When I attended a Buddhism study course in India, the teachers responded to the question: "why is man" created "not enlightened, why does he suffer and err, and is not born immediately happy and knowing everything?" only answered "I do not know" or "Buddhism does not give an answer to this question."
And this is not due to incompetence. Moreover, I really like this approach. Buddhism knowingly claims the title of a very practical doctrine. He really works with real experience, avoiding giving answers to questions that are unnecessary from the practical point of view: “Where did we come from?”, “Why were we not born enlightened?”
No one knows the answer to these questions. And even if the Buddhist philosophers had given them, they would not have helped us in any way solve the very problem of suffering. We suffer, are dissatisfied here and now and need to, again, solve this problem here and now.
And this is true in terms of the ultimate goal of Buddhism - enlightenment. Many religions answer all questions in the world. Yes, it really gives peace to some people. But this peace is precarious and temporary, since it is completely based on faith in some concept. Buddhism wants a person to achieve peace, relying on something more durable and unchanging, namely, on himself and his consciousness, and not on cosmogonic ideas. These ideas may change, be criticized, a person may have doubts about them, they will not be able to constantly provide him with a sense of harmony. He may begin to ask questions: “what if in fact it is not so that if life does not make sense? What if there is no God? ”And he will begin to experience such feelings, as if the whole meaning, all the solidity of the universe is crumbling before his eyes. But the consciousness remains with the person always. It is, and there can be no doubt about it. And we must rely on it if we want to achieve permanent harmony, independent of changing reality and changing states of mind.
Another answer to the question about the origin of our unenlightened, suffering and misguided consciousness was the following phrase:
"Where did the delusion come from? From the previous point in time! And where did it come from? From the previous point in time ..."
And so on.
From the flow of such moments and consists of consciousness, which manifests itself in different shells of the bodies of people (but not identical to them), animals, spirits or divine creatures. This, to put it bluntly and simply, is called reincarnation. Concepts of reincarnation and karma, especially within the framework of Buddhism, are quite complex for understanding a Western person educated in the spirit of Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam) with their concepts of the soul and its salvation.
Reincarnation and Evolution
Reincarnation in Buddhism is not a "transmigration of souls." Buddhists do not believe in the soul, or in the immutable constant self. “What, then, is reborn, since it is not the soul,” the question will immediately follow. I will answer in such a way that, according to Buddhism, there is no autonomous, isolated entity that wanders from body to body, from life to life.
All these lives are a stream of moments and states of consciousness and mind, that's all. First, these are states and elements of experience of one body, then another. Moreover, this mind is not identical with our memory in a certain life, nor with our personal qualities and emotions.
And our karma as the resultant effect of our actions and thoughts directs the path of our rebirths. Good deeds lead to good consequences, bad - to bad.
This is very short and simplistic. I will not talk about this in detail. The concept of reincarnation and karma is, in my opinion, what makes Buddhism a religion. Because it cannot be said that these concepts are verified by ordinary human experience. For many, these are just elements of faith.
Of course, some Buddhists say that at deep levels of meditation information is available about our past lives and karmic influences. But it is difficult to test us ordinary people.
Therefore, speaking of reincarnation, I will try to stay in the plane of the observed experience. I warn you, my understanding of rebirth does not correspond to the canonical Buddhist interpretation, this is only my free interpretation. And I hope you do not find it very tense.
(What I will write about is not related to the study of the phenomenon of reincarnation in the West. This is not related to the research of Jan Stevenson, nor to the experiments of Stanislav Grof with genetic memory. Anyone interested can read about these studies on the Internet).
And I will begin the presentation of my version with the question.
Why do many people experience depression and anxiety disorders? Why is the human psyche generally potentially subject to such things?
I will try to give an answer to this question, despite the fact that, at first glance, it does not have much practical significance.
It is important to understand that here I am trying not to find the cause of suffering, but to say what made it possible. It cannot be said that the process of cell division is responsible for the appearance of cancer in humans. But it is this process that makes mutations possible. What makes it possible to cause depression and panic?
Let's go from the general to the particular and talk about what creates the possibility for human suffering in general, and then we get to depression and anxiety. And with this question we turn not to Buddhism, but to science, in order to later converge with it at some point.
To do this, briefly outline the meaning of the article "Meditation and the code of evolution", in which I cited Professor Wright’s lectures on the connection between Buddhism and modern science.
Wright answers in his lectures to the questions: "Why do not we feel satisfied?" "why are we subject to illusions about the nature of reality and our own consciousness?"
One answer: evolution! Natural selection has made man chronically unhappy in order to spur him on to constant development and progress, for which there would be no incentive if people were always satisfied and happy. This ensured the survival of our ancestors when they were still huddled in caves.
It was also important for survival that everyone had a sense of an autonomous, independent self (which, according to Buddhism, an illusion), divided the whole world into friends and foes, made final conclusions and judgments (even if erroneous) based on incomplete information, projected mind on the world, then to believe in these projections. All this gave evolutionary advantages, creating a certain mental and behavioral environment for the protection of his tribe from enemies, the accumulation of property, and the maintenance of kinship.
Then Buddha appeared (although there were many before him), who decided that he was not satisfied with the fact that consciousness was arranged in such a way that dissatisfaction and illusion were rooted in it. Gautama did not want to put up with this order of things, because he aimed to create his own mind "with blackjack and whores", experiencing constant happiness, satisfaction, completely devoid of illusions regarding the perception of reality and himself!
Siddhartha is translated as reaching the goal. Buddha justified his name and got what he wanted.
Therefore, Wright speaks of him as a revolutionary of the spirit, whose rebellion is directed not against some kind of state system, but against the heritage of evolution, which has made people chronically unsatisfied. And it is natural selection that created in people a favorable environment for the formation of depression and anxiety disorders. And I will explain this aspect already.
Depression and evolution
It is important to understand that depression, obsessive thoughts, anxiety do not exist independently of human nature. That is, it cannot be said that people with depression are radically different from all others, and either a person has depression, anxiety, obsessive thoughts, or not. In fact, everything is a little more complicated.
Obsessive thoughts have all the people! If a person is hungry, he will constantly think about food. If he wants sex - about sex. So nature has arranged for us. And these mechanisms allowed us to survive in inhospitable landscapes at the dawn of mankind.
But for some people the same mechanism goes into a stronger and uncontrollable phase: they constantly think about death, about some dangerous disease, worry about their loved ones, chewing on the gum of obsessive thoughts in their head. This is not to say that this is something new that has not happened before. No, it was, just within the limits set for the normal functioning of a person. And then as a result of something (stress, breakdown) went beyond the norm.
In ancient times, man would not survive in nature if, in response to the danger of his adrenal glands would not throw adrenaline and norepinephrine. This allowed him to mobilize his forces and escape from danger. But for some people this natural reaction went out of control and began to manifest itself when there is no danger. This is what they called panic attacks.
Obsessive introspection, constant assessment of one’s condition do not play into the hands of getting rid of depression and panic disorder. They, on the contrary, aggravate these things. But these qualities, again, in our nature. Analysis allows us to assess the situation and find a way out of the problems; this is an inherited feature of our thinking. Just when he goes inside to find a solution from despondency or fear, it only strengthens these feelings. I wrote about this in more detail in the second part of the article.
It turns out that the results of biological selection have created an environment for the emergence of all these ailments. And the attentive reader probably already has a question: “since evolution has created us like this, it means it was necessary, it means it helps us to survive!”
I will answer this question in this way. First, it helped! We have not lived in caves for a long time and now some principles of survival have simply lost their relevance. Secondly, a person no longer needs to rely only on instincts, he has a mind that can make decisions. And if some instincts interfere with us, sow discord between people (anger, anger, envy), they can somehow be corrected. Thirdly, I am not talking about the need to remove the instincts and automatic reaction mechanisms at all, but it is possible to do something with their extreme manifestations. Otherwise we will suffer from mental illnesses.
Probably, you have already forgotten that all these arguments began with the question of reincarnation? And here I want to offer one analogy. According to the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, our so-called "innate" qualities are nothing more than habits that stretch from past lives. Buddhists believe that a certain person is subject to malice more than others, not only because of the circumstances of his present life, but because of the habits of past life! If he has often experienced anger in a past life, then the habit of anger is to gain a foothold in him from his next birth. This is what science associates with genes. And, in my opinion, there is much in common between these two approaches.
Although the concept of reincarnation and karma is not completely tested by experience, no one will argue that the actions of our ancestors determine our own character and personality, just as karma defines our life, according to Buddhist beliefs.
We are subject to anger and anger, because once our ancestors experienced these emotions, as they ensured their survival. We feel anxiety and fear, because these feelings once saved from the danger of those who lived before us. These feelings were formed under the influence of natural selection: those individuals that did not possess them were “rejected”. Therefore, entrenched as "useful" and have each representative of the current generations from birth.
In short, we are now reaping the fruits of what our ancestors sowed. Agree, it is very close to the concept of karma and reincarnation. One could argue that within the framework of gene transfer to the next generation, there can be no talk of any soul. But Buddhists also do not believe in it. They talk about the sequence of mental states that are realized in different bodies. And the mind in each new body will not be the same as it was in the previous one, but it will not be something completely different.
Can you draw any practical conclusions from all this to help us cope with depression and panic? I think yes. First, we must understand that these things are a continuation of our own nature, and not something isolated from it. Therefore, it cannot be said that this is a "disease". We must work with our innate mechanisms of the psyche, use ways to increase control over our own mind and instincts, which cause anxiety, and not to look for magic pills from “depression”.
More on this later. Secondly, not only our past lives affect the present, but also the present to the future. And if we learn to manage our condition, get rid of senseless anger, uncontrollable lust for power, unstoppable lust, then these vices will weaken their influence not only on us, but also on future generations. The only way to ensure that our vices were ground by the millstones of evolution and not inherited by the people of the future, is to try so that they are implemented into us as little as possible now. It can be said that in this way we are already forming the seeds of favorable karma (genome), which sprouts will grow in the future!
Concept of karma
One of the popular myths about Buddhism is that there is no ethical component in this teaching, that the Buddha’s teaching, they say, stands on the other side of good and evil. This "image" of religion appeared in Western culture due to confusing and sometimes contradictory philosophy.
"See the Buddha - kill the Buddha!" say zen texts.
And in the sutra of the heart, one of the main texts of Buddhism says:
"There is no delusion and there is no cessation of delusion, and so on up to the absence of old age and death and the absence of cessation of old age and death. There is no suffering, causes of suffering, destruction of suffering and the Way.
The latter text as if "denies" all the main values of Buddhism. According to the religious scholar E. Torchinov, the level of possible shock from reading this sutra can be equal to "the level of Christian shock from a hypothetical Christian text in which" Christ proclaimed that there is neither God, nor Satan, nor hell, nor heaven, nor sin, no virtues, etc. "
But, in the opinion of the same Torchinov, this text, firstly, should not be understood literally, and secondly, it is focused on a completely different level of consciousness than ordinary, everyday consciousness.
For some marginal intellectuals, beatniks and hippies, Buddhism became a kind of excuse for permissiveness, dissoluteness of feelings, with which these people associated freedom.
Buddhism is indeed a doctrine of freedom, but it does not in any way oppose morality. On the contrary, the ethical, moral aspect is represented in it quite strongly. The Buddha’s teaching is a synthesis of wisdom and compassion. Tibetan teachers say that without an ethical lifestyle, deep meditation is impossible.
But not only our spiritual practice depends on the moral side of our life, but also the quality of our future births, the conditions of the next lives, which are determined by our karma.
Karma - this is translated from Sanskrit action, and translated from Pali - "cause and effect." Karma in Buddhism is absolutely impersonal, it is driven by our actions, and not by some supreme judge who comes up with punishments and rewards for us. This, rather, the consequences of our actions, than some kind of reward. For example, a person reads: “do not stand under an arrow,” but still stands under it. In the end, it turns out in the hospital. Can you say that he was punished? Not. He just did not experience the results of his actions.
As you can already guess, the principle of the work of karma can be described by the proverb: "you will reap what you sow." But there is a moral aspect involved. Bad, from the point of view of morality, actions lead to bad consequences for the subject of these actions, and good - to good. In other words, according to the concept of karma, if you hurt someone, it will come back as a boomerang in this or next lives.
What goes around comes around
Someone will surely notice: “well, again, these tales of reward for good deeds and punishment for evil, whatever you call it:“ karma, ”“ divine retribution. ”Another will say that this is a metaphysical category, not amenable to experience.
In part, it is. We (at least most of us) cannot know whether there are other lives or not. And even if there is, are they exposed to karma. But what we can know for sure about is the consequences of our actions in this life.
On the one hand, while we grow and develop in society, we are taught to show kindness, compassion, and care for our neighbor. These values are the backbone of all religions. But, on the other hand, the spirit of rivalry and selfishness is also cultivated in man. В университетах, на спортивных соревнованиях формируются системы рейтинга, готовящие людей к гонке за успех, за первенство. Даже семьи, родители могут взращивать убеждение, что ТЫ должен быть самым лучшим, ТВОЕ счастье и успех превыше всего, осуществление ТВОИХ желаний - самая важная вещь на свете. Наше "Я" заботливо помещается в центр всего существования нашими друзьями, родственниками и социальными институтами.
И у многих людей формируется представление, согласно которому нравственное поведение и альтруизм, хоть и желательны, но не продуктивны в плане достижения целей, жизненного успеха и счастья. А все религиозные и философские концепции о воздаянии за грехи, о карме, якобы придуманы для того, чтобы придать какой-то смысл морали, наделить ее неким высшим свойством регулирования и контроля. И чтобы достичь счастья и успеха в этой жизни, нужно как можно больше думать о себе.
В своих статьях я уже не раз озвучивал то, что, на самом деле, зацикленность на собственном я, на своих желаниях очень часто ведет к страданию. Многие люди считают, что беспорядочный секс, развязная жизнь, удовлетворение любых желаний есть свобода. Нет, это самое большое рабство. Рабство у своих желаний. Этот жестокий господин держит в одной руке кнут неудовольствия, а в другой - пряник наслаждения. Он властно заносит кнут и подманивает нас пряником, говоря: теперь ты будешь делать то, что я тебе скажу! Но просветленный человек может ответить: "что мне твои кнут и пряник! Я делаю то, что я хочу! Я сам себе хозяин"
Вот почему можно сказать, что буддизм - это учение о свободе, а различные практики, которые используются в буддизме, в том числе, например, медитация приводят к освобождению!
Я больше не буду останавливаться в этой плоскости рассуждений, а сужу ее до масштабов депрессии и тревоги.
Связь депрессии и тревоги с нравственным поведением
И здесь работает тот же самый принцип: эгоцентризм, гордыня, постоянная злоба, раздражение могут привести к депрессии или панике. Я не хочу сказать, что это проблема всех людей, страдающих этими недугами. Но, тем не менее, многие лица, подверженные хронической злобе и зацикленные на себе, сталкиваются с депрессией и не понимают, отчего это с ними происходит.
Многочисленные исследования показали, что сострадание, эмпатия, помощь другим оказывают благотворное воздействие на нашу психику и даже физическое здоровье. И, наоборот, отсутствие этих качеств может вести к проблемам. Техники развития сострадания, например, медитация метта, согласно исследованиям, ведет к улучшению состояния людей, испытывающих депрессию.
Важно понимать, что наши качества тесно связаны с нашими поступками. Когда человек ворует не из-за нужды, он культивирует свою жадность, зависть, свою привязанность к материальным благам. Когда кто-то постоянно изменяет своему партнеру, это формирует еще большую похоть, привязанность к чувственным наслаждениям. Развитие этих качеств приводит к тому, что человек страдает. Вот она, безличностная карма в действии, без всякой метафизики! Можно ли сказать, что такого человека кто-то наказал? Не в большей степени, чем можно говорить о наказании курильщика, который заработал рак легких своими собственными действиями!
Наши поступки и намерения имеют свои последствия. Это и есть карма! И никакого волшебства!
Я совсем не хочу сказать, что все люди, которые страдают депрессией и тревогой, злые и ведут себя безнравственно. Здесь речь также идет о крайне эгоцентричной перспективе, в которую помещает людей их депрессия или тревога. Когда я в своей жизни столкнулся с этими проблемами, я только и думал и чувствовал так:
"Моя тревога! Моя паника! Я страдаю, а весь мир пускай катится к черту! Мне не важно, что чувствуют другие, важнее всего то, что сейчас плохо МНЕ!"
Такая перспектива заставляет нас придавать чрезмерную важность своим ощущениям и самочувствию. И чем больше мы зацикливаемся на этом, чем больше уделяем внимания своим чувствам и мыслям, тем хуже мы себя в итоге чувствуем! Многие люди могли наблюдать этот эффект на практике: стоило только перестать на время думать о том, как нам плохо и перевести внимание на что-то еще, как становится намного легче!
Именно поэтому в своем курсе «БЕЗ ПАНИКИ» я учу своих студентов больше уделять внимания тому, что делают другие, хотя бы на время переводить фокус на то, что происходит вокруг, вместо того, чтобы постоянно вариться в собственных мыслях. Я даю техники на развитие сострадания и добросердечия.
Благодаря искренней помощи другим, участию в чужих проблемах человек может освободиться от депрессии и тревоги. И это произойдет не в силу волшебства, а потому что такой человек осознает, что в мире существует что-то еще кроме его страдания и страха. Если он приглядится к миру, который его окружает, он увидит, что его проблемы не являются такими роковыми и неразрешимыми. Участие и забота дадут ему радость и удовлетворение, возродят веру в себя и позволят отвлечься от нестерпимой жизни «в своей голове».
Почему в таком случае нельзя сказать, что у этого человека хорошая карма, и теперь он пожинает ее благоприятные последствия?
Карма и ответственность
И помимо принципа, что мы должны быть добрее к людям, если не хотим страдать, мы можем взять из концепции кармы кое-что еще полезное.
Буддисты говорят, что за кармический эффект несет ответственность сам человек: «если убил кого-то в прошлой жизни, теперь сам неси ответственность!»
И совершенно точно, что за свою депрессию, за свою панику несем ответственность мы! И это имеет куда более глубокие выводы, чем просто признание того, что это произошло из-за нас, а не из-за кого-то еще. Это еще значит, что не травмы и стресс виноваты в вашем состоянии, не люди, которые вас раздражали и обижали. Ваш собственный ум, ваша собственная реакция на события жизни (а не сами события как таковые), а также отсутствие работы над своим умом - все это привело к тому, что есть сейчас!
Все понимают, что если запускать свое тело, не заниматься физкультурой и питаться всем подряд, то это приведет к проблемам со здоровьем. Но почему-то в современном мире не придают такого значения развитию ума и психики. Хотя здесь работает тот же принцип. Если вы относитесь халатно к здоровью своего сознания, например, не уделяете времени расслаблению, освобождению ума от тревожных мыслей и напряжения. Если вы не развиваете спокойствие, концентрацию, принятие, то все это может привести вас к проблемам.
И ответственность за них будет лежать на ваших плечах.
Это то, что очень многие отказываются понимать, списывая ответственность на что-то еще: «у меня депрессия, потому что нарушился химический баланс в мозгу» или «мои родители не любили меня, поэтому я вырос таким тревожным». Люди верят в это из соображений психологического комфорта, поэтому их бывает очень трудно переубедить. Часто случается так, что им намного важнее оставаться с этим убеждением, чем избавиться от депрессии.
Но, как я люблю говорить, признать ответственность - это не значит, что нужно винить себя. Зная, что негативные последствия текущей жизни обусловлены негативной кармой, хороший буддист будет формировать положительную карму. Ведь она зависит от него! А зная, что к негативным последствиям вашей жизни вас привели ваши собственные действия (или бездействие), мысли и эмоции, вы будете изменять их, чтобы освободиться от этих последствий. Мы не всегда можем изменить окружающий мир, но мы можем изменить себя.
Принять ответственность - значит признать, что раз все зависит от нас, значит, мы сами сможем помочь себе избавиться от страдания.
Не существует неизменного я, мы его можем изменить. Но об этом уже в следующей, заключительной части статьи. Где я буду говорить об основных заблуждениях нашего сознания, которые не только приводят к депрессии и тревоге, но и усугубляют эти недуги, не давая людям возможности выбраться. Мы поговорим о взаимообусловленности, отсутствии «Я» и моей любимой концепции «пустоты», непонимание которой может быть чревато большими эмоциональными проблемами. Постараюсь опубликовать последнюю статью на этой неделе.
