a path out of suffering
Buddha taught that the world is characterised by suffering, that there is a cause for this suffering, and a way out of that suffering, the Eightfold Noble Path.
- There is suffering
- There is a cause for that suffering
- There is an end to the cause of suffering
- And the end to that cause is the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path is arranged in three categories: concentration or mental discipline (samadhi), ethics (sila) and wisdom (prajna).
With concentration we become more conscious of our mental and somatic experience and the world around us and this makes it easier to observe ethics and through insight, koans and dokusan we practice wisdom that means we see the world as it is, rather than through the lens of our conditioning. The effort to come back to the present is the ongoing work that keeps us on this path, gradually moving toward greater equanimity and clarity.
concentration
1. Right concentration
2. Right effort
3. Right mindfulness
ethics
4. Right speech
5. Right action
6. Right livelihood
wisdom
7. Right view
8. Right resolve
It is important to note that the word ‘right’ is used here to denote something more like skillful or wholesome, from the Pali word samma, and is not to be confused with such prescriptive and binary moral notions as right or wrong. Also, the Eightfold Path is not linear ~ it’s not like we start at the beginning and just plough through the steps without ever reverting to a previous aspect of the Path. Each aspect of the Path complements the other, and they are best practised in some kind of tandem. For example, to sustain right concentration (samma samadhi) we need to be cultivating right mindfulness (samma sati) to notice when we have become distracted by wandering mind, and employing right effort (samma vayamo) to bring our attention back to the present.
1. Right concentration
An essential aspect of mental discipline, right concentration or samma samadhi is the practice of training our attention without judgement on the present.
2. Right effort
Right effort or samma vayamo is the practice of training ourselves in the cultivation of wholesome qualities (such as the Four Immeasurables) and letting go of unwholesome qualities (such as the Three Poisons). Right effort is also used to bring our attention back to the present when our mindfulness has become aware that we are distracted by the past or the future.
3. Right mindfulness
Right mindfulness (samma sati) is the practice of cultivating awareness of the contents of the mind and sensations of the body, of thought, speech and action. With right mindfulness it is inevitable that our efforts will naturally become more wholesome because awareness and malice cannot co-exist in a healthy mind.
4. Right speech
Right speech (samma vaca) is the practice of speaking compassionately and avoiding using words to cause harm. Right speech is also about being honest with our speech, avoiding gossip and idle talk, and not using words to cause division among the sangha and broader community.
5. Right action
Right action (samma kamma) is the practice of acting ethically, skillfully and wholesomely to avoid causing harm to oneself and others. Right action refers to observing the core Buddhist precepts:
- refrain from killing or causing harm
- refrain from stealing or taking what is not given
- refrain from licentious behaviour and from misusing sexuality
- refrain from lying, from harsh or false speech
- refrain from abusing intoxicants
6. Right livelihood
Right livelihood (samma ajiva) is the practice of ensuring our means of earning a living does not cause harm or otherwise break the Precepts. You can start to see now how these aspects of the Eightfold begin to loop on each other, and are not linear: for example, we cannot have right livelihood without right action, and we cannot feel confident about right action without right mindfulness.
7. Right view
Right view (samma ditthi) is the practice of cultivating awareness of the true nature of reality. It is often listed first in the Eightfold Path, along with the other wisdom practice of right resolve, but I prefer to list it last because although the Path is not linear we certainly cannot start with right view ~ rather, the emergence of right view is a naturally progression that results from training in the other aspects of the Path.
Right view was always a sticking point for me, because I couldn’t see how we could have right view without already having experienced enlightenment. I was told by a teacher a few years into my journey, that we don’t need to hold right view to be a practising Buddhist ~ we don’t need to believe the teachings about emptiness, dependent origination, and all that, if we don’t have direct experience of these ideas. It helps to have faith that we can see these truths directly, but we certainly don’t need to have right view before we can start training or identifying as a Buddhist if that’s what we want to do.
8. Right resolve
Right resolve (samma sankalpa) is the practice of cultivating the resolve or intention to awaken from our ignorance, desire and aversion to liberate ourselves from suffering. In the Mahayana tradition we cultivate this aspiration to liberate ourselves as well as all sentient beings from the cycles of samsaric suffering.
Kokoro 心 Heart 