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The
Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the
end of suffering, as it was laid out by
Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical
guideline to ethical and mental development
with the goal of freeing the individual from
attachments and delusions; and it finally
leads to understanding the truth about all
things. Together with the Four
Noble Truths it
constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great
emphasis is put on the practical aspect,
because it is only through practice that one
can attain a higher level of existence and
finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of
the path are not to be understood as a
sequence of single steps, instead they are
highly interdependent principles that have to
be seen in relationship with each other.
Right
view is the beginning and the end of the path,
it simply means to see and to understand
things as they really are and to realise the
Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the
cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see
things through, to grasp the impermanent and
imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas,
and to understand the law of karma and karmic
conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an
intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not
just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right
view is attained, sustained, and enhanced
through all capacities of mind. It begins with
the intuitive insight that all beings are
subject to suffering and it ends with complete
understanding of the true nature of all
things. Since our view of the world forms our
thoughts and our actions, right view yields
right thoughts and right actions.
While
right view refers to the cognitive aspect of
wisdom, right intention refers to the
volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental
energy that controls our actions. Right
intention can be described best as commitment to
ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha
distinguishes three types of right intentions:
1. the intention of renunciation, which means
resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the
intention of good will, meaning resistance to
feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the
intention of harmlessness, meaning not to
think or act cruelly, violently, or
aggressively, and to develop compassion.
Right
speech is the first principle of ethical
conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct
is viewed as a guideline to moral
discipline, which supports the other
principles of the path. This aspect is not
self-sufficient, however, essential, because
mental purification can only be achieved
through the cultivation of ethical conduct.
The importance of speech in the context of
Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or
save lives, make enemies or friends, start war
or create peace. Buddha explained right speech
as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech,
especially not to tell deliberate lies and not
to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from
slanderous speech and not to use words
maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from
harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4.
to abstain from idle chatter that lacks
purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this
means to tell the truth, to speak friendly,
warm, and gently and to talk only when
necessary.
The
second ethical principle, right action,
involves the body as natural means of
expression, as it refers to deeds that involve
bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to
unsound states of mind, while wholesome
actions lead to sound states of mind. Again,
the principle is explained in terms of
abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain
from harming sentient beings, especially to
abstain from taking life (including suicide)
and doing harm intentionally or delinquently,
2. to abstain from taking what is not given,
which includes stealing, robbery, fraud,
deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to
abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively
formulated, right action means to act kindly
and compassionately, to be honest, to respect
the belongings of others, and to keep sexual
relationships harmless to others. Further
details regarding the concrete meaning of
right action can be found in the Precepts.
Right
livelihood means that one should earn one's
living in a righteous way and that wealth
should be gained legally and peacefully. The
Buddha mentions four specific activities that
harm other beings and that one should avoid
for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2.
dealing in living beings (including raising
animals for slaughter as well as slave trade
and prostitution), 3. working in meat
production and butchery, and 4. selling
intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and
drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that
would violate the principles of right speech
and right action should be avoided.
Right
effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the
other principles of the path. Without effort,
which is in itself an act of will, nothing can
be achieved, whereas misguided effort
distracts the mind from its task, and
confusion will be the consequence. Mental
energy is the force behind right effort; it
can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome
states. The same type of energy that fuels
desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on
the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty,
benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is
detailed in four types of endeavours that rank
in ascending order of perfection: 1. to
prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome
states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that
have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome
states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to
maintain and perfect wholesome states already
arisen.
Right
mindfulness is the controlled and perfected
faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability
to see things as they are, with clear
consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process
begins with an impression induced by
perception, or by a thought, but then it does
not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we
almost always conceptualise sense impressions
and thoughts immediately. We interpret them
and set them in relation to other thoughts and
experiences, which naturally go beyond the
facticity of the original impression. The mind
then posits concepts, joins concepts into
constructs, and weaves those constructs into
complex interpretative schemes. All this
happens only half consciously, and as a result
we often see things obscured. Right
mindfulness is anchored in clear perception
and it penetrates impressions without getting
carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to
be aware of the process of conceptualisation
in a way that we actively observe and control
the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for
this as the four
foundations of mindfulness: 1.
contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of
feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral),
3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4.
contemplation of the phenomena.
The
eighth principle of the path, right
concentration, refers to the development of a
mental force that occurs in natural
consciousness, although at a relatively low
level of intensity, namely concentration.
Concentration in this context is described as
one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where
all mental faculties are unified and directed
onto one particular object. Right
concentration for the purpose of the eightfold
path means wholesome
concentration, i.e. concentration on
wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist
method of choice to develop right
concentration is through the practice of
meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a
selected object. It first directs itself onto
it, then sustains concentration, and finally
intensifies concentration step by step.
Through this practice it becomes natural to
apply elevated levels concentration also in
everyday situations.
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DHAMMAPADA
MEDITATION
THE
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
THE
PRECEPTS
KARMA
AND REBIRTH
EMPTINESS
BUDDHIST
SYMBOLS
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