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8x Path - View

INTRODUCTION | VIEW + INTENTION | SPEECH + ACTION + LIVELIHOOD | EFFORT + MINDFULNESS + CONCENTRATION



tricky view

 view trick  		The Pali word for view is ditthi. It literally means 'sight' - from the root 'to see.' In the context of the path it has several meanings: view, belief, understanding, speculative opinion, insight. Each of the eight factors is prefaced with the Pali word 'samma' = perfect, correct, balanced, right. So, right view means 'to see correctly.'
A simile in the Tipitaka (Udana VI.4) exemplifies wrong view. A king invites several blind men to describe an elephant.
"Those shown the tusk replied, 'The elephant, is like an iron rod.'
Those shown the trunk replied, 'The elephant is like plow pole.'
Those shown the body replied, 'The elephant is like a granary.'
Those shown the foot replied, 'The elephant is like a post.'   and so forth..."
We form our views (opinions, beliefs etc.) of the world according to the information we receive. Our senses are the instruments that do the receiving (including the mind as the sixth sense). The trouble is that our senses are so easily fooled [see trick §]. There are many examples of optical illusions but all of our senses are regularly fooled.

We receive data over time and store various bits, but not all of it, in memory. We are selective and, unfortunately, it is the painful memories that imprint deepest. The ongoing process is then one of comparison. New data is received and is compared with similar, historical data. We then try to give meaning or value to the new data. For example, I learn that red and flickering means 'burn' = enemy. I later learn that it means hot coffee = friend. A range of experiences with different forms of fire gives me a database of values or 'views' of fire. When a new occurence is met I compare what I feel, smell, see etc. with my memory. This is the process of perception [see khandhas  § ].


friend 		The problem is that our filter of perception, our viewing lens, is distorted. Our new data is received and analysed through an unreliable translator. If my memories of fire have been primarily 'enemy' then even seeeing a small fire will bring up fear and confusion. If my memory database has been filled (as a child) with negative information about a certain racial type then meeting a person of that race will produce a certain view, an opinion about that person. We live our lives based on a wide range of biased perceptions, prejudiced views and irrational preferences. This is the basis of bigotry, chauvinism, discrimination, racism, sexism etc. [see asava  § ]

On the spiritual path what we are seeking is truth. What is the truth of fire? What is the truth of a human of 'x' racial type? What is the truth - without affect, not distorted by my perceptions - of 'me'? The suggestion is not that there is some kind of ultimate thing called fire or that a particular person (or racial type) is ultimately a certain way. The suggestion is that we can view the world with clarity - with right view - with awareness of our perceptions without being a victim of them. The subjective experience now has objectivity.

big numbers
worth more? 		At the risk of labouring the point here are few more examples of perception.
• I see a hundred dollar bill as... a new book, a meal, power..? Truth is; money is just printed paper.
• The latest fashion is...? sexy, cool, suave..? The truth of cloth is..?
• Wine is more sophisticated than beer?
• Red cars go faster?
• The number '13' is unlucky?
• God is....? How many perceptions might fit here? The power of perception is scary and people have lost their life holding (unpopular) perceptions on this one. My experience is as it is - there is a truth. But how I perceive my perceptions, define my experience, my reality, is too often wide of the truth.

There is 'mundane' right view - an appreciation of the law of kamma. To see clearly that:
"All beings are the owners of their actions (kamma), the heirs of their actions; they spring from their actions, are bound to their actions, and are supported by their actions. Whatever kamma they do, good or bad, of that they will be the heirs."
          Anguttara 3.33
Establishing right view regarding kamma - engaging in wholesome action - paves the way but by itself it does not lead to liberation. There is 'superior' right view. Right view has, as its transcendent reference point, seeing or understanding of the four Noble Truths.
"And what is right view? Knowledge with regard to dukkha, knowledge with regard to the origination of dukkha, knowledge with regard to the cessation of dukkha, knowledge with regard to the way of practice leading to the cessation of dukkha: This is called right view."
          Digha Nikaya 22


gradual 		Right view develops in stages.
We commonly begin our quest for truth through a direct insight into the first Truth - suffering. Our habitual views are challenged and appear lacking. Our search begins. We come to appreciate that some of our views are wrong and we modify our actions (kamma) accordingly. More wholesome actions bring stability of mind which inclines toward reflection, meditation which in turn deepens our understanding, our view. The process is a gradual one.
"Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch, in the same way this Doctrine and Discipline (Dhamma-Vinaya) has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual progression, with penetration to wisdom only after a long stretch."
            Udana V.5

Path factors are prefaced with 'samma' = right, correct, perfect, Noble. The opposite is 'miccha,' usually translated as: wrong. Wrong views are commonly referenced in the teachings. Miccha ditthi is one of the: proclivities (anusaya), cankers (ásava), clingings (upádána) and one of the three modes of perversions (vipallása).

The view of 'self' is the most erroneous and difficult to see clearly. [see anatta  § ]

INTRODUCTION | VIEW + INTENTION | SPEECH + ACTION + LIVELIHOOD | EFFORT + MINDFULNESS + CONCENTRATION