Knives are a fascinating tool. Fire is an extraordinary elemental force. Chemicals are crucial to survival. 

At first glance, knives, fire, and chemicals share a common root. It has the ability to conjure images of danger, as all three have very negative connotations — harm, death, and destruction. They can inflict harm and, in the wrong hands, be destructive. An invisible force repels us from these as we subconsciously shy away from them, fearing their potential for harm. Paradoxically, if we were to remove these utilities, it would lead to disaster, hardship and, ironically, death. Wielded skillfully, knives can prepare food, carve intricate art, or even perform life-saving surgeries. Fire, harnessed correctly, provides warmth, helps us cook meals, and forge lifesaving tools and equipment. Chemicals form the foundation of everything from medicine to fertilisers, enabling a healthy and thriving world.

The question arises: do all these ‘bad’ tools enhance or hinder our quality of life? It's a cycle, a paradigm. The real question isn't whether these elements exist but how we choose to interact with them.

Breaking news: A man takes a knife and stabs it into the abdomen of another.

Instantly, a sense of dread sets in. We label this event ‘bad’, and other negative emotions can follow. But before jumping to conclusions, consider the context, as our perception can shift completely with the context. Learning the details can change how you feel. The words 'knife' and 'stab' inherently carry negative connotations, predisposing us to view the act negatively and creating a negative image. The image of a sinister man wearing a black hoody walking in a dark alley and committing an act of violence as they ‘stab’ a ‘knife’ into an innocent victim is conjured in the mind.

However, that same sharp object, now called a ‘scalpel,’ and the action described as 'inserts' or 'makes an incision,' paints an entirely different picture. We envision a sterile operating room, a skilled surgeon performing a life-saving procedure. 

The instrument itself remains the same, whether a knife or a scalpel. However, our perception of the act changed, shaped by the context and the words used. Also, how the instrument was used changed our perception. Technology, tools, and even words themselves are neutral. It is their application and intent that determines their impact.

There's a wise Sinhala proverb: ‘Like a monkey that found a razor’. Imagine a mischievous monkey swinging through the lush canopy of a rainforest. It spots a glint of metal – a razor, perhaps dropped by a careless traveller. The monkey, curious by nature, picks it up. It's unlike anything it's ever seen before, smooth and cool against its fur. In its playful nature, the monkey starts to bat the razor around. It admires its reflection in the polished surface, unaware of the razor's deadly potential. The problem with a razor (dali pihiya) is that it is so sharp that the monkey doesn’t realise the consequences of its action until it stops and looks down to see crimson stains spread across its fur, blood pooling at its feet, hair shavings and even body parts laying on the ground. The razor, in itself, isn't inherently evil. In the hands of a skilled barber, it can create intricate designs. But in the grasp of an ignorant creature, it becomes a tool of destruction.

The monkey and the razor proverb is an essential reminder to be mindful of what we use. When it comes to the topic of the mind, we are like the monkey with the razor in its paws. We were all born with it; much like the monkey unaware of the razor's danger, we often struggle to understand the complexities of our own thoughts and emotions. This lack of knowledge can lead us down the path of suffering, ensnaring us in the clutches of addiction.

Blind to the workings of our own mental landscape, we stumble through life. It's only in retrospect, as we gaze back upon the wreckage of our existence, that we recognise the havoc brought upon our lives. Jeopardised relationships, compromised health, financial and overall well-being deteriorated, all casualties of our ignorance and the descent into the abyss of addiction and mental anguish.

When was the last time you peeked into the user manual of your mind?  Usually, when we purchase a new product, it arrives accompanied by an instruction manual. Most people – about 75% of all humanity – tend to toss it aside in our rush to get started due to our ever-growing impatient nature. Yet, when glitches emerge, and obstacles impede our progress, we reluctantly fish the manual out, blow off the layers of accumulated dust, and read it. Even still, it is only done haphazardly, often oblivious to details whose omission sometimes leads to irrecoverable disastrous consequences.

Imagine if every complex device came without instructions. Imagine getting the latest state-of-the-art, smart washing machine – Wi-Fi connected, app-controlled, a marvel of modern technology. You toss in your laundry, select a cycle, and press start with a confident tap on your phone. But then – beep, beep, beep. Error code: ER101. Panic sets in. What now? Being the tech-savvy species that we are, we resort to the oldest trick in the book: turn it off and on again. No luck. Being the creatures of habit that we are, we also resort to our most primitive trick in the book: giving it a whack. Another attempt. But alas, the error persists, mocking our efforts. Feeling defeated, we begrudgingly resort to the manual (or a frantic Google search). Lo and behold, there it is—our salvation! The manual tells us exactly what has gone wrong and how to fix it—a simple solution to ER101. Following the instructions, we triumphantly conquer the glitch and finally wash those clothes. Crisis averted!

It's a remarkable paradox: we've been using our minds since the dawn of humanity. Yet, we often lack a clear understanding of how they function, their inner workings or troubleshooting methods when error codes appear. No manual, no standard operating procedures (SOPs). There was no one to educate us, and so we find ourselves grappling with suffering, and we struggle to navigate our thoughts and emotions. Fortunately, there are paths to gaining a deeper understanding of the mind. Fortunately, I found a teacher who helped me unlock the secrets of my mind and handed me the ultimate manual to self-mastery. This knowledge has been transformative, not just for me but for thousands of others. At Jethavanamrama Buddhist Monastery, the monks, Anagarikas, Anagarikās, and devotees alike have dedicated themselves to studying the ‘manual’ of the mind, its mechanics and workings. Through this study, we learn to identify and address the ‘error codes’ that plague our mental well-being with suffering, liberating ourselves from the shackles of addiction, the pangs of worry, the flames of desire, and the stings of ego. The results are profound.  I am proud to report that over 500 of us have undergone profound personal transformations and overcome our addictions, emerging victorious over our respective internal demons. So, let us buckle in together to read the manual.

What is the fundamental purpose of a washing machine? As the name suggests, its purpose is to wash, particularly fabrics. Now, let us look at the mind. What, is its raison d'être? To unravel this enigma, let me pose another question: What are you doing at this very moment? Presumably, you're engrossed in reading this article. In essence, you are seeing, which means your mind is actively processing visual information – seeing the words and interpreting their meaning. When a sound grabs your attention, your focus shifts. You're now hearing and interpreting that sound. The mind constantly processes sensory input from your body, be it the ambient sounds, the tactile sensation of clothes against your skin, or even the subtle nuances of taste or scent lingering in the air. We can fit all of life, every experience, into one of these six baskets: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking. Our minds act like processors, receiving information from our senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body) and making sense of everything. But our minds go beyond those five traditional senses. We form memories, generate ideas, and contemplate the world around us. This ‘thinking’ function can be considered an additional ‘mental sense’. The mind interprets and perceives all this incoming data, creating our unique understanding of the world.

The ‘minding’ process is indeed complex. Our existing views, beliefs, and ideologies heavily influence it. These act like filters, colouring how we perceive the world around us. Imagine being in a gathering of people, maybe at a party. A trusted friend points and warns you that someone you know, ‘Person X,’ is not who we think them to be but a pickpocket. Upon receiving this information, our perception of ‘Person X' undergoes a profound shift. Suddenly, every action and interaction involving them becomes tinted by suspicion and apprehension. For instance, if we observe ‘person X' retrieving money from their wallet or purse, our initial assumption may lean towards the notion that the funds were obtained through illicit means, stolen rather than earned through honest toil, even if it is, in fact, legitimate. Similarly, if ‘person X' accidentally brushes against another individual, our mind raises a red flag. Our immediate reaction might be to suspect foul play, presuming that something has been stolen. Consequently, our attitude towards ‘person X' takes on a negative hue, and we become increasingly wary of engaging with them, a complete change from our previous interactions. This scenario perfectly illustrates how our views shape perception. Preexisting beliefs act as a filter, influencing how we interpret sensory information and, ultimately, how we feel and react. In the pickpocket example, the negative view leads to negativity towards Person X, even if their actions are innocent.

In essence, the mind operates by the perspectives it embraces. The mind operates like a mirror, refracting the world through the lens of our views and beliefs. In simpler terms, we feel things according to how we look at them. However, without a comprehensive understanding of how the mind functions, we risk tumbling into perilous depths of ignorance. The danger lies in blindly accepting these views as absolute truth. Think about the "pickpocket friend" scenario. Did we ever consider the possibility of being wrong? Once entrenched, they often appear indisputable, blinding us to their fallibility. We rarely question our established views, leading us to potentially act on inaccurate information. How many such ‘wrong views’ might we hold, and what consequences have they had, do they have, and will they have? This isn't about creating crippling self-doubt or panic but fostering healthy scepticism.  We should examine the foundation of our beliefs.  Did we inherit them uncritically? Are they based on reliable evidence? This introspection allows us to refine our worldview and potentially escape the "dangerous abyss" of misinformation.

In our previous article, we explored the role of brain reward pathways in addiction. We identified how viewpoints play a crucial role. The more we believe a substance brings pleasure, the stronger that belief becomes, fueling cravings and making it harder to break the cycle, making it progressively harder to resist cravings and engage in alternative behaviours. The cyclical nature of addiction perpetuates a self-reinforcing loop. Now, let's turn our attention to the concept of pleasure itself. Are external substances or experiences the source of our pleasure? How valid is our viewpoint? To answer this question for yourselves, I would strongly suggest applying the concepts you have learned in the Buddha’s Guide to Happiness series to the lab of your life.

The genesis of all mental addictions and cravings lies in the internalisation of the belief that a particular substance or experience will give pleasure. There are, of course, substances that have a biochemical impact on the body, to which the body may respond with a heightened sense of awareness or even hallucinations. However, we are referring here to the mind. If we were to compile a list of items or experiences we enjoy, we'd discover that each one elicits feelings of satisfaction, contentment, or joy, even if for a brief period. And vice versa, a list of items and experiences we don’t enjoy doesn’t give rise to these feelings. This prompts a fundamental question: which comes first, the sensation of pleasure through the association of something or the desire for it?

This is a fascinating paradox. We understand that objects themselves are neutral; it's our perception, like an artist's brush, that paints them with pleasure. Take chocolate, for instance—renowned for its delectable flavour. But what ingredient in chocolate contains pleasure, or does the factory somehow infuse pleasure into it during production? We find that the basic ingredients of chocolate, cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, and emulsifiers are devoid of pleasure. Adding any of these ingredients to something else cannot automatically make it pleasurable. Moreover, there's a widespread belief that chocolate triggers the release of endorphins and serotonin in the brain, thus inducing feelings of pleasure. However, if this were true, shouldn't every individual, human or beast, derive enjoyment from consuming chocolate? Yet, up to 10% of the global population begs to differ, which means that there is a psychological effect influenced by individual differences. We cannot argue that there are physical pleasures whenever there is relief from physical discomfort, but the mind’s response to that is another matter. We must understand that if and when the mind derives pleasure from the physical experience of pleasure, the mind is simply relieving itself from vexation. It would be wrong to interpret this mental pleasure as an innate experience of the physical experience.

Throughout our lives, we encounter instances where our preferences fluctuate. Sometimes, we find ourselves disliking something initially, only to develop a fondness for it over time. A song you initially dislike might become a favourite through repeated listening. Conversely, there are occasions when something we once enjoyed loses its appeal. This begs the question: what exactly is pleasure? By unravelling the essence of pleasure, we gain insight that enables us to reassess our views and break free from the cycle of addiction. 

In our next article, we'll delve into the fascinating idea of the illusion of pleasure. Understanding pleasure is essential to change and remove ‘wrong views’. Until then, reflect on the concepts we've explored thus far, pondering the views we cling to. Do they truly hold water?