Psychology

This is the first post of a series on Buddhist epistemology entitled Awareness and Knowledge. An introductory post for this series can be found here the benefits of understanding Buddhist epistemology and psychology. If you haven’t read this post as yet, do so before reading further.

As I post each new section I will link to it from here. This will enable people to bookmark this page for future reference and make it easier for new readers to follow the progress of the series.

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Part One: Objects
(1) Appearing objects.
(2) Determined objects.
(3) Objects of engagement

Part Two: Subjects
I. Persons

II. Awarenesses
   (1) Valid cognizers
      (A) Direct perceivers
         (1) Sense direct perceivers
         (2) Mental direct perceivers
         (3) Self-knowing direct perceivers
         (4) Yogic direct perceivers
      (B) Direct valid cognizers
         (1) Self-knowing direct valid cognizers
         (2) Sense direct valid cognizers
         (3) Mental direct valid cognizers
         (4) Yogic direct valid cognizers
      (C) Facsimiles of a direct perceiver
         (1-6) Conceptual facsimiles of a direct perceiver
         (7) Non-conceptual facsimiles of a direct perceiver
      (D) Inferential valid cognizers
      (E) Terminological divisions of valid cognizers
         (1) Inference for oneself and for another
         (2) Ancillarily, minds apprehending a sign
         (3) Valid cognizers that induce ascertainment by themselves and valid cognizers when ascertainment is induced by another
         (4) Valid cognizers that are persons, speech, and consciousnesses
      (F) Definite enumeration of valid cognizers 
   (2) Non-valid consciousnesses
      (A) Subsequent cognizers
         (1) Directly perceiving subsequent cognizers
         (2) Conceptual subsequent cognizers
      (B) Correctly assuming consciousnesses
      (C) Awarenesses to which the object appears without being ascertained
      (D) Doubting consciousnesses
      (E) Wrong consciousnesses
   (3) Threefold division of awarenesses and knowers
      (A) Conceptual consciousnesses that take a meaning generality as their apprehended object
      (B) Non-conceptual non-mistaken consciousnesses that take a specifically characterized phenomenon as their apprehended object
      (C) Non-conceptual mistaken consciousnesses that take a clear appearance of a nonexistent as their apprehended object
   (4) Twofold division of awarenesses
   (5) Another twofold division of awarenesses and knowers
      (A) Minds
      (B) Mental factors
         (i) Five omnipresent factors
            (1) Feeling
            (2) Discrimination
            (3) Intention
            (4) Contact
            (5) Attention
         (ii) Five object determining mental factors
            (1) Aspiration
            (2) Belief
            (3) Mindfulness
            (4) Meditative stabilization
            (5) Wisdom
         (iii) Eleven virtuous mental factors
            (1) Faith
            (2) Shame
            (3) Embarrassment
            (4) Non-attachment
            (5) Non-hatred
            (6) Non-ignorance
            (7) Effort
            (8) Pliancy
            (9) Conscientiousness
            (10) Equanimity
            (11) Non-harmfulness
         (iv) Six root afflictions
               (1) Attachment
               (2) Anger
               (3) Pride
               (4) Ignorance
               (5) Doubt
               (6) Afflicted views
                  (a) View of the transitory collection
                  (b) View holding to an extreme
                  (c) Conception of a afflicted view as supreme
                  (d) Conception of afflicted ethics as supreme
                  (e) Wrong view
         (v) Twenty secondary afflictions
               (1) Belligerence
               (2) Resentment
               (3) Concealment
               (4) Spite
               (5) Jealousy
               (6) Miserliness
               (7) Deceit
               (8) Dissimulation
               (9) Haughtiness
               (10) Harmfulness
               (11) Non-shame
               (12) Non-embarrassment
               (13) Lethargy
               (14) Excitement
               (15) Non-faith
               (16) Laziness
               (17) Non-conscientiousness
               (18) Forgetfulness
               (19) Non-introspection
               (20) Distraction
         (vi) Four changeable mental factors
               (1) Sleep
               (2) Regret
               (3) Investigation 
               (4) Analysis
   (6) Ancillarily, the mode of asserting tenets

III. Expressive Sounds
(1) Names
(2) Phrases
(3) Letters

Yesterday I read with interest, Daniel Goleman’s blog post on the unexplained gamma increases in highly trained Tibetan Lamas. This morning I had an idea that might shed some insight into the reason why some meditators, with roughly the same amount of training as others, can have massively different gamma readings.

The idea is based on how these monks engage their object of meditation. Daniel did state that all the participants were meditating on compassion, however his findings assumes that all participants engaged in this meditation on compassion are of the same type of compassion. According to Mahayana Buddhism there is more than one type of compassion.

Candrakirti a 7th CE Buddhist scholar-yogi, abbot of the famous Nalanda monastic university, and author of many famous Buddhist treatises enumerates in his treatise of Madhyamaka philosophy entitled Engaging in the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara) three types of compassion.

Three Types of Compassion

1. Compassion observing mere sentient beings.
2. Compassion observing impermanent sentient beings.
3. Compassion observing dependently-related sentient beings.

This theory says that all three compassions have as their observed object sentient beings, with a subjective aspect of wishing them to be free from suffering and wanting to protect them from suffering but, their engaged object or conceived object are (1) real sentient beings, in the sense of being substantially existent; (2) Impermanent sentient beings and; (3) Sentient beings that do not inherently exist. Candrakirti states that the three compassions increase in depth, scope and power from the first through to the third. I would add, a meditator who possesses this third type of compassion has fewer dysfunctional states of mind compared with one who only has the first or second type. This perhaps is a way of explaining the different degrees of gamma in the participants. Although a person with the 3rd type of compassion may look simpler in appearance to another monk or Lama, their mind would be far from simpler.

I believe that in order to get to the bottom of this conundrum, scientists need to starting asking questions of meditators. Get them to describe their meditational objects, rather than assume they are all meditating on the same objects. Currently scientists are reluctant to do this or at least reluctant to speak about it in public. Yet, this is the area that will show in my opinion how dualistic thought processes are the root cause of suffering. I believe science can play a role in this endeavor but, only after they get over their fixation with the materialistic notion of consciousness. 

Awareness and Knowledge an Introduction

Buddhism asserts the mind is not merely a function of the brain nor is it an emergent property of physical processes. Buddhist epistemology - a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge - defines consciousness as: that which is clear and knowing. Consciousness, knower and awareness are synonymous. Awareness is ‘clear’ as in it is not obstructed by physical phenomena. It is the luminous aspect of mind and the knowing is the minds capacity to know or cognize phenomena - both internal and external phenomena. Therefore it is that which is clear and knowing.

Regardless of your inclination toward either the current Western notion of the nature of consciousness or the Buddhist definition. The project of developing a ‘good life’ or to use Buddhist terminology ‘practicing Dharma’ or ‘the path to Enlightenment’ is contingent upon understanding your own mind. Given that consciousness in the Buddhist tradition has been the primary object of investigation for more than 2500 years, it makes sense to at least understand what Buddhist literature has to say about the subject regardless of whether you are Buddhist or not.

The Buddhist approach to epistemology and psychology is one of enumerating the basic functions of the mind, as opposed to understanding it through brain processes or behavioral manifestations. By understanding how perception, conception and various mental factors such as the mental factor of feeling - one of the Five Omnipresent mental factors - operate and how the mental factor of feeling plays a crucial role in determining how we relate and react to most of life’s events, one can develop a greater understanding of our dependent nature. We, that is, you and I are after all dependent on various factors other than ourselves. My mind is not me, although it is a part of what makes up me. So by developing a deeper understanding of this very fact, we can better understand who we are, and how we exist. To a greater of lesser extent, it is this process that Buddhists are undertaking.

The lineage of Buddhist epistemology comes from two Indian scholars Dignaga 5th CE and Dharmakirti 7th CE. Dignaga wrote a treatise on what constitutes valid cognition, valid ways of knowing, called Compendium of Valid Cognition. While Dharmakirti wrote Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition his treatise called Commentary on (Dignaga’s) Compendium of Valid Cognition is the foundational text for much of Tibetan monastic education of Buddhist logic and epistemology . The study of mental factors or psychology comes from Compendium of Knowledge written by Asanga 3rd CE.

In the Tibetan monastic education system, the study of epistemology and psychology are studied under the topic of Awareness and Knowledge (blo-rig) pronounced Lo-rik. Lo-rik is the study of consciousness, of mind and the understanding of mind is seen as essential in both it’s practical and theoretical aspects, as the process of the enlightenment project is one of replacing dysfunctional mind with functional ones. Therefore the clear identification of dysfunctional states of mind and the recognition of why they are dysfunctional is of vital importance in the progression from an unenlightened experience to an enlightened one. Meditation which is seen as an indispensable tool in a spiritual aspirant life, is used as both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in this process. The culmination of this process is a state of mind, an experience that is free from all dysfunctional states. According to Buddhism, such a mind has the capacity to know all objects of knowledge without error. Buddhists merely label this experience Enlightenment. Perhaps this is what can explain gamma levels leapt’s of 700 to 800 percent

In Lo-rik, consciousness is studied by dividing it into types and sub-types from several different point of view, such as the seven-fold division of:

1. Direct Perceivers
2. Inferential cognizers
3. Subsequent cognizers
4. Correctly assuming consciousness
5. Inattentive awareness
6. Doubting consciousness
7. Wrong consciousness

The Three-fold division:

1. Conceptual consciousnesses that take a meaning generality as their apprehended object.
2. Non-conceptual non-mistaken consciousnesses that take a specifically characterized phenomenon as their apprehended object.
3. Non-conceptual mistaken consciousnesses that take a clear appearance of a nonexistent as their apprehended object.

The Two-fold division:

1. Self-knowers
2. Other-knowers

Another Two-fold division of:

1. Minds
2. Mental factors

This enables a student to develop a sense of how consciousness exists and manifests, by understanding the various types, their functions and how they interrelate. The study of Lo-rik also plays the role in formulating foundational concepts that a student will use in their future studies of Madhyamaka, as well as the Grounds and Paths found in texts like Maitreya’s Ornament for Clear Realizations.

Awareness and Knowledge - Table of Contents

I have heard people ask this question before. I’ve even seen friends and relatives turn away in fright when the subject of death meditation comes up. But the purpose of meditating on death is not to be morbid, negative or to induce fear. Anytime you think that Buddhism is being negative, I can guarantee you that you have misunderstand something. Buddhism is about replacing dysfunctional states of mind with functional minds. So the question is really what is the purpose of meditating on death.

Generally speaking we are so busy with our lives that finding time to sit down and practice is not an easy task. Even when we really want to meditate, life can get in the road! This is where death meditation come into play as it is a powerful motivating force. Why, because death is final! Once you are dead you aint got no more time to practice…the jig is up!

So just as sports people us different techniques to motivate themselves and their team mates, Buddhist use the finality of death to motivate themselves, and to reinforce a sense of urgency about the real situation.  

So you can see that it is not something to be frightened by but, in fact it can be the rocket fuel that will help you become a great meditate. Of course if you have read this far then you are less likely to issues with death meditation. So lets get into the meaty stuff.

Developing an aspiration for benefiting future lives

Qualm: Why do I need to develop an aspiration to benefit a life that has not even come into being!
Answer: By not doing so you run the risk of becoming too focused on this life and in doing so you can weaken your practice. Sure you need to take care of your family, friends, you need to work to pay the bills. This is not what is meant by too focused.
Being too focused means you become more concerned with how other people see you and so your reputation becomes very important to you. This in turn mans you start to act in a way that you think they will like! You seek the approval of others.

That one example, another might be money. Many people worry unnecessarily about money. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about it, work in order to get more. It means worrying about it is unless! Worry and doubt are very be problems and quite a debilitating mind. A disease of the mind, in that it can rot your mind getting worse and worse over time.

The faults of not meditating on death

By not meditating on death you will not remember the dharma. Of course even if you do remember the dharma you won’t practice as you think something like…ah I’ll do it after dinner or when I retire or over the weekend. Even if you practice the dharma you will not do so purely because you are focused on this life. You might think something like by learning meditating I will become very peaceful and attractive and then everyone will love me.  It’s clear that mediating with a motivation like that is not good in fact from a Mahayana point of view this would not even be regarded as a Buddhist meditation. My teacher says that meditating like this is selfish, meditation is about benefiting both yourself and others.

Without an awareness of your own immortality you will lack persistence with meditation and are much more likely to perform non-virtuous actions as you will mistaken think that there is plenty of time to fix it later. Or you might just not care!

Unfortunately without this awareness you will die with regret. Now I have seen this happen first hand. Someone coming to our center year in year out. Dies of cancer with the thought I could have done more! Oh god I wish I had practiced more!

This is very sad to watch someone struggle like this.

Below is a 9 round death meditation. It is made up of 3 propositions, 9 reasons and 3 decisions.

How to meditate on death

Death is definite

1: Death will definitely come, nothing can stop it.

2: Life span is continuously decreasing

3: Death will come regardless of whether you have made time to practice or not

Decision: It is definite that I will die and so I must practice dharma!

Time of death is uncertain

1: The life span of beings is this world is uncertain

Shantideva, Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds

Remaining nether day nor night,
This life is constantly slipping by
And never getting any longer.
Why will death not come to one like me!

2: There are more factors conductive to death than life
    a: External factors
    b: Internal factors
    c: Things that generally support life can become the cause of your demise

3: Our bodies are very fragile

Decision: As I am not sure when I will die, I must practice dharma now!

At the time of death, only the dharma can help

1: Friends cant help - you have to leave by yourself.

2: Your wealth cant help you - you cant take your money with you or buy a first class seat into the next life.

3: Body cannot help you through the death process.

Decision: As nothing but the dharma can benefit me at my time of death. I must practice dharma purely!

Negative emotion, we all have them. So whether your a passive-aggressive who suppresses your anger or a rageaholic that let’s fly at the slightest provocation, anger can be one of the most devastating forces known to humans. In it’s most course form, it is the source of all violence - violence at the domestic, community and international levels. It is the source of ill feeling between work colleagues, family members and even the pain that can occur subtly in our bodies is a result of anger.

Anger has no good qualities, it destroys your relationships, your health and can even be the cause of you losing your life.

Is letting anger out the correct method?
Thanks to modern psychology, it is a commonly held view that we should not suppress anger. Psychologists say that suppressing anger can result in pent up energy, that may explode sometime in the future expressed as rage. While it’s true that suppressing strong emotions such as anger can over a long period have ill effects, letting anger out can have an even greater negative effect and it’s in the short term. Can you honestly think of any occasion when getting angry helped a situation? Sure, it might make you feel better at the time, but later on if you look back at that experience with an open mind, most people would agree that by getting anger they couldn’t articulate what they wanted as succinctly as they would have liked. Angry is that voice in your head that goes over and over the experience, working out smart and witty things you could have said. Now, if in that some situation you were able to calmly and perhaps even with aggression, expressed your views you would have been able to effect a better outcome. Anger and aggression are not equivalents but, that another story.

Also looking at it this from a third person point of view. Have you ever seen someone get into an argument while angry? They look silly don’t they! Anger distorts our perception not to mention distorting our physical appearance. Anger makes everything seem threatening and hostile. I’m sure they’ve heard these words before don’t get anger at me, I’m not the one you should be anger with. Anger can even make the people who are trying to help us seem difficult.

Anger can also have a massive effect on our physiology, in extreme cases it can lead to disease.
Certainly in the short term it changes our appearance - even super-models will look ugly when they are angry!

I will become like a Sponge?
Learning to deal with your emotions is a part of the process of becoming an adult. As children we don’t always understand why we are feeling angry and so forth, and this can lead to frustration. Wanting to eliminate this frustration becomes paramount, and that is why anger seems to be an attractive solution - it’s gratifying in the short term - and we carry this short sightedness through into adulthood. We see anger as a solution because in the short term it makes us feel better just as it did when we were a child. Part of the process of seeing through anger or letting go of anger is to see with wisdom that anger is not a viable solution. We must clearly see and know with certainty that anger is no longer a solution that can effect any positive outcomes in any situation. This does not mean that you should become a passive sponge soaking up everyone else’s anger and negative emotions. It is also not a case of just turning the other cheek! It is possible to engage hostile colleagues or whoever, even with aggression in some cases but, not never with anger.

Many people when first hearing these methods immediately do one of two things. They agree and think that this practice is about not responding - this just reinforces their door-matt-ish type behavior. The other is to not agree, because for them this would mean they could never stand up for themselves. Both are incorrect! All that is being said here is that anger not your actions are the problem. It is true however that as your anger diminishes you do become more passive but it is in no way because of a weakness rather you find said when confronted by anger or difficult people thinking…ok whatever! Your not affected by their silly childish actions.

Ok hopefully I have convinced you to read further

Seeing through negative emotions
Firstly we need to clearly see the effects of anger by meditating on anger and the direct opposing force of anger - Metta or Loving-kindness. There are some people who don’t like this meditation, they don’t like generating anger but, it’s ok! Generating anger in a controlled environment is permissible. Just as scientist may handle dangerous chemicals when conducting experiments, so we can safely generate minds like anger in order to conduct experiments. We do this by following a meditation I presented a couple of days. The meditation is a guided meditation on the conventional nature of mind, the ultimate nature of mind and then a meditation on generating anger and loving-kindness or in Sanskrit it is called Metta. Read through that post and in particular meditate on the generation of anger and Metta. The stronger you can generate anger, and then loving-kindness, the clearer it will be to you that anger is not a reasonable solution.

Your ability to see through anger is largely brought about by experiencing - preferably through meditation as that experience will would stronger and deeper - the ill effects of anger itself. This is done by meditating on anger and then loving-kindness. By meditating on anger in a controlled environment, we can use a small part of our mind to observe anger and the accompanying minds and feelings it generates.

For those who did not go and read the post on generating anger and metta I will go over the meditation in abbreviated form now. But it would be better if you use the other post as a guide for your meditation.

Anger
Generate anger, let yourself get into an angry state of mind by observing someone who you finding supremely annoying. Someone who is difficult to communicate with, someone that you just don’t like! Then once that mind of anger has arisen, from a corner of your mind, observe the feeling of anger. Is it painful? Observe the impulse aggregate. That agitated impulse to lash out and harm either verbally or physically. Is that constructive? The labeling or perception of anger – this is my enemy! Is this truly valid? Would their mother feel the same? Observe the consciousness aggregate. How anger distorts your view making everything not just the so called enemy seem threatening. Then observe the form aggregate. How anger makes your body harsh, tense and agitated. Take the time to generate each of those states. You should spend at least 5 minutes on this or until you clearly see each point. The longer you can stay on this part the more affect the next section will have.

Now turn your attention to loving-kindness.

Loving-Kindness
Generate the mind of loving-kindness by remembering someone who is very dear to you. Someone who has shown you great kindness, who you care for deeply. Remembering that person, remembering their kindness and all that they mean to you, allow a mind of loving-kindness to develop. Remember the person to the point at which loving-kindness is generated, and then concentrate on just the mind of loving-kindness - moving your object of observation from the person to the mind of loving-kindness itself so that it completely fills your awareness. Then as you experience loving-kindness, look at the components of that experience – the aggregates. The easiest to see is the aggregate of feeling. The wonderful feeling of the mind of loving-kindness. The impulse aggregate of the mind of loving-kindness - the emotion or movement of friendliness. The movement to help not harm. Then the aggregate of discrimination of loving-kindness - the way of labeling or describing loving-kindness - the wish for another’s happiness. What we are feeling now is the experiencing of the wish for another’s happiness. Then observe the consciousness aggregate of loving-kindness - the way loving-kindness effects and influences our view of the world. Then the form aggregate in relation to loving-kindness. Some of you may even be able to identify to endorphins or at least a soft warm feeling through the body.

Then gently release your concentration and finish the meditation.

Once you have mastered that you can move onto more advanced practices like seeing all things as like an illusion.

Anger Meditation dealing with emotions