Attention as a means of self‐dissolution and reformation
Amber D. Carpenter
Ratio September 28, 2018 DOI: 10.1111/rati.12215 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that, in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga, morally transformative attention is directed at impersonal reality rather than persons, even when the Buddha is the object of attention, and that successful meditation involves not just recognizing but experiencing reality and oneself as devoid of essence, thereby becoming so. |
Abstract
Abstract Buddhist ethics generally favour attention over action, and mental cultivation as the means of ethical transformation. Buddhaghosa’s treatment ofsamādhi– meditation – in thePath of Purification(Visuddhimagga) exemplifies this view that practices of attention are morally transforming. His detailed discussion of which forms of attentional exercises are transformative to whom reveal that edifying attention is directed to impersonal reality rather than persons – even when the Buddha is our object of attention. In successful meditation, we do not just recognise reality and ourselves as devoid of essence; we experience it as such – and in the experiencing, become so ourselves.
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Beyond Self and No-Self: Reconstructing the Buddha’s Middle-Way Account of Selfhood in the Early Buddhist Nikāyas Religions September 14, 2026
- An Existential Attention Norm for Affectively Biased Sentient Beings: A Buddhist Intervention from Buddhaghosa Journal of the American Philosophical Association January 9, 2025