Bringing Wisdom to Life. Anita Carter

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      Virtue Platform

      If we pick up a book on Buddhism we won’t find in it such a thing as a Happiness Map. However, this map is a way of expressing the foundations or platform upon which a happy life can be created.

      To begin with it is essential to understand that mental states such as worry, regret, stinginess, ill will, doubt, laziness, dullness of mind, greed, restlessness, attachment, conceit, aversion, boredom, jealousy and envy are all producers of unhappiness now and in the future. If we harbour these mental states they are drivers of unhappiness now, and because of the law of kamma they make causes for similar mental states to come back to us again in the future. Together they make an unhappiness-producing platform, or a stress-producing platform, or a confusion-producing platform.

      As the Buddha says in the Dhammapada, Chapter 1:

      "Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief: they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts, suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of an ox" 1.

      We gradually train ourselves through Buddhist Practice to stop the negative or unwholesome minds from arising - now, and in the future. We apply restraint to our negative behaviour in the present and also apply the correct antidote behaviour in the present.

      For example, the Buddhist meditation to develop loving kindness called 'metta' meditation is one example of how we can prompt and cultivate positive wholesome consciousness and behaviour. The wholesome consciousness of metta or loving-kindness is a natural antidote to unwholesome consciousness such as, resentment, aversion, jealously and hate. As our love strengthens, the unwholesome states become progressively weaker and easier to give up.

      This is the function of the "Letting Go" part of our Happiness Map. We give up and let go our unwholesome habits and behaviours. Gradually through practice we can recognise our negative (unwholesome) mental states at both the gross and subtle levels, then we can let go of them instead of maintaining and strengthening them through our negative behaviour.

      We don't have to stay annoyed with someone who did something we didn't like. So, if you see yourself starting to get stuck in any unwholesome thinking, tell yourself to “let it go”. You actually say that as an instruction for your mind to follow. Tell the unwholesome state to stop. Actually, it’s not you, it's not a "self" or something precious or important; it's just one possible state that can arise for a period of time. Because it produces unhappiness and clouds your view, give it up.

      We can get quite good at dropping the unwholesome minds if we act quickly - cut them as soon as you first see them, before they become established in your mind. Learn to apply the correct natural antidote.

      The second part of the Dhammapada, Chapter 1 quote reads:

       "Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief: they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow." 2.

      We train our minds to produce the wholesome mental states such as confidence, mindfulness, friendliness, generosity, alertness, forgiveness, patience, fear of unwholesomeness, joy, equanimity, lightness of mind, adaptability of mind and loving kindness. According to the Buddhist texts there are 25 possible wholesome states of consciousness we can develop. (See Appendix)

      Wholesome mental states are a secure base for our happiness. They can be developed and strengthened to become robust, resilient, and flexible. They can bend with the wind rather than stress and break, they are intelligent and calm, and they are our real inner strengths to deal with the difficulties of life.

      Over time through practice our virtue platform becomes stronger and our ability to handle misfortune without becoming upset increases.

      We decide to be a kinder person, we decide to relate with others we know, and meet with generosity and lightness of heart. We choose to become friendlier, offer others more warmth and more love. We consider others’ needs and offer our help when it would be beneficial. We start to view other people we know as if they were our guests.

      Training our mind to be wholesome is the way a true platform for our happiness in this life is built. According to Buddhism, the wholesome minds and actions built in this life become powerful causes to have good rebirths in our future lives.

      So, the bottom line for all Buddhist practice in all Buddhist traditions is this - developing wholesome minds and actions is a true foundation of our long-term well-being and happiness.

      We are all going to get old age, sickness and death this life - that's our body's inescapable future destination. However, it is possible to maintain our wholesome minds as we get older. It is possible to maintain bright, intelligent, happy minds even as our body wears out. It is very common for people's minds to deteriorate along with their bodies’ deterioration as they get older but essentially it is because their minds are not trained to be wholesome.

      Let us briefly look at a few other components of our Happiness Map / Virtue Platform.

      From Buddhist understanding and experience, when morality has been strongly practiced and developed, it creates integrity and wholeness of mind, that allows us to see things with clarity and depth helping us discern their true nature.

      In Buddhism there are no commandments or similar authoritarian rules of behaviour. This is because at the very heart of Buddhism is the principle that the individual is solely responsible for his or her own welfare, happiness or unhappiness, which arise just as a result of the persons own actions.

      Buddhist morality does not accept that our life and wellbeing are the outcome of the will of a supreme or higher being. The basis of a person choosing to maintain moral behaviour, therefore, is not because it's a commandment of the religion but because there is a clear understanding and comprehension that morality is our first and best defense against creating more suffering for ourselves in the future.

      The Buddha advises us to train our minds and actions so that we keep five precepts.

      The five precepts are: To not kill living beings To not steal To not commit sexual misconduct To not lie To not take intoxicants that cloud the mind.

      The reason why the five particular negative actions that the precepts stop us from committing are highlighted is that the Buddha recognised that some negative actions are more powerful than others. They are more powerful in the sense that they produce more powerful kammic results.

      He identified that the five negative actions of killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct and taking intoxicants produce the most potent negative kamma or most concentrated negative kamma for ourselves to inherit in our future.

      Buddhism teaches that in ultimate reality most of the suffering we had experienced in our life came from us breaking the five precepts in past times.

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