Doctrinal Q&A about human belief

Q: The way we think is upside-down. Our four most prominent mistaken beliefs are called the Four Upside-Down, Deluded Views. List these Four Upside-Down, Deluded Views along with the contrasting correct teaching of Buddhism.

A:

Delusion Truth

1. Permanence ── Impermanence

2. Pleasure ── Suffering

3. Fixed/Unchanging Self ── Changing Self

4. Purity ── Impurity

Explanation

It is taught that human ideas of permanence, pleasure, fixed self, and purity are upside-down. Such upside-down thoughts are called “Deluded Views.”

1. Permanence: We think that what we believe in will last forever although everything is impermanent.

2. Pleasure: We consider our lives to be joyful although the reality is that “life is suffering.”

3. Fixed/Unchanging Self: We think that we have an unchanging self although there is no fixed and unchanging self.

4. Purity: We consider things in the human world to be pure although everything in the human world is impure.

(from 2-39 of the doctrine book)

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