Vervaeke's "MEANING CRISIS" #8 | Buddha: Having vs Being
The lecture series will be used as a chapter-by-chapter stimulus for exploring the topic of meaning in what we hope will be a long-running series.
You can find Vervaeke's original Lecture 8 here:
• Ep. 8 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis ...
00:50 Summary
08:54 Commentary, recovering the lost mode of being
13:31 Savoring - the Gateway to Being
16:47 Having Health vs Being Healthy
21:15 Morality and Meta-Ethics
33:50 What is Spiritual "Peace"?
41:29 Meditation and Vipassana
01:05:00 Feature Lists vs Feature Schemas
01:13:04 When Mindfulness Should Be Avoided
01:15:26 Anxiety, Self-Trust and Doing Less
TOPICS:
We start by underscoring the significance of understanding the concept of existential modes, originally introduced in the seventh video. Atif describes existential modes as an agent (the individual) interacting within an arena (their environment). The agent-arena relationship is deemed effective if there's a harmonious fit between them, which is called "nomological order".
Existential modes are of two kinds: having mode and being mode. The having mode involves categorical and utilitarian interactions to meet needs, while the being mode implies a deeper engagement that is individual, expressive and connected. The speaker uses the example of the difference between having sex (having mode) and making love (being mode) to further illustrate these concepts.
The video then proceeds to the life story of Siddhartha, the prince who lived in opulence and was protected from suffering, embodying the 'having mode'. However, upon encountering the realities of sickness and death, Siddhartha's understanding of his existence, encapsulated by the having mode, seems absurd and he experiences 'modal confusion'. His journey of self-denial and abstinence, although aimed to reach the 'being mode', is revealed to be another form of the 'having mode' instead of transcending it.
He references the Matrix movie to highlight that living well is about achieving a balance between the having and being modes, akin to well-tuned strings of a lyre. Siddhartha is able to attain this equilibrium through a state of mind known as 'sati' or mindfulness, though the speaker asserts that the English term 'mindfulness' doesn't entirely capture the depth of the concept.
He then delves into a critique of common misunderstandings about mindfulness, arguing that people often focus on its feature list instead of the underlying feature schema or Eidos. He compares this to how the memory palace technique, while useful for memorizing data, doesn't help to comprehend the workings of memory in the brain.
Lastly, we delve into the facet of 'attention' in mindfulness. We challenge conventional interpretations of 'paying attention', describing it as an ongoing exploration and renewal of interest in the object of meditation rather than a static spotlight.