View, Method, Fruition

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To enact it without making it clear, to enact it over and over without inquiring into it, to enact it for a lifetime without ever understanding its Way—that’s how it is for nearly everyone.
- Mencius

Credit

In this post, I’d like to share a conceptual framework that underlies a lot of my thinking. It has helped me shape my practice and also make sense of other people’s practices.

I learned this framework from my teacher, who learned it from his teacher, who learned it, I think, from Namkhai Norbu, the Tibetan Dzogchen master.

View, Method, Fruition

A practice or path can be divided into three parts: its conceptual basis (View), the actual practice (Method), and the results produced (Fruition). We can link these parts with the following axiom: View suggests Method, Method produces Fruition, Fruition confirms View.

View: This could be a simple hypothesis, like “that water will feel cold when I touch it.” It could also be a more complex set of ideas and beliefs, like “Christianity.” A View can be something we consciously hold, or an unconscious assumption or ideology we have internalized.

Method: This is the “what,” “how,” “where,” and “when” of practice. Do we use paint brushes or broadswords? Do we practice alone or in a group? What do we eat for breakfast? How many times a week do we practice?

Fruition: This is the result of the Method. I feel calm. More people hit on me at bars. There are fewer crimes in New York City.

Simple Example:

View: My knee pain is caused by hip instability.

Method: Strengthen the glutes with reclining leg raises 2x daily.

Fruition: Knee pain slowly goes away.

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More Complex Example (apologies to my Buddhist friends—this is not my area of expertise):

View: Suffering is part of life. Desire is the cause of suffering. When we release desire, we end suffering.

Method: The Eightfold Path (i.e. Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Mindfulness, etc.)

Fruition: Liberation from the cycle of desire and suffering. Nirvana!

Where is this dude going?

A Valuable Tool

This framework helps us answer questions about our practice:

• How do I know if it’s working?

• How do I explain unexpected results?

• When should I stop?

• Where do I go from here?

• Why does yoga look different than tai chi?

• Why is this argument going in circles?

If there is no guiding View, we may become fixated on Method, or obsessed with Fruition. Alternatively, we may get sloppy with method or miss a Fruition that passed by a mile ago. That’s why we have frameworks, books, and teachers.

Fruition should emerge organically from the Method. If it doesn’t, it’s possible that the Method was performed wrong, or that the original View was mistaken.

Sometimes, we hold conflicting Views that undermine each other. For example, in my practice, I cultivate the View of life as cyclical and completion as relative. But some time in grade school, I picked up the belief that once I achieve success, I will be able to coast forever. This internalized View pulls my practice between perfectionism (Transcendence) and despair (Nihilism)—which is, ironically, a cycle.

If you’re not aware of having a View, you may be following your default View, whatever it may be—“Life is the pursuit of happiness”; “Hard work pays off”; “Big muscles impress ladies”; “I secretly do everything for my father’s approval.”

Path-ology

The value of mapping a path or practice is not only to troubleshoot it, or to win arguments with your tai chi friends. A map also shows the way back to the beginning.

When we reach a Fruition, we have a chance to reexamine View and Method. We can choose to evolve the practice or resolve it. The Ultimate Martial Artist can decide to wander the land in search of wrongdoers, or she can go home and eat lunch.

In later posts, we’ll look at the idea of Return, and how the Daoist path twists back on itself.

We’re living in a great diaspora of beliefs and techniques. Egads! The framing of View, Method, and Fruition can be a universal language that allows disparate traditions to converse. At the very least, it can help you determine whether ketchup goes in the fridge or the cupboard.