Friday, April 27, 2012

Rokeach Value Survey

One of my friends is graduating with his MBA in business management this year. In class this week his professor was talking about the Rokeach Value Survey. My friend asked me if there was any relation of these values to Buddhism.

The wikipedia definition (which is legitimate) for RVS is as follows:


The Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) is a classification system of values. Developed by social psychologist Milton Rokeach, the system consists of two sets of values, 18 individual value items in each. One set is called terminal values the other instrumental values.[1]
RVS is based on a 1968 volume (Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values)[2] which presented the philosophical basis for the association of fundamental values with beliefs and attitudes. His value system was instrumentalised into the Rokeach Value Survey in his 1973 book The Nature of Human Values.[1]
Terminal Values refer to desirable end-states of existence. These are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. These values vary among different groups of people in different cultures.
The terminal values in RVS are:
  1. True Friendship
  2. Mature Love
  3. Self-Respect
  4. Happiness
  5. Inner Harmony
  6. Equality
  7. Freedom
  8. Pleasure
  9. Social Recognition
  10. Wisdom
  11. Salvation
  12. Family Security
  13. National Security
  14. A Sense of Accomplishment
  15. A World of Beauty
  16. A World at Peace
  17. A Comfortable Life
  18. An Exciting Life

Instrumental Values refer to preferable modes of behavior. These are preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values.

The Instrumental Values are:
  1. Cheerfulness
  2. Ambition
  3. Love
  4. Cleanliness
  5. Self-Control
  6. Capability
  7. Courage
  8. Politeness
  9. Honesty
  10. Imagination
  11. Independence
  12. Intellect
  13. Broad-Mindedness
  14. Logic
  15. Obedience
  16. Helpfulness
  17. Responsibility
  18. Forgiveness
The task for participants in the survey is to arrange the 18 terminal values, followed by the 18 instrumental values, into an order "of importance to YOU, as guiding principles in YOUR life"

We began a back and forth over the differences between RVS and the 6 perfections. And how would I organize the 6 perfections, if I had to prioritize. It was a very interesting conversation to think about values and how it relates to business and management. 
The most important is always wisdom. The 6 perfections operates like a circle, instead of linear. So what makes them 'perfections' is that each of the attributes (giving, morality, patience, effort, concentration, wisdom) MUST involve and invoke wisdom. The ultimate wisdom is karma/ pure non-duality of things. So doing all 5 perfections with wisdom in mind eventually leads to a direct perception of the 6th: wisdom in the form of a direct perception and actually visually seeing how everything has pure non duality. 


#6 wisdom is what you want ultimately. The other 5 perfections of supported and lead up to wisdom.

In buddhism there is no separation btw what I 'want' and how I 'act.' So to practice the 6 perfections it is implied that you want 1)giving/wealth 2) morality/ethical associates 3) patience/ understanding 4) effort/hard workers 5) concentration/focused surroundings and 6) wisdom.

Btw these are abbreviated the actual six that I want and therefore must do are..

1. mindful giving
-giving with awareness of karma and emptiness

2. morality
-keeping vows of not harming
-keeping vows of working for good of all
-keeping vows of secret word or Tantra (if you have them)

3. Patience: art of controlling anger

4. Joyful Effort - undertaking something w/ purpose and strong intentions

5. Concentration
-meditation practice
-some practice throughout day

6. Wisdom - direct perception of emptiness! Yay!

#6 is ultimately what you want out of life. It's one thing to 'talk' about wisdom and it's entirely different to actually see the world in the highest context. Imagine being able to actually see the inner workings of the world that we only see the surface of 100% of the time.

The direct perception of emptiness usually takes 20 minutes to 1 hr and happens when mind finally breaks down the mental images of world (including sound, taste, touch). The gross body functions almost stop, breath is barely a whisper. You can't hear anything or see any images or taste anything. The mind goes into a pure state of the highest bliss that is beyond the body. It is a brief taste of heaven or buddhamind/Christ consciousness.

You come down off this direct perception of emptiness and things return to normal. Although you're back to living your life, for the next 24-48 hrs you can actually see things in normal reality that you normally wouldn't. You can hear ppl's thoughts, you can see people's underlying minds very clearly. That's a residual side effect and
temporary. There are many other residual side effects that have been described by the millions who have had direct perception of emptiness.

Eventually that fades and things return to 'normal.' One is not a Buddha (yet). Still a human, but have been forever altered. And now there is no turning back. One will get enlightened within a few lifetimes or even within that very same lifetime.

THAT is the ultimate goal to get out of life. Everything is lost. Every joke, every trivia item, even the body is lost. But the mind stream carries on with this unstoppable seed from seeing emptiness directly which elevates me to another level.

They say after that happens -if I go on into future lives- every birth and outcome will be pleasant. I'll be surrounded by wisdom beings, teachers, and all the material resources I need. There is no 'want' any more and I become entirely focused on getting enlightened to help others.

I did a month long deep meditation retreat last summer. While I didn't have a direct perception of emptiness I can attest to the mind going to unbelievably blissful states after a few weeks of meditation. I was getting so high that I was weeping with joy. Everything was unbearably beautiful and blissful. The best sex I've ever had seemed like nothing in comparison to this feeling I had toward the end of the retreat. I was not a body. I could clearly see that I was something much bigger than a sack of skin with sea water sloshing around on the inside. I
was so much bigger than this ridiculous body, so much more blissful. And I had this feeling for days, unlike an orgasm which last a few seconds. So I can only imagine what direct perception of emptiness bliss must feel like.

I could ramble about this subject. But I am very clear what I want: #6. I can have friends, get jobs, hear the latest news, and I enjoy all of that.  But there is no doubt that I want out of this up-and-down, chaotic, frustrating existence. And the only way to do that is with wisdom.



1 comment:

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