Subhuti on Remorse and Confession

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From Sila to Samadhi

From his experience with many order members, it isn’t just time that lacks to develop samadhi; sila is an essential foundation – and this is true even or especially if we don’t notice anything especially wrong. It is a practice – progressive. Clarified by his reading Know Your Mind and Asanga’s Bodhisattvabhumi, seen to be useful by teaching it. Especially the first 3 +ve mental events: sraddham hri, apatrapya.

Sraddha

= spontaneous response to spiritual truth. 3 aspects: conviction (cognitive / intellectual), attraction (affective / emotional, bit similar to aesthetic appreciation), decision to move closer to the object (volition) & confidence that this is possible.

3 aspects sometimes called lucid, serene, longing faith respectively.

Lack of confidence is often a problem. We often interpret it sympathetically as psychological difficulties, lack of self-esteem etc – but old texts see that same problem as a form of laziness.

Laziness also has three forms:

-          wanting to stay in bed etc

-          Yielding to unskilful impulses

-          despondency (I might say despair) which can lead to giving up. <- this one

We can lean on the cognitive and volitional aspects, even when the affective isn’t so present – i.e. can lean on the fact that we keep practicing. It can be more like a subterranean power, visible in our orientation in life rather than any operatic states of mind.

But it can be felt more consciously, in its more fundamental manifestation – a desire to be ethically pure – through remorse and confession.

“We experience our sraddha consciously when it runs up against the opposing force of our greed, hatred and delusion. Remorse is the pain generated by this collision of forces.”  Acknowledgement allows the pain to move through and not get stuck -> can feel good!

Confession – 4 aspects

(3) making amends – even if it is costly or inconvenient – without a willingness to do this, the confession is not fully sincere.

(4) resolution not to repeat the fault – which usually means to start forming a strategy that will help.

(1) seeing the fault as such – it needs to be felt – that grinding up of our sraddha against the deed, i.e. remorse – a painful and perhaps restless feeling or regret and shame for something done or left undone – a spontaneous mental event. Best way of strengthening and educating this is through

(2) regular confession.

·        Ethical remorse (kaukrtya) – as above – this is the skillful type

·        Functional kaukrtya – e.g. ‘did I remember to water the plants??’ – mental alarm bell – not dealing with this can cause background anxiety – morally neutral

·        Neurotic kaukrtya – driven by fear of punishment / of losing love – near enemy of the ethical type – unskillful.

Ethical remorse has 2 aspects:

·        Hri - remorse from recognising that I have fallen short wrt my own sense of right and wrong

·        Apatrapya – similar but seeing our act through the eyes of someone we deeply respect.

·        +ve but painful. If denied, they will produce despondency and self-loathing. Can get a pattern where we deny a fault in ourselves so start to see it in others and dislike them for it.

·        They are also faculties that guard us again acting unethically – ethical antennae – lokapalas (guardians of the world).

·        Apatrapya more powerful than Hri. S. saw that he needed to be cultivate them, and  exposing himself to spiritual friends was more effective than going it alone – humiliating as it was.

·        Apatrapya doesn’t lead to dependence on others but to a stronger connection with reality so more independence.

·        Apatrapya v helpful to transform ‘the morality of the private moment’ where small unskillful things obstruct our spiritual progress. Concealment itself may be part of this.

Both presence and absence of ethical remorse are +ve mental events.

·        Presence shows our sraddha is strong enough to strike sparks from collision with our negative tendencies.

·        Absence (assuming not deadening or denial) = pamojja ‘delight’ – characterised by a sense of unity, harmony and integration = link between morality and concentration in the 3fold path. One version of +ve nidanas is dukkha -> Sraddha -> pamojja -> piti etc (concentrative mental factors).

·        Another set of +ve nidanas is sila -> avipatisara ‘freedom from remorse’ -> pamojja

To summarise: a good next goal after (he says) effectively going for refuge is pamojja, as it opens the doorway to meditation. Journey to get there:

·        Dukkha ->

·        Sraddha ->

·        Sila i.e. strong ethical awareness, developed by the precepts + hri and apatrapya ->

·        More receptivity to ethical kaukrtya (remorse) ->

·        Practice of confession ->

·        Eventually remorse is eliminated, or arises in minor forms and quickly resolved ->

·        Sense of freedom + sense of confidence (avipatisara) ->

·        Delight (pamojja)

On confidence – traditional Buddhist methods to instill it:

·        Performing meritorious actions (incl puja)

·        Ethical purification by means of confession.

On confession:

·        Part of shared GFR

·        Articulating one’s fault clarifies it to ourselves as well as others

·        It needs hearing – by someone with the same context and perspective

·        Chapter is a natural context – together they can act as a ‘wiser friend’

·        Or one can practice with a friend – embarrassing, but engenders trust & intimacy

·        Chapter / partner can:

o   Ask whether there were consequences, have they been put right?

o   Help analyse the conditions, work out a strategy to avoid repetition, review the outcome

·        Responsibility of all in the chapter to confess and to receive confession – leads to spiritual progress.

 

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