Formless mind in Buddhist psychology and hilosophy
Kadampa Buddhist philosophers regard the mind as the fundamental aspect of a sentient
being which survives death. The mind isn't dependent on matter for its functioning.
Kadampa philosophy disagrees with materialism, which claims that psychology can
ultimately be reduced to neurology - that the mind is nothing more than the coordinated
firing of neurons.
The Kadampa view that the mind is formless means that it
is unconstrained, and hence has immense potential. The mind can comprehend all
objects including its own creations. The description of the root-mind as 'formless'
doesn't just refer to its non-material nature, but it emphasises that it is unlimited,
non-mechanistic and totally free from any structure. So it it is free from steps,
loops, branches, strings, tables, stacks, queues, datastructures and all the other
algorithmic paraphernalia. In Buddhist psychology the root mind is non-physical
and non-algorithmic. The mind cannot be understood in terms of circuit diagrams
and flowcharts. It is pure awareness.
The (anti-Buddhist) philosophical doctrine
of computationalism (a modern form of materialism) states that the human mind
is a physical system, and all physical systems can be modelled by a general purpose
computer. Computationalism lays itself open to refutation, since if any aspect
of psychology is discovered which cannot be interpreted in terms of the interactions
of algorithms (procedures) with datastructures, then one must conclude that at
least one component of the mind is not a machine, and indeed is not a physical
system of any kind.
Meditation on formless mind
One of the quickest ways
to convince yourself that the root mind is not physical, (and is not therefore
limited by one birth and one death), is to meditate on the formless nature of
the mind.
(1) Find somewhere quiet and peaceful where you won't be disturbed.
If at home take the phone off the hook.
(2) If you can't manage a classical
meditation posture just sit upright in a chair. Try to keep your back reasonably
straight. Avoid the two extremes of slouching and getting excessively rigid.
(3) Observe your breathing. Don't try to control it, just observe the natural
rhythm of inhaling and exhaling.
(4) Once you've settled into this observational
state, but before you've got bored, introduce a small amount of breath control
- just pause for a second between the in and the out.
(5) Next try a simple
mental recitation. On the in breath mentally recite the syllable OM (you don't
need to say it out loud). At the pause between the in and out mentally recite
the syllable AH (there is no need to prolong this pause any longer than it takes
to mentally recite this syllable). On the out breath mentally recite the syllable
HUM.
(6) Keep on breathing and mentally reciting OM AH HUM. Don't force the
breath. Breathe naturally apart from the slight pause long enough to mentally
recite the AH between the in and out breaths. You can then extend this pause if
it helps you to feel calmer, and you can do so without discomfort. You may like
to imagine that you hold the AH sound at your heart during the pause. Concentrate
on the syllables and don't let your mind wander.
(7) After a while the novelty
will wear off and your mind will appear to become extremely busy, with all sorts
of thoughts competing for your attention. Your mind will have much more immediate
concerns than OM AH HUM. - 'It's a week since I last phoned my mother - that reminds
me, can I afford to pay my phone bill? - I haven't checked my bank balance lately
- I guess its bad because I haven't had a raise since my boss put me on a wage
freeze ....It's because I'm 48 and not likely to find another job - Why do I have
to work for that creep? - Surely I could branch out on my own - the whole company's
become a pile of poo - Oh look there's a crack in the plaster - Is it superficial
or something structural? Structural..structure... Oh shit I should have emailed
that drawing this afternoon..... etc,etc...
(8) Welcome to your superficial
mind! Why does meditation make the mind busier? You thought it was supposed to
calm you down. Yes ultimately it does, but in the early stages all that happens
is that your mind becomes aware of the incessant junk-thoughts circulating in
your brain (the first inkling that mind and brain are different!). There's no
more going on in your head than usual, it's just that you've become aware of it.
(9) So is this incessant parade of trivialities all that there is to your
mind? Who's controlling it - obviously not you!
(10) Continue with the OM
AH HUM for a little while longer, gently returning your mind to the silent recitation
every time it wanders away.
(11) Now cease the recitation and examine the
constant stream of linked thoughts that your brain is presenting to your mind.
But try to distance yourself from these thoughts. Observe them but with a certain
amount of disinterest. Pretend you're observing someone else's stream of consciousness
rather than stuff which is obviously aimed at you. Don't get involved in this
thought stream. Rather than experience how one thought leads to another, examine
what the links are and how each thought arises.
(12) You'll become aware
of the datastructures in your mind - the associations or 'hyperlinks' which link
all mental objects together. Then you'll become aware of the algorithm - the automatic
process which like a webcrawler follows all these associations and presents them
to your awareness. You don't (at present) control this webcrawler. You will notice
that the webcrawler has certain preferred types of links, those that lead to objects
of anger, fear or desire. It doesn't pay too much attention to bland associations,
and there's no family filter on what it dredges up.
(13) You have now begun
to understand the algorithms and datastructures of the mind/brain. What you still
need to experience is pure mind - the actual awareness which is viewing all the
trivia which the webcrawler is displaying to it.
(14) Convince yourself that
your mind is neither the individual scenarios thrown up as the stream of consciousness
progresses, nor the mechanism which drives the stream of consciousness. Your mind
is pure awareness - non-structured and non-procedural. Occasionally the stream
of thoughts will subside into the root mind, and a moment or two of clarity will
occur before a new thread of associations emerges. When this happens, attempt
to catch a glimpse of the calm, space-like and empty nature of the root mind -
like a blue sky rather than one constantly obstructed by a passing procession
of clouds.
(15) Slowly come out of meditation. It may help to mentally recite
the OM AH HUM for a brief period.
It is traditional and auspicious at the
end of a meditation to silently dedicate any insight that you might have achieved
to the happiness, liberation from confusion, and freedom from suffering of all
sentient beings.
- Sean Robsville