Oxford University Press eBooks· 2013· Book chapter
Constructing Experience
- 178citations
- 2013year
Short summary
Buddhist texts link 'cetanā' (intention/volition) and 'saṅkhāra' (mental formations) as constructive forces that accumulate experience through action, influenced by prior habits.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Cetanā and saṅkhāra are identified as constructive aspects of mental experience in Buddhist texts.
- Action is viewed through agency (constructing future experience) and patiency (being conditioned by past actions).
- The chapter discusses the specific intentions of arhats, the ten good and bad deeds, and the role of abstinence.
- These concepts explain how intention and action accumulate further experience.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Chapter 1 takes up the treatment of cetanā as it is discussed in the Suttas and Buddhaghosa’s commentaries on them. It shows the links between cetanā and saṅkhāra and explains how they are the constructive aspects of the mental experience of action that accumulate further experience. Intention and action can be understood in two rubrics: through agency, in that they construct further experience, and through patiency, in that they are conditioned by previous action and habits of mind. The chapter also discusses the distinctive intentions of arhats, the 10 good (kusala) and bad (akusala) deeds, and the place of abstinence or the absence of bad actions and thoughts in Buddhist thinking on morality.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Oxford University Press eBooks, 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: Religious studies
Religious studiesArts and Humanities