THE RIGHT RESOLUTION
Once a person has attained a view of the world that accurately perceives the nature of spiritual reality, they understand it is necessary to live a life appropriate to this vision. Since no one is possessed of perfect virtue it will be necessary to make a commitment to a course of action that will enable a person to transform themselves according to this new commitment.
Resolution and right view constitute an understanding that in Buddhism parallels the energy and purpose of faith in monotheistic religion. Buddhism, however, is a tradition based upon systematic inquiry rather than theological commitment. Although it has a cosmology and metaphysical framework, elements of tradition do not play an active part in the systematic process of self transformation embodied in the eight fold path. For a Buddhist, cosmology is not something that commands his attention as a fundamental part of practice. His attention is riveted upon the psychological and epistemological factors that govern his state of consciousness and therefore, his spiritual growth.
This is because Buddhism is essentially a spiritual practice rather than a religion. The psychological principles of human existence as delineated by the Buddha, provide a vehicle for self transformation. They are the only fundamental constituents of reality which an individual has some degree of control over, and therefore can provide a potential for practice. A person has no control what so ever over the metaphysical and cosmological nature of the universe; any practice based on these would have to be magical, and therefore based purely on faith. We do have the ability, however, to focus our concentration on a specific object of consciousness, be it an idea or sensory object, thus giving us the ability to manipulate the factors of consciousness. We are powerless to control the metaphysical, cosmological structures of the universe. Were it not for our ability to control our focus of consciousness, we would be unable to bring about self transformation and the idea of right resolution would be meaningless.
Since Buddhism accepts the reality of a will which is both conditioned and capable of choice, a Buddhist is not faced with the dilemma of relying upon an outside agency's metaphysical grace for salvation. The doctrine of mutual identity and co-interdependent origination allows for the possibility of a man bringing about his own salvation through spiritual work.
The problem of free will is really a problem of the concept of freedom. The standard view of freedom can be found in Webster's dictionary definition "not determined by anything beyond its own nature of being." The problem with this understanding is that from the Buddhist perspective, nothing exists that does not share it's being with everything else. This makes the concept of free will a glorification of self that does not hold up to Buddhist philosophical scrutiny.
First of all, freedom has no meaning unless we are speaking of a very relative freedom. Whenever we have a choice, we must have some predicating factor behind the choice which in effect then limits freedom. If there is no ground for choice in the form of some inherent predilection toward a desired end, then the choice becomes a matter of pure caprice and the concept of volition becomes meaningless. If we keep following our reasons for making choices back far enough, we eventually come to an inherited or conditioned nature that we had no apparent choice in creating. It is these elements which are in effect dictating choice rather than an abstract notion of a self that wills. For a will to have being it has to have a structure, a sense of self; and that self has to consist of elements which are prior to the will. Therefore, the will is by its very nature conditioned.
On the other hand, to speak of a will which has no freedom is also a misunderstanding of both the nature of the will and freedom. It is obvious that we are constantly engaged in making choices for potential courses of action. While our choices are predicated upon preferences which are part of our inherent nature in so far as we are one with that nature, the choices we make will represent our will. Freedom of the will then comes down to a merging of the will with our fundamental Buddha nature. This nature, as we have already seen, participates in the total reality around us and, to the extent we can join our wills to this nature, that is the extent to which we will find the world in agreement with us.
From the perspective of Buddhism, the process of thought can not be separated from the process of will. One is always in contact with the other in mutual interaction. This is important for us to remember because it forces us to recognize how our actions effect our world view. It is a simple process to analyze how our viewpoint effects our actions because in most cases our actions are predicated upon a conscious viewpoint. What we do not see is that whenever we choose to act, that action in turn effects our view of the world. The action we take is registered in our unconscious as memory and then becomes available as reference in future actions.
Every time we face a situation that calls for action, we are required to analyze the situation through the cognitive process and then make a choice, activating the will. In the process, we are accessing our memory, and our memory contains both the memory of our previous actions and our world view as well. This begins a process where the mind searches for continuity or conformity between the past action and world view.
Memory has to link pertinent data together in order to give our conscious mind a pattern of information appropriate to the situation. If our actions are not consistent with our world view, it creates a problem for the unconscious. How does it know what information to provide us with if the natural patterns of consistency are not there?
Our unconscious is left with only two choices; it can ignore our world view and only feed us those memories consistent with our past actions, or relegate views held but not acted upon to a kind of sub directory (to borrow a computer term). The mind, however, does not find this kind of conflict amenable to efficient functioning and invariably reacts to the inherent tension between world view and actions taken which are inconsistent with world view. In other words, every time we take an action that violates what we know to be right, it causes chaos in our unconscious. What eventually develops if this inconsistency continues is either a great deal of emotional turmoil or a duplicitous spiritual character.
From a Buddhist perspective, what I have described is extremely simplified. There are many very subtle descriptions of consciousness as described in the Sutras such as Abhidharma Pitaka. What is important for a contemporary student of the way to understand, is the basic interaction between his or her actions and how this effects their spiritual practice.
The Buddha explained right resolve as being threefold; first a resolve to renunciation, secondly a resolve to good will, and finally a resolve to harmlessness. These three resolutions counter the influence of attachment to desire, ill will, and harmfulness, respectively. Of these three, the hardest for westerners to understand is the principle of renunciation. When we usually think of a renunciate, we have the image of a tonsured monk living in cloister or a celibate anchorite dwelling in some cave. The fact is that such individuals may or may not be renunciates, depending upon the motivation and understanding which drives them to live a life of poverty and chastity. If they are performing their practice with an idea of a goal which is outside the practice, such as enlightenment or holiness, then they are not renunciates. A true renunciate is one who sacrifices his action in the moment to a higher principle. He or she renounces seeking the fruit of action in favor of dedication to the purity of action itself.
Therefore, a businessman with seven children could well be a true renunciate if his actions are driven by a love of the beautiful and the good, without regard for reward. Refusing material or sensual things is not renunciation, merely austerity. A man may practice austerity and still be a slave to desire. There is a simple test that indicates whether one is renouncing something in the spiritual sense, or merely denying themselves.
Real renunciation is based upon a thorough understanding of spiritual principles that allows one to refuse a course of action with equanimity because one realizes intuitively the destructive nature of that action for himself or others. Therefore, there is a naturalness present in such actions that precludes both pride and feelings of having lost anything through renunciation. Among the teachings of Tibet's great sage, Milarepa, there is a list of the Ten Equal Things which mark the path of the true renunciate.
- For the person sincerely devoted to religious life, it is the same whether they engage in worldly activities or not.
- For the person who has realized full Enlightenment, it is the same whether they meditate or not.
- For the person free from attachment to worldly possessions, it is the same whether they practice asceticism or not.
- For an enlightened man it is the same whether he dwells in solitude or wanders where he will.
- For the person who has attained mastery of his mind, it is the same whether he partakes of the pleasures of the world or not.
- For a person of full compassion it is the same whether they dwell in isolated meditation or work for others in society.
- For a person with real faith in his teacher, it is the same whether he is with him or not.
- For a person who really understands the spiritual teaching it is the same whether his fortune is good or bad.
- For a person who has truly renounced worldly views for spiritual truth, it is the same whether he follows worldly convention or not.
- For a person who has attained Perfect Highest Wisdom, it is the same whether he is able to manifest miraculous powers or not.
As we can see from these teachings, which came not from a "Channeled Lama" or self proclaimed new age Zen master, but from a saint who's spiritual austerity would have killed most men, there is more to renunciation than austerity. Right intentions should bring with them a spirit of freedom and joy. This is the test of their reality.
