Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Exploring the Dhamma, as understood from the perspective of the ancient Pali commentaries.
paul
Posts: 1512
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 11:27 pm
Location: Cambodia

Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by paul »

Pleasurable feelings ‘of the flesh’ and ‘not of the flesh’:

“…a significant difference can still be discerned between the perspectives on impermanence advocated by teachers of modern mindfulness meditation and by classical Buddhism. Proponents of modern mindfulness meditation often see impermanence as imbued with positive significance. They admit that clinging to what is impermanent brings suffering, but take this connection to mean , not that one should renounce the impermanent in favour of the imperishable nibbana, but that one should learn to live in the world with an open mind and loving heart, capable of experiencing everything with awe and wonder. The practice of mindfulness thus leads through the door of impermanence and selflessness to a new affirmation of the world, so that one can joyfully savour each fleeting event, each relationship, each undertaking in its wistful evanescence, unperturbed when it passes.
This attitude, though it has some resonances with Zen Buddhism particularly as expressed by Thich Nhat Hanh, is quite at odds with the Buddhism of the Pali Canon, the tradition from which mindfulness originates. In classical Buddhism, the fact of impermanence is viewed as a sign of deficiency, a warning signal that the things we turn to for happiness are unworthy of our ultimate concern. As the Buddha says: “Conditioned things, monks, are impermanent, unstable, unreliable. It is enough to be disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to be dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them.” (SN 15:20, ii 193) —-“Handbook of Mindfulness: Culture, Context and Social Engagement,” Part 1. Between Tradition and Modernity, ‘The Transformations of Mindfulness’, Ven. Bikkhu Bodhi
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 17187
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:15 am
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by DNS »

paul wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:01 pm Pleasurable feelings ‘of the flesh’ and ‘not of the flesh’:
not that one should renounce the impermanent in favour of the imperishable nibbana, but that one should learn to live in the world with an open mind and loving heart, capable of experiencing everything with awe and wonder. The practice of mindfulness thus leads through the door of impermanence and selflessness to a new affirmation of the world, so that one can joyfully savour each fleeting event, each relationship, each undertaking in its wistful evanescence, unperturbed when it passes.
And this is why the majority of Buddhists are Mahayana. :tongue:

8 characteristics of people suited for the Dhamma:

1. This Dhamma is for one who wants little, not for one who wants much (appicchassāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo mahicchassa).

2. This Dhamma is for the contented, not for the discontented (santuṭṭhassāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo asantuṭṭhassa).

3. This Dhamma is for the reclusive, not for one fond of society (pavivittassāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo saṅgaṇikārāmassa).

4. This Dhamma is for the energetic, not for the lazy (āraddhavīriyassāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo kusītassa).

5. This Dhamma is for one with well-established mindfulness, not for one of confused mindfulness (upaṭṭhitassatissāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo muṭṭhassatissa).

6. This Dhamma is for the composed, not for the uncomposed (samāhitassāyaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo asamāhitassa).

7. This Dhamma is for the wise, not for the unwise (paññavato ayaṃ dhammo, nāyaṃ dhammo duppaññassa).

8. This Dhamma is for one who is free from impediments, not for one who delights in impediments (nippapañcārāmassāyaṃ dhammo nippapañcaratino, nāyaṃ dhammo papañcārāmassa papañcaratino).

(Anguttara Nikaya iv. 227)
Saengnapha
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:17 am

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Saengnapha »

Some Buddhist sects equate Theravada and Mahayana with paths of purification and renunciation. Others follow a different philosophical path 'unifying' all experience into some kind of synthesis where 'suffering' is removed from experience and a so-called 'pure experience' remains. While this can seem to be true on a certain level, the Buddha's message of the Four Noble Truths is undermined.

Most Zen schools do not hold this view. Perhaps Bhikkhu Bodhi was singling out Thich Nhat Hanh's style.
User avatar
DooDoot
Posts: 12032
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:06 pm

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by DooDoot »

My personal impression is BB might be also criticizing the American Vipassana movement he has sort of somewhat contributed to creating. If mass market Dhamma propagation occurs, as BB does, it will probably bring these types of results because the path of "dispassionate toward all conditioned things" was probably not intended for lay people. Are upper-middle-class liberal folks in San Francisco or Massachusetts going to be "dispassionate toward all conditioned things"? Psychoanalytically, it sounds a bit like BB fighting his own shadow or a monster of his own creation.

There is always an official executioner. If you try to take his place, It is like trying to be a master carpenter and cutting wood. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter, you will only hurt your hand.

https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/paticcasamuppada
https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/anapanasati
User avatar
Goofaholix
Posts: 4017
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:49 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Goofaholix »

While I'm sure some people understand the teachings of the modern mindfulness this way I don't think this is what is intended.

We are taught to embrace change and embrace Dukkha so that hopefully we stop resisting them. When we stop resisting we see change and Dukkha more clearly for what they are, hopefully we stop fueling Dukkha.

It's more life affirming that the traditional Theravada approach but seeing things clearly without craving or resistance should lead towards dispassion and freedom from Dukkha.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
Saengnapha
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:17 am

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Saengnapha »

Goofaholix wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:25 am While I'm sure some people understand the teachings of the modern mindfulness this way I don't think this is what is intended.

We are taught to embrace change and embrace Dukkha so that hopefully we stop resisting them. When we stop resisting we see change and Dukkha more clearly for what they are, hopefully we stop fueling Dukkha.

It's more life affirming that the traditional Theravada approach but seeing things clearly without craving or resistance should lead towards dispassion and freedom from Dukkha.
Perhaps many would object to your deduction of 'life affirming'. This sounds like a new age word which many find unpalatable. What do you exactly mean when you say this? Not feuling dukkha can only come from disenchantment (nibbida), which is the condition for dispassion. What does affirmation have to do with anything? I'm not trying to put forth negation as a position opposed to affirmation. Disenchantment in neither of these two positions.
Spiny Norman
Posts: 10157
Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:32 am
Location: Andromeda looks nice

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Spiny Norman »

paul wrote: Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:01 pm Pleasurable feelings ‘of the flesh’ and ‘not of the flesh’:

“…a significant difference can still be discerned between the perspectives on impermanence advocated by teachers of modern mindfulness meditation and by classical Buddhism. Proponents of modern mindfulness meditation often see impermanence as imbued with positive significance. They admit that clinging to what is impermanent brings suffering, but take this connection to mean , not that one should renounce the impermanent in favour of the imperishable nibbana, but that one should learn to live in the world with an open mind and loving heart, capable of experiencing everything with awe and wonder. The practice of mindfulness thus leads through the door of impermanence and selflessness to a new affirmation of the world, so that one can joyfully savour each fleeting event, each relationship, each undertaking in its wistful evanescence, unperturbed when it passes.
This attitude, though it has some resonances with Zen Buddhism particularly as expressed by Thich Nhat Hanh, is quite at odds with the Buddhism of the Pali Canon, the tradition from which mindfulness originates. In classical Buddhism, the fact of impermanence is viewed as a sign of deficiency, a warning signal that the things we turn to for happiness are unworthy of our ultimate concern. As the Buddha says: “Conditioned things, monks, are impermanent, unstable, unreliable. It is enough to be disenchanted with all conditioned things, enough to be dispassionate toward them, enough to be liberated from them.” (SN 15:20, ii 193) —-“Handbook of Mindfulness: Culture, Context and Social Engagement,” Part 1. Between Tradition and Modernity, ‘The Transformations of Mindfulness’, Ven. Bikkhu Bodhi
The assumptions might be different, but is the practice actually very different? Or is the issue really about viewing satipatthana as a stand-alone practice?

I'm not sure I see the relevance of a Mahayana school like Interbeing here, it's really comparing apples and oranges. Nirvana is not thought of in the same way as Nibbana.
Buddha save me from new-agers!
User avatar
Goofaholix
Posts: 4017
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:49 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Goofaholix »

Saengnapha wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:36 am Perhaps many would object to your deduction of 'life affirming'. This sounds like a new age word which many find unpalatable.
By life affirming I mean that it doesn't necessarily consider life and living life in a negative light, yes there is change, yes there is Dukkha but it is unskilful to add more Dukkha by resisting these. Nibbida comes from seeing things clearly for what they are not from aversion to life, not from a stop the world I want to get off kind of view.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
paul
Posts: 1512
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 11:27 pm
Location: Cambodia

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by paul »

In the classical context the nine insight knowledges must be considered and the fifth of these is contemplation of aversion. Some think it is not possible to implement these in lay life, but it can be done if attention is paid to balancing the practice. They are an expanded format of the development of an attitude of dispassion.

“Contemplation of aversion means: aversion for all formations as terror, therefore its name ‘awareness of terror’ has come into use. Because it has made known the misery of all these formations, therefore it has received the name of ‘contemplation of misery’. because it has arisen through aversion for those formations, therefore it is known as ‘contemplation of aversion.’
Note: 'contemplation of dissolution' means due to the inherent tendency (greed) to focus on the 'birth to maturity' stage of the cycle of impermanence, a counteracting focus on the 'decline, ageing and death' part of the cycle is necessary.

knowledge consisting in contemplation of rise and fall
in contemplation of dissolution
in awareness of terror (or the fearful)
in contemplation of misery
in contemplation of aversion
in the desire for deliverance
in reflecting contemplation
in equanimity regarding all formations of existence
in adaptation to truth
—-“Buddhist Dictionary”, Nyanatiloka.
Saengnapha
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:17 am

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Saengnapha »

Goofaholix wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:21 pm
Saengnapha wrote: Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:36 am Perhaps many would object to your deduction of 'life affirming'. This sounds like a new age word which many find unpalatable.
By life affirming I mean that it doesn't necessarily consider life and living life in a negative light, yes there is change, yes there is Dukkha but it is unskilful to add more Dukkha by resisting these. Nibbida comes from seeing things clearly for what they are not from aversion to life, not from a stop the world I want to get off kind of view.
Aversion is not the best translation of nibbida. Disenchantment is more to the point. While I agree with you that adding fuel to the fire is not skilful, your view still represents what the Buddha describes as a wrong view. If you read through Alagaddupama Sutta, you can easily understand where your view settles on.
User avatar
Goofaholix
Posts: 4017
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:49 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Goofaholix »

Saengnapha wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:59 am While I agree with you that adding fuel to the fire is not skilful, your view still represents what the Buddha describes as a wrong view. If you read through Alagaddupama Sutta, you can easily understand where your view settles on.
But we're not talking about my view. We're talking about Bhikkhu Bodhis view of what is taught by teachers of modern mindfulness meditation. My point was that while some people have the attitude he described it's not really the point of such teachings, the point is to help us let go of resistance (ie aversion) and this is really just a first step.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
Saengnapha
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:17 am

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Saengnapha »

Goofaholix wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:46 am
Saengnapha wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:59 am While I agree with you that adding fuel to the fire is not skilful, your view still represents what the Buddha describes as a wrong view. If you read through Alagaddupama Sutta, you can easily understand where your view settles on.
But we're not talking about my view. We're talking about Bhikkhu Bodhis view of what is taught by teachers of modern mindfulness meditation. My point was that while some people have the attitude he described it's not really the point of such teachings, the point is to help us let go of resistance (ie aversion) and this is really just a first step.
You did say 'life affirming', did you not? If that was not your statement, I misread what you wrote.
User avatar
Goofaholix
Posts: 4017
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:49 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Goofaholix »

Saengnapha wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 7:52 am You did say 'life affirming', did you not? If that was not your statement, I misread what you wrote.
Indeed, it was intended as a watered down term for Bhikkhu Bodhis "new affirmation of the world".
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
Saengnapha
Posts: 1350
Joined: Wed Sep 13, 2017 10:17 am

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Saengnapha »

Goofaholix wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:06 am
Saengnapha wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 7:52 am You did say 'life affirming', did you not? If that was not your statement, I misread what you wrote.
Indeed, it was intended as a watered down term for Bhikkhu Bodhis "new affirmation of the world".
But the quote we are talking about goes on to say that this is quite at odds with the Pali Canon. Do you agree with that?
User avatar
Goofaholix
Posts: 4017
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:49 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Bikkhu Bodhi on the errors of modern mindfulness

Post by Goofaholix »

Saengnapha wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 8:38 am But the quote we are talking about goes on to say that this is quite at odds with the Pali Canon. Do you agree with that?
The strawman that Bhikkhu Bodhi describes may be at odds with the Pali Canon, the point is I don't think that it's a very fair characterisation all of the modern mindfulness movement, maybe just the more naive proponents of it and/or the MBSR etc types totally divorced from Buddhism.

I don't know of any Buddhist teacher that doesn't encourage mindfulness, mindfulness encourages us to become interested and engaged with our moment to moment experience, this lays the foundation for insight to arise, which lays the foundation for Nibbida to arise and so on. In other words mindfulness is a foundation practice upon which other aspects of the path can develop.

Whereas traditional Theravada in addition to mindfulness also encourages renunciation, contemplation of the disgusting aspects of the body, contemplation of death, ascetic practices etc. So this is why I say on the surface the modern mindfulness movement looks more life affirming than traditional Theravada, but the Buddha never expected laypeople to practice like monastics, so what's the problem?
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
Post Reply