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Right View
skullchin
Veteran
I have read a couple intro books on Buddhism, and some stuff on the Internet re. the 8FP. I think I have a very beginners understanding of 7 of the 8.
But what the heck is "right view".
Please remember you are talking to a neophyte newbie. :-/
But what the heck is "right view".
Please remember you are talking to a neophyte newbie. :-/
0
Comments
In the Suttas there are two main definitions of Right View, in brief they are:
1) Belief in the law of kamma and that what we do has consequences in this life and in future lives.
2) Four Noble Truths (I assume you know what these are, right?)
The first kind of Right View typically results in the creation of good (aka "bright") kamma with "bright" results. The second one is the Right View which leads to the creation of "neither bright nor dark kamma" and leads to Nibbana.
Although we can have an intellectual understanding of the Four Noble Truths, Right View of the Four Noble Truths is only realized by the Stream Enterer (First stage of Enlightenment). The Stream Enterer has "opened the Dhamma-eye" and seen the Truth for themselves.
Or at least this is how I understand it, others might disagree with me.
With Metta,
Guy
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ditthi/index.html
Right View - a talk by Ajahn Sumedho
http://www.dhammatalks.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113:right-view&catid=34:dhammatalks&Itemid=61
_/\_
In the sutta's it's most often described as insight into the Four Noble Truths.
P
<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style> The Short Teaching Regarding the Heart of Perfect Wisdom
The sincere practitioner Avalokitesvara
while intently practicing the Perfection of Wisdom Meditation
perceived that all of the five phenomenal aggregates are empty of inherent existence
and was thereby saved from all suffering and distress.
He told Shariputra:
Form does not differ from emptiness,
emptiness does not differ from form.
That which is form is emptiness,
that which is emptiness is form.
The same is true of feelings,
perceptions, impulses, and consciousness.
Shariputra,
all perceived phenomena are marked with emptiness.
They do not appear or disappear,
they are neither tainted nor pure,
nor do they increase or decrease.
Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling,
no perception, no impulse, and no consciousness.
There is no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;
no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch,
no object of mind,
no mind to perceive,
and so forth
until it is clear that there is no realm of mental consciousness.
There is no ignorance nor extinction of ignorance,
and so forth until no old age and death
and also no extinction of these phenomena.
There is no suffering, no origination,
no stopping, no path, no cognition,
nor is there attainment, because there is nothing to attain.
If the sincere practitioner depends on the Perfection of Wisdom Meditation,
and the mind is not a hindrance,
without any hindrance no fears exist.
Far apart from every incorrect view one dwells in the final state of seeing clearly.
In the innumerable worlds and dimensions
all sincere practitioners depend on the Perfection of Wisdom Meditation
and thereby attain the final state of seeing clearly.
Therefore know that the Mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom
is the great transcendent mantra,
the great clarifying mantra,
the ultimate mantra,
the supreme mantra
which is able to relieve all suffering,
is perfectly clear,
and is beyond any mistaken perception.
So proclaim the Mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom.
Proclaim the mantra which says:
gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.
“Gone Beyond, gone beyond, gone completely beyond, gone to the other shore.
Clarity.
So it is.”
All these responses have been helpful. I'm still working through some of it. Thanks all
see, hear, smell, taste, feel, think without names and labels
Could you explain that?
P
but
according to Buddha's Teaching what happen is:
internal sense base, eye etc. meet external sense base, form etc. and relevant consciousness, eye consciousness etc. meet together and the results is seeing etc.
seeing is not the eye
seeing is not the form
seeing is not the eye consciousness
seeing is not those three
but
seeing is the result of those three
if we can stop at seeing we can not say we see a thing (name and label)
if there is no name and label there is no reason to feel pleasure or pain
there is no need to hold on to a name and label
if there is nothing to hold there is no consciousness occur in the next moment
if there is no consciousness occur in the next moment that means no five clinging aggregates in the next moment
no five clinging aggregate in the next moment is no suffering in the next moment
right view is the view of dukka, cause for dukka, cessation of dukka and the way towards cessation of dukka
in one moment with right view one experience all four noble truths
words, words and words do not help to experience anything
we have to try and see within
Contact arises in dependence on these 3. According to DO feeling arises in dependence on contact, craving arises in dependence on feeling, clinging arises in dependence on craving. I'm not sure how your analysis fits in with this?
P
Right Thought denotes thoughts of selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of loving-kindness and thoughts of non-violence - which are extended to all beings. It is important to note here that thoughts of selfless detachment, loving-kindness and non-violence are grouped on the side of WISDOM. This clearly shows that true wisdom is endowed with these noble qualities. All thoughts of selfish desire, ill-will, hatred and violence are the result of the lack of wisdom, in all spheres of life, whether individual, social or political.
Right understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the Four Noble Truths that explain things as they really are. Right Understanding is therefore ultimately reduced to the understanding of the Four Noble Truths. This real deep understanding is called 'penetration', seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label. This penetration is possible only when the mind is free from all impurities and is fully developed through meditation. This is the highest wisdom which sees Absolute Truth, Ultimate Reality, Nibbana.
Comments welcome.... still learning.
for unenlightened ones there is clinging at seeing so there is DO
twelve links of DO arise and cease in one instance
five aggregates/five clinging aggregates arise and cease in one instance
I think that for an enlightened one it's feeling which ceases ( so there's not basis for craving, clinging and the rest ).
Since the 5 aggregates are the totality of human experience I'm not sure how they can arise and cease in one instance - could you explain this a bit further?
Thanks.
P
Could you say what you mean by "void" and "reality"?
Thanks.
P
words confuse us more and more
instead
try and see within
just close your eyes and pay attention to sounds
see whether any sounds stay for more than a moment
any sound you hear become history without staying for a second
whatever you grasp as sound is an already past experience
are you saying that when I hear the tea kettle boiling I am grasping but when I hear all sounds without identification or any other reaction that is not grasping?
remember we are talking about two different things: conventional truth and absolute truth
'when i hear the tea kettle boiling'
there is a hearing
but how can you say it is 'the tea kettle boiling' but 'nothing else' or similar sound coming from something else?
since you grasp the 'idea' that 'kettle is boiling' you react to it
'the idea of kettle is boiling' is too in your mind (perception)
you grasp that mind object and react to it
hearing arises and ceases but you grasp the perception and react to it
this is a very subtle point but it is possible to understand
This is not true. You posit a individual reality apart from samsara called nirvana. Nagarjuna says there has to be a samsara for nirvana and are not seperate but interdependent.
since this is very important point in understanding 'sakkaya-ditti' (micca-ditti) i would like to ask the following question
could you see the 'kettle' is in our mind (a mind object)?
it is very subtle but not impossible if you try a bit further
This is the Chittmatrin or Mind_only school of thought, I don't agree since it posits nihlism and that all things exist only in relation to the mind, and that without the mind they dont exist.
if you read and grasp the idea then it belongs to a school of thought
but
if you try it and see for yourself it is not another school of thought
but
your own realization
I am confused on what your trying to say
'let go' is the best answer
if we go for a less than the best answer;
why wouldn't we try and see for ourselves how the mind works?
for get such an experience we can try the following experiment,
close our eyes
listen to the sounds
we put 'labels and names' to sounds as soon as they contact our ears
we say, 'i hear the kettle boiling' etc.
but
according to Buddha's Teaching, "sute suta mattam bahissati",
what happened was ear+sound+ear consciousness (cause) brings a (result) hearing into the mind
however we grasp the sound with labels because our consciousness (the mind tainted with greed, hate, delusion with all the knowledge relating to that sound we gained from outside using our five faculties, namely ear, eye, nose, tongue, body) make us believe so
if we are mindful and can stop at hearing, then there is nothing to grasp for future becoming
the hearing arises and vanishes in a moment
the hearing become the past and there is nothing to grasp
we have to do this experiment with our five faculties whenever we remember to do so at the beginning and a later stage we will be able to do it more and more frequently
what we are doing is forcefully ask the mind to see the truth
however there will be a day (or a moment) that the mind itself see how it is tainted with worldly knowledge what sort of a delusion (wrong view) it was rapped up so far
afterwords,
Dhamma is every where for the mind when the mind is mindful
from this point only the cultivation (meditation = bavana) actually starts
'sathara sathipattana sutta' and the 'sabbasava sutta' will help to continue the next stages of practice