Reading Highlight

Rodney Smith
Stepping Out of Self-Deception

February 7, 2026 4:03 pm

Source: Stepping Out of Self-Deception

The Buddha understood investigation as one of the factors of awakening, fundamental to moving from the horizontal to the vertical dimension. He so highly prized investigation that he calls it the Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, 4 sometimes referred to as Contemplation of the Dharma. Contemplation of the Dharma is holding a questioning attitude toward all things and resting on the certainty of nothing. The tool of investigation is meant to explore the limitations of the view we are in, but if the language we use to investigate comes from our current view, it will corrupt our discovery. We cannot ascend to new heights using the same language as the base camp, or we would be reaffirming our old view even as we aspire toward the new.