OPINIONATEDNESS, BELIEF, WRONG VIEWS    [lta ba]

Emotinally tainted opinionatedness is fivefold:

1.    Opinonatedness regarding the perishable constituents    ['jig lta]
2.    Opinionatedness regarding extremes    [mtha lta]
3.    Clinging to ideologies    [lta ba mchog 'dzin]
4.    Clinging to ideologies regarding ethical behavior and compulsive performance
                    [tshul khrims dang zhugs mchog 'dzin]
5.    Wrong opinion    [log lta]
The first 'opinionatedness about what is perishable',  is explained in the Abhidharmasamuccaya as follows:
What is opinionatedness about what is perishable? It is any acceptance, claim, opinion as dogma, fiction and opinion about the five psycho-physical constituents as a (eternal) self as belonging to a self, and its function is to serve as a basis for all other views.
It is an emotionally tainted appreciation which is concerned with the five psycho-physical constituents as an 'I' or 'mine'.

Such terms as 'acceptance' and so on in the Abhidharmasamuccaya are understood as follows:

Acceptance insofar as one is not afraid of what is contrary to every evidence;
Claim insofar as one is involved with objects which are contrary to evidence;
Opinion as dogma insofar as one has rationalized it;
Fiction insofar as one is enamored with it;
Opinion insofar as one makes it the content of one's thinking.

The reason for speaking about this view as 'opinionatedness about what is perishable', is as the lam-rim states,

Here, a thing which is perishable is impermanent, and accumulation means plurality. Since the basis of looking and thereby seeing the perishable as perishable is just transitoriness and plurality, one gives it the name of 'view of the perishable' because of the statement that there is no eternal and single abiding principle to which a thing may be reduced."
That the function of opinionatedness is to serve as the basis for all bad views is also stated in the Saptakumaryavadana:
Where and when will a person ever
Become detached from the necessities of life and
Tear out opinionatedness regarding the perishable constituents
Which is the mother of all biases?
When opinionatedness regarding the perishable is classified according to its content, there are twenty biases. It becomes twenty by subdividing each of the five constituents by way of four alternatives such as taking color-form as the self, taking the self as having color-form, taking color-form as one's possession, or letting the self reside in color-form and then repeating the same procedure for feeling-tones, ideation, motivation, and perception. Thus it is stated (by Nagarjuna) in Suhrllekha:
Color-form is not the self.
Self is not possessed of color-form and color-form
    is not existing in the self.
Nor is the self residing in color-form.
In the same way, the other basic elements
Ought to be understood as nothing in themselves.
The Madhyamakavatara states,
Color-form is not the self, the self does not possess color-form,
The self does not exist in color-form, nor does color-form exist in the self.
In the same manner, all four of the basic elements ought to be known.
They are considered to be the twenty biases regarding the self.
The vajra-staff which knows that the self -- that mountain of biases -- does not exist
Cuts right through and that (imagined) self is instantly destroyed.
Opinionatedness regarding the perishable constituents dwells on Mount Sumeru and
Has become its lofty summit.
These twenty kinds of opinionatedness regarding the perishable constituents are explained concisely as the two attachments in the form of 'I' and 'mine', but if you wish to know their concrete nature in detail, this can be learned from the explanation in the Madhyamakavatara, the dgongs-pa rab gsal and the Abhidharmasamuccaya together with its commentary.

The Abhidharmasamuccaya explains opinonatedness regarding the extremes as follows:

What is opinionatedness regarding the extremes? It is any acceptance, claim, opinion as dogma, fiction and opinion which is completely biased taking the five original elements as eternal existence or as non-existence, and its function is to prevent gaining certainty through the understanding of reality as it comes through the middle way.
It is an emotionally toned appreciation of the self as it is conceived by a nihilistic view ['jig lta] in terms of absolute eternalism or absolute nihilism.

The lam-rim explains  these two latter views as follows:

The opinion holding to an extreme is an emotionally toned appreciation that sees the self, as conceived by the nihilistic view ['jig lta] as being absolutely eternal or absolutely nihilistic since there will be no subsequent existence.
Therefore, since these bad views make a person fall into the extremes of eternal existence or eternal non-existence, they are the primary obstacles for seeing the middle path which has nothing to do with eternalism or nihilism.

The Abhidharmasamuccaya explains clinging to ideologies as follows:

What is clinging to ideologies? It is any acceptance, claim, opinion as dogma, fiction and opinion to hold the five psychophysical constituents -- as far as they are occasions of an opinion about them -- as the supreme, the principle, the particularly sublime, and the absolutely real. Its function is to serve as the basis for becoming even more enmeshed in wrong views
Clinging to ideologies is an emotionally tainted appreciation which overevaluates other wrong views and the constituents of the personality.

The terms such as 'supreme' are here understood as follows:

Supreme is the thought, "How wonderful things are!"
Principle means there in nothing over and above this.
Absolutely real means to hold something as superior and to claim that there is nothing like it.

The lam-rim states,

The opinionatedness of clinging to ideologies is an emotionally tainted appreciation that is concerned with the constituents of the personality of the viewer as they are seen in any one of the three opinions -- opinionatedness regarding the perishable, the extremes, and wrong opinion. Thus, opinionatedness is also the cult of what is seen in the light of the ideology.
Its function, which is to serve as the baiss for becoming even more entwined in wrong views, means that clinging to ideologies prepares the tendencies of not getting away from evil views in the hear and hereafter.

Clinging to ideologies concerning ethical behavior and compulsive performance is explained  in the Abhidharmasamuccaya as follows:

What is clinging to ideologies concerning ethical behavior and compulsive performance? It is any acceptance, claim, opinion as dogma, fiction and opinion which holds the five basic constituents and the foundation of ethical behavior and compulsive performance as pure, capable of deliverance from the emotions, and certain to liberate. Its function is to serve as the basis for uselessness.
It is an emotionally tainted appreciation that sees as pure and free a code of behavior that is conditioned by bad views -- for example, compulsive behavior such as wearing certain apparel, adopting mannerisms of speech, and whatever comes out of these things.

The lam-rim states,

Clinging to the ideologies of ethical behavior and compulsive performance is an emotionally toned appreciation which is opinionated regarding washing away sins, deliverance from the emotions, and certainty of becoming disgusted with samsara by following ethical behavior which renounces morality, compulsive observation which insists on formalities, and modes of behavior and mannerisms of speech and whatever may result from them.
The statement that its function is to serve as the basis of uselessness is self-explanatory.

The Abhidharmasamuccaya explains 'wrong view' as follows:

What is wrong view? It is the denial of cause and effect and of action and its result, and it negates and does away with what is. Wrong opinion is an acceptance, claim, opinion as dogma, fiction, and opinion which holds on to error. Its function is to eradicate the good, to cut off the root of what is positive, to make the root of evil healthy, and to get into evil but not the positive.
It is an emotionally tainted appreciation which sees the relationship of cause and effect on one's action and (the relationship) of earlier and later life as non-existent. Regarding this, the lam-rim states,
A perverted opinion is an emotionally toned appreciation which denies causation as to a former and later life, the relationship between one's action and its effect, and holds that Shiva or Prakrti are the causes of sentient beings.
There are four kinds of wrong opinions:
1. Denial of cause
2. Denial of effect
3. Denial of agent
4. Denial of what is in front of one's eyes
Denial of cause is to see good actions, bad actions, etc. as non-existent.
Denial of effect is to see the positive and negative as having no consequence.
Denial of agent is to see father and mother, previous and later worlds as non-existent.
Denial of what is in front of one's eyes is to see the attainments of the Buddhas and Arhats as non-existent.

Although, generally, there are many wrong views, the wrong views that deny the relationship between action and its results and (the relationship) between previous and later worlds are the worst of all because they eliminate everything positive.

Now, if the five kinds of opinionatedness are summarized, they fall under affirmation and negation.  Their internal differentiation are:  1. the twenty ways of opinionatedness regarding the perishable;  2. sixty-two bad views; and  3. fourteen indeterminate ones.  The sixty-two bad views have been explained in the mdo sde tshangs-pa'i dra-ba (Brahmajalasutra).  To list them all individually would go too far, so they are not put down here.

The fourteen indeterminate views are the four views that hold on to the extreme of the past, the four which hold on to the extreme of the future, the four which deal with nirvana, and two views which deal with the body and life force.

The four that hold on to the extreme of the past are the views that the self and the world are permanent, impermanent, both, and neither.

The four which hold on to the extremes of the future are the views that the self and the world are eternal, not eternal, both, and neither.

The four which deal with nirvana are the views that a Tathagata will appear, will not appear, will both appear and not appear, and will neither appear nor not appear at the time of (one's) death.

The two which deal with the body and life force are the views that the body and life force are either one substance or different ones.

These views are claimed by the Samkhya (grangs-can), the Carvaka (rgyan -'phen), the Nirgrantha (gcer bu pa), and the Vatsiputriya (gnas ma bu), but in this commentary, only the names of these schools will be mentioned; if you wish to know in detail their individual features and the way in which their distinctions are applied, you will have to study the very precious Sutras and the Madhyamika works which comment on them.

These views are called 'indeterminate' not because they do not offer anything positive or negative and hence indeterminate, but because the Samkhya philosophers and others start with the premise that the individual personality has an unchanging eternal substance.  When one questions whether the self and the world are permanent or not and so on, they claim that "a system which does not explain the eternal self is unsuitable" and become very upset, instead of explaining the existence of an eternal substance which they claim must be the special foundation if there is to be a particular thing.  It is in reply to their view that I say their claim is indifferent (ie., misses the mark).

Thus, the rin chen 'phreng-ba (Ratnamala) states,

When asked, "Is the world infinite or not?"
It is said that the Buddha did not answer.
Why did he not explain such a profound teaching
To those who do not understand?
By that (silence) alone, the wise know that
He is the Omniscient -- Knower of everything.