pīti, a bhikkhu abides in upekkhā (equanimity,” “affective detachment”[50][note 8]), sato (mindful) and [with] sampajañña (“fully knowing,”[54] “discerning awareness”[55]). [Still] experiencing sukha with the body, he enters upon and abides in the third jhana, on account of which the noble ones announce, “abiding in [bodily] pleasure, one is equanimous and mindful”.
  4. Fourth jhāna:With the abandoning of [the desire for] sukha (“pleasure”) and [aversion to] dukkha (“pain”[56][55]) and with the previous disappearance of [the inner movement between] somanassa (“gladness,”[57]) and domanassa (“discontent”[57]), a bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the fourth jhana, which is adukkham asukham (“neither-painful-nor-pleasurable,”[56] “freedom from pleasure and pain”[58]) and has upekkhāsatipārisuddhi (complete purity of equanimity and mindfulness).[note 9]
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This excerpt comes from the Wikipedia entry on samadhi, which is really very good and worth reading in full. This entry and the description just above are detailed descriptions of meditative states which lead to full enlightenment in Buddhist and other traditions that revere samadhi states. This deep capacity of the human mind to realize enlightenment through directed concentration is all but nonexistent in modern Western thought, a momentous omission. In the Nagara Sutta, the Buddha refers to the Noble Eightfold Path, the last element of which is samadhi, as ancient, showing that Buddhism and other samadhi traditions date back millennia before the time of the Buddha, roughly 500 BC. Buddhism is a deep Indo-Aryan tradition and as such has roots shared by ancient Greece, Egypt, and Rome as well as India and most of Asia. I believe it is helpful to recognize the antiquity of samadhi and jhāna practices as well as the civilizations associated with these practices which still exist today. In this respect, Buddhism is an extremely old and pristine core tradition belonging directly to most of the world’s peoples via tradition and indirectly to all of them via efficacy and reasonableness. ABN

Samadhi in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra

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  1. Dhāraṇā ― In dhāraṇā, the mind learns to focus on a single object of thought. The object of focus is called a pratyaya. In dhāraṇā, the yogi learns to prevent other thoughts from intruding on focusing awareness on the pratyaya.
  2. Dhyāna ― Over time and with practice, the yogin learns to sustain awareness of only the pratyaya, thereby dhāraṇā transforms into dhyāna. In dhyāna, the yogin comes to realize the triplicity of perceiver (the yogin), perceived (the pratyaya) and the act of perceiving. The new element added to the practice of dhyāna, that distinguish it from dhāraṇā is the yogi learns to minimize the perceiver element of this triplicity. In this fashion, dhyāna is the gradual minimization of the perceiver, or the fusion of the observer with the observed (the pratyaya).
  3. Samādhi ― When the yogin can: (1) sustain focus on the pratyaya for an extended period of time, and (2) minimize their self-consciousness during the practice, then dhyāna transforms into samādhi. In this fashion, then, the yogin becomes fused with the pratyaya. Patanjali compares this to placing a transparent jewel on a coloured surface: the jewel takes on the colour of the surface. Similarly, in samādhi, the consciousness of the yogin fuses with the object of thought, the pratyaya. The pratyaya is like the coloured surface, and the yogin’s consciousness is like the transparent jewel.

source

Samadhi states can be variously understood and also are fundamental to successful Buddhist practice. We can learn a lot from the many ways these meditative states have been understood in the past and how they are understood today. I would like to emphasize that samadhi and jhana meditative states are eminently achievable and practical. In a deep sense they should be seen as ordinary, something everyone can do. They are fundamental to Buddhist practice and can be thought of as the culmination of the Noble Eightfold Path, the last element of which is Right Samadhi. Samadhi is both a deep internalization of non-sensory experience and a reformation of how we think and perceive. Samadhi both leads to and is a profound transformation of all mental, emotional, and physical tendencies. Basking often in samadhi or jhana states inclines the mind toward enlightenment. Samadhi is a core experiential aspect of Buddhist philosophy, without which Buddhist thought does not make much sense. ABN

‘Pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities’ — The Buddha

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I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?’ Then following on that memory came the realization: ‘That is the path to Awakening.’ I thought: ‘So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?’ I thought: ‘I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities

source and context

Too many people only understand bits of Buddhist philosophy and misunderstand the joyful, blissful experiential basis of Buddhist practice. Right samadhi (or jhana) is a ‘pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities.’ Samadhi states are normal, achievable states. All human beings have the capacity to experience samadhi states. Right Samadhi is the eighth element of the Noble Eightfold Path. Buddhism is a profound philosophy and also a profound experience, a joyful experience. ABN

Maha-Saccaka Sutta: The Longer Discourse to Saccaka

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…”I thought: ‘I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities — I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?’ Then following on that memory came the realization: ‘That is the path to Awakening.’ I thought: ‘So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?’ I thought: ‘I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities, but that pleasure is not easy to achieve with a body so extremely emaciated. Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.’ So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five monks had been attending on me, thinking, ‘If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some higher state, he will tell us.’ But when they saw me taking some solid food — some rice & porridge — they were disgusted and left me, thinking, ‘Gotama the contemplative is living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.’

“So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the fading of rapture I remained equanimous, mindful, & alert, and sensed pleasure with the body. I entered & remained in the third jhana, of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.’ But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — I entered & remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.

translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Noble right samadhi with its support and requisites

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Bhikkhus I shall teach you noble right samadhi with its support and requisites… What bhikkhus is noble right samadhi with its support and requisites, that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness? Unification of mind equipped with these seven factors is called noble right samadhi with its support and requisites. [MN III.71]

Early Buddhist Meditation: The Four Jhanas as the Actualization of Insight — Keren Arbel

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“Bhikkhus, just as the river Ganges slants, slopes, and inclines towards the east, similarly, a bhikkhu, who develops and cultivates the four jhanas slants, slopes, and inclines towards Nibbana.” [SN V.308]

“There is no jhana for the one without liberating wisdom, no liberating wisdom for the one without jhana; the one who has jhana and liberating wisdom he indeed is in the presence of nibbana.” [Dhammapada v.372]

These citations from the early Buddhist texts in Pali (i.e., the suttas), and many others in these inspiring texts, captured my curiosity from the first time I heard about the jhanas from my Dhamma teachers and from books I have read on Buddhist meditation. The references to these four specific psych-somatic states, which the Buddha called “the four jhanas”, and the frequentness in which they appear in the path taught by the Buddha, awakened a deep interest in me, first as a practitioner of vipassana meditation, and later on, as a scholar.

I assume that anyone who heard about the jhanas in most traditional Theravada practice environments heard that these states are not necessary for insight and awakening. However, anyone who read the suttas, quickly realize, that these four states, appear repeatedly in the Buddha’s descriptions of the path to liberation. Reading the suttas over many years I have found many passages in which the Buddha refers to the four jhanas as intrinsic and essential to the development of liberating wisdom and awakening.

source:

keren-arbel-summary-article-the-four-jhanas-as-the-actualization-of-insightDownload

I very much like and approve of Arbel’s conclusion to this fine essay:

Thus, I would conclude that the four jhanas should not be conceived as a meditative technique at all. They are not concentration exercises that one can choose to practice as a basis for vipassana meditation; rather, they are the actualization and embodiment of the deepening of insight and non-clinging. Thus, the fourth jhana – as the culmination of this meditative process – is the optimal experiential event for the utter de-conditioning of unwholesome tendencies and for transforming deep epistemological structures. It anticipates an awakened awareness for an un-awakened practitioner, and therefore, it is the threshold of awakening.

Buddhist meditation (the four jhana states)

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And what is Right Concentration?

[i] Here, the monk, detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome states, enters and remains in the first jhana (level of concentration, Sanskrit: dhyāna), in which there is applied and sustained thinking, together with joy and pleasure born of detachment;
[ii] And through the subsiding of applied and sustained thinking, with the gaining of inner stillness and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without applied and sustained thinking, and in which there are joy and pleasure born of concentration;
[iii] And through the fading of joy, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware, and he experiences in his body the pleasure of which the Noble Ones say: “equanimous, mindful and dwelling in pleasure”, and thus he enters and remains in the third jhana;
[iv] And through the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the previous disappearance of happiness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is without pleasure and pain, and in which there is pure equanimity and mindfulness.

This is called Right Concentration.

scroll down linked page for this entry

This is a description of the first four states of Buddhist meditation or ‘concentration’, as it is often translated. The right Buddhist term is Right Samadhi. What is meant in this description is very clear. It is pure religious practice, the essence of prayer and contemplation. It is that which leads to the ‘presence of God’ in Christian mysticism. It is communion with the Divine, the transcendent Big Consciousness that underlies and oversees our small consciousnesses. The Buddha taught a path of ethical purity of mind and non-attachment to anything that detracts from purity of mind, from a clear mind, an unencumbered mind. In this sense, Buddhism is a pristine spiritual elixir with no added vocabularies, stories, beliefs or ornamentation. The ‘going out’ or ‘cessation’ of all hindrances to achieving jhana and samadhi states is nirvana. In this sense, Buddhism is a universal religion that focuses directly on the goal of all ethical religious practice—direct knowledge and communion with ______; use your own word(s) for that. ABN

India’s Genetic Ancestry — Robert Sepehr

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Besides being interesting in itself, this video also relates to the history of Buddhism. American Buddhists who are not from a traditionally Buddhist region may find it interesting that the ancient origins of most Europeans are Aryan, or Indo-European or Indo-Iranian. To me this is not a big deal emotionally and most of us came to learn Buddhism long before we knew of an ancient relationship like this. Nonetheless, it is valuable to recognize roots that reach deep into the past over a wide geographic area. ABN

Among Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is conservative in some aspects of its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit[7] (particularly its early form, Vedic Sanskrit) or Ancient Greek. For this reason, it is an important source for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European despite its late attestation (with the earliest texts dating only to c. 1500).[4]

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Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to a Lithuanian peasant.

— Antoine Meillet[6]

Nirvana

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Nirvāṇa (/nɪərˈvɑːnə/ neer-VAH-nə, /-ˈvænə/ -⁠VAN-ə, /nɜːr-/ nur-;[1] Sanskrit: निर्वाण nirvāṇa [nɪrʋaːɳɐ]; Pali: nibbāna; Prakrit: ṇivvāṇa; literally, “blown out”, as in an oil lamp[2]) is a concept in Indian religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism) that represents the ultimate state of soteriological release, the liberation from duḥkha, suffering, and saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and rebirth.[3][web 1][4]

In Indian religions, nirvana is synonymous with moksha and mukti.[note 1] All Indian religions assert it to be a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness as well as the liberation from attachment and worldly suffering and the ending of samsara, the round of existence.[6][7] However, non-Buddhist and Buddhist traditions describe these terms for liberation differently.[8] In Hindu philosophy, it is the union of or the realization of the identity of Atman with Brahman, depending on the Hindu tradition.[9][10][11] In Jainism, nirvana is also the soteriological goal, representing the release of a soul from karmic bondage and samsara.[12] In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to the abandonment of the 10 fetters, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.[8][13][14]

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What is that ancient path traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times?

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And what is that ancient path, that ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times? Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of aging & death, direct knowledge of the origination of aging & death, direct knowledge of the cessation of aging & death, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of aging & death. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth… becoming… clinging… craving… feeling… contact… the six sense media… name-&-form… consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.

— The Buddha, Nagara Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya ii.124, Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu [104][105]

In this section, the Buddha references the antiquity of the Noble Eightfold Path ‘travelled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times’. Even in his day it was an ‘ancient road’. This is a bona fide historical statement indicating that core Buddhist practices, still practiced today, predate all of the world’s major religions. This is worth contemplating, reflecting on. The eighth stage of this ancient road can also be translated as samadhi. ABN

A Buddhist heuristic for thought & action

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  1. Information arrives
  2. Analyze it; seek help & opinions of others
  3. Decide how to proceed based on what is ethically/morally right or best

The above helps us decide where and how to enter the Noble Eightfold Path:

I noticed this morning that virtually everything I talk about with my wife and friends follows the heuristic stated above and all of that flows into the Noble Eightfold Path.

An example: The vaxxes. When they first appeared as information, I discussed them at length with anyone I reasonably could do that with. We all saw roughly the same thing—they were experimental, dubious, probably harmful, and not necessary: ergo, best to wait. Later on, after a couple of months, we were all certain that we should not take the vaxxes. Some of us also felt that we should speak about this conclusion and share it with others when opportune.

There was and still is a telling divide in the people I know. Many of my friends and family members willingly and very naturally engaged in analyses of the vaxxes and continue doing so to this day. The ones who did not want to engage in any analysis in the beginning, still will not do so to this day; all of the ones in this group took the vax.

Only one of the people who analyzed them early on took the vax, twice. Both he and his wife have vax injuries. His appear to be minor, hers are very serious. He openly regrets having taken the shot, continues analyzing vaxxes, and now also actively tries to explain to others in our circle why they should stop getting them.

Notice that propaganda and mind-control work most of all with getting people to skip analyzing information themselves and accept conclusions first being offered, then demanded. With only cursory analysis of the people making those offers and demands, it is not hard to see that their analyses are hidden, poorly done, or not done at all and that obvious objections to their demands are not answered reasonably.

I think this simple heuristic cuts to the heart of many matters, many kinds of information that arrive in our lives, both personal and public. It seems to highlight that when reason, thought, and analysis are skipped or skimped on, morality and good sense are harmed. We not only vax ourselves, we also vax our children and council others to make the same mistake. ABN

first posted MARCH 14, 2023