The Framework of Right View
Buddha reveals how wrong views arise through the three poisons and provides systematic understanding to recognize and abandon misinformation at its root.
View Analysis Tool
Analyze information or beliefs through the lens of Right View to identify potential distortions.
The Teaching on Right View
"What is right view? Understanding suffering, understanding the cause of suffering, understanding the cessation of suffering, understanding the path to the cessation of suffering. This is called right view."— Buddha, Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta
Modern Application
Right View serves as our foundation for navigating information in the digital age. It helps us recognize when greed drives misinformation (profit over truth), when hatred fuels divisive content (us-vs-them narratives), and when delusion creates echo chambers (confirmation bias).
Recognizing Greed-Based Misinformation
Information designed to generate profit through engagement, regardless of truth. Look for clickbait, sensational claims, and content that prioritizes virality over accuracy.
Identifying Hatred-Driven Content
Content that divides people into opposing camps, promotes scapegoating, or generates outrage for engagement. Notice language that dehumanizes or categorically condemns groups.
Seeing Through Delusion
Information that confirms existing biases without scrutiny, creates simple explanations for complex problems, or promotes conspiracy thinking over evidence-based reasoning.
Cultivating Right View
Daily Practice
Information Diet Audit
Each evening, review the information you consumed. Ask:
- What was the source's motivation?
- Did it create division or understanding?
- What evidence was provided?
- How did it make you feel toward others?
Weekly Practice
Perspective Taking
Choose a controversial topic. Practice understanding multiple viewpoints without immediately judging. Notice:
- What fears or hopes drive each perspective?
- Where do viewpoints share common ground?
- What underlying causes create the controversy?
Monthly Practice
Belief Examination
Examine one strongly held belief. Apply Right View analysis:
- What evidence supports this belief?
- What contradictory evidence exists?
- How does holding this belief affect your actions?
- Does it increase or decrease suffering?
Right View in the Digital Age
Social Media Algorithms
Algorithms often amplify content that triggers the three poisons - sensational content (greed), divisive posts (hatred), and confirmation bias (delusion). Right View helps us recognize and resist these manipulations.
News Media Landscape
Understanding how economic incentives, political loyalties, and cognitive biases shape news coverage. Right View provides tools for critical media literacy beyond simple fact-checking.
Echo Chambers
The tendency to seek information that confirms our existing beliefs creates modern forms of delusion. Right View encourages active engagement with diverse perspectives and evidence-based reasoning.
Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy thinking often arises from the three poisons: desire for hidden knowledge (greed), blame toward outgroups (hatred), and oversimplified explanations (delusion). Right View offers more nuanced understanding.
Develop Clear Seeing
Right View is not about having the "correct" opinions, but developing the capacity for clear seeing. In our age of information overload, this ancient framework provides essential tools for wisdom.