rightthought

The buddha often speaks about his own quest for enlightenment, starting with the great words “Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, it occurred to me…”

He provides very clear guidance on how he went from an imperfect being to a perfect one, through trial and error. In fact a lot of the practices people seem to pride themselves on fall into the ‘error of austerities’ category he specifically warns against.

His comments on right thought are well summarised in this sutta: MN19

Here he divides types of thought into two categories: sense pleasure vs renunciation, cruelty vs kindness. Not ‘good vs bad’ so much as ‘ones which make you happy’ and ‘ones which make you miserable’.

He sat observing the negative thoughts as they arose: craving for sense pleasures and ill-will toward other people. He became aware that when these feelings arose in him they made him suffer. They took him further away from joy, from nibbana, and they made him more likely to inflict pain on others.

He goes on to say that thinking of renunciation, generosity and kindness did not cause suffering but instead led to wisdom, brought him closer to nibbana, and made him into a happier person. They made him more likely to have a positive impact on the people around him.

The way to cultivate thoughts is to observe how they make *you* feel inside.

Observe yourself next time you feel jealousy or anger, justified or not. Does it make you feel good? Bad? How about thoughts of charity? Do they make you feel warm or cold?

There is no direction from the buddha to become perfect overnight. He actually says the opposite: 

Bhikkhus, whatever a bhikkhu frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind

The mind is just another sense-organ in the buddhist framework, and it interacts with mental objects. Doomscrolling makes you see doom and doomthinking makes you think doom. It is reinforcement learning in the most basic sense. The more times you play with that thought, the more ingrained it becomes, and the more you change your sim.

The buddha also splits thoughts into two steps: the initial thought (vitakka) and the sustained thought (vicāra). Think of this as a seed and a tree. You cannot control where a seed may land, but you can choose whether you cultivate it. Do not criticise yourself when thoughts arise for it is not in your control; allow them to fall away and they will die on their own.

When it comes to the removal of thoughts, he describes several methods which align quite closely with modern CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). The key is not to fight the thought and become attached to the idea of having it gone, but to observe it and see how it harms you so that it dies on its own.

1 - Substitution: If an evil, unskillful thought arises, one should replace it with a wholesome thought.

2 - Analysis: One should reflect on the drawbacks of the unwholesome thought, recognising how it hurts you and others.

3 - Disregard: If the unwholesome thought persists, one should pay no attention to it, allowing it to fade away.

4 - Relaxation: Attend to the calming of the mental activity that fabricates the thought; notice any tension or pressure it stirs in mind or body, and allow that to release.

The fifth and final approach is to ‘crush mind with mind’ but this might not be the best for the modern age. Can I suggest crushing it with loud music, computer games, a nice bike ride or a piece of cake? One one, mind you, or you might end up caught on sense-pleasures again.

The key takeaway is that you are installing these worldviews in your sim every time you repeat them. +1 +1 +1 and then your agent is trained. The fewer times you repeat a negative thought, and the more times you repeat a positive one, the better your world will become. 

But remember: you do not control their arising, only their pursuit. But over time, the thoughts you choose to pursue will change the thoughts that arise. You are the sculptor and the clay.

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