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Message |
| Posted By: |
freespirit |
| Date: |
18-Apr-2000 |
| Subject: |
The Noble Eightfold Path |
Morality (Right Speech, Action, Livelihood)
Meditation or Mental Development (Right Effort, Mindfulness, Concentration)
Wisdom or Insight (Right Understanding, Thought)
These 3 groupings within the Noble Eightfold Path to the end of suffering - Morality, Meditation or Mental Development, Wisdom or Insight - can be viewed as three ways of practice, or three categories of training.
Right Understanding is simultaneously at the beginning and at the end of the Eight - an easy way to understand this is the analogy of the climbing of a mountain. From the outset of the journey you have the summit in view, and it is this goal that you aspire to from the very beginning of the climb, through all stages, until you reach the ultimate destination - the summit. The summit represents the attaining of wisdom at the end of the practice of your path. Right Understanding is followed by Right Thought, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration.
So, in a theoretical sense, at the beginning of the Eight are Right Understanding and Right Thought (which represent Wisdom or Insight - the third group), ie "the summit", and these relate to the mind. It is a sort of cyclical process, though - for to achieve this purity of mind, it is necessary to purify the physical, and in turn purifying the mind gives rise to Right Understanding. So ultimately, in a practical sense, the other 6 steps of the Eightfold Path come first.
Morality - the Path of Good Conduct - therefore comes first in practice. And this includes Right Speech, Action and Livelihood. To a degree this collection of "Rights" infers "treat others as you would like them to treat you". By their very titles they are relatively self-evident.
Right Speech means having a respect for the truth, and likewise respect for those around us - their welfare. As children we are taught the rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" - but the irony is that they do hurt - and they can hurt so bad! Speech has the ability to devastate or elate - it is very powerful. So it comes down to essentially the avoidance of lying, slander, harsh speech and idle talk.
Right Action is having respect for life, property and for personal relationships. That is, to not kill other living beings, and to consider the consequences of taking life; to not steal or cheat others of what is rightfully theirs; and to avoid sexual misconduct.
Right Livelihood means earning one's living by means which respect the principles of Good Conduct. Traditionally there are 5 categories of livelihood that Buddhism discourages: dealing in the slaughter of animals, slavery, weapons, poisons, and intoxicants (drugs/alcohol).
The second process in the Eight-fold Path is Meditation or Mental Development. Just as Wisdom/Insight seeks purity of the mind which necessitates purity of the physical via Right Speech, Action and Livelihood; Meditation/Mental Development seek freedom, and this is achieved through Wisdom - again Right Understanding and Thought, "the summit". All are interwoven. And so here we find Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration.
The key to this stage is meditation. This exercise of strengthening and controlling the mind gives birth to a clarity and truth - it assists our mind to see things as they really are, in spite of varying circumstances, for instance when under stress or pressure. And this in turn brings wisdom, and thus ultimately freedom.
Where Right Speech, Action and Livelihood relate to our conduct to those outside of ourselves, Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration relate directly to our internal minds. Together they work towards a focussed self-reliance.
Right Effort means exercising a positive, enthusiastic, balanced and direct attitude in your thoughts and actions. There are four essential processes within Right Effort. These are: effort to prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising; effort to reject unwholesome thoughts that have risen; effort to actively cultivate wholesome thoughts; and effort to maintain wholesome thoughts. Effort in action can be seen in the will and energy put into fulfilling tasks be they mundane or pleasurable alike - the monk will be as attentive in his duties in the field as he would be in executing a beautiful ikebana arrangement or calligraphy.
Right Mindfulness is similar in that it regards state of mind and body. More specifically, though, it is an exercise of awareness or attention and clarity of the mind's processes with regard to emotions, consciousness, our physical self (eg limbs) and objects outside of ourselves. With utmost respect to the value of our mind, mindfulness allows us to guard it from trivial distraction - from outside influences on the senses - so that we remain in focus, devoted to the task at hand. Also on a simple, practical level, mindfulness is being aware and attentive, observing the mind, seeing where it is going, and what it is doing at any given time.
Right Concentration means to focus the mind upon one singular point (mental or physical), ultimately achieving an aware, alert mind-state of total absorption, and without any distraction or thoughts. The focus can be a mental concept - a notion, an emotion, space - or a physical presence such as a candle flame or flower. Right Concentration brings forth mental and physical wellbeing - a sense of comfort, joy and tranquillity. It also trains the mind to a state where you "see" truth - that is, things as they really are - which as discussed earlier is directly related to attaining wisdom.
The traditional arts of ikebana and the Ch'an tea ceremony are examples of Mental Development in all regards - the practitioner is focussed purely on the task at hand - effort, mindful and concentration are paramount. It is as such an act of respect for the objects of contemplation and a gift of self to the receiver or observer.
After Meditation or Mental Development the process runs full circle and you arrive at Wisdom or Insight. This is of course Right Understanding and Right Thought - recall the analogy of the mountain summit. The getting of Wisdom is the ultimate focus of the Eightfold Path as it is here that freedom and enlightenment are to be found.
Wisdom is understood as the "understanding" of the Four Noble Truths - that is, a true personal understanding as opposed to intellectual knowledge or academic exercise. The tools for gaining such understanding are Good Conduct and Mental Development - the purity of mind and the physical.
Right Understanding is "seeing" truth - direct understanding on an intuitive level. That is, seeing things as they really are through greater insight, and beyond the outer surface. It generally requires an approach on three evolving levels - firstly from an intellectual perspective, through study and observation of others; then through self analysis, where you examine and contemplate; and then finally meditating upon these theories; at this point they become our own experience - our own truth.
Right Understanding also works on another level - it relates to an understanding of karma - the direct correlation between cause and effect of our actions and behaviour, which is guided by our perception of Morality.
Understanding is by definition the opposite of ignorance. And ignorance is a major factor in suffering. So by coming to Right Understanding, with a greater understanding of truth and karma, and the resulting diminishing of the ego, you find the means to eliminate negative emotions - such as greed, and anger - and this provides the means for the end of suffering.
Right Thought is exercising renunciation and detachment to eliminate desire and greed. This means practicing loving kindness and compassion to others and ourselves, recognising our one-ness and our mutual desire to be free from pain and suffering; and recognising the undesirable nature of existence, in particular, the consequences of pleasure of the senses - that the nature of samsara is suffering.
Right Thought is essentially the application of Right Understanding into our behaviour. In a practical sense, it means avoiding desire and ill-will, and since Thought follows Understanding - which infers an understanding of the root of suffering - this means that together these final two Rights provide the necessary tools to remove the causes of suffering - a means to attain freedom, and thus Nirvana or Enlightenment.
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