Tem

FEB 25

Siderits, Chapter 2

• Background on Buddha

• note heterodoxy, intro/dev karmic theory, moral teaching ind. of focus on ritual and deities.
• consensus on "moksa" as goal of enlightenment. Buddha's teaching one of many.
• Siderits presents sramanas as critical and questioning of heterodoxy.

• The Four Noble Truths

1 There is suffering.

1. Normal pain. Decay, disease, death.

2. Suffering from ignorance of impermanence. Including ignorance of no-self. Suffering from getting what your want or don't want.

3. Suffering from conditions. Rebirth itself is a form of suffering. (So belief in rebirth doesn't solve the problem of suffering in one life.)

2 There is the origination of suffering: suffering comes into existence in dependence on causes.

Note the chain of causal connection advanced on p. 22 of Siderits: ignorance ultimate causes suffering, but the intermediate steps are important. Let's give a psychological reading of this metaphysical chain of causation.

3 There is the cessation of suffering: all future suffering can be prevented by becoming aware of our ignorance and undoing the effects of it. "It is the utter cessation and extinction of that craving, its renunciation,its forsaking, release from it, and non-attachment to it." (from pali canon reading)

4 There is a path to the cessation of suffering.

8 fold path. importance of meditation (p. 24)

• Cessation of suffering: meditation, (non)self-discovery.

• Need to assess this recommended "training program" more in light of Discourse on Mindfulness and the Eight Fold path (See wiki page Noble Eight Fold Path)

• Note discussion of meditation, p. 25. Basic theory for mindfulness meditation exercise.

• Liberation

• rejection of presentism and annihilationism as models for liberation.
• paradox of liberation: how can you desire liberation if liberation requires relinguishment of desire. Possible solution: to desire the end of suffering.

• Problem following the consequences of "non-self": Buddhist maxim: "Act always as if the future of hte Universe depended on what you did, while laughing at yourself for thinking that whatever you do makes any difference."

Introduction to Buddhism

• from wikipedia

• The Four Noble Truths

1 There is suffering.

2 There is the origination of suffering: suffering comes into existence in dependence on causes.

3 There is the cessation of suffering: all future suffering can be prevented by becoming aware of our ignorance and undoing the effects of it.

4 There is a path to the cessation of suffering.

8 fold path. (see above and in Feuerstein.)

Division	Eightfold Path factors	Acquired factors
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)	1. Right view	9. Superior right knowledge
	2. Right intention	10. Superior right liberation
Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)	3. Right speech
	4. Right action
	5. Right livelihood
Concentration (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)	6. Right effort
	7. Right mindfulness
	8. Right concentration

Holder, The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving

The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving starts with the "bad" monk, Sati, who thinks that reincarnation might involve the same consciousness (and so the survival of the self after death). The other bhikkhus rat him out to the Buddha, who calls him out over the issue (in a gentle Buddha way, but still by referring to him as "you misguided person") and goes on to describe both the process of "devolution" by which ignorance leads us to craving (65) and the process of purification that brings about a reversal (66) of the process. Prior to following the eightfold path, our experience (seeing, hearing, etc.) entails an unhealthy attachment. After, we presumably have the same kinds of experiences, but without unhealthy attachment.

• This text also has a great representation of the theory of dependent origination: "So, bhikkhus, dependent on ignorance, there are dispositions to action; dependent on dispositions to action, there is consciousness; dependent on consciousness, there is psycho-physicality; dependent on psycho-physicality, there are the six bases of sense; dependent on the six bases of sense, there is contact; dependent on contact, there is feeling; dependent on feeling, there is craving; dependent on craving, there is attachment; dependent on attachment, there is becoming; dependent on becoming, there is birth; dependent on birth, there is aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, despair, and distress. Thus there is the arising of this whole mass of suffering." 65 note corresponding paragraph on p. 66.

• Note story of "natural" growth and attachment, p. 67, folllowed by realization and pursuit of enlightenment. Consciousness is dependently arisen in the world (relying on the 4 nutriments, for example), and conditioned by its connections with the world (bot 62), from perception to bodily and mental. Moreover, consciousness is reckoned by it conditions. Follow analogy to fire on top of 63.

• After the destruction of craving, the question: "Did we exist in the past? Did we not exist in the past?" doesn't make sense. (As in Ricard, we get to the point of seeing our self as a conditioned and conventional reality.)

• Sections 15 and 16: description of what it would have been like to take up the challenge of pursuing enlightenment. Destruction of craving (and, in Ricard, of the ego) is a challenging project. (Requires undermining the natural processes that lead to our suffering.) Wisdom involves transcending material nature, but not finding refuge in a spiritual reality. Sections 17 and 18 describe the pleasures of this enlightenment.

Matthieu Ricard, Chs. 6&7: Alchemy of Suffering and Veils of the Ego

Chapter Six: Alchemy of Suffering

• Shortest history of the kingdom: "They Suffer"

• Pervasive suffering -- from growth and development
• Suffering of Change -- from illusion of permanence.
• Multiplicity of Suffering -- suffering from awareness of the many ways things can go wrong.
• Hidden Suffering -- suffering that we don't see (animal suffering for a cheap egg).

• Sources of Suffering -- self-centeredness, our unhappiness is caused, 4 Noble Truths (65).

• Progress toward enlightenment can be noted in our response to loss: story at 67-68. how we approach death.

• Treatment of attachment theory is a bit rough: his point: this is contemporary theory that focuses on the relationship between attachment and suffering.

• Methods for responding to suffering -- meditation, use of mental imagery.

Chapter Seven: Veils of the Ego

• In this chapter, Ricard makes the case for the destruction of the ego (parallel to the Pali Canon text on destruction of craving) as a wisdom/enlightenment goal.

• Starts by calling attention to the variability of affections and preferences.
• One Buddhist theory: Ego as a fear reaction to the world -- dread of failure, rejection, suffering.

• What is the right way to think about the ego (acc to Ricard/Buddhism)?

• great to appreciate our talents and capacities
• also important to appreciate our dependencies and interrelationships (Even highly contingent things.)
• catch the defensive reactions of the ego: story about the boats bot of 83) -- (fundamental attribution error)
• learn from assymetries of response: example of the vase, the asymmetry of our response is a clue. (also in stoicism)

• Problem: How can I live without an ego?
• R's main response: true self-confidence is egoless. top 87 - less vulnerability, more secure, resilience.
• Also: openness to spontaneity and freedom;
• psycopaths have big egos.
• Cites Paul Ekman's studies of emotionally exceptional people. egoless and joyful

• 90-end: Gives brief philosophical reflection on the way a Buddhist thinks about the self in contrast to a western dualist model. Self is "nexus" point of flow of causal processes. Illusion is to reify. (Note, not arguing that the reification is not useful for various purposes, but that it can be a cause of suffering.)