View (Buddhism)
Encyclopedia
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism
. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action. Having the proper mental attitude toward views is therefore considered an integral part of the Buddhist path.
. They are symptoms of conditioning, rather than neutral alternatives individuals can dispassionately choose. The Buddha, according to the discourses, having attained the state of unconditioned mind, is said to have "passed beyond the bondage, tie, greed, obsession, acceptance, attachment, and lust of view."
The Buddha of the early discourses often refers to the negative effect of attachment to speculative or fixed views, dogmatic opinions, or even correct views if not personally known to be true. In describing the highly diverse intellectual landscape of his day, he is said to have referred to "the wrangling of views, the jungle of views." He assumed an unsympathetic attitude toward speculative and religious thought in general. In a set of poems in the Sutta Nipata
, the Buddha states that he himself has no viewpoint. According to Steven Collins, these poems distill the style of teaching that was concerned less with the content of views and theories than with the psychological state of those who hold them.
Those who wish to experience nirvana
must free themselves from everything binding them to the world, including philosophical and religious doctrines. Right view as the first part of the Noble Eightfold Path leads ultimately not to the holding of correct views, but to a detached form of cognition.
Mahayoga
tantra, the Guhyagarbha Tantra
and its detailed Dzogchen
commentary by Longchenpa
, conveys the following 'four false views' they are innappropriate subtle 'activities' (Wylie: phyin) of the mindstream
formed from 'habitual patterns' (Sanskrit: vāsanā) that collapse the 'expanse of possibility' or 'openness' (Sanskrit: sunyata) into structures of fixed views or 'formations' (Sanskrit: saṅkhāra
) in regards to 'purity of conduct' (Wylie: Śīla), 'suffering' (Sanskrit: dukkha
), 'selflessness' (Sanskrit: anatman) and 'impermanence' (Sanskrit: anitya):
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action. Having the proper mental attitude toward views is therefore considered an integral part of the Buddhist path.
Positions
Views are produced by and in turn produce mental conditioningSankhara
' or ' is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means "that which has been put together" and "that which puts together". In the first sense, refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions"...
. They are symptoms of conditioning, rather than neutral alternatives individuals can dispassionately choose. The Buddha, according to the discourses, having attained the state of unconditioned mind, is said to have "passed beyond the bondage, tie, greed, obsession, acceptance, attachment, and lust of view."
The Buddha of the early discourses often refers to the negative effect of attachment to speculative or fixed views, dogmatic opinions, or even correct views if not personally known to be true. In describing the highly diverse intellectual landscape of his day, he is said to have referred to "the wrangling of views, the jungle of views." He assumed an unsympathetic attitude toward speculative and religious thought in general. In a set of poems in the Sutta Nipata
Sutta Nipata
The Sutta Nipata is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. All its suttas consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections:...
, the Buddha states that he himself has no viewpoint. According to Steven Collins, these poems distill the style of teaching that was concerned less with the content of views and theories than with the psychological state of those who hold them.
Those who wish to experience nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
must free themselves from everything binding them to the world, including philosophical and religious doctrines. Right view as the first part of the Noble Eightfold Path leads ultimately not to the holding of correct views, but to a detached form of cognition.
Four wrong views
Gyurme (1987: p.1431) in his treatise on the principal NyingmaNyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
Mahayoga
Mahayoga
Mahayoga is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism....
tantra, the Guhyagarbha Tantra
Guhyagarbha tantra
The Guhyagarbha Tantra is the main tantra of the Mahayoga class and the primary Tantric text studied in the Nyingma tradition as a key to understanding empowerment, samaya, mantras, mandalas and other Vajrayana topics....
and its detailed Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
commentary by Longchenpa
Longchenpa
Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer "Longchenpa" was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet...
, conveys the following 'four false views' they are innappropriate subtle 'activities' (Wylie: phyin) of the mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
formed from 'habitual patterns' (Sanskrit: vāsanā) that collapse the 'expanse of possibility' or 'openness' (Sanskrit: sunyata) into structures of fixed views or 'formations' (Sanskrit: saṅkhāra
Sankhara
' or ' is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means "that which has been put together" and "that which puts together". In the first sense, refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions"...
) in regards to 'purity of conduct' (Wylie: Śīla), 'suffering' (Sanskrit: dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
), 'selflessness' (Sanskrit: anatman) and 'impermanence' (Sanskrit: anitya):
The '"four erroneous views" (phyin ci log bzhi) are to apprehend impurity as purity, to apprehend selflessness as self, to apprehend suffering as happiness, and to apprehend impermanence as permanence.
See Also
- Sammaditthi SuttaSammaditthi SuttaThe is a Pali Canon discourse that provides an elaboration on the Buddhist notion of "right view" by the Buddha's chief disciple, Ven. Sariputta...
- Kalama SuttaKalama SuttaThe Kālāma Sutta , is a discourse of the Buddha contained in the Aṅguttara Nikaya of the Tipiṭaka...
- UdanaUdanaThe Udana is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included there in the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. The title might be translated "inspired utterances"...
Story of the blind men and elephant.