Happiness, 4

If sensual pleasure cannot provide happiness, how can we develop this desirable state?

The Buddha taught that happiness arises as the natural outcome of meritorious deeds. He said (It 22; 14-15):

This is an expression denoting happiness, what is desirable, wished for, dear, and agreeable . . . I know full well, monks, that for a long time I experienced desirable, wished for, dear, and agreeable results from often performing meritorious deeds.

I flinched when I read this. Hobbled as I am by a rationalist worldview, any mention of merit makes my skin crawl. (And, of course, Bodhidharma bluntly rejected the notion that action produces merit.)

But after the twitching stopped, I realized that the Buddha was not recommending action with the intention of creating merit. Rather, he was simply pointing out that certain actions produce certain effects. And the effects of meritorious actions include happiness.

So we might ask: What actions produce meritorious results? In AN 8:39; IV 24504, the Buddha says:

There are, O monks, eight streams of merit, streams of the wholesome, nourishments of happiness, that are heavenly, ripening in happiness, conducive to heaven, and that lead to whatever is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to one's welfare and happiness.

What are the eight?

The Buddha goes on to say (paraphrasing, here) that the Three Refuges* and the Five Precepts** comprise the eight streams. In short, the Buddha observes that refuge and precepts produce happiness.

We shouldn't be surprised at this, of course. When we enter the path, we express our intention to turn away from the self-centered life.

This intention, married with responsible action, ripens in happiness.

*In this passage of the Pali Canon, the Buddha defines the Three Refuges as going for "refuge to the Buddha . . . refuge to the Dhamma . . . [and] refuge to the Sangha."

** In the same passage, the Buddha defines the Five Precepts as, "[giving] up the destruction of life . . . [giving] up the taking of what is not given . . . [giving] up sexual misconduct . . . [giving] false speech . . . [giving] up wines, liquors, and intoxicants."

Comments

[Suzanne]

Let go of controlling the story, and the story takes care of itself.

[Lauren Crane]

Barry,
"destruction of life" could be very different from " killing." The former being a very active, goal driven pursuit, and the later including passive accidents. Any clues in Pali as to what the original flavor was?

-lauren

[Marcus]

"In short, the Buddha observes that refuge and precepts produce happiness."

Wonderful stuff! Thank you Barry!

[Barry Briggs]

Suzanne, thank you for your wise comment. Stories remain stories, if we let them be.

Lauren, you ask an important question - which the post doesn't address. The Buddha was most clear in stating that intention determines the karmic outcome of our actions. For example, in AN 6.63 he says, "Intention, I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect." In other places, the Buddha says that it's not enough simply to formulate a correct intention before acting - we must also "check" our intention repeatedly while engaged in the action. If we do this, and our intention is not to harm, then "passive accidents" do not generate afflictions. That's my understanding of this.

Thank you, Marcus!

[Lauren Crane]

Barry,

Thank for the detailed consideration. It rather kicks down the door of an understanding I thought I was settled on, which is "intentions and thoughts and so are 'empty'" and I guess, can not be so important to karma. I thought it was the real action itself that was the most important thing to karma, or to assessing the morality or appropriateness or skillfullness of a situation. To say that intention trumps real action sets my head spinning. Guess I'll have to brush up on Buddhist scripture to work this out again. Any recommendations (book title) for a start?

-Lauren

[Barry Briggs]

Hey Lauren,
The one thing that most distinguishes Buddhism from other paths, in my view, is that intention is everything.

My friend Bob sometimes says, if you want to know what a person intends, look at their actions. Our intentions always become clear, if we look at how we behave in the world. In my case, this is usually not a pleasant bit of self-study.

Here's a place to look into this more (excerpts from the Pali Canon on intention and karma):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ditthi/kamma.html

And here's a good article by Thanissaro Bhikkhu on intention:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/intentions.html

No book springs to mind, but I'll give it some thought. TNH probably talks about this in The Heart of Buddha's Teaching, but I don't have it at hand to confirm.

Best wishes,
Barry