My Weltanschauung has its roots partly in the hard wiring of my brain (nature), partly in the processes that encultured me (nurture), and partly in a host of life’s serendipitous happenstances (chance).
The enculturation process can be viewed as a good thing (eg education) or a bad thing (eg brainwashing). In this age of globalization it might be good to avoid patterns of enculturation that result in xenophobic parochiality and in extreme them/us thinking. It might be good to encourage openness to and curiosity concerning other sub-cultures, cultures and their main ideologies.
Political science recognizes four main ideologies. They are shown below on a matrix with the horizontal axis going from political left to right and the vertical axis going from authoritarian at the top to libertarian at the bottom. This gives the four main ideologies of anarchism, socialism, fascism and liberalism. But the matrix is over simple. For example there are other authoritarian ideologies such as Marxism, communism, and religious fundamentalism. (For more detailed classification systems see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_spectrum )
The grander point about ideologies and Weltanshauungs is that people are prepared to kill and die in their name. This suggests that they serve some serious purpose. Presumably it has to do with a person’s sense of identity and their cognitive consonance. A popular and well endorsed world view offers relief from doubt, uncertainty and change.
Thich Nhat Hahn does not use the word Weltanschauung but he is very much aware of the concept. The first three of his fourteen mindfulness trainings tackle the problem of dealing with opposing world views. I have commented on the mindfulness trainings at some length elsewhere so I will present only the first three here.
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The First Mindfulness Training: Openness
Aware of the suffering created by fanaticism and intolerance, we are determined not to be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. We are committed to seeing the Buddhist teachings as a guiding means that help us learn to look deeply and develop understanding and compassion. They are not doctrines to fight, kill, or die for.
We understand that fanaticism in its many forms is the result of perceiving things in a dualistic or discriminative manner. We will train ourselves to look at everything with openness and the insight of interbeing in order to transform dogmatism and violence in ourselves and the world.
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My earlier comment:
Individual human beings are conditioned in parts by nature, nurture and serendipity. Both the conscious and the unconscious mindbrain are conditioned. The conditioning fits the individual to operate in a hunting and gathering group of 50-100 in the African savanna. The conditioning process creates a world view rooted in myth and magic and normally includes a distinction between ‘me, us and them’.
The conditioning process has resulted in a wide variety of forms throughout history and geography. At the positive end of the spectrum the conditioning can be thought of as broad-minded and open-ended education and training; while at the negative end it can be viewed as narrow-minded and limiting indoctrination and brainwashing.
THEY are war-mongering, intolerant, idolatrous, dogmatic, fanatics and zealots irrationally bound to theories, doctrines and ideologies that are rooted in dualistic myth and magic. In short, they are parochial xenophobes. Note – there is a lot of this about. In evolutionary terms it is fit enough to survive.
WE are peace-loving, tolerant, flexible, reasonable and rational. Our world view is rooted in the experiential monistic concept of interbeing. Along with the rocks and stones and plants and animals, we are all citizens of planet earth. In short we are global co-operators and environmentalists. Note: this way of understanding things is catching on (eg green politics and MBSR). How might we work towards making this viewpoint fitter?
At the personal level there is the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that often while on the cushion, the darker side of my nature and nurture enter the attention centre. The good news is the fact of neural plasticity – it is never too late to change your mindbrain. Notice what arises, label it and let it go. More good news – having experienced and understood the bad stuff in myself I am more inclined to be compassionate towards other people who have still to get on top of their bad stuff.
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The Second Mindfulness Training: Non-Attachment to Views
Aware of the suffering created by attachment to views and wrong perceptions, we are determined to avoid being narrow-minded and bound to present views. We are committed to learning and practicing nonattachment from views and being open to other’s insights and experiences in order to benefit from the collective wisdom. Insight is revealed through the practice of compassionate listening, deep looking, and letting go of notions rather than through the accumulation of intellectual knowledge.
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My earlier comment:
In the late 1960s I was conditioned into thinking and writing like a scientist (Zoologist) and later (1980 and 1986) as an academic. My worldview was a creation of those times.
I read Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 book -“The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” and thus knew that we were not dealing with ‘truth’ but rather with ‘the best working hypothesises in the light of evidence presently available’.
I also absorbed the scientific spirit of evidence-based, critical thinking where it was my duty to try and discredit the findings of fellow scientists. If the findings were insecure then it was for the greater good that this should be demonstrated. If the findings could withstand attack by the fiercest of adversaries then so much the better.
It sounds like a cool, rational process but emotions could run very high in opposing camps – scientists are also human beings and prone to cognitive biases. Groupthink is another ever present danger. Older and influential scientific brains often find it hard to shift with the paradigm and they come to be surrounded by careerist sycophants. “Max Planck … sadly remarked that ‘a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.’” Passions can get the better of reason!
But the non-attachment to views brought about by mindfulness is a guiding star in the methodology of both meditators and scientists. And the methodologies lead to very similar insights and understandings related to (a) the workings of the mindbrain, (b) the psychology of perception, (c) the politics of environmental stewardship and (d) the commitment to life-long learning.
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The Third Mindfulness Training: Freedom of Thought
Aware of the suffering brought about when we impose our view on others, we are determined not to force others, even our children, by any means whatsoever – such as authority, threat, money, propaganda, or indoctrination – to adopt our views.
We are committed to respecting the rights of others to be different, to choose what to believe and how to decide. We will, however, learn to help others let go of and transform narrowness through loving speech and compassionate dialogue.
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My earlier comment:
We all hold views. The views we hold depend on our conditioning. Our conditioning is part rooted in our nature which is hard wired into our genes as a legacy from our ancestors. It is also part rooted in our nurture which involves the formal and informal myths and magic associated with our family and community during early childhood and then with our friends and fellow workers and bosses when we mature. And finally our conditioning is rooted in serendipity – in chance occurrences that are deemed fortunate or otherwise.
I was not born as a completely blank slate. But my nature is now intimately mixed with my nurture which is rooted in rural Scotland in the 2nd half of the 20th century. There are no completely correct views and those that exist can change. To some extent I grew out of my natal nurturing through living and working in seven different countries. I worked in the beginning as a teacher (sit down shut up and listen) but I gradually evolved to be a facilitator of learning (never mind the views of others, be mindful; what do you think and feel – and why?).
Is there a difference between human nature and Buddha nature and if so what is it and when did it evolve? And how does dog nature, fish nature or even plant and rock nature fit it?
The answer lies in the concept of consciousness which links to awareness. Rocks are not aware of what goes on around them. Plants are aware of, and react to, changes in their environment but they are not conscious of what is happening – they are on automatic pilot like robots. Fish and dogs are aware and reactive but, arguably, they are not self conscious.
Only humans are conscious of being conscious and some are more conscious of it than others. There are two levels of self consciousness (a) the impoverished which is characterised by the idea of “I” want” and (b) the elaborated which can gently ask “Who or what is the “I” that wants?” – and – “Why does it want this rather than that?”.
The historical Buddha said that he was different from others in that he was aware of and awake to what was going on both inside and outside of himself. He embodied mindfulness. He saw the impermanence of all created things and he could thus be effortlessly renunciant of the viewpoints of himself and others.
“We will learn to help others
to let go of and transform narrowness
through loving speech and compassionate dialogue”
“Tread softly for you tread on my jokes” (Malcolm Muggeridge)
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As I get older I spend more time being mindful of what is happening in the present moment. This leads to my being able to treat thoughts and feelings lightly and to know that they are mind made. On those occasions when they rush in and capture most of the attention centre there are small spaces where the ‘observer’ can make a stand and thus quickly defuse the situation.
Something along the lines of, “Ah, hello my little friend anger – and what kind of mischief are you up to today?” OR “hello my little friend lust – now is not a good time - so fade away.”
My default weltanschauung has a strong flavour of anarchy which takes in the concepts of elegant power and its hegemony. The spirit of Antonio Gramsci was part of my conditioning as was Paulo Friere.
My self image is as a facilitator of learning aiming to help people set themselves free of narrow parochialism such that they can be part of the global community of mindfulness practitioners.
If you would like to join then you will have to go about renouncing your weltanschauung.
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