Sam Harris.org Reader Forum

The Buddha’s Teaching on the Nature of Reality (Dharma-Vinaya)

2013-05-29T21:48:31+00:00

The following is an overview of The Buddha’s teachings on the nature of reality and the freedom from suffering that it brings. It should be noted that the Buddha called his teachings Dhamma-Vinaya (not “Buddhism”), which basically means the nature of reality, and how to conduct yourself so that you live in accordance with it.

The central principle of buddhism is the concept of Dependent Origination. This is the teaching that all phenomena arise dependent on prior causes and conditions, and whatever the causes and conditions are now will give rise to the phenomena which arise in the future. Nothing is destroyed and nothing is created, but all phenomena are impermanent (e.g. the human body will die and decompose but no part of it is destroyed). If the conditions are present for a particular phenomena to arise it will, and if they aren’t it won’t.

Dependent origination can also be thought of in terms of the causal interdependence of phenomena. The Buddha described this in the following way: the universe is like a giant net, and at each knot of the net is a brilliant jewel. In each face of each jewel is reflected all of the other faces of all of the other jewels. In this analogy each jewel is a phenomena in the universe. When one changes, all the others must change as well.

For example, a human skeleton cannot come into existence (be born) without a muscular system, or an immune system, or without any other system of the body arising along with it. These things can only arise in dependence upon each other. But they also cannot arise without evolution having taken place, without your parents having met and so on. In turn, these events could only have occurred given the life sustaining environment of the earth, the energy provided from plants and animals and sunlight, etc. Following the chains of causality in this way, nothing in the universe is left out.

Leading on from Dependent Origination is the concept of Emptiness. Emptiness can be expressed in three ways. Firstly since all phenomena are dependently originated, a given phenomena can only exist in relation to the causes and conditions which surround it in space and time. Take a human being for example. Everything that a given person is, is merely an expression of that persons genetics (parents, etc), and their environment. A person (or any other phenomena) does not exist independently from the phenomena that surround him/her. Whoever you are as a person is influenced by how you were raised, the type of people you know, the fact that you are reading this right now, etc. Who you are in turn affects the causes and conditions around you, which again come back to affect you. This is the basis of the law of Karma and ethical conduct in Buddhism. To work for the wellbeing of others as if it were your own wellbeing is to maximise the causes and conditions around you, which will in turn maximise your own wellbeing. Conversely to work for your own wellbeing to the detriment of others will do the opposite and in the long run actually condition future suffering.

The second way Emptiness can be thought of is in terms of the parts which compose a whole. Take the concept of a company as an example. A “company” is merely what we call a collection of people, buildings, resources, etc. It is not a single thing in and of itself. All phenomena can be seen in the same way. The human body is not a single entity, but a collection of skin, blood, bone, etc. which interact with each other in a system which is itself not isolated from the rest of the world. Likewise, all the things which make up the human body are just what we call particular collections of atoms which have a familiar form.

The third way that emptiness can be thought of is in terms of the interdependent relationship between perception and external reality. Human beings are not objective observers of the universe; we are merely the parts of the universe that can observe itself. Therefore when something is perceived by a sentient being the objective reality of the mind/brain doing the observing must be taken into account as well. For example, when we look at something and observe it to have a colour, we might mistakenly believe that the colour is an intrinsic property of that object. But of course, colour is merely how the human mind perceives the frequency of light bouncing off the object. There is a causally interdependent relationship between the object being perceived, and the nature of the mind doing the perceiving.

When we analyse any perceptible phenomena we see that it only exists in relation to the causes and conditions which surround it in space and time; that it is composed of interdependent parts which are not itself; and that that how it is perceived is dependent on the mind doing the perceiving. Nothing exists as we perceive it to exist (i.e. when seen as empty people, computers, buildings, etc. don’t truly exist), but at the same time something obviously does exist, since there is experience of it. This is what is meant by Emptiness in Buddhism.

The Buddha was able to perceive that everything is Dependently Originating and Empty through practices which we in the western world call meditation. All meditation really is is taking advantage of the plasticity of the brain to train up the mind’s capacity to observe itself. Having done this himself, the Buddha then saw that thoughts, emotions, the physical body and everything else that can be perceived are dependently originating phenomena, empty of any intrinsic existence. Having seen this, he gained insight into the chains of causality which give rise to human suffering and was able to overcome it. He then taught others how to overcome suffering in two main teachings: The Four Noble Truths, and The Eight-Fold Path to Enlightenment.

Four Noble Truths:

1. Truth of Suffering: No matter how perfect your life, you will get sick, you will age, and you will die. The same will happen to all those you love. Even when everything seems perfect from the outside, you still might not be perfectly happy. Suffering is unavoidable, since birth itself conditions death.

2. Truth of the Causes of Suffering: The Buddha taught that the proximate cause of suffering is craving/aversion. Craving or desiring things which we do not have, or which are by their nature impermanent gives rise to suffering (if not now then in the future). Aversion is just the inverse of craving (i.e. not wanting something you can’t get away from). The ultimate cause of suffering (which itself gives rise to craving) is experiential ignorance of the true nature of subjective experience in terms of dependent origination, emptiness, and the fact that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self.

3. Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: The complete and irreversible extinction of the capacity to suffer (or in other words, perfect happiness) is possible. This is achieved by removing the causes of suffering.

4. Truth of the Path to Cessation: The causes and conditions which give rise to the cessation of suffering (a state of mind commonly referred to as enlightenment or nirvana) are taught in the Eightfold Path.

Eightfold Path:

1. Right View: An intellectual and experiential understanding of the nature of reality in terms of dependent origination, emptiness, etc. This is gained both through study and meditation. Right View gives rise to Right Intention.

2. Right Intention: The intention to renounce all the things which cause harm to yourself and to others and which impede your progress in meditation; the intention to be free from ill-will towards others; the intention to be harmless towards others. Right Intention gives rise to the following three factors of the path.

Right View / Intention form the Wisdom component of the path.

3. Right Speech: To not engage in speech which is abusive, divisive, false, or idle. Or to put it another way, to speak only things which are true, beneficial, and timely.

4. Right Action: To not engage in actions which are harmful to other sentient beings, i.e. do not steal, do not engage in violence, do not engage in sexual misconduct.

5. Right Livelihood: To not make a living doing things which cause harm to other sentient beings, i.e. not selling poisons, not selling slaves, etc.

Right Speech / Action / Livelihood form the Ethical Conduct component of the path. The Wisdom and Ethical Conduct components form the basis of the following three factors of the path.

6. Right Effort: To make the effort to cultivate and sustain thoughts, emotional states, etc which increase your concern for the wellbeing of others, i.e. love and compassion. Conversely, to make the effort not to cultivate or sustain thoughts / emotions which are selfish and not concerned with the wellbeing of others, i.e anger, hatred or greed. Right Effort can also be thought of as continuously making the effort to cultivate all the other factors of the path.

7. Right Mindfulness: Mindfulness is paying attention to whatever is being experienced in the present moment without judging it or reacting to it. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Mindfulness allows us to not be deceived by what we are experiencing, e.g. by observing thought as just another object of consciousness as opposed to paying attention to the content of thought, which is really just a story the brain tells itself.

8. Right Concentration: Concentration in the Buddhist sense is the narrowing of attention to a single point (the sensation of the breath for example) and keeping it there for an extended period of time. The more you practice it, the better you get at it. Concentration serves the purpose of stilling the mind, so that we can be mindful of the subtle experiences which we usually are not aware of.

Right Effort / Mindfulness / Concentration form the Mind Training or Meditation component of the path. This component provides experiential understanding of the teaching, thus leading back to the Wisdom component.

All eight steps of the path support each other and are to be developed simultaneously. Once all eight are perfected, two more factors are acquired. These are:

Supreme Right View: Complete experiential understanding of the nature of reality as it pertains to the experience of a human being. This means direct perception of dependent origination. The Buddha himself said “whoever perceives the interdependent nature of reality sees the Dharma; and whoever sees the Dharma, sees the Buddha”.

Supreme Right Liberation: Complete liberation from suffering and from philosophical viewpoints or opinions, since the nature of reality can be perceived directly. In Buddhism, all views are wrong views.

Spiritual

2012-06-28T22:15:49+00:00

So Sam is going to rehabilitate “spiritual”. I hope succeeds, but I’d like to see how he’s going to define spiritual. I know of another, very astute thinker, Bruno Marchal, who similarly wants to rehabilitate “theology” as the study of what is most fundamental. He notes that it shares the root of “theory”. But I’m afraid “theology” is too far gone…and “spiritual” may be too.

Deepak Chopra - nothing but the embodiment of EGO - and a highly dangerous individual

2012-05-03T20:56:31+00:00

I just watched that ABC debate off this very website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi2IC6e5DUY

First of all before i go on to talk about what this topic is really about - the debate format…..was unbelievable. An actual proper debate. A debate where opposide sides Got to talk, at length, on a Specific issue, where ‘the good side’ (harris/sherma) were allowed the chance to deal with specific points Chopra was making, or to pin him down on particular words he was using, and to gain a common definition, to then respond to. And, for once, the mediator didn’t keep chiming in going ‘oh we’re short on time here’ ‘oh i’m going to have to cut you off there’...

It was an actual proper debate. What is it with America, and these weird debate systems you see on virtually every other youtube video - ‘you get 5 minutes. Then I get 5 minutes’. Its one of the dumbest things ever - and nothing ever gets resolved or concluded.

Anyway - about this topic. What Deepak’s fundamental message boiled down to was this:
‘How can we just be flesh and bone? How can we just be a material object, with a material brain, eventually leading to death and nothingness? How can we ever reduce the human ‘experience’ (whatever that means) down to scientific data on a graph? We are so much more than that! WE are so special!’

EGO. Nothing but EGO, from start to finish. Only a massively ego centric, self centred, insular person can think that. That there is more to life than birth and death, that we are more than our mere material brains.
Deepak can try as hard as he likes to differentiate it from your orthodox religions, but the thought processes which give rise to what Deepak believes in, are EXACTLY the same ones that give rise to the beliefs in religious people. Deepak would never admit it, but he finds value in exactly the same ideals as religious people, Coated in a layer of ‘new age’ waffle.

Whats even more amazing is, he contradicts himself constantly. 1 minute he’s applauding whenever Harris/Sherma acknowledge ‘the unknown’, but He himself is then hypothesising that there is a mind and a soul, a concious being which lives outside of the material body!

Its all about ego, and I guess, horror of the inevitable. I for one couldn’t care less if I was reduced down to sets of data on a piece of paper, if I was reduced down to a series of complex genes and molecules, all interacting with each other. That IS all we are, and the more that neuroscience develops, The more that That view - that all our human experiences are happening in the material brain - is holding true.

you cannot define ‘a higher purpose’ the way Deepak is trying to. Our experiences are all subjective (though happening in an objective material brain), and therefore life is simply what you make of it - we are ultimately constructs and conditioned by the environments we grew up and live in, and therefore there could NEVER be a specified, defined, written in literature higher purpose and meaning that Deepak subscribes to.

one persons higher meaning and ‘spirituality’ could be entirely different from another persons spiritual enlightening.

In a way Deepak is more dangerous than ANY priest or Imam, because he spouts the same values as religion (the same nonsense) but shrouded in a sea of mumbo-jumbo, which people will take more seriously. His play on words is frightening, and he has this uncanny ability to frame words into a sentence that is so woolly, that it almost numbs a sceptical mind - you’d struggle to even argue against it, because his semantics of words were so different to Harris/Shermas/a rational person.

very worrying indeed. I was even more alarmed when he started talking about ‘diabolical science’. This is EXACTLY the kind of sentiment that religious people will cling on to, to defend their faith. Science in of itself is a methodology, the use of it for destructive purposes has got absolutely nothing to do with science itself, and more to do with politics and selfish human interest, and lack of education.

i hope Sam writes a book one day that completely dismantles this new form of religion, which is in some ways a more potent weapon against humanity than any of your established religions.

Critical thinking on new age beliefs required please

2012-01-16T11:06:36+00:00

Hello,
I am researching a book i would like to write about spirituality and idealism in general. I would very much appreaciate it if sam harris message board users could offer me their thoughts and constructive criticisms on the new age beliefs that thoughts create reality, morality is a relative phenomenon and collective consciousness can create a kinder more humane world. Rational criticism only please,no blanket “it’s stupid,they’re stupid” or simple insults will be helpful to me.

Thank you for you time and energy,
Chris.

homeopathic Meds (again)

2010-11-17T21:28:20+00:00

I got involved in an argument on Huf Post about Homeopathic remedies with some true believers. The article clames that a cure for Fibromyalgia is within reach using this stuff. I made this comment:

I have a *great* idea. Mr. Ullman says:
“Over 200 years of homeopathic practice have found that homeopathic medicines that are of a higher potency—that is, those that have undergone a greater number of dilutions, with vigorous shaking of the solution in between dilutions—have a longer term effect”

So - get some extract of poison ivy, cross the Canadian boarder at upstate N.Y. Find your way to Niagara falls and drop it in. Then rush back downstream and scoop out some of that now super dilution that has been shaken so hard by the fall.
Fibromyalgia can now be cured AND since the water will find its way to the ocean and then, by evaporation back to Canada and over the falls again in a few years it will become EVEN STRONGER.
The possibilities are staggering.

The comment was rejected by the moderator for the article but for the life of me I can’t see anything out of order in it.

Am I missing something?

Dodgers Owner Hires Psychic

2010-06-14T22:40:22+00:00

To boost his team’s chances of winning, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt payed a psychic $100,000 to send positive energy to his team…

http://blogs.laweekly.com/ladaily/sports/vladimir-shpunt-dodgers-psychi/

Ron

Alternative Medicine Gaining Polularity?

2009-06-07T21:51:33+00:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31083316/

Ron

Aid expulsion huge blow to Darfur women, kids

2009-04-08T23:17:46+00:00

Article…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30102586/

Ron

2012

2009-03-13T17:50:14+00:00

How? I have so many friends buying into this crap. It was really picking up steam when it was a viral internet sensation, but now that the mainstream media is whoring it out I have noticed people back tracking downplaying their expectations. It reminds me of that Documentary “Doomsday Cult” or the Y2K scare.

It is such a perfect example of how people think wrong and look for evidence in the wrong places and ignore anything contrary to what they want.

I guess what bothers me is non religious people wanting the world to end.

Anyone else know any people buying into this load?

“Ancient Wisdom”

2009-01-20T19:00:41+00:00

The flyers go up everywhere. Come and learn about the Ancient Wisdom of…....let’s say the Celts. “It’s nearly 2,000 years old!” Oooooh!
The anaemic female who squawks on about “intuitive knowledge” hasn’t got a clue about the Celts apart from selective reading of the Mabinogion. The Celt worshiped virility. The strongest warrior had the dubious duty of mounting (yes! that way!) the finest mare every Spring to ensure fertility. Females were distinctly second class, except for the purpose of breeding. Boudicca was an anomaly.
Does she know about an even earlier ancient wisdom? Nearly 3,000 years old? Women were unstable because they had too much blood in them. That’s why nature released some every month. The Four Humours had to be in balance, otherwise women became HYSTERical. No, thats not allowed. That’s bad ancient wisdom.
Pick and choose, pick and choose. It’s true when it suits me. I like it so it must be true. My invisible friend is better than your invisible friend.
Oh, what a relief to return to an objective, empirical reality.
(Don’t forget to have a look at my poetry site: great ideas rendered lyrical)