Sixty-two types of wrong view

Sixty-two types of wrong view are enumerated by the Buddha in the Brahmajāla Sutta.

Bhikkhu Bodhi states:

The primary project of the Brahmajála Sutta was to clear away the conceptual and intellectual distortions that hinder the acquisition of right view, the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path and thus the prerequisite for the successful development of the remaining path factors. The Brahmajála attempted to achieve that aim by weaving a net of sixty-two categories capable of capturing all possible speculative views (dristi) on the nature of the self and the world. By exposing these views as the cognitive hooks which craving uses to maintain its grip on the sentient organism with its six sense faculties, the Brahmajála reveals the fruitlessness of all those philosophies and paths of life that are built upon an erroneous interpretation of the human situation.

The sixty-two wrong views

It is common to categorize the sixty-two wrong views into to groups:

• 18 beliefs related to the past (and present)
• 44 beliefs about the future

The presentation below is from StudyBuddhism.

The 18 Wrong Views Concerning the Past and the Present

Eighteen of the 62 wrong views concern the past and the present, which arises from the past. Looking to the past and depending on how far in the past the various proponents can see, or which realms they can see, there are:

(1) Four proponents that the self in its current rebirth state (for instance, as a long-lived god) and the universe are eternal (have no end) – both are eternal, one is eternal, the other is eternal, neither is eternal

(2) Four proponents that some beings in their specific rebirth states and some aspects of universe have no end and some have an end – both, one, the other, neither

(3) Two proponents that selves in their current rebirth state and the universe have no cause – one or the other. The Pali version explains that they assert that these occur just by chance.

(4) Four proponents that the universe: is finite, infinite, both, or neither

(5) Four proponents who wriggle like an eel and give irrelevant answers. When asked whether constructive actions are what have brought happiness and destructive actions suffering, they say that the self when in a pure realm doesn’t need to rid itself of (abandon) anything anymore. The Pali version explains these as those who are evasive because they do not know the answer and are afraid of debate.

The 44 Wrong Views Concerning the Future

Then, there are 44 wrong views concerning the future. There are:

(6) Sixteen proponents of a self-sufficiently knowable self that, after death, has awareness. Their positions are that such a self, after death,

• Has form (Pali: is material), no form (immaterial), both, or neither
• Has an end (is not eternal), no end (is eternal), both, or neither
• Has pleasure, no pleasure (only pain), both, or neither
• Has cognition of just one thing and is uniform, or has cognition of many things and is varied – in other words, it has perception that is limited, or perception that is unlimited.

(7) Eight proponents of a self-sufficiently knowable self that, after death, has no awareness. Their positions are that such a self, after death:

• Has form (Pali: is material), no form, both, or neither
• Has an end (Pali: is not eternal), no end, both, or neither.

(8) Eight proponents of a self-sufficiently knowable self that, after death, has neither awareness nor no awareness. Their positions are that such a self, after death:

• Has form (Pali: is material), no form, both, or neither
• Has an end (Pali: is not eternal), no end, both, or neither.

(9) Seven proponents of annihilation of a self-sufficiently knowable self. Their positions are that such a self becomes totally nonexistent only after a rebirth as:

• A human
• A divine being (a god) of the plane of sensory desire (Desire Realm)
• A divine being of the plane of ethereal forms (Form Realm)
• A divine being in each of the four divisions of the plane of formless beings (Formless Realm).

(10) Five proponents of release in this lifetime:

• Through indulging in desirable sense objects in this lifetime
• Through attaining each of the four states of mental stability (four dhyanas).

Sources

• Bhikkhu Bodhi, ed. (2008), The Discourse on the Fruits of Recluseship: The Sámaññaphala Sutta and its Commentaries, translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Buddhist Publication Society