Brain-Training-with-Buddha_3P.indd

by Eric Harrison

  In the West, a broad, liberal interpretation of the jhanas

  now prevails. It seems obvious that laymen and –women

  achieve these meditation states regularly, despite what the

  monks used to claim. Most regular meditators will have sec-

  onds or minutes here and there when they are experiencing

  at least the first, second, or third jhanas. These may not be

  particularly strong or durable, but they are genuine.

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  The Buddha’s training algorithm applies just as much to the seven factors as to any other object of consciousness. Identify

  the state of mind. Notice how it comes and goes. Understand

  its causes and its enemies. Embed that understanding in mem-

  ory. This body of hard-won direct knowledge will inevitably

  strengthen those good states when they appear in the future.

  Work hard and repeat the procedure until awakening.

  THE FACTORS, ONE BY ONE

  The seven factors of enlightenment divide into three active

  mental qualities—investigation, energy, and bliss—and three

  passive mental qualities—body-mind stillness, absorption, and

  equanimity—governed by sati, which partakes of both. Sati, or mindfulness, has a metacognitive, monitoring function over

  the other six factors. It is said to refine each state of mind and

  balance them against each other, so you don’t get too much of

  any one good thing.

  Investigation ( dhamma-vicaya) is the first of the active

  factors. A perfect example of this is the gentle but persistent

  investigation of fine sensory detail that accompanies body

  scan meditations. In the Sutta, the Buddha is also asking us to

  examine our mental processes in similar detail. Without the

  quality of investigation, we may become tranquil through

  meditation, but no great insights will occur. Dhamma-vicaya

  loosely correlates with the much weaker term from Modern

  Mindfulness, “curiosity.”

  The second active factor is energy ( viriya), which means

  drive, will, and determination. Viriya is related to the English

  word “virile.” It suggests the physical and mental strength of

  a warrior. The quality of viriya is similar to atapi (persistent S TAT E S O F M I N D | 2 0 9

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  effort), which we talked about in chapter 14 as being an integral quality of sati. U Pandita says that viraya is “an enduring patience in the face of suffering or difficulty. Effort is the

  ability to see to the end no matter what, even if one has to grit

  one’s teeth.”2

  The third active factor is bliss ( piti), the sense of vitality

  and delight in the body that was described in chapter 7. Bud-

  dhaghosa is quite graphic in describing the five kinds of piti:

  “Minor happiness, momentary happiness, showering happi-

  ness, uplifting happiness, rapturous happiness. These arise

  in the monk, pervading his whole body.”3 Without this inner

  exuberance and sense of reward, a meditator can easily slide

  into depression, and many do so.

  Piti is frequently linked with sukha as a one-two sequence.

  After piti comes sukha, which is usually translated most inadequately as “contentment.” This is a state of being utterly

  at peace with the present moment, just as it is. It implies such

  a deep acceptance of the inevitable pains and discomforts

  of life that they cease to be a problem. Sukha didn’t make it

  into the list of the seven factors, but it is integral to the four

  absorption states ( jhana) that cover exactly the same terri-

  tory. We can regard it as an honorary factor of enlightenment.

  Investigation ( dhamma-vicaya), energy ( viriya), and bliss ( piti) are more dynamic than we might expect as ideal meditative qualities of mind—hence the characterization of them

  as “active” factors within the seven factors of enlightenment.

  There was certainly nothing indolent about the Buddha’s

  approach. The style of the Sutta is very much about body-

  mind transformation and purposeful effort toward an ulti-

  mate goal.

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  The goal and the final stages toward it are tranquil, however. They are much more what we think of as meditation.

  The final three mental qualities are body-mind stillness ( pas-

  saddhi), absorption ( samadhi), and equanimity ( upekkha).

  Remember that the perfection of each of these states is mostly

  likely to occur first in deep sitting meditation. To a spectator,

  it might seem as if nothing is happening at all.

  The first of the passive factors, body-mind stillness ( pas-

  saddhi), is a state in which the body becomes perfectly still

  and the mind is silent for long periods (as described in chapter

  1). This state is described as being the antidote to the fourth of

  the five hindrances—namely, anxiety. The onomatopoeic Pali

  term for anxiety, uddhacca-kukkucca, is commonly trans-

  lated as “agitation and worry.” In passaddhi, this vanishes

  completely.

  The second passive factor builds on the stillness of

  passaddhi. This is absorption ( samadhi), also called one-

  pointedness ( ekagatta). Samadhi is a kind of enthralling

  tunnel vision or positive obsession that loses sight of every-

  thing else, even the body itself. There are no distractions

  to contend with in this state, and samadhi is often used as

  a synonym for profound tranquility. Samadhi sets up a self-

  sustaining feedback loop of bliss that paradoxically occurs

  within a body that is utterly still.

  The last passive factor and the concluding point of the

  seven factors is equanimity ( upekkha), or serenity. In this

  state, the awareness of having a body has almost vanished.

  All activity, thought, and emotion have shrunk to the mini-

  mum possible while remaining alive. No body sensation + no

  thought + no emotion = no sense of personal self. As the Zen

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  texts say, “Body and mind drop away.” The residual consciousness is sometimes described as boundless space or emptiness.

  The Beat poets called it “big mind” or “big sky mind.”

  EQUANIMITY: THE ULTIMATE GOAL

  Upekkha is also the dominant state of mind in the fourth and

  final jhana. It is said to be the launch pad for the intuitive

  thought that breaks through to nirvana. In fact, upekkha is much

  more likely to be the final stage altogether for any practitioner.

  Nirvana is almost impossible to comprehend or describe.

  It is a spiritual term beyond the realm of reason that seems

  to mean everything and nothing simultaneously. In fact, nir-

  vana literally means “extinction.” It refers to the extinguish-

  ing of the life force that drives the cycle of births and deaths.

  Modern writers play philosophic mind games with this con-

  cept but don’t pursue it seriously. As a basic precondition, the<
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  path toward nirvana demands celibacy and extreme social

  isolation, and few Westerners are willing to go that far. (For

  one thing, it would require disconnecting from the internet.)

  Nirvana has receded into myth, and only historical figures

  are said to have attained it. Contemporary Buddhism has

  many spiritual leaders, but only devotees would regard any

  of them as enlightened. I frequently ask Buddhists to name

  a current enlightened master, and their eyes glaze over. No

  one fits the bill.

  Upekkha, however, is attainable, and the stages on the

  path from normal human misery toward some degree of

  philosophic detachment are easy to imagine. Both the Bud-

  dha and modern psychologists aim to alleviate suffering, and

  improvement doesn’t need to be perfect to be worthwhile. The

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  Buddha and modern psychologists even recommend similar

  strategies. Learn to calm down, control impulses, wind back

  emotion, detach from useless thought and activity, and auto-

  mate all of these strategies so that they become habitual.

  The word upekkha correlates well with our word “equa-

  nimity” and has similar ethical connotations. Wikipedia says

  that equanimity is “a state of psychological stability and com-

  posure which is undisturbed by experience of or exposure to

  emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause others to

  lose the balance of their mind.”

  A more extreme form of equanimity is reflected in the

  Buddhist concept of emptiness ( sunyata). As the Buddhist

  scholar B. Alan Wallace bluntly describes it, “Let the space of

  your mind be emotionally neutral, like physical space, which

  could not care less whether bullets or hummingbirds streak

  through it.”4 This metaphor suggests an almost dehumanized

  state of mind, and this is no mistake. Wallace, a considerable

  scholar, really does know what “emptiness” means in the

  Tibetan and Zen scriptures. “Could not care less” is a reason-

  ably good description of the emotional neutrality of upekkha

  as it appears in the texts.

  The pursuit of equanimity has a long history in West-

  ern philosophy. Aristotle saw a good life ( eudaimonia) as

  demanding an appropriate balance between the excess and

  deficit of emotional expression. Although it took skill and

  self-awareness to get that balance right, he felt there really

  was an appropriate degree of anger, love, pride, or pleasure to

  be found in any particular situation.

  In contrast, the Roman Stoics tried to eradicate all emo-

  tional responses—at least, toward that which was beyond

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  their control. The Stoic ideal state of dispassion ( apatheia) included a cheerful acceptance of fate that still allowed them

  to enjoy the pleasures of the day. The ideal of their philo-

  sophical counterparts, the Epicureans, was similar. The Epi-

  curean ideal, ataraxia, referred to a mental state free from

  worry and emotional disturbance, compatible with ordinary

  human pleasure. These ideals of philosophic detachment—

  but without the pleasure—can also be found in early Chris-

  tian thought.

  The Buddha’s approach was at the extreme end of this spec-

  trum. He aimed to eradicate emotion completely. The Buddha

  said that even the least desires lead to attachment and suffer-

  ing. He taught that there is no “good” or “safe” level of desire,

  any more than there are tolerable levels of airborne asbestos.

  In general, he said, we should regard desire as we would a poi-

  sonous tree. We should cut it down. Dig out the roots. Sift the

  soil for root hairs. Burn the lot. Sift the ashes. Burn again. And

  throw what remains into a river.5 He was adamant that eradi-

  cating desire was the only way to finally attain freedom from

  samsara—the cycle of suffering, birth, and death.

  The meditative practice to achieve this starts at the atomic

  level of emotion on valences, as discussed in chapter 16. We

  have been discussing upekkha as a state that is “neither pleas-

  ant nor unpleasant.” The monk identifies the affective tones,

  or valences, of literally everything that arises in his mind and

  strives to reduce them all to neutral. This is what the Buddha

  meant by digging out the root hairs of the poisonous tree and

  burning them.

  This occurs through the process that psychologists call

  “extinction.” In meditation language, it is “just watching

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  without reacting,” or nonjudgmental acceptance. If we repeatedly inhibit our tendency to respond to a stimulus, its positive

  or negative valence will get weaker over time until it finally

  induces no response in us at all.

  All this is to say, the nonreactive, neutral, “impartial” state

  of upekkha neither suppresses nor engages with what arises.

  It is free from desires and aversions—a virtue proclaimed in

  the opening section of the Sutta. Upekkha is easiest to cultivate in meditation or in retreat, but this equanimous state of

  mind is expected to trickle back into daily life. A good practi-

  tioner will become calmer, more detached, less troubled, less

  responsive, and less engaged. He will also be more cool, ratio-

  nal, adult, and philosophic about life and fortune in general.

  This is upekkha. It is not quite nirvana, but it about as close as anyone is likely to get nowadays.

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  19

  Optimizing Emotion

  The selective reduction of emotion is just as

  prejudicial for rationality as excessive emotion .

  —Antonio Damasio

  Uncontrolled emotion is truly a horror. It has been respon-

  sible for the slaughter of millions throughout history.

  Even in peacetime, fear, anger, and greed contaminate many

  lives and devastate others. Fear emerges as chronic anxiety;

  anger as impotent rage or resentment; greed as the compul-

  sive pursuit of excess. Many psychologists battle all their

  professional lives to help repair the effects of fear, anger, and

  greed—unregulated emotion—in their clients.

  Psychology and the mindfulness movement have enlisted

  the Buddha in this war against excessive emotion. To “sit,

  stop, and look” combats impulsive behavior. To “calm down”

  reduces inflammatory arousal. To “accept whatever is hap-

  pening” reduces pointless struggle. To achieve a state of

  thoughtless silence, however short, can give a breathing

  space for a more considered response.

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  Meditation promotes the ideal of inner stillness and nonreactivity, at least while meditating. With p
ractice, this effect

  can trickle back into the world of activity as a kind of inner

  reserve and resilience. This simple technique, done well, can

  have remarkable effects. Perhaps it really can help free us

  from the crippling, addictive, distorting, humiliating effects

  of malignant emotion and make us more “happy.”

  Psychologists have to help client after client “down-

  regulate” their emotions. The Buddha in his search for seren-

  ity tried to extinguish emotion altogether. Overall, it seems,

  psychologists, meditators, and writers on mindfulness

  tend to unthinkingly regard emotion, per se, as the enemy

  of mental health. In the mindfulness literature, it is almost

  impossible to find any positive reference to normal human

  emotion. There are some small exceptions to this. Compassion,

  loving-kindness, gratitude, and moderate sensory enjoyment

  are usually permissible, but these are rather tepid and smack

  of Sunday school, in contrast to the true primal passions.

  Since 1952 the bible of psychology has been the Diagnos-

  tic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Compiled by

  hundreds of writers, and revised and augmented every few

  years, the DSM is a true masterpiece of collective analysis and

  description. Every possible example of mental discontent,

  however slight, is described with the precision of great novel-

  ists. Its purpose is to give accurate and quantifiable descrip-

  tions of mental disorders as a basis for targeted treatment. As

  the Buddha recognized with his emphasis on naming, good

  terminology is an extremely useful tool all in itself.

  The descriptive achievements of the DSM are remarkable

  and unique, but the manual also lays itself wide open to attack.

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  A description of symptoms is not the same as a diagnosis. It wouldn’t serve to identify syphilis or typhoid, for example. Nor

  would the most exquisite description help in the absence of a

  cure. Most psychological therapies and pharmacological treat-

  ments are blunt instruments at best. It does seem that most

  benefits in psychotherapy come from the human element: the

  interaction of a sympathetic counselor and the client.

  Unfortunately, the DSM approach seems to have the

  effect of pathologizing almost every aspect of emotional