This week’s reading is an extract from a talk by Subhuti (2013, Padmaloka) entitled Positive Emotion.
Although originally given to men training for ordination, the material is relevant to anyone trying to live the Dharma life. The link to the full talk is available in the resources section near the end of this document.
You are encouraged to read this material early in the week so that you can reflect on it and the suggested questions beforehand. Make notes of anything you are not clear about or any questions you may have, and bring them to the group.
The Term “Positive Emotion”
When Bhante first used the term positive emotion (in the talk on the System of Meditation), he was arranging the various practices taught in the Order and Movement into a kind of hierarchy, showing where the Mettā Bhāvanā fits into the schema.
Looking more closely, it becomes clear that the term positive emotion is too fuzzy:
- A lot that is called positive can feel negative.
- Emotion is itself a vague word, covering both mere feelings and motivation.
In Buddhism, distinctions are sharper:
- Volitional, affective side → motivation/volition (karma).
- Passively felt side → feelings/vedanā.
Thus, by positive we really mean skilful (kusala).
By emotion we really mean motivation/volition—the volitional activity of body, speech, and mind (karma).
So, this stage concerns the development of skilful karma.
From Integration to Skilful Karma
The previous stage, integration, involves fully realising that you are a moral agent. Now, the task is to work in the moral field, developing skilful karma.
This requires dharma-vicaya (discrimination of mental events), the second of the bodhiyaṅgas after sati (mindfulness). We must learn:
- To distinguish the skilful from the unskilful.
- To recognise both in terms of their effects and their qualities.
The skilful:
- Beneficial effects (greater openness, awareness, happiness, fulfilment).
- Qualities of mettā, generosity, non-acquisitiveness, mental clarity.
The unskilful:
- The opposite of these qualities.
Precepts and Moral Sensibility
We train ourselves to recognise skilful and unskilful states:
- Precepts act as guides, showing the behaviour of the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, or Arahats—beings entirely free of unskilfulness.
- Precepts provide a portrait of complete skilfulness against which we can check our own actions.
From this arise:
- Apatrāpya: moral shame in relation to those we admire.
- Hrī (hiri): a direct, inner moral sensibility (moral pain at unskilful acts).
This moral sense is akin to an aesthetic sense: just as beauty is recognised directly, skilful and unskilful can be felt directly.
Awareness and Warm Sensitivity
Mindfulness (smṛti/sati) is not a cold, objective spotlight but a warm, sensitive awareness.
True mindfulness perceives the moral and aesthetic quality of life, both around and within.
Thus morality is, in the end, natural:
- Karma is woven into the fabric of reality.
- Humans have a natural responsiveness to the moral quality of things.
Painful but Skilful; Pleasant but Unskilful
It is vital to distinguish:
- Vedanā (pleasant/unpleasant feeling)
- Karma (skilful/unskilful volition)
They are not the same.
Examples:
- Painful but skilful: regret for past unskilfulness, sadness at parting from creative conditions, empathy with others’ suffering.
- Pleasant but unskilful: revenge, schadenfreude, or delight in others’ misfortune.
Much of our practice is disentangling vedanā (vipāka) from karma (volition).
Developing Moral Sensibility
Distinguishing vipāka from karma means cultivating moral sensitivity. On retreat, this sensitivity often heightens, only to dull again in daily life. The task is to struggle to open it up more and more.
After dharma-vicaya comes vīrya (effort):
- Effort to choose the skilful,
- To reject the unskilful,
- To check ourselves and cultivate conducive conditions.
Unskilful motivations run deep, requiring deliberate effort. There is no “non-developmental model” in Buddhism—growth requires conscious effort.
Methods of Cultivation
We cultivate skilful states through:
- Precepts
- Meditation (Mindfulness of Breathing, Mettā Bhāvanā, etc.)
- Spiritual friendship and communication
Through these practices, our moral sensibility sharpens. Ultimately, the Buddha encourages reliance on direct experience (Kālāma Sutta):
- Refrain from what is blameworthy and harmful.
- Do what is praiseworthy, praised by the wise, and leads to happiness.
This is the heart of cultivating positive emotion (skilful volition).
❧ Questions for Reflection and Discussion
- Does thinking of positive emotion as skilful volition or skilful intention change your relation to it? Try cultivating skilful volitions in the coming days and observe the effect on your Dharma life. Share your experience with the group.
- “The deliberate cultivation of … moral sensibility is extremely important in Buddhism. In a way it is equivalent to an aesthetic sense.”
- How do we respond to hrī and apatrāpya in our Dharma lives?
- Do we see them as positive emotions?
- How might they be equivalent to an aesthetic sense?
- How might we consciously cultivate deeper sensitivity to them?
- Explain in your own words the “sharp, clear distinction between vedanā and karma” referred to in the text.
- “The first task in developing skilful karma is distinguishing between the skilful and the unskilful, and especially distinguishing them both from merely pleasant or painful vedanā … This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Buddhist teaching.”
- Do you confuse pleasant with skilful or unpleasant with unskilful?
- Give examples.
- How might you avoid this in future?
- Vīrya (effort) is needed to choose the skilful. The skilful doesn’t unfold naturally unless one is highly attained.
- Is this our experience?
- How do we consciously cultivate vīrya in our lives?
- “Non-developmental models are not Dharmic models.”
- Are we clear what is meant here?
- Discuss any responses with the group.