Items Description of the Module Subject Name Human Resource Management Paper Name Indian Perspectives on Human Quality Development Module Name/Title Buddhist Approaches of Human Quality Development Module Id 9 Pre-requisites Understanding of Indian Thought Traditions Objectives To understand Buddhist Philosophy for HQD Keywords Eight fold path, mindfulness, Noble Truths, Brahm Viharas
Module 9 Buddhist Approaches of Human Quality Development 1. Learning Outcome 2. Introduction 3. Concept of Anatman- The Impermanent Self 4. Four Noble Truths 5. The Eightfold Path 6. Meditation Practices 7. Four Brahm Viharas - Divine Abode 8. Acieving the state of Nirvana 9. Summary 1. Learning Outcome By the end of this module The students will be able to understand how Buddhist Philosophy helps in Human Quality Development through the understanding of- Four Noble Truths Eight fold Path Meditation Practices Four Brahm Viharas 2. Introduction In today s technologically and scientifically developed society people enjoy life full of pleasures but together with this sense of pleasure they have the feeling of fear, hatred, jealously and insecurity. People both mentally and physically are not satisfied with what they own. Also we hear about various types of crimes committed by people against fellow humans. The humanity in humans is declining. The negative feelings and mental states are directly linked to a person s mind. Buddhist Dhamma provides a therapy for liberating the mind from mental corruption and dilemmas and provide guidance for Human Quality Development.
Human Quality Development encompasses mental, emotional, physical and spiritual development. For this a person has to become aware of one self. For developing self, person can take refuge in the teachings of Buddha which emphasize on self development, self-reliance and compassion for all beings. There is a need to develop healthy self-concept, which can be derived from within. Instead of judging oneself on the basis of opinions of others, self-esteem must result from self-reflection, self-analysis and self-acceptance. A healthy self-concept enables a person to have confidence and peace and hence an ability to handle whatever comes their way. In order to possess a positive or healthy self-concept a person must: Know oneself, Love oneself, and be true to oneself. For building a healthy self we can take refuge in teachings of Gautam Buddha. 3. Concept of Anatman- The impermanent Self Gautam Buddha put forth the concept of Anatta or anatman which says that self is impermanent. Everything in this world exists on its own and is not permanent but exists for a moment. So why the attachment to things and people? He emphasized on understanding the true nature of things or events.
Buddha always emphasized on changing the self first to bring about a change in the world. He said: Only a man himself can be master of himself: who else outside could be his master? When the master and servants are one, then there is true help and selfpossession. (Mascaro 2004). Buddha saw the self as a construction rather than an entity that exists and can be observed directly. Buddha drew parallels between the construction of a self and the construction of a house. According to the Pali Canon, when he attained enlightenment he said, I see you house builder. You will not build this house again. Studying Buddhism means studying oneself i.e. understanding the very nature of mind. Gautam Buddha focused on day-to-day life of an indiviual. He showed the path towards making a peaceful and healthy mind. When Buddha talks about the sufferings of life, he is not only talking about the superficial physical sufferings of life but also the suffering of mind that arise due to the dissatisfied nature of human mind.no matter how much a person might get but he will continue to be dissatisfied. This unceasing desire for more and more is the root cause of suffering. 4. Gautama Buddha propounded four noble truths 1. There is suffering 2. Suffering is due to attachment. 3. Suffering can be overcome 4. It can be overcome by following the eightfold path. It refers to the path which a person if follows, becomes free from all the sufferings leading to a state of nirvana.
Buddhist psychology describes six basic emotions that frustrate the human mind and lead to mental and physical suffering: ignorance, attachment, anger, pride, deluded doubt and distorted views. The development of craving is covered in one of the central suttas in the Pali Canon, the Mahanidana Sutta, sometimes translated as the Discourse on Cause and Effect(Walsh M). Craving is part of a causal chain with 12 links, which are: 1) Ignorance: Ignorance is represented by an image of a blind woman who blunders forward; unable to see where she is going. So ignorance is blindness, not seeing. It is a lack of insight into the reality of things. It means, "not knowing completely" the truth of life i.e. four noble truths. People are not aware that everything is in this world is impermanent be it success or failure. They do not understand the true meaning of life.
2) Unconscious impulses : This condition or state is represented by a potter. Just as potter forms clay into something new, an action begins a sequence that leads to new consequences. Once put into motion, the potter's wheel continues to spin without much effort. Likewise, an action creates a predisposition in the mind. The potter makes beautiful pottery (skillful kamma) and he is sometimes careless and his pots crack and break up from various flaws (unskillful kamma). This means that a person s ignorance about true nature of life force him to do certain task some of the task he does keeping in mind the Kushal kamma i.e. good deeds but in some other cases he indulges in wrong doings i.e. akushal kamma thereby leading him towards wrong direction.
3) Consciousness: Depending on the existence of these impulses produced in past lives, there arises the Consciousness called "relinking" which becomes the basis of this present life. Represented by a monkey going from window to window. That is an individual is trapped in the wheel of life. Taking birth again and again and facing pleasant and unpleasant experiences based on past lives actions. 4) Mind and body: Dependent upon relinking-consciousness there is the arising of Mindbody. Depicted by people sitting in a boat with one of them steering. The boat symbolizes form, and its occupants, the mental aggregates. Mind is doing the work of handling or steering the boat of psychophysical states on the river of cravings, while body is the passive passenger.
So the major part of human body is the mind. Individual should learn to control mind.if human mind is uncontrollable it will lead to craving of things and dissatisfied mind.for complete control of mind there is need to practice meditation to develop mindfulness. 5) Six Sense Bases: With the coming into existence of mind-body, there is the arising of the Six Sense-spheres, which is depicted, by a house with six windows and a door. The senses are the 'portals' whereby an individual gain an impression of the world. Each of the senses is the manifestation of desires to experience things in a particular way. These six senses are eye; ear, nose, tongue, touch and mind, and these are the bases for the reception of the various sorts of information which each can gather in the presence of the correct conditions. This information falls under six headings corresponding to the six spheres: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles and thoughts. Beyond these six spheres of sense and their corresponding six objective spheres, we know nothing. All our experience is limited by the senses and their objects with the mind counted as the sixth. The five outer senses collect data only in the present but mind, the sixth, where this information is collected and processed. So this calls for controlling the six senses and creating a balance between the mind and the senses.
6) Contact: The six sense-spheres results in the next link Contact. This is depicted by a couple embracing, the contact of the sense organs with there objects. With this link, the psychophysical organism begins to interact with the world. Here comes the stage of sexual conduct. But when this need of sex becomes uncontrollable this leads to wrong deeds of sexual misconduct. 7) Feeling: Feelings are symbolized by an eye pierced by an arrow. Even a very small condition causes a great deal of feeling in the eye. Likewise, no matter what kind of feeling people experience, painful or pleasurable, they are driven by it and conditioned by it. Their actions are being guided by them. 8) Craving: When feelings arise, Cravings are (usually) produced which is represented by a person drinking alcohol. Even though it harms, no matter how much a person drinks, he just keep on drinking. Also known as attachment, it is a mental factor that increases desire without any satisfaction. What is needed here is mindfulness (sati), for without it no Dhamma at all can be practiced while one will be
swept away by the force of past habits and let craving and attachments increase themselves within one s heart. When one does have mindfulness one may and can know "this is pleasant feeling," "this is unpleasant feeling," "this is neither pleasant nor unpleasant feeling" and such contemplation of feelings leads one to understand and beware of greed, aversion and delusion. 9) Clinging: Where the kamma of further craving is produced there arises Grasping represented by a monkey reaching for a fruit. Also known as clinging, it means mentally grabbing at object one desires. This is the mental state that clings to or grasps the object. Because of this clinging, which is described as craving in a high degree, a person becomes a slave to passion. 10) Conception: Represented by a woman in late pregnancy. Just as she is about to bring forth a fully developed child, the karma that will produce the next lifetime, is fully potential zed though not yet manifest. 11) Birth: This link is represented by the woman giving birth to a child. Birth, as one might expect, is shown as a mother in the process of childbirth, a painful business and a reminder of how dukkha cannot be avoided in any life.
12) Aging and death: The final link is represented by a dying person. Ageing is both progressive, occurring every moment of our lifetime, and degenerative which leads to death. It means nothing is permanent so one should not cling to different things. In this world those who take birth have to go one day. So what matters is the good deeds that person should perform when he is alive.
Since human mind is crowded with ignorance, people do not know how to conduct their lives so they blindly follow their desires and cling to it. This blind craving is called tanha. P. Payutto explains tanha with the example of food. Food should be consumed for nourishment purpose, for strength but when people cling to food than tanha arises because they take food not for nourishment but for taste. This will not only effects health but also leads to social costs with over consumption. The opposite of tanha is chanda i.e. mindfulness, clear comprehension. Cultivation of Chanda will help in purity of mind and will bring harmony and peace in the environment. The Mahanidana Sutta (Bhikkhu Bodhi) also makes reference to a secondary sequence from craving through clinging. It proceeds through the following steps: 1) Craving, 2) pursuit, 3) gain, 4) decision-making, 5) desire and lust, 6) attachments Ones we blindly go after something we pursue it, try to gain it and make decisions accordingly. During this process attachment develops with the thing and in order to save the thing from other people we perform various evil tasks. This is what ignorance of mind is. Therefore in order to overcome these delusions there is a need to investigate one s mind. In today s generation the basic emotion that governs the mind is one s ego. This ego arises due to attachment and attachment arises due to clinging to the possessions. This unending cycle goes on leading to unhealthy mind.so, in order to overcome ego there is a necessity to overcome attachment and there by letting the light of wisdom grow and purify the mind. So Buddha stated,
Nothing whatsoever should be clung to or Do not bury oneself (one s mind) into anything (Buddhadasa Bhikkhu) Dr B R Ambedkar said that, The Buddha s method was to change the mind of man: to alter his disposition: so that whatever man does, he does it voluntarily without the use of the force or compulsion.his main means to alter the disposition of man was his Dhamma.The Buddha s way was not to force people to do what they did not like to do, although it was good for them. His way was to alter the disposition of men so that they would do voluntarily what they would not otherwise do. Buddha quotes in Dhaamapada By oneself evil is done; by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone; by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself; no one can purify another. (Maine G.F.) For spiritual well-being and peace of mind and inner harmony individual has to take steps himself. Gautam Buddha prescribed the eightfold path or eight codes of discipline, Vippassana meditation and the practice of four Brahma viharas to be free from all sufferings and purify the mind. 5. Eight-fold Path In each sphere of life we should follow a code of discipline.for proper movement one should follow certain rules and know certain important factors.in this connection Gautam Buddha said that there are eight codes i.e. the noble eight fold path. He described the path in these words: The noble eight-fold path (Anandmurti S.) acts as guiding principles in today s materialistic world where everyone is concerned in earning money without bothering about others.for spiritual well-being and peace of mind Gautam Buddha prescribes the eight fold path which is divided into three sections: Panna (Wisdom): It includes right view or understanding i.e. Samma ditthi and right Resolve /thought i.e. Samma-sankappa Sila (Morality): It includes right speech i.e. samma vaca, right action i.e. samma - kammanta and right livelihood i.e. samma Ajiva Samadhi (Mental Discipline): It includes right effort ie samma- Vyayama, right mindfulness i.e. samma sati and right concentration i.e. samma samadhi.
1. Right View or Understanding: Right understanding belongs to the Wisdom division of the path. It has two aspects to it. First aspect is that,we should understand that there is suffering all around us in this world as well as in our lives and this suffering is due to attachment, craving and clinging resulting in negative emotions in us. Second aspect is that we should introspect about what is important to us, what is our priority, what we value most. This will help us view our life, our relationships and the world in the right perspective and engage in activities which bring peace to us and around us. We will try to become more compassionate, more loving, more merciful and less fearing, less prejudiced and less angry. 2. Right Resolve : Right resolve belongs to the Wisdom division of the path. It can also be called as right thought, right intention or right aspiration. It is the strong determination to give up causes of suffering that is freedom from craving, freedom from ill will and freedom from cruelty. Right intention is resolving to give up or renounce clinging to our desires which give us and people associated with us unhappiness, replacing ill will with loving kindness and replace cruelty with compassion.
3. Right Speech : Right Speech belongs to the Morality division of the path. Right speech is abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech and from idle chatter. Whenever one is engaging in speech, one should reflect whether one s speech is likely to harm oneself or others. Is it likely to result in painful consequences for oneself or others. If yes then one should refrain from engaging in such speech. Further one should never speak unfactual, untrue or disagreeable words. If some thing is factual and true but disagreeable then it should be spoken only when it serves a purpose that too at a proper time. Only that should be spoken which is true as well as beneficial at the right time. 4. Right Action : Right Action belongs to the Morality division of the path. It is abstaining from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Abstaining from killing includes not killing human beings, animals, birds and any other living creature. Stealing includes taking by stealth, by force, by fraud or by deceit. Here both the intention and the act matters. In Buddhism Right action is judged by the mental state. A wrong action has its basis in the mental state dominated by greed, hatred and ignorance of right and wrong. It is not easy to stop wrong action abruptly. One has to move towards it gradually with practice and introspection. 5. Right Livelihood : Right Livelihood belongs to the Morality division of the path. One can earn money through stealing, hurting another man but a good man should earn his livelihood through clean means.he should not indulge in unfair practices.as the money earned through unfair means may give pleasures for the moment but in the long run they yield pains. According to Buddha a person should not engage in five types of business business in weapons, human beings, meat, intoxicants and poison. Right livelihood is explained from the perspective of expenditure and style of living. A person knowing his income and expenses should lead a balanced life so that income is in excess of his expenses and not vice versa. 6. Right effort: This is also called Right Diligence. Right Livelihood belongs to the Mental Discipline division of the path. A person is engaged in right effort when a person strives to acquire good qualities kindness, wisdom generosity etc and healthy habits and give up bad qualities greed, anger, ignorance etc and unhealthy habits. The five hindrances of sensual desire, ill will, drowsiness, restlessness and doubt or skepticism interfere with right effort. Mindfulness of body, sensations, feelings and thoughts will be helpful in
overcoming hindrances. Also Right Effort does not mean practice hard. The effort should not become a burden. Effort should be accompanied with joy and interest. Practice should nourish not drain a person. 7. Right Mindfulness: Right Mindfulness belongs to the Mental Discipline division of the path. While practicing Right Mindfulness the mind is trained to remain alert, open and calm, and firmly in the present moment not delving into the past and the future with their regrets, guilt, fears and ambitions. It leads to development of serenity as well insight. With Right Mindfulness the person observes and absorbs the situation with accuracy thus leading to right decisions and actions. 8. Right Concentration: Right Concentration also belongs to the Mental Discipline division of the path. Right Concentration consists of one- pointedness or focus of mind on a particular object balanced with getting together of dispersed and scattered mental thoughts in a calm unity. So the Right Concentration is the singleness of the mind equipped with the seven factors of Right understanding, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness as these cannot be achieved with out Right Concentration.
These are the eightfold codes of discipline that will lead an individual to the path of success. In Buddhism human quality is given utmost importance. Human nature is supposed to be pure; and all its impurities arise because of akushal kamma i.e. wrong deeds whether in words speech or action. So there is a need to do Kushal Kamma i.e. good deeds. Noble speech and silence play an important role in peaceful conflict outcomes and in motivating people. The art of listening while remaining silent at crucial moments helps alleviate discord and arrive at negotiated solutions. 6. Meditation Practices - Under Buddhist practices two types of meditation techniques have been talked about.
Vippassana Meditation: Vippassana, a meditation technique rediscovered by Gautam Buddha is a technique of self-realization through self- observation. It an art of living which promotes conscious lifestyle changes, enhances concentration of mind and facilitates deeper psychological introspection to bring about lasting behavioral changes. Vippassana which means insight or to see things as they really are in Pali, is the essence of the Buddha s teachings. It leads to the realization of three aspects of reality i.e. impermanence, suffering and realization of non-self discussed earlier. It is a straightforward way to achieve peace of mind and to live a happy, useful life. It equips one with the inner strength to face the hardships of life in a calm, balanced manner, and gain mastery over one s mind. It is a practical experiential way of understanding the mind-matter phenomenon and purifying one s mind of underlying negativities. Samatha Meditation: This is the Buddhist technique of calming of the mind and its formations. This is practiced by one pointed meditation through mindfulness of breathing. 7.Four Brahm Viharas or Divine Abode
The Buddha asked his followers to practice the modes of sublime state or four supreme psychological states (brahmavihara) (D R Jatava) that each individual should cultivate and develop for the happiness and welfare of oneself and all sentient beings. The Brahm viharas are incompatible with hating state of mind and so they are brahm or divine. They are abode as they should become our mind s continuous home. They are: 1. Metta: It means practice of loving-kindness and development of unconditional love for all beings. This is a also a kind of meditation.the vice of anger can be subdued through the practice of metta. This can be developed by nurturing sincere efforts and wishes for the welfare and happiness of all living beings without exception. Thus calmness and peace will reign in the whole world, if the metta bahvana is practiced on a wide scale. 2. Karuna: It means compassion. Another vice in man is cruelty. When one has in him friendship and loving kindness to all beings, naturally one would be psychologically moved when one sees a living being in an unfortunate situation or in a pitiable condition, undergoing hardship agony or sorrow. When a sympathetic person sees one in such a situation, he will do something himself, to help the suffering being to minimize its suffering or to completely overcome it and motivate others as well to do it. Compassion reconciles us to our destiny by showing us and making us feel the life of others which is often harder than our s. 3. Mudita: It means sympathetic joy. Another vice in man is jealousy, which poisons one s system and leads to unhealthy rivalries and dangerous competitions. The practice of Mudita bhavana helps in subduing this vice.it teaches one to feel happy and liberal in others prosperity. An altruistic happiness born at the sight of another's happiness i.e. Mudita. 4. Upekkha: It means Equanimity. Attachment to the pleasurable and aversion to the nonpleasurable are two other universal characteristics in man. People should calmly go through both the situation of pleasure and non pleasurable. He should be able to maintain equipoise or balance of mind in all situations in life-in gain or loss, in fame or ill fame, in praise or blame and in happiness or suffering (upekkha - equipoise). To reach the complete state of equanimity one has to forgo all possessive thoughts of mine gradually moving to the state of non attachment or letting go.
The four abiding Braham Viharas are immediate answers to different conflicts of daily life that occur between parent and child, husband and wife, master and servant and teacher and pupil. 8.Achieving the state of Nirvana Thus believing in the impermanent nature of things, understanding the four Noble Truths, following the Eight Fold Path and engaging in meditation, one is able to enter into the divine abode of Metta, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. Finally an individual is able to reach a state of Nirvana. Nirvana is not necessarily a state which one achieves after death, but it is a state when a person has given up anger, jealously, hatred, craving, attachment and clinging and becomes calm, contended, compassionate, dutiful and happy. It is a state which a living person can also achieve. 9. Summary Buddhism has immense knowledge to offer to people to reach the state of calm and happiness through understanding the impermanent nature of things and situations, leading a disciplined life, letting go of mental orientation of attachments and clinging and being compassionate towards fellow beings and all the creaturesof the world.
Thus applying eight code of discipline, Vipassana meditation and Four Braham Viharas in day-to-day life of individual and in organization as a whole will lead to Human Quality Development.