The notion of 'view' or 'opinion' (ditthi) as an obstacle to 'seeing things as they are' is a central concept in Buddhist thought. This book considers the two ways in which the notion of views are usually understood. Are we to understand right-view as a correction of wrong-views (the opposition understanding) or is the aim of the Buddhist path the overcoming of all views, even right-view (the no-views understanding)? The author argues that neither approach is correct. Instead, he suggests that the early texts do not understand right-view as a correction of wrong-view, but as a detached order of seeing, completely different from the attitude of holding to any view, wrong or right. Arguing that by the term "right-view" we should understand an order of seeing which transcends all views, this book makes a valuable addition to the study of Buddhist philosophy.
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Chapter I Introduction The opposition understanding The no-views understanding Recent studies of the notion of ditthi Knowledge of doctrine Is/ought Propositions and ways of seeing Chapter II The Content of Wrong-View Part One: Views that deny that actions have consequences The view of nihilism (natthika-ditthi) The view of non-doing (akiriya-ditthi) The view of non-causality (ahetu-ditthi) The view of Pakudha Kaccàyana The view of Nigaõñha Nàtaputta The view of Sa¤jaya Belaññhiputta and four eel-wriggling theories Wrong-view or right-view? Part Two: Views of self Identity-view (sakkàya-ditthi) Miscellaneous destructive views The six bases for views (ditthi-ññhàna) Six wrong-views from the Sabbàsava-sutta Acceptance of a view as a result of reflection (ditthi-nijjhànakakhanti) Views of the unanswered (avyàkata) type Conclusion Chapter III The Content of Right-View Part One: Views that affirm that actions have consequences The view of affirmation (atthika-ditthi) The view that there is doing (kiriya-ditthi) The view of causality (hetu-ditthi) The ten wholesome courses of action (dasa kusala-kammapathà) and the ten unwholesome courses of action (dasa kusala-kammapathà) Action and thought as the cause of good and bad rebirths The distinction between different levels of right-view Right-view as pa¤¤à Part two: Views of not-self The Sammàditthi-sutta Dependent-origination and the Sammàditthi-sutta The right-view of stream-entry The voice of another and appropriate bringing to mind (parato ghosa, yoniso manasikàra) The Mahàcattàrãsaka-sutta: right-view comes first Seeing phenomena as impermanent Right-view as seeing: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self' Four non-perversions of view (na ditthi-vipallàsà) The ten imperfections of insight (vipassanà upakkilesa) Conclusion Chapter IV The Way Wrong-View Functions The distinction between views and ignorance The thicket, wilderness, contortion, vacillation and fetter of views The ditthi-vagga The ditthi-saüyutta Views in the ditthi-kathà Views and craving in the Nettippakaraõa Chapter V The Way Right-view Functions Part one: Different levels of right-view Accomplishment in view (ditthi-sampadà) Accomplished in view (ditthi-sampanna) Purification of view (ditthi-visuddhi) Abandoning by substitution of opposites (tadaïgappahàna) Right-view as knowledge of knowing rise and fall (udayabbaya) Part two: The function of right-views on the higher paths The view that is noble and emancipating (ditthi ariyà niyyànikà) The function of view on the higher paths in the Atthasàlinã The abandoning of views Chapter VI The Transcendence of Views The Brahmajàla-sutta: views are attachment and attachments are views The 'view' that transcends sakkàya-ditthi The 'view' that transcends the avyàkata The Pàñali-sutta Seeing the wholesome and unwholesome The Nikkhepa-kaõóaü of the Dhammasaïgaõi: The six questions explaining the wholesome and unwholesome The Paññhàna: making the wholesome unwholesome and the unwholesome wholesome or turning medicine into poison and poison into medicine The three gateways to liberation Chapter VII Conclusion The Buddha's view expressing no dhamma and the Buddha's dhamma expressing no view Proto-Theravàda in the Màdhyamika canon? Dependence on what is seen, heard, thought and cognized The superior dhamma? Dãghanakha and the transcendence of views A different order of seeing Appendix 1 The views of the 'endless equivocators' or 'eel-wrigglers' 2 Wrong-views 3 The dasa akusala-kammapathà and the dasa kusala-kammapathà 4 The twelve unwholesome types of consciousness Abbreviations Bibliography
