Bhikkhu Cintita

Category: Dharma

From Thought to Destiny: To Do Good
Uposatha Teaching: First Quarter Moon, September 2, 2010.
Index to Current Series
“Thought – Act – Habit – Character – Destiny”
Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves, are easy to do; what is beneficial and good, that is very difficult to do. Dhammapada 163

We are considering the three systems of Buddhist ethics as advice for what actions we choose to perform. In last week’s episode we considered To Avoid Evil, which is To Follow Ethical Precepts. Next week we will consider To Purify the Mind, which is the most uniquely Buddhist approach to developing Virtue. This week we look at the most natural form of ethics, which arises naturally in humans as a result of our innate capacity for kindness, and that is, to seek the benefit of all and avoid harm to all.
What is involved in Doing Good is not only to have a reserve of kindness and a willingness to sacrifice some personal benefit for others, but also to track as best as possible the consequences of one’s actions, whether completed, in progresses or under consideration. This entails the capacity to Do Good will vary considerably from person to person, particularly with regard to the last point. We live in a very complex world in which tracing consequences of action runs very deep, and ultimately, like the chess player who can only see a certain number of moves ahead, to Do Good we must all in the end follow our best hunch.
Performing actions in the world is a huge responsibility. The depth of the consequences of our actions is captured in the Buddha’s exposition of causality, “because this arises that arises, because this ceases that ceases” as the pervasive operating principle in the world, but is most thoroughly expounded in the Mahayana philosophical tradition with the view that just as we depend on everything in the world (Joanna Macy writes, “The Amazon Rain Forest is a part of our lungs”), and everything in the world depends on us (we move our arm and the world moves). To see that this is true, consider the following:
The actions you perform today will determine whether others live or die! This sounds implausible because we tend to think of the effects of our actions as extending only as far as we can track them, while they in fact extend forever. Suppose, for instance, you drive to the mall to buy a spiffy t-shirt, and as you enter the freeway a friendly car, cruising down the slow lane, slows down further to let you merge. However a less patient car behind that car decides it really wants to drive a bit faster and pulls into the middle lane, which then induces some further realignment for other cars further back. It is easy to see that the process of realignment will propagate, but even as the adjustments settle is likely eventually to influence the timing of entries onto and exits from the freeway further down the highway, entailing further realignments. In fact the realignments will propagate down the highway you are on, then onto roads and highways that intersect with this highway, then back onto the highway but in the opposite direction, and eventually deep into Canada, and deep into Mexico. Traffic flow will differ slightly over the map in the hours and days to come for your having made this trip to the mall. Now every day accidents happen on our highways and roads, many of them fatal. An accident generally arises due to faulty split-second decisions in the context of the particular immediate alignment of vehicles. Since your actions have propagated realignments throughout the road map, it follows that accidents, some fatal, will now happen that would not have happened if you had not driven to the mall, but also that accidents will not happen that would have happened.
In meteorology they similarly talk about the Butterfly Effect, the influence the flight of a single butterfly will have on the occurrence or non-occurrence of storms and hurricanes in the decades and centuries to come. Similarly your actions will result in wars happening or not happening, corporations rising and falling, and so on. You are not a sole cause of any of it, but an enabler for virtually all, past a certain time horizon. Being in the world is a huge responsibility, whether you are a human or a butterfly. Not that we can actually track much of this.
One way we extend our limited ability to track consequences is to deal in probabilities. This is called Being Careful. So, leaving a tool box just inside the door of a poorly lit room is probably not Doing Good because of the likelihood, not certainty, of an unfelicitous consequence for someone’s bodily well-being. Another way to extend our ability to track consequences is research or investigation. This is called Being In The Know. For instance, I might learn the many ways my purchasing and consumption choices harm the environment; cause pollution of air, rivers, ground and oceans; cause global warming; sustain harmful social and economic conditions, and I might adjust my choices accordingly so that the consequences of my actions move away from harm and toward benefit. In the modern globalized world both the need to understand consequences is enhanced since they propagate so rapidly, and our ability to track consequences is extended since scholars and journalists explain many causal relations for us. Being Careful and Being In The Know are huge obligations for humans (butterflies, I suppose, are off the hook).
The most ancient discussions in Buddhism in this area of Doing Good is the ethics of eating meat, an issue which is debated to this day. A number of precepts from early Buddhism touch on this issue. One is the precept not to kill living (breathing) things. Another is the broad rule of Right Livelihood, one of the eight folds of the Noble Eightfold Path, which lists among wrong livelihoods that of slaughtering animals. And a third is the monastic guideline laid down by the Buddha concerning eating meat (Jivaka Sutta, MN 55). This permits monks and nuns to eat meat, but with a caveat:
“Jivaka, I say that there are three instances in which meat should not be eaten: when it is seen, heard, or suspected [that the living being has been slaughtered for the bhikkhu]. I say that meat should not be eaten in these three instances”
In the later East Asian Mahayana tradition one of the Bodhisattva Precepts, common to all monastics and many laypeople, simply prohibits adherents from eating meat altogether.
Now, killing an animal is in itself considered harmful. However, at the Buddha’s time many lay people would kill animals to feed themselves and also offer to any recluses who came by in search of alms, Buddhist or otherwise. Doing Good entails that one’s own choices should not have killing an animal as a consequence. But notice how the Buddha’s caveat works to ensure exactly this. If the lay donors have already killed an animal for family conception and general recluse consumption, acceptance of meat by the bhikkhu seems not to have killing as a consequence. The bhikkhu has a clean bill of mental purity. Accepting the carnivorous meal furthermore also avoids offending, confusing or disappointing the donors. If, however, a family offers to provide a meal to some Buddhist nuns, say, and to kill a pig, say, to to do so, according to the Buddha they would have to refuse.
However, the modern food industry works differently than this pastoral scenario. First, the person who slaughters the animal is generally far removed from the situation in which the meat is consumed. The donor more likely simply buys the already slaughtered meat at a grocery store, but creates a market demand such that new meat is killed to replace what is purchased. Second, harm to animals is greatly magnified in corporate farms. The Buddha refers in the Jivaka Sutta to “the pain and grief on being led along with a neck-halter” and “the pain and grief on being slaughtered.” Now we have to consider that these are often done in a much less humane way as heretofore, by poorly trained and poorly paid employees, and add to that the pain and grief of being raised indoors in crowded, smelly, poorly lit conditions, and of chickens having their beaks clipped off to prevent them from pecking each other out of stress. Tracing further we have to consider the impact of producing feed for the animals, which we know to be environmentally enormous, contributing significantly, for instance, we now know, to Global Warming. (We also have to compare the alternative to meat, that is the consequences of vegetarian food production, including the modern use of pesticides, etc., which can also cost many animals their lives.) In sum, whereas the Buddha traced out the consequences of accepting meat for his time, modern conditions entail that in the hopes of Doing Good, we do this work ourselves.
Modern Buddhist controversy around eating meat I think has two sources, one having to do with how much weight is given to Avoiding Evil relative to Doing Good, and the other having to do with how much weight is given to Doing Good relative to Purifying the Mind. These are not always in accord. In the first case, the Buddha provided us with a clear guideline for Avoiding Evil in meat eating, and for some that is enough. For instance, in Theravada countries it is normal for monks to accept meat knowing it has been specifically purchased to feed the monks, since it has not litereally been slaughtered to feed monks. In the second case, the actual consequences of the development of Virtue seem to actually diminish the further one is removed from the act of slaughter. The karmic consequences for the monk who accepts meat will be much less than for the monk who kills the animal himself, as we will see beginning next week.
Doing Good tends to be emphasized, at least doctrinally, more in Mahayana than in Theravada. It is neglected, for instance, in the Theravada Abhidhamma, but is highlighted in the Mahayana as part of the Bodhisattva ideal. This might partially explain the difference in the respective attitudes toward meat eating (allowing however that in Tibet not eating meat is hardly an option in the harsh agricultural environment). However, in general practice Theravada monastics are well known for their good works, for Doing Good, and there are, in fact, many Theravada monastics and sometimes monasteries are strictly vegetarian, citing ethical reasons. I have, or instance, met some very senior Burmese monks who have encouraged me never to accept meat from donors.
Although Precepts can point out consequences that might otherwise be missed, occasionally they may contradict our commitment to Doing Good, for instance, in the case where the Gestapo shows up at your front door and asks you, gleefully aware that a Buddhist will not lie, if you are hiding Jews in the attic, or where you just happen to be returning from a softball game with a baseball bat in your hand and walk in right behind a man who has “gone postal” and is about start shooting at fellow employees. The inclination is greater in the Theravada tradition to obey the letter of the Precept, and in Mahayana to abandon Precepts more readily where this seems the more compassionate thing to do. The early Suttas give little advice on handling these contradictions, but one exception is MN 58, where the Buddha draws an analogy to the necessity of painfully digging a swallowed stone out of a baby’s throat with one’s finger, thereby causing harm but preventing greater harm. However the Buddha is not known ever to have justified anything remotely like a Just War or for that matter any taking of human life.
A final point concerning Doing Good concerns who is the beneficiary of our kindness. It is a commonsense idea that certain people do not merit Goodwill, for instance, that criminals, torturers, murderers and people whose opinions or certain other attributed differ from ours, do not deserve to benefit from our deeds, in fact deserve to suffer from any misdeeds we might cook up. This idea is anathema to Buddhism (although there is a common misunderstanding in Buddhism that all personal suffering is caused by individual kamma and that helping them to alleviate the suffering means they will just have to burn it off later, a wrong view that I will discuss in future weeks). In fact, just as we try to develop Metta (loving-kindness) for everyone without discrimination, even for our worst enemies, all beings properly fall withing the scope of Doing Good. The thoughts of retribution that tell us differently are simply unskillful, and rooted in hatred. Thought they may be pervasive it is our aspiration to let them go and to Do Good without discrimination.
Not the perversities of others, not their sins of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should a sage take notice of. Dhammapada 50
Here are questions to consider on this Uposatha Day: When is punishment Doing Good? You can consider punishment of children or punishment of criminals. What consequences of punishment can you trace that are harmful for others in addition to the person being punished?
September 2, 2010
Does a Buddhist lose Ambition?
Terasi asks:
Would you talk about Buddhism and motivation please? Ever since I learned Buddhism few months ago (I am a newbie!) I’ve become more restrained, able to restrained anger, annoyance, craving to shop junks, etc. It’s wonderful, I am happier and calmer now.
But then I wonder if all the stress on unruffled mind, upekkha, contentment, restraining from grasping, etc could lead one to be lacking ambition in real life? For example, no ambition to become successful at work, no wish to take up further study because “well, why would I want to be a manager if I am content and happy enough just to be a clerk?”, no wish to get better things “why should I look for another place to stay, this old apartment can still shelter me even though the bathroom is leaking.” and so on.
This is a good question. There is a tendency to think of Buddhism as complacent or passive. Buddhism is actually about action, that is why we talk about karma (action) so much. However Buddhism does make a distinction between skillful motivations and unskillful motivations behind our actions.
Human beings tend to be primarily motivation by the quest for personal advantage, to do what it takes so I get that manager’s job rather than my colleague, so that I have a better home than my friends, and so on. We do have an obligation to protect our physical and emotional health, but there are many motivations that do not put me and mine on center stage, such as those based in compassion and loving-kindness. The latter are skillful motivations; they are skillful because they lead away from personal stress toward lightness and joy, they do not present a distorted view of reality but open the heart, and they tend to produce great benefit, including for yourself where that is needed.
With skillful motivations action actually becomes more effortless, more fluid. It no longer needs ambition. Ultimately on the path there is no sense of personal effort at all, but what needs doing is done. Here is my very favorite Buddhist verse, by Hongzhi, a Twelfth Century Chinese Zen master:
“People of the Way journey through the world responding to conditions, carefree and without constraint. Like clouds finally raining, like moonlight following the current, like orchids growing in shade, like spring arising in everything, they act without mind, they respond with certainty.”
August 25, 2010
From Thought to Destiny: To Avoid Evil
Uposatha Teaching: Full Moon, August 25, 2010.
Index to Current Series
“Thought – Act – Habit – Character – Destiny”

This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant. Dhammapada, 326.
Last week I introduced the three ethical systems that inform our actions in Buddhism, Avoiding Evil, Doing Good and Purifying the Mind. This week I discuss the first of these in detail, which is in fact a variety of systems of vows or precepts.
Precepts take the form of rules or regulations. Examples are “Do not kill living things,”Do not tell a falsehood. There are systems of five, eight, nine and ten precepts. The full set of monastics vows runs into the hundreds of precepts. Almost always stated as abstentions, precepts are valuable for their clarity in stating minimal standards of physical conduct. In Buddhism they are almost always a matter of vow rather than imposed by an outside authority such as the Commandments that Moses brought down from the mountain as a gift from God, or traffic laws imposed under threat of fine. Exceptions might be temple rules like, “Take your shoes off before entering.”
Precepts can inform important karmic decisions, like whether or not to murder your annoying neighbor, or simply provide standards to ensure harmonious relations, much like many traffic laws, or simply to express some point of etiquette, like always bowing to the Buddha when entering a temple. One can, and will, create personal precepts, like feed the dog at 6:00 pm. And in fact personal vows are how we best live deliberately, how we take a stand and boycott banks or insurance companies, or food from factory farms, and stick with them.
Westerners often have some resistance to precepts because they regard rules and regulations as infringing on personal freedom, or would like to keep their options open rather than to commit themselves to anything. Doing Good or Purifying the Mind seems to afford more opportunity for personal creativity, they reason. However, the notion of personal freedom referred to is almost always at odds with the Buddhist concept of liberation; the latter is not the freedom to do what you want but rather the freedom from having to want anything, that is, it is freedom from the tyranny of the self with its endless desires and needs, dislikes and fears.
Precepts put these requirements of the self into a box that if useful will create an initial level of discomfort, but give an opportunity to understand that self’s needs and to develop humility and contentment. It will also expose consequences that might have happened along with intentions that might have been enacted; these will be left dangling where they can be clearly observed as harmful and ill-conceived. For instance, many Buddhist codes include a precept to abstain from gossip, which gives one pause as certain situations open up this enjoyable option. Without that precept that behavior is likely to go unnoticed as something that causes problems, in its consequences for the mind and for others, we will tend to be careless in that behavior.
In following precepts we learn better to care for consequences and to cultivate skillful karma. There is a Zen saying that if you put a snake in a bamboo tube it will discover its own shape. In fact one of the common expressions for precepts is sekiya, rules of training; one might think of them as training wheels for the bicycle of practicing Doing Good and Purifying the Mind. Precepts will also in the end create a sense of ease as a break from the burden of the self.
Taking this one step further, all of ritual falls withing the range of precepts. In ritual there is no direct moral component, yet there is what is considered proper behavior. But like moral precepts they afford the opportunity to engage in activities independently of the tyranny of the self and thereby to develop wholesome qualities of mind, and to experience a joyful sense of liberation. Ritualizing everyday activities has similar advantages in eliminating opportunities for personal choice.
Last week I described precepts as naturally porous and rigid. The rigidity often shows up when two precepts contradict. For instance Just War might involve killing for some greater good. With the Gestapo at the door and Jews in the attic, a little lie might be justified. In Zen circles there is generally an assumption that precepts almost always contradict one another and that through wisdom one arrives at the appropriate call. It is interesting that the Buddha rarely sanctioned violating precepts. The one example I am aware of is in MN 38 where the Buddha was challenged for using disagreeable speech against Devadatta, his cousin who tried to create a schism in the Sangha, tried to kill the Buddha and other disagreeable things. The Buddha said that sometimes it is necessary to dig a pebble out of a child’s mouth even though it causes great discomfort.
Next week we consider how to Do Good, that is to plan actions that are of benefit, even where the bottom line of the precepts does not require it.
August 25, 2010
From Thought to Destiny: Action (Karma)
Uposatha Teaching: First Quarter Moon, August 18, 2010.
Index to Current Series
“Thought – Act – Habit – Character – Destiny”
To avoid evil,
To do good,
To purify the mind.
This is the advice of all Buddhas. Dhammapada, 183
In Buddhism it is in our deeds that the rubber meets the road. And deeds unfold from thoughts as their forerunner, from our intentions and impulses to the very way we conceptualize reality. To what end? So that we become masters of Doing the Right Thing.
I should note that to many who first approach Buddhism are not so much interested in become a Saint as they are in being personally happy, or at least less miserable. In Buddhism these two aspirations are actually identical. People used to say, in an innocent age, What’s Good for General Motors is Good for the U.S.A. In Buddhism, What’s Good for General Beings is good for U.M.E. To the extent that we consider the two aspirations to be at cross purposes, we will achieve neither.
Let’s get clearer about what actions are. Actions are commonly listed as coming in three colors in Buddhism:
- Actions of Body. These are perhaps the most typical, driving a car, eating, browsing the Internet.
- Actions of Speech. I presume the Buddha included Speech as a separate category in order to underscore how much power the word has in human affairs. Otherwise there is sometimes a tendency to discount speech: Sticks and Stones can Break my Bones but Names can never Hurt me, and Actions Speak louder than Words. But not always: The Pen is Mightier than the Sword.
- Actions of Mind. I presume the Buddha included the category of Mind to underscore the need to watch the mind even when it is not spinning off physical actions, particularly because thoughts by themselves can help shape habit patterns, character and destiny. For instance, simply entertaining angry thoughts can turn into angry habit patterns, and into an angry character.
For the Buddha actions (karma) are always harvested from thoughts, that is, characterized by volition (cetena). An act of speech is set in motion by an intentional thought, perhaps a by desire to serve with good advice, or by a malicious desire to spread gossip. And act of body is triggered similarly, perhaps by anger, by a desire to acquire or by a desire to give. Now, an act of mind is pure volition that does not translate into visible action, for instance, plotting a revenge that will never happen or daydreaming about ice cream.
An action that is not volitional at all falls outside the scope of karma altogether. Things that are not karma would include involuntary responses, things done while unconscious or asleep, or things done otherwise without volition. In short, in karma one must first sow a thought before reaping an act.
The verse at the beginning of this post enumerates the three practices of Buddhist ethics. Ethics or Right Conduct permeates Buddhism and it is conducted and developed on many levels, physical, affective and cognitive. “To avoid evil” refers to the practice of following Precepts. “To do good” refers to the practice of seeking Benefit. And “to purify the mind” refers to the practice of developing Virtue. These provide the guidelines for sowing acts, and in the order given are progressively more sophisticated and challenging.
To Avoid Evil (Precepts)
This practice essentially follows codes of conduct. Traditionally lay people throughout the Buddhist world take five Precepts, as follows:
1. Not to kill living things,
2. Not to take what is not given,
3. Not to commit sexual misconduct (generally adultery),
4. Not to tell a falsehood, and
5. Not to consume an intoxicant.
There are alternative sets for different circumstances or levels of practice commitment. Monastics follow an extensive set of precepts.
Precepts are almost invariably stated as abstentions, for instance, “do not kill,” rather than “protect life,” etc., which is why they are summarized with the phrase “to avoid evil.” They also almost always regulate actions of Body and Speech but not of Mind.
In Buddhism precepts are a matter of Vow, that is, they are undertaken voluntarily as an individual decision, rather than imposed by a God or a Pope or other authority. Although their appearance may be similar, practicing with precepts thereby involves a gentle sense of personal responsibility that differs from following the commandments of other religions.
Weaknesses of precepts as a guide to ethical conduct are that they generally allow loopholes and they don’t permit appropriate exceptions, that is, they are porous and rigid. Advantages are that they are sharply defined and that, as such, are easy to learn and remember for the young or beginning Buddhist, that they clearly highlight some problem areas in human conduct, that they don’t require detailed understanding of the circumstances in which one proposes to act, and that they do not demand regulating the mind in any refined way, which would be a much more challenging task than regulating body or speech.
Following precepts however requires discipline. Precepts generally do not refer directly to the thoughts behind one’s actions. However, the main challenge in following Precepts comes from the demands of one’s unskillful thoughts, which must often be brought under control in one way or another in order to act in accordance with the precept, for instance, in order not to steal a cookie while struggling with an enormous sweet tooth. Also, violations of Precepts occur only with intention, that is, as karma. Accidently sitting on Puff, the family cat, cannot violate the Precept against killing living beings.
To Do Good (Benefit)
“What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?”
“For reflection, sir.”
“In the same way, Rahula, bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions are to be done with repeated reflection.
“… if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction… it would be a skillful bodily action with pleasant consequences, pleasant results, then any bodily action of that sort is fit for you to do. MN 61
The practice of doing good is to assess the overall benefit for self and others of potential actions and to choose to act accordingly. One might see a turtle in the road while driving, stop and move it to the side if it is not too dangerous to do so; one might cook a meal for one’s family; one might rescue a flood victim from rising waters.
Doing Good generally results from some skillful thoughts, rooted in compassion, good-will and renunciation. It also often requires moderation of unskillful thoughts, rooted in greed and hatred and delusion, that might overwhelm one’s plans with self-centered motives. Finally, it works best with a skillful clear assessment of the circumstances and likely benefits and costs of the proposed action. More generally this can be seen as manifesting concern for the well-being of every being, that is, of showing loving-kindness and compassion in all one’s actions, without bias to self or other, family or friend or stranger.
Characteristic of Doing Good is the absence of a clear level of obligation. Some people use all of their available energy feeding the homeless, adopting rescue dogs, campaigning for Universal Health Care, while others, for no apparent lack of good-will, sit at home, read the news and fret. Sometimes people are lazy or just lack imagination or self-confidence. Others are clever in reasoning that it is not their problem, but someone else’s responsibility. The point is whereas Precepts alone tend to produce a uniformity in behavior, Doing Good does the opposite.
To Purify the Mind (Virtue)
Whatever I do, for good or evil, to that I will fall heir. AN 5.57
Precepts and Benefit are practices found in most religions. Purifying the Mind has some aspects that are uniquely Buddhist. Purifying the Mind is forward looking; it’s task is to develop Virtue, a character fine-tuned physically, affectively and cognitively to live harmlessly and for the benefit of all. The focus in Virtue turns from external acts and looks inward, to purifying thoughts in order to end personal suffering, to let go of the delusions of the self with its demands for personal advantage and to set the conditions for acting harmlessly and beneficially in the world in the future.
Purifying the Mind is the perfection of the human character, and it employs every practice and technology available in the Noble Eightfold Path. In particular, it takes Avoiding Evil and Doing Good as foundations. The latter are included in Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood, that is, the training in Right Conduct. In addition it works closely with the mind so that skillful thoughts dominate more and more, and Eventually (with a big ‘E’) unskillful, unwholesome thoughts are absent. This is done through Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, that is, the training in Cultivation of Mind or Meditation. Finally the enormous human capacity for delusion, misperception, rationalization and distortion are met with Right View and Right Intention, that is, the trainings in Wisdom.
Briefly, Developing Virtue involves Doing Virtue, that is Avoiding Evil and Doing Good, as much as anything else, just as becoming a master potter involves throwing pots more than anything else. But attention is given all the while to the overall shape of the character, and further training in Meditation and Wisdom takes place out of the shop, just as a potter might attend classes in color and design to round out her skills.
The development of Virtue adds another significant element to practice of Right Conduct. When I choose an action it is not enough to ask, Does it respect the Precepts? and Is it Beneficial? Now I must also ask, What are the consequences for my character? For whatever I do, for good or evil, to that I will fall heir. To assess this I must closely track my own intentions. These along with what I actually do are Karma, and to that I will fall heir. For instance, if I do something out of spite, that will leave a trace in my personality: If I do this often I will slowly acquire a Habit of spitefulness. If I continue to exercise this habit spitefulness will eventually begin to color my Character, even my appearance and I will gain a reputation as a spiteful person. Beyond that my Destiny will be shaped and Nirvana will become quite distant. So I try to avoid doing anything that involves spite, or any unskillful thought.
The theme of the present Uposatha Day series, From Thought to Destiny, will build for the most part on the practice of developing Virtue, or Purifying the Mind. But next week let me discuss Precepts and Benefit a bit more, since in these three practices together the rubber meets the road. Subsequently I will go on to reconsider Virtue, then Habit, Character and Destiny, which tell us where the road is taking us.
August 18, 2010
From Thought to Destiny: Thought
Uposatha Teaching: New Moon Day, August 10, 2010
All that we are is the result of thought,
Thought is its master, it is produced by thought.
If one speaks or acts,
With corrupted thought,
Then pain follows,
As the wheel follows the foot of the ox.
All that we are is the result of thought,
Thought is its master, it is produced by thought.
If one speaks or acts,
With pure thought,
Then happiness follows,
Like a shadow that never leaves.
— Dhammapada, the Buddha, first two verses.
Like most of us you probably have a lot of activity rattling and buzzing around between your ears, much of which is pretty useless, some of which delights and some of which gets you into trouble or keeps you endlessly confused, but some of which are the products of clarity, good will or creativity: “Hubba hubba.” “That jerk!” “Out of my way!” “It’s his own fault.” “Mmmm, chips.” “Aha!” “There there now, let me get you a paper towel.” “If I slide my sunglasses up my forehead I’ll look really cool!” All of these thoughts will seem to drive your behavior in one way and then in another. They also will seem to have to do with who you are, at least, you will seem to have a different mix of thoughts than most people you know. But how do you sort through this? How do you know what is a pure thought and what is a corrupted thought? And can you actually get rid of one and keep the other so happiness will follow instead of pain?
The Buddha wondered about these things too:
Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, it occurred to me, ‘Suppose that I divide my thoughts into two classes’. Then I set on one side thoughts of sensual desire, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of cruelty, and I set on the other side thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of non-ill will and thoughts of non-cruelty. MN 19
The first set he deemed wholesome or skillful (kusala) and the second unwholesome or unskillful (akusala). Most people will report that they in fact like some of the unwholesome thoughts, such as thoughts of revenge, and certainly they entertain many sensual desires with glee, and that they dislike some of the wholesome thoughts, like those of renunciation and not getting revenge. In fact, people must find the whole range of thoughts compelling at some level or else they would not spend so much time and energy on them. Nevertheless, when examined deeply, the Buddha noticed that what he was about to deem unwholesome had a set of properties missing in the wholesome. An unskillful thought
… leads to my own affliction, to others’ affliction and to the affliction of both; it obstructs wisdom, causes difficulties, and leads away from Nibbana. MN 19
This doen’t sound so great. He furthermore associated the unwholesome with three underlying unwholesome roots of Greed, Hatred and Delusion.
Greed, hatred and delusion, friend, make one blind, unseeing and ignorant; they destroy wisdom, are bound up with distress, and do not lead to Nibbana. AN 3.71
Greed (lobha) is the desire, longing, attachment or lust for sensual pleasures, for reputation or fame, for wealth, for power, for comfort, for security and so on. Greed is the cause of anxiety and restlessness, a feeling of unease that we call suffering. Initially this comes from not having what we desire. If we acquire what we desire it comes from knowing we will lose it, and from simply wanting more.
There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower of gold pieces; he who knows that lusts have a short taste and cause pain, he is wise; Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satisfaction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights only in the destruction of all desires. Dhammapada, 186-7.
If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of strong passions, and yearning only for what is delightful, his thirst will grow more and more, and he will indeed make his fetters strong. Dhammapada
Hatred (dosa) is the aversion, dislike, dread or fear of pain, of discomfort, of enemies and so on. It includes thoughts of anger, revenge, envy or jealousy (which also involve greed), resentment, guilt and self-hatred, disdain, judgmental attitudes. Hatred immediately manifests as anxiety and restlessness, in short, suffering, because the world is not as we want it. Often it arises when our desires are thwarted or threatened.
There is no fire like passion; there is no losing throw like hatred; there is no pain like this body; there is no happiness higher than rest. Dhammapada 202
From greed comes grief, from greed comes fear; he who is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear. Dhammapada 216
Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride, let him overcome all bondage! No sufferings befall the man who is not attached to name and form, and who calls nothing his own. Dhammapada 221

“Greed” and “hatred” are perhaps too strong as words for many instances of lobha and dosa, but it is a rather standard translation, just as “suffering” is often a bit strong as a translation of “dukkha.”
Delusion is found in the erroneous opinions or justifications, misperceptions, ignorance and denial. It is an often pervasive distortion of reality, manifesting particularly in the sense that certain things are unchanging, fixed or reliable, that there is fun, happiness and beauty where in fact there is decay and suffering. The greatest delusion is that there is an abiding self, a “me,” that in some way remains fixed in spite of all the changes that happen all around it, as the owner and controller of this body and mind. For the Buddha, Delusion is the most dangerous of the Three Unwholesome Roots.
But there is a taint worse than all taints,–ignorance is the greatest taint. O mendicants! throw off that taint, and become taintless! Dhammapada 243
Greed is a lesser fault and fades away slowly, hatred is a great fault and fades away quickly, delusion is a great fault and fades away slowly. AN3.68
The root of delusion is also the basis of the other two roots, in fact the delusional sense of self is the source of it all. In the absence of the capacity to take them personally greed and hatred do not arise. But greed and hatred also distort reality as soon as they do arise.
For instance, if we can simply abide in the way things really are, before these things arise, we we find we are embedded in a network of cause and effect, in which all things are simply dependencies on other things, magnificent in its complexity, delicate in its balance and in the ongoing flux rippling through the network. Now, if we desire something, then that becomes bigger than life, specifically its desirable features, as a caricature, become bigger than life, while the undesirable is no longer even noticed. The paths of causal relations that connect the object of desire to the (now bigger than life) self come alive as plans are considered for the acquisition of the object of desire. Whatever lies along those paths grows, specifically caricatures of their instrumental aspects grow, while all else shrinks and disappears. Even people become instruments and nothing more, or else obstructions, which then become immediate objects of irritation then hate, so caricatured as to appear demonic.
We now reside in a sparse and anxious world fabricated from our own self-centered manipulations. This capacity of greed and hatred to distort reality is most easily observed in the case of hatred or anger, the great fault that fades away quickly. You all will certainly have had the experience of encountering someone for the first time as an impediment to some otherwise perfect plan, and thereby as a demon, only to encounter her at some later time under different circumstances and to your bewilderment as a rather nice person.
We’ve been considering unwholesome thoughts. What about the wholesome? These are rooted in non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion, that is, in renunciation, good-will and wisdom. It includes generosity, loving-kindness, compassion, patience, intelligence, mindfulness, concentration, equanimity and so on.
One of our tasks as Buddhist practitioners moving from thought to destiny, is to cultivate skillful thoughts and to remove the unskillful thoughts. This task is like that of a gardener: one pulls out the unskillful weeds and waters the skillful flowers, shrubs, vegetables and herbs and thereby gives the desired shape to the garden. There are some standard mental techniques involved in Right Effort, but you will probably discover some of your own, from substituting another thought for the one you are entertaining, to deconstructing your present thought, from changing your perspective or conceptualization of the situation, to bringing the thought into the focus of attention until it dissipates of itself.
One of the things you will notice in Buddhist practice is that the bar is always set very high, in fact to a height that only the Buddha and the occasional arahant can vault over. This should not dismay you, rather it means that for many years, maybe for many lives, you will always be able to go deeper into the practice. It is like reading an epic novel that you cannot put down, but never seems to come to an end. It is particularly important not to think of yourself as a “sinner” or a” bad person” because of your probably relentless unskillful thoughts. Buddhism is gentler than that. If you have been reading carefully you will have noticed that guilt is listed among the unskillful thoughts to eradicate. In fact, you are most likely not convinced that the Buddha’s classes, wholesome and unwholesome, are accurate; you probably still enjoy many kinds of lustful thoughts, for instance. That is OK too. But keep observing and studying. You don’t need to give up anything until you are convinced that it should be given up. But become an astute student of samsara, of the suffering that permeates life, even tainting what should be fun.
August 10, 2010
The Goal of Buddhist Practice
Quarter Moon Teaching
This particular Uposatha Day is also the Day of the Full Moon. This particular Day of the Full Moon is also Dhamma Day, commemorating the Buddha’s first discourse, in which he first expounded The Noble Eightfold Path. Dhamma Day also marks the beginning of Vassa, the Rains Retreat. During Vassa for three months monks and nuns traditionally do not wander but devote their time to practice and study, because in India and today most of the Theravada world, including Burma, it’s raining this time of year.. Vassa shows up in Zen tradition as the three month ango, which however has lost its relationship to the rainy season in India. I will spend Vassa here in Minnesota, do not intend to travel, but will schedule a more intensive meditation practice, try to be pristine in discipline and devote more time to Sutta study (thereby covering the Three Trainings that subdivide the Noble Eightfold Path, namely meditation, ethical conduct and wisdom. For the first few days of Vassa I am joined by a group of new temporary monks, who ordained the day before Dhamma Day, but only intending to remain monks for a week. I think Ashin Nayaka is trying to get back from Asia to spend the Vassa here.
The topic of today’s posting has come out of the blue, inspired by an email exchange with a dedicated Buddhist student in Austin. Buddhist practice, the Noble Eightfold Path, is generally assumed to have a goal, and in fact that goal is defined in lofty terms as Nirvana, Full Awakening or Liberation from Samsaric Existence, or what I equally vaguely called the Perfection of the Human Character in earlier postings. And often it is also assumed that reaching that goal involves a series of attainments, much like reaching the top of a mountain involves reaching each of a series of landmarks or becoming a scholar involves receiving a series of academic degrees. In fact goals of all kinds easily enmesh us in the Triple Poison of Greed, Hatred and Delusion as our desires flair, our competitive instincts set in and soon we live in a world of Me, What I Want, How I’m Going to Get it, and What is In My Way. Such a precious goal as the Perfection of the Human Character, ironically but nevertheless, is no exception. This goal, if so enmeshed, represents the exact antithesis of itself! We have to be careful.
We have to be careful, especially in our acquisitive goal-oriented instant-gratification Western culture. In the West many people want to be on the fast track to Enlightenment, as if there were someone there to receive it when it comes and as if that someone would like it when it was reached. I suspect that this has a precedent in Buddhism Tang China, which enjoyed much social mobility, and in which Buddhists began talking about Sudden Enlightenment as if one did not need endless lifetimes of practice as one seemed to in India, which generally fixed one’s social status at birth. The danger of grasping after Sudden Enlightenment seems to have been offset by a further cultural adaptation, the idea that Enlightenment though at hand nonetheless should not be sought after. A very well-known Zen koan from this period begins:
Chao-chou aked Nan-chuan, “What is the Way?”
Nan-chuan said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”
Chao-chou asked, “Then may I direct myself towards it or not?”
Nan-chuan said, “To turn toward it is to turn away from it.”
At the end of this discourse Chao-chou attains Enlightenment. (I’ve posted an essay on this koan which further explores the theme of this posting here. ) In short, we as Westerners have what is certainly an even greater imperative to avoid the seduction of enlightenment than our predecessors before us.
Even our friend the potter has to be careful. (I am as surprised as anyone that I have been able to get such milage out of his analogy to the Buddhist practitioner.) Recall that the potter, like the Buddhist practitioner, is on a path toward an ultimate goal, but in his case he moves toward mastery of his specific craft. However, if you ask him in his studio, What is it you are doing? He will generally answer, I am making a pot. If he answered, I am making a master potter, his answer, though true, would be worrisome. You would almost expect him to spend more time buying the right smock or adjusting his baret in the mirror than actually working with clay. We do the same in Buddhism. But the focus is all wrong. It seems that the most direct path to the distant goal of becoming a master potter is simply to focus on the immediate goal of making a masterly pot, over and over. But wait, it is not quite that simple: Occasionally the potter should recognize that his skills fall short. For instance, while he understands clay in his hands, he might not be so successful in design or in selecting glaze colors. If he recognizes this, or perhaps a more adept teacher does, then he might undertake an art class in design or color. This is not on behalf of the next pot, but in improving the skill set of the potter for the long run. The goal of making a master potter is therefore not to be entirely neglected but mostly the ultimate goal attains itself as long as the potter focuses on the immediate goal of making each pot as if a master potter had made it.
Even the dieter has to be careful. Suppose you find yourself among the ranks of the chubby, so you set out to lose weight. Most people frame the task in terms of the goal of achieving an optimal weight, say 180 lbs., suffer much suspense and frustration on the path to that goal interleaved with brief feelings of accomplishment, typically do not stand the stress of this and give up in an impulsive binge, and if they do manage to achieve the ultimate goal, immediately start to backslide. An alternative, however, is simply to take on the discipline of eating an appropriate daily diet for their height and body type, and getting an appropriate amount of daily exercise, an immediate goal reached day by day. That’s what the ranks of the non-chubby already do. The body weights of the chubby will begin to shift as their systems seek new equilibria, and they will gradually blend with the non-chubby, but when and how fast that happens need not be of any concern.
Buddhism is easy. It is the vow, *This* is how I will live my life from now on. Then you just do it. If you slip up you just renew your vow and continue. And if you look at how other people live their lives you have plenty of incentive to put in the effort to enact this vow. The immediate uplift of the harmless beneficial life is the greatest incentive. Then as long as you remain on the Noble Eightfold Path we will certainly experience stages of attainment, but it is best let Nirvana take care of itself.

July 26, 2010
Beyond the Noble Eightfold Path
Quarter Moon Teaching
The Suttas recount the following conversation:
As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, “This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie.”
“Don’t say that, Ananda. Don’t say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life.
The question I want to raise is, What happened to the Noble Eightfold Path in this dialog? Isn’t it the whole of the holy life? The Buddha goes on to answer this, but let’s enjoy the suspense for a while.
The Noble Eightfold path is pragmatic, rational, integrated and rather self-contained. As you continue your studies you will find that most of the Buddhist teachings relate to one or more of the eight steps of the path: as you learn about Emptiness, about meditation techniques, about Karma and Rebirth, about the many mental factors, about the various systems of Precepts, and so on, things I have only begun to touch on in my brief overview. However, like everything, a path is embedded in a larger context: A physical path winds its way through a forest to the top of a hill, down the other side, over a bridge spanning a creek, past a hornet’s nest across a meadow and home. What keeps the traveler on the path when he or she might just as well go off swimming or rock climbing, or prospecting. And it is also so with the Noble Eightfold Path. It has to begin somewhere, what are the conditions for entering the path in the first place? What keeps one on the path? How does one find out that there is a path and where it leads?
We have seen that our friend the potter also follows a path, one that leads to the perfection of the skills of a master potter. Is there also some part of being a potter that lies outside the potter’s studio? Yes, the potter is embedded in a context that has material, social and motivational aspects:
The Potter’s Material context. The potter had to rent or purchase his studio and all of the equipment needed, and probably has required a source of income, possibly from selling the fruits of the potter’s skills. The potter had to make a commitment of money and time to the practice of the potter’s craft, to rearrange his or her life simply to make room for practicing his or her craft.
The Potter’s Social context. The potter has placed him- or herself into a tradition that has been transmitted through history to the present moment. The potter has probably spend innumerable hours studying the work of others, at craft shows, in craft shops and finally in museums. The potter found some source of training, perhaps as an apprentice to a master potter, or through college courses. The potter probably spends a lot of time talking with, and being encouraged and inspired by, other similar-minded craftspeople, and may belong to a guild or professional society. And the potter may also have become a resource for others who aspire to learn the potter’s craft perhaps.
The Potter’s Motivational context. Probably the potter has learned a lot about art, and has been inspired by certain artists and certain trends. The potter has, if he or she is not too poor, purchased a lot of ceramics, other crafts and general art to bring home and live with as a constant source of inspiration. Almost certainly the potter subscribes to some potterly publications and reads potterly books. And the potter’s stained clothes and fingers are a constant reminder to him- or herself and to others that, “Here Stands a Potter.” All of these help keep pottering at the center of the potter’s life, ensures the unquestioned devotion of the potter to his or her craft, even when there are so many other interesting this to do in life.
Buddhism is not much different:
The Buddhist Material Context. The practitioner may share a practice space with a community, or may have invested some time and effort in fixing one up at home. The practitioner probably helps sustain a temple. The dedicated practitioner will have made a deep commitment to making room in his or her life, often with a complete reorientation of priorities, abandonment of livelihood and so on.
The Buddhist Social Context.The practitioner has begun training, through reading, through lectures, through individual instruction from an admirable teacher, maybe joined a Buddhist center or a monastery. In fact, the practioner has placed him- or herself into a tradition that has been preserved and transmitted from ancient times through the centuries to the present moment. He or she probably belongs to a Buddhist community and has frequent contact with like-minded people, and it is here he or she discovers admirable people, those who have most benefited from and best embody Buddhist practice. The practitioner with time will become a resource for others drawn to practice perhaps even a deep inspiration for those taking their first steps on the path.
The Buddhist Motivational Context. Similarly, the Buddhist practitioner has had the opportunity of contact with admirable Buddhist practitioners, which has often been the point at which entering the path is first considered, has read the Life of the Buddha and gained a deeply respectful attitude toward the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, the admirable teacher, his admirable teachings and those admirable ones who transmit his teachings to new generations, thereby opening one’s mind to the three sources of influence. The practitioner has viewed Buddhist art, depictions of the Buddha and other aspects of what is admirable Buddhism. He or she will be inclined to undertake ritual symbolic activities such as chanting, bowing and offering incense, around an altar or a pagoda to reinforce a sense of devotion and respect for that which is admirable. All of these help keep Buddhist practice at the center of the practitioner’s life, even while there are so many other interesting things to do in life, to keep the practitioner on the path.
The surprising thing about the material, social and motivational context in which one practices the Noble Eightfold Path is that it gives Buddhism its religiosity. It is organized, communal and devotional, very much like other religions. Many Westerners who are giving Buddhism the eye like to think that Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy or a way of life, but in any case something entirely rational. What gives?
First of all, these elements are not uniquely religious, as we have seen in the case of the potter. Similarly a marriage has a material, social and motivational context, as does a hobby, probably anything one wants to be doing as a profession, scholarship, sports, both spectator and participatory. The relevant aspects of the respective contexts differ in form, the elements of the context manifest according to subject domain. For instance motivational aspects of marriage include a solemn ceremony, the wearing of rings as a constant reminder of one’s vows, a lot of daily ritual expressions of affection; motivational aspects of sports includes cheer leaders, pep talks, wearing certain symbols of the home team as well as attire of the appropriate color, ritual chanting, worship of prominent athletes, often even displaying their pictures, and so on. Naturally the broad domain of religion has certain characteristics that carry over to Buddhism as well.
Second, the context of the Noble Eightfold Path not only provides conditions for embarking and remaining on the path, but the context by itself seems to support many of the aims of the Noble Eightfold Path by itself, albeit in a very unsophisticated way. In particular devotional practices, bodily expressions of respect, involvement in a mutually supporting community tend to give rise to skillful states of mind. They dethrone the ego and encourage humility, gratitude, compassion and generosity. I think developing these qualities is the common project of most religions, which might explain why they seem to have a common “religiosity.” The Buddhist project takes this to another level by adding the Noble Eightfold Path, a technology that capable of bringing these admirable human characteristics progressively toward perfection. Buddhism at the same time makes living breathing people, not gods, as objects of devotion and respect, those admirable people that best embody the Noble Eightfold Path in their lives. The Buddha finishes the quote above as follows:
Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk [read practitioner] has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path.
On this Uposatha Day of the first quarter moon, take some time and reflect, what are the factors that inspire me to take the Buddhist Path or that sustain me on the Path. Of course many of the people involved will have reached you through books, on-line lectures, etc. Then consider, how do I show my appreciation for this, and how do I open my heart and mind to better accept this influence.

July 19, 2010
Noble Eightfold Path: Right Concentration
Uposatha Day Teaching
The Eighth and final Fold of the Eightfold Path is Right Concentration. Concentration in Pali or Sanskrit is samadhi, a familiar word in Buddhist vocabulary. A potter or other skilled craftsman also requires a degree of concentration and does his or her best work with concentration, in which the mind of the potter is collected in one place, concerned with one task, still, focused. Concentration contrasts with the more typical scattered state of the human mind. However the average human mind seems to be naturally concentrated when there is danger, when the cost of making a mistake is high, or when something is just darn interesting. Concentration when present typically brings euphoria, a blissful feeling, which might be why some people engage in dangerous activities like bungee jumping or driving fast for recreation. Buddhism provides the training that makes very deep levels of concentration available on demand.
The functions of the concentrated mind in Buddhist practice are in support of the other folds of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the mind’s typical state thoughts come at us like a rushing river, like a fire hose or like a sand storm. Alternatively we can say that the mind jumps around from place to place like a monkey, like a basket ball or buzzes around like a swarm of gnats. Under such conditions we have little opportunity either to observe our thoughts to get to know them, and almost all opportunity to observe and get to know what is happening in the world around us gets lost in the deluge of thought. Likewise under such conditions we have little opportunity to respond appropriately to thoughts as required by many of the steps in the Path.
Thoughts are also like choppy water, stirred up by paddlers and power boats, that obscures both external phenomena and the mind itself.. On the other hand, the concentrated mind is serene and sharp like a still forest pool, without a ripple, such that you can see every detail of the bottom of the pond. The serenity of concentration gives Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort and Right Mindfulness each a boost. Each of these involves making decisions with consideration of intentions and other mental factors. Serenity is like seeing these mental factors with a magnifying glass. For instance, part of Right Speech is not to speak in anger. For many people this is nearly impossible because the gap between anger and speech is slight. With a serene mind this gap is large. In fact one is likely to catch the series of thoughts leading to anger at an early stage with a softening effect. The sharpness or clarity of concentration gives a great boost to Right View, Right Resolve and Right Livelihood because it supports penetrating insight into the way things really are. For instance, one cannot avoid a continuous awareness of the flux and contingency of all things, and the tendency of the mind toward fabrication.
So concentration or samadhi is a very useful tool, for the potter as well as for the Buddhist on the Path. How do we get there? The short answer is, Through all of the other folds of the Noble Eightfold Path. If your life is less dispersed, if you do not spend your time struggling, your mind will be more concentrated. All the folds from Right Resolve through the three factors of Ethical Conduct and up to Right Effort establish a non-self-seeking relationship to the world, reducing our stress and anxiety. We will see next week how Right View brings this to an even deeper level. All this reduces the scattering of our mental resources, brings the mind to the here and now. Cultivating physical serenity in our lives is an additional aid to concentration: walks in the woods, avoiding idle chatter and mindless entertainment, reducing clutter in your surroundings, living an orderly, which often means highly conventional, life.
But the most direct instruments for establishing concentration are Right Effort and Right Mindfulness. Bhikkhu Bodhi in his treatise on the Noble Eightfold Path describes a metaphor used in an ancient commentary for the relationship of Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration: Three boys see flowers blooming high in a tree, but even the tallest of them, boy C, cannot reach them. Therefore another boy, A, leans over to let the tallest boy climb up on his back. This gives the needed height but boy C has trouble keeping his balance and is afraid to stand as high as he can. So the remaining boy, B, takes hold to steady C. Boy A is Effort, boy B is Mindfulness and boy C is Concentration. Through Effort, which works with the earlier folds, we gain a degree of purity and stability of mind. Concentration takes this to an even higher level, but cannot do this without Mindfulness.
Right Concentration is most effectively practiced in seated meditation, but tends to carry over from there into everyday life in a less rarefied form. The most common form of seated meditation involves selecting an object of concentration, such as the physical sensation of breath felt in the rising and falling of the abdomen, or simply a candle. Your task is to keep your mind focused on the object. Mindfulness reminds you of this task as distractions arise. It is the guard that protects concentration from all of the fascinating things the mind would like to do instead. Right Effort is primary in working with the unskillful mental factors that are likely to otherwise be distractions. These factors working together often feel like a struggle as the mind is repeatedly distracted from its object of concentration, sometimes for minutes at a time. But with practice, and especially as one sits for long periods, the mind settles and the concentration narrows increasingly in on the object. The struggle stills, or even disappears, leaving serenity and clarity.
Most meditation traditions take as their primary aim to develop intense levels of concentration. Concentration can be very intense indeed. The aim of meditation in Buddhism is somewhat different. Recall that in the years immediately preceding his enlightenment the future Buddha engaged in developing extraordinary state of concentration but in the end recognized the inadequacy of concentration. Intense states of concentration develop serenity with the advantages described above, but past a certain point this is at the expense of the clarity or sharpness necessary for insight into the nature of reality. The extreme one-pointedness of mind eventually shuts down investigation. In fact many adepts are said to have reached enlightenment with limited concentration. Also deep levels of concentration carries a couple of dangers. First, one can become attached to the pleasure of concentration, which then becomes a self-serving impediment to progress on the Path. Second, the intense serenity of concentration can mislead you into thinking you have reached some great attainment on the path, possibly even awakening. With these caveats, concentration is nevertheless and important tool which the sincere practitioner should give a lot of attention to developing.
On this day of the Last Quarter Moon spend some time in seated meditation, enjoy the serenity of clarity that comes with concentration and resolve to make seated meditation a part of your daily routine if it is not already, even if it is for ten or fifteen minutes each day.
July 4, 2010
Uposatha Day Teaching
Noble Eightfold Path: Right Livelihood
We are now at the fifth fold of the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha’s master checklist for mastering the skill of life. The Ethical Conduct Group of the Noble Eightfold Path consists of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. We will finish the Ethical Conduct group with this post and its comments.
We have seen that Right Speech and Right Action are karmic, that is, they are intentional, something done by choice. We might think of our lives as a long series of densely packed choice points, in each of which we try freely to pick the most skillful alternative: “Speak falsely or tell the truth, I think I’ll, um, … tell the truth… Take what is not given or be satisfied with what I have, I think I’ll grab what I want while no one is looking, …” However, for most of us it does not generally feel like we live life so deliberately. If we pay attention we recognize that there are choice points, but we seem to skip right through the on automatic pilot almost every time: “Mmmm, chips, grab, gobble. Yikes, there’s that jerk, must avoid. Beautiful woman, hubba hubba, straighten tie and smile, …” The reason lies in our habit patterns. These are like the ruts worn in a path over which ox carts have passed for many years. At any point we could veer to the right or to the left, but we don’t. And when we don’t, the currently operative habit pattern becomes even deeper. These habit patters are the stuff of our character. Those grounded in seeking personal advantage tend to be our natural overriding concern. Ethical Conduct is the practice of changing our habit patterns with respect to actions of body and speech to those that are more skillful. Ethical precepts, such as “Do not take that which is not offered,” define points at which we become more deliberate in our choices,; they are clearly defined opportunities to get out of the rut. Developing the resolve toward loving-kindness apply a more general pressure toward deliberation.
There are other concerns besides existing habit patters and our practice vows that may form future habit patterns and ultimately character. Each of us is embedded in a network of relations, and prominent among these are societal relations, which entail obligations to do certain things or behave in certain ways. These can take the ox cart out of old ruts, and lead to the creation of new ruts. Prominent among these is our livelihood. Now, once we choose our livelihood we might not have much choice left about the actions we preform while engaged in that livelihood. Nevertheless the karmic effects of those actions will be as before: Performing those actions will have harm or benefit as before and will shape one’s character as before. Therefore, it is important that one choose one’s livelihood with care. For the aspiring master potter Right Livelihood would be to actually make a living as a potter, especially with a customer base with a great appreciation of fine workmanship. This would afford the greatest opprortunity to develop skillful habit patterns indeed. It is so with the skills of life: Right Livelihood would be that which allows full expression of selflessness, goodwill and compassion without compromise.
So, when is a particular livelihood Right? Just look at the job description. Is each task mentioned consistent with Right Speech and Right Action? Does it involve deceit? Does it involve killing or otherwise harming living beings? Does it entail taking what is not given freely? Does it involve or encourage misuse of sexuality? The Buddha specifically points out the following red flags in assessing livelihood: deceit, treachery, soothsaying, trickery, and usury. It is a challenge to find Right Livelihood in sales or marketing, or in banking or investing that fall under Right Livelihood. The Buddha also specifically recommends against jobs that deal in weapons, in living beings (such as raising animals for meat production or facilitating prostitution), in meat production, in poisons, and in intoxicants. So you should not be a soldier or arms dealer, a butcher or corporate farmer, a pesticide producer (or presumably a farmer if this means using pesticides), or a liquor store proprietor (or even a Benedictine monk if this involves brewing beer). In modern times is that it is probably particularly difficult to find a job that is Right Livelihood. Before I was a monk I used to work in software R&D, artificial intelligence, for companies that had contracts with defense contractors, which I decided was clearly Wrong Livelihood. But how about working as a cashier for a retail store that happens to sell liquor? We often have little choice of livelihood simply because the economy offers few choices.
What is considered a respectable livelihood in our society may be quite a bit different from what is Right Livelihood in the Buddhist sense. Being a soldier, or a banker, investing in real estate, exterminating insects and pests or stretching the truth a little to make a sale might all be completely acceptable a particular culture or subculture. However, the mechanisms of Karma will shape the character in pretty much the same way regardless of the approbation of the society. In other words, Buddhist ethical thinking rests primarily on observable causes and effects rather than on social norms (though social norms do determine what constitutes harsh speech or otherwise might lead to disharmony). If a livelihood forces one to act habitually with greedy or cruel intentions, the character will develop to become more greedy or cruel. Consider that when you take on employment, your boss generally predetermines many of your choices from that point on. This means that your character will come more and more to resemble that of your boss.
We may further reduce our options by taking on various obligations. If we have debt or a family to feed, or own property or possessions that must be maintained and insured, we are forced into earning a certain level of income, possibly forcing us into a Wrong Livelihood. A monastic has the great benefit of what might be called the ideal livelihood. First, in order to be ordained into the Sangha one must be quite free of conventional societal obligations: no wealth, no debt, no family to speak of. Second, one has no livelihood at all in the conventional sense: One is entirely outside of the exchange economy, there is almost nothing one can do on one’s own behalf. As a monastic, one is subject to a large number of precepts, many of which are in fact societal obligations. However, each of these obligations is of benefit to others and consistent with the harmony of the community. In fact, monastics take on the greatest societal obligation of all: they are the designated caretakers of the Buddha’s teachings and responsible for its perpetuation.
Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood constitute the Conduct or Virtue or Morality Group of the Noble Eightfold Path. Broadly speaking Buddhist virtue is presented in different terms, in Precepts, that is, specific rules of conduct; in the principle of Karma, and in Right Resolve, the resolve to be selfless, kind and compassionate. In fact, every step in the Eightfold Path reinforces this thrust.
On this New Moon Day, consider your Livelihood or the Livelihood you aspire to have. And what of your other obligations? How are these of benefit, how of harm? How do you feel about what you do all day? This is not to encourage guilt—Right Livelihood I fear is the exception and we all have to eat—but to take stock and maybe to encourage some slow disentanglement from factors that you can control. If you are fortunate, your livelihood is blameless.

June 12, 2010
Uposatha Day Teaching
Noble Eightfold Path: Right Action
In the last episode we considered Right Speech, the first of the Ethical Conduct Group of the Noble Eightfold Path. Today we take up Right Action. The most common of the alternative formulations of Buddhist ethical conduct is the Five Precepts:
1. Not to kill living beings.
2. Not to take what is not given.
3. Not to involve oneself in sexual misconduct.
4. Not to speak falsely.
5. Not to intoxicate oneself.
Here (1) – (3) most directly relate to Right Action and (4) to Right Speech. (5) relates indirectly to Right Speech and Right Action, since in the intentional haze of intoxication Speech and Action occur that are typically later regretted., but more directly to Right Effort, which we have not discussed yet, basically purification of the mind. Notice that all of these are abstentions. These do have implicit positive counterparts, such as to promote or cultivate or care for life, to be generous, to keep others properly informed, and so on. In fact, Precepts are generally a bottom line, much like the oath “Do No Harm” in medicine; but in fact we can do so much of benefit above that bottom line. However the positive forms would be more difficult to formulate, since they are open-ended; We understand out obligation to not killing, for instance, but unclear is the extent or direction of our obligation to promote life. Still the positive forms of the Precepts are already implicit in Right Resolve, in Renunciation, Goodwill and Harmlessness or compassion.
Through Right Action and Right Speech we not only make the world, we also make ourselves. Virtue gives rise to virtue. Every action has two kinds of consequences, first, out there in the world, and second, in shaping our own character, or own future. Simply put, the more you steal the more you become a thief, the more you kill the more you become a killer, the more you gossip the more you become a gossip. Actions become habits and habits become character. So action is very important in the process of perfecting character. The potter’s skills grow in exactly the same way. The more fine pots the potter throws the finer potter he becomes. The more he throws pots with thin elegantly tapered sides, the more skillful the becomes at that. This is the heart of karma, and the way we learn a skill.
Let’s look a little more closely at how this works. The Sanskrit word for action is Karma. Properly the Buddha analyzed Karma into two components, Intention and Action, why you do something, and what it is you actually do. The intention is critical: If no intention is present, for instance in the case of killing a bug accidentally, there is no Right Action and no Wrong Action. It matters to the world, but not generally to the character. But if intention is present, then that particular intention is reinforced in the action. There is a great assortment of intentions, but we must give special attention to avoid the unskillful roots: Greed, Hatred and Delusion, because actions that have these as intentional components (1) are likely to hurt others, (2) tend to make us greedy, hateful and deluded and (3) bring us personal suffering. The relation between (2) and (3) might not seem obvious, until you consider the state of happiness or well-being of greedy, hateful and deluded people. It turns out the Virtue Is its Own Reward; this is the Law of Karma. The explanation for this has to do with the origin of suffering, in clinging.
Fortunately, we can take care in our actions with regard to our intentions. First, the intention precedes the physical action that it gives rise to. This provides an opportunity to abort an unskillful intention by not acting on it. For instance, when anger arises I do not yell, I do not throw things, I don’t do anything, until the anger subsides, which it will. Second, we improve the quality of the intentions that do arise by controlling their conditions. For instance, if I avoid stressful activities, anger is less likely to arise. If I avoid the company of people who are drinking alcohol, I am less likely to have the impulse to do so. Through the cultivation of mind, the topic of the last three folds of the Noble Eightfold Path, our capacity for caring for our intentions becomes quite refined. Through such care, skillful habit patterns develop, and the character is moved in a more skillful direction. This is a simple transparent theory of human skill acquisition, with karma, intentional action, as its basis.
Often the word karma is assumed to refer to something more interesting, something like fate. Let’s take a minute to look at how a sense like this has arisen, and also how it is a bit, but not really, accurate. Often the word karma is used by extension (metonymously) to refer to cumulative consequences of intentional action, much as the words “wear” or “worn” can refer to the result of wearing shoes, say, over and over. So it is used to refer to the character itself, or other factors that are often assumed to impinge on the life of the acting agent for good and bad, as cumulative results of karmic acts. This meaning takes on particular significance in the light of rebirth. Rebirth greatly extends the lifespan of cumulative karma. The science is still out on the issue of rebirth, but rebirth as even a working assumption puts the project of perfecting character in a useful context. Perfection is rarely achieved in one lifetime, rebirth makes sense of heading in that direction inexorably and without frustration. Looking the other way rebirth allows a karmic basis in the distant past for much of our current character. Still, the principle of karma as a basis for acquiring skill remains the same; we work with karma moment by moment only in the present, seeking what it skillful, and shaping our character into something ever more virtuous.
Karma is the key to the entire path and should be understood and practiced , as the Buddha says, “seeing danger in the slightest fault.” We might extend this to seeing benefit in the slightest virtue. Often the development of character through Right Action are clearer than the immediate affects of Right Action in the world. For instance, the First Precept above is one that we easily become fuzzy around; we are not really convinced that the Buddha meant cockroaches and scorpions, snakes and slugs, when he referred to “living beings.” Yet if we uphold the Precept rigorously (catch pests and place them carefully outside) we observe a remarkable change in ourselves: We become kinder, more tender in our feelings not only for all the little creatures but for people as well. Try it! Your Virtue will grow, and that in turn will improve the tendencies of our future actions in the world. You will also find yourself more and more joyful in disposition.
Throughout this Uposatha Day of the First Quarter Moon, think about your actions. Am I violating one of the Five Precepts? What are my intentions, is there a hint, or maybe a lot, of greed or hatred behind my actions?
June 3, 2010