healthy I unhealthydichotomy

MENTAL HEALTHIN CLASSICAL BUDDHISTPSYCHOLOGY

Daniel GolemanHarvard University

All that we are isthe result of what we have thought: all that we areis founded on our thoughts, and it is made up of our thoughts.

If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain followshim, asthe wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wagon.

If a man speaksor actswitha pure thought,happinessfoHows him,like a shadow that never leaves him,

These lines from the Dhammapada(Babbitt, 1936) reflect thebasic dichotomy in Abhidhamma, the classical Buddhist psy­chology, between pure (wholesome' or healthy) and impure('unwholesome' or unhealthy) properties. In this system thefactors which compose one's mental states from moment tomoment determine one's mental health." The list of healthyfactors represents a transpersonal model for mental health, aview of what is possible for the healthy person which tran­scends the limits of our present-day psychological notions ofhealth.

UNHEALTHY FACTORS

The Abhidhamma model of mental health realistically ac­knowledges a full range of negative, unhealthy attitudes that

This study was supported in part by a post-doctoral Research Training Fel­lowship from the Social Science Research Council. A revised and expandedversion of this paper wasdelivered to the Association for the Advancement ofPsychotherapy, New York City, March 20, 1975, and will appear in theAmericanJournal0/Psychotherapy,

* The two best sources available in English on Abhidhamma are NaradaThera (1956) and Herbert V. Guenther (1974); see also Shultz (1975).

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stand in the way of healthy psychological development. Of thefourteen basic unhealthy factors, the major perceptual factor isdelusion (moha), a perceptual cloudiness causing mispercep­tion of the object of awareness. Delusion is seen.as the funda­mental source of unhealthy mental states; it leads directly to acognitive factor, 'false view' or misdiscernment (diUhi), thoughits role in other unhealthy factors is less direct. False viewentails miscategorization, and so is the natural consequence ofmisperception. Other unhealthy cognitive factors include:shamelessness (ahirika) and remorselessness-attitudes allow­ing one to view evil acts without compunction, disregardingboth others' opinions and internalized standards-and egoism(mana), an attitude of self-interest where objects are viewedsolely in terms of fulfilling one's own desires or needs. Per­plexity (vicikiccha) is the inability to decide or make a correctjudgment.

The bulk of unhealthy mental factors are affective. Agitation(uddhacca) and worry (kukkucca)-elements in anxiety-aretwo primary factors in this category. Greed (lobha), avarice(macchariya), and envy (issa) form a cluster characterized bygrasping attachment to an object; aversion (dosa) is the nega­tive pole on the continuum of attachment. Contraction (thina)and torpor (middha) contribute a non-adaptive, rigid infiexi­bility and moribund inaction to unhealthy mental states.

These unhealthy factors are opposed by a set of fourteen fac­tors which are always present in healthy states. The key prin­ciple in the Abhidhamma for achieving mental health is thereciprocal inhibition of unhealthy mental factors by healthyones. Just as in systematic desensitization-where tension issupplanted by its physiological opposite, relaxation-healthymental states are antagonistic to unhealthy ones and inhibitthem. In the dynamic of this system, the presence of a givenhealthy factor disallows the arising of a specific unhealthyfactor, or group of factors, though not always on a one-to-onebasis. The healthy and unhealthy factors shown in the table(below) are in a general opposition rather than in specificopposition. More elaborate explanations are found in Guen­ther(l974) and Narada Thera (l956).

HEALTHY FACTORS

The major healthy factor of insight or understanding (pan­na)-'clear perception of the object as it really is's-suppressesthe fundamental unhealthy factor of delusion. These two fac­tors cannot coexist in a single mental state: where insight is,delusion cannot be. Mindfulness (sati) in healthy mental states

perceptualcognitive factors

affective factors

reciprocalinhibition

Mental Health in Classical Buddhist Psychology 177

core healthyfactors

allows continued clear comprehension of an object, and is anessential concomitant of wisdom. Insight and mindfulnessare the fundamental healthy factors; when they are present,the other healthy factors tend to arise.

The twin cognitive factors of modesty (hiri) and discretion(ottappa) arise only when a healthy mental state has as objectan evil act; they function to inhibit committing such acts andso directly oppose shamelessness and remorselessness. Thesefactors are supported by rectitude (cittujukata), a more generalcognitive factor of correctness in judgment. An associatedaffective factor is confidence (saddha), a sureness based oncorrect perception or knowledge. Non-attachment (alobha),non-aversion (adosa), and impartiality (tatramajjhata) to­gether oppose the cluster of unhealthy factors formed bygreed, avarice, envy, and aversion, replacing it with an even­mindedness toward whatever object may arise in awareness.The factor of composure (gittapassaddhi) reflects the calm andtranquil feeling tone arising from allaying strong positive andnegative emotions of attachment. A final affective group offactors influence both mind and body: buoyancy iahuta),pliancy (muduta), efficiency ikammanatai, and proficiency(pagunnata), which together supplant contraction and torpor,lending attributes of flexibility, ease, adapatability, and skill­fulness to the configuration of mental health. These corehealthy factors, besides supplanting unhealthy ones, furtherprovide the foundation for a set of positive affective stateswhich cannot arise in the presence of unhealthy factors. Theseinclude equanimity, compassion, loving-kindness. and al-

PRIMARY MENTAL FACTORS IN CLASSICAL BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

PERCllPTUAI.!

COGNJTIVE:

AFFECTIVE:

UNHEALTHY FACTORS

DelusionFalse viewShamelessnessRem orselessnessEgoismPerplexity

AgitationGreedAversionEnvyAvariceWorryContractionTorpor

HEAI.:fHY FACTORS

InsightMindfulnessModestyDiscretionConfidenceRectitude

ComposureNon-attachmentNon-aversionImpartialityBuoyancyPliancyEfficiencyProficiency

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truistic joy, that is, a joy which arises when the happiness ofanother comes into awareness.

Healthy or unhealthy factors tend to arise in groups, but anymental state which has a single unhealthy factor present is seenas entirely unhealthy. Indeed, in this system the operationaldefinition of mental disorder is the presence of any unhealthyfactors in the psychic economy of the person. Mental health isthus the absence of unhealthy factors and the presence ofhealthy factors in the person's mental states. All of us are mostlikely 'unhealthy' by this criterion. Still, each of us probablyexperiences Wholly'healthy' mental states for greater or lesserperiods as mind-moments come and go in our stream ofconsciousness. Very few if any of us, however, experience onlyhealthy mental states. But this is precisely the goal of psycho­logical development in Abhidhamma,

THE ARAHAT AS PROTOTYPE

From the Abhidhamma point of view, the arahat, or ideal man,embodies the essence of mental health. The arahat is a being inwhom no unhealthy mental factors whatsoever arise in themind. From our perspective, he can be seen as having achievedan altered trait of consciousness, whereby certain processes ofconsciousness are lastingly altered. The personality and behav­ioral concomitants of these changes in the arahat's psycho­logical economy are numerous. A partial enumeration of a tra­ditional list includes: I) absence of: greed for sense desires,anxiety, resentments, or fears of any sort; dogmatisms such asthe belief that this or that is 'the Truth'; aversion to conditionssuch as loss, disgrace, pain or blame; feelings of lust or anger;experience of suffering; need for approval, pleasure or praise;desire for anything for oneself beyond essential and necessaryitems; and 2) prevalence of: impartiality toward others andequanimity in all circumstances; ongoing alertness and calmdelight in experience, no matter how ordinary or even boring;strong feelings of compassion and loving-kindness; quick andaccurate perception; composure and skill in taking action.

While the arahat may seem virtuous beyond belief from aWestern perspective, he embodies characteristics common tothe ideal type in most every Asian psychology: the arahat is theprototypic saint. In our contemporary psychologies this pro­totype is notable in the main by its absence. Such a radicaltransformation of being overreaches the goals and hopes ofOUI psychotherapies, and indeed is beyond the pale of virtuallyevery modern theory of personality. From the perspective of

goal inAbhidhamma

altered traits ofconsciousness

theprototypicsaint

Mental Health in Classical Buddhist Psychology 179

gradualtransformation

statespecificscience

check list

Western psychology the arahat must seem too good to exist; helacks many characteristics which we assume intrinsic to humannature. Yet the prototype of the saint is a major tenet of Asianpsychologies which have continued to thrive for two and threemillennia. In terms of this time scale, modern psychology hasbarely begun. How can a psychology which posits an ideal-outlandish from a modern perspective-be so resilient?

One possibility is that the arahat, or the prototype of the saintgenerally, is an ideal type which a few rare individuals achieve.It is the end-point in a gradual transformation which anyonecan undertake, and in which anyone can succeed in whateversmall measure. Thus the yogi, monk, or layman may not be­come a saint overnight, but may well experience a self­reinforcing degree of internal change along the continuumof mental states toward the healthy pole.

The Abhidhamma system of psychology is essentially phe­nomenological, a descriptive theory of internal states whichcan be tested only by an individual who undergoes the re­quired training and subsequent experience himself. The Abhi­dhamma psychology is a "state-specific science" by Tart's(1972) definition; data isderived from, applied to, and pre­dictions made within, an altered state of consciousness~here,the self-regulated altered states induced by meditation.

A possible pitfall of such state-specific sciences is self­deception. For this reason some may feel the need of externalchecks, tests, and verifications of the hypotheses or predictionsmade in such state-specific theories, insofar as they are amen­able to verification from the vantage point of methods pre­dicated on normal consciousness. To a large degree this ispossible with Abhidhamma descriptions of the experientialchanges stemming from intense one-pointedness on the onehand, or systematic mindfulness on the other (see Goleman,1972a; 1972b).

Others may prefer a more personal application. The Abhi­dhamma provides meditators with a check-list of healthy qual­ities (seeTable) against which moment-to-moment swings inthought, mood, and feeling can be compared. If meditation ishaving the proper effect, the meditator's everyday states ofmind should develop increasingly more properties from the'healthy' list, and a corresponding drop in the proportion of'unhealthy' properties. In this way a positive course of gradualchange can be charted as the effects of meditation are felt indaily life.

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REFERENCES

BABBITT,L (Transl.). The Dhammapada. New York: New Di­rections, 1936.

GOLEMAN,D. The Buddha on meditation and states of con­sciousness, part I: The teachings. J. Transpersonal Psychol.,1972a,4, I, 1-44.

GOLEMAN,D. The Buddha on meditation and states of con­sciousness, part II: A typology of meditation techniques.J. Transpersonal Psychol., I972b, 4, 2,151-210.

GUENTHER,H. V. Philosophy and psychology in the Abhidhar­rna. Berkeley: Shambhala, 1974.

NARADATHERA.A manual of Abhidhamma, I & II. Colombo,Ceylon: Vajirarama, 1956.

SHULTZ,J. Stages on the spiritual path: A Buddhist perspec­tive. J. Transpersonal Psychol., 1975,7, I, 14-28.

TART, C. T. Scientific foundations for the study of alteredstates of consciousness. J. Transpersonal Psychol., 1971, 3,2,93-124.

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