Mindful Machines: Buddhist Models of Emotion for Human–Robot Flourishing

Abstract

There is a well-known story from the Pli Canon that offers a Buddhist perspective on how emotions work.The Pli Canon contains some the oldest teachings that the three major Buddhist traditions hold in common.In one story from this collection, known in Pli as the Sallasutta, the Bud dha asks his audience to imagine a person struck by an arrow (sometimes translated as "dart" or "thorn" 1 ).One struck by an arrow who is "uninstructed," or who we might say lacks a certain emotional intelligence, "feels two feelings-a bodily one and a mental one." 2 He feels the pain of the initial arrow and the pain of his emotional agony: "He weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught."In this sense, it is like this person is struck by two arrows.For one who is "instructed," however, who embodies the intelligence of Dhar ma (Pli: Dhamma), this person "does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught.He feels one feeling-a bodily one, not a mental one." 3 In this sense, it is like he is struck only by one arrow.This short sutta pre sents a core-although only one of many-Buddhist perspective on emotion.To simplify, emotion here can be understood as made of physical and mental components.The pain of the first arrow is physical, or what we might call "affective."Because humans are part of the natu ral world, part of samsra, exposure to physical pain is inevitable.The pain of the second arrow is mental.It is not without its own affective dimensions, but they are caused by mental habits rather than the physical cause of the first arrow.Most importantly, one's conceptual patterns of thought are amenable to change, which thus engender the potential for growth in emotional intelligence.Based on one's previous experiences, education, and effort, an enormous variety exists of pos si ble conceptual reactions one can cultivate in response to the emotional slings and arrows of samsra.By developing awareness of one's reactions, or mindfulness (Pli: sati), one can grow in intelligence and reduce the conceptual pain associated with the second arrow of emotional suffering.