Setting in motion the Wheel of Truth
Within the Fourth Noble Truths is found the guide to the end of
suffering: the Noble Eightfold Path.
The eight parts of the path to liberation
are grouped into three essential elements of Buddhist practice-
moral conduct
(Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood);
mental discipline (Right
Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration); and
wisdom (Right
Understanding, Right Thought)
The Buddha taught the Eightfold Path in virtually all his discourses,
and his directions are as clear and practical to his followers today as they
were when he first gave them.
1. Right Understanding (Samma ditthi)
2. Right Thought (Samma sankappa)
3. Right Speech (Samma vaca)
4. Right Action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right Livelihood (Samma ajiva)
6. Right Effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right Concentration (Samma samadhi)
2. Right Thought (Samma sankappa)
3. Right Speech (Samma vaca)
4. Right Action (Samma kammanta)
5. Right Livelihood (Samma ajiva)
6. Right Effort (Samma vayama)
7. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati)
8. Right Concentration (Samma samadhi)
These eight factors aim at
promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and
discipline: namely:
(a) Ethical Conduct (Sila),
(b) Mental
Discipline (Samadhi) and
(c) Wisdom (Panna).
Ethical Conduct (Sila) is built on the vast conception of
universal love and compassion for all living beings, on which the Buddha's
teaching is based.
According to Buddhism, for a man to be perfect there are two
qualities that he should develop equally: compassion (karuna) on one side, and
wisdom (panna) on the other.
Here compassion represents love, charity,
kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or
qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or
the qualities of the mind.
Now, in Ethical Conduct (Sila), based on love and compassion, are
included three factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: namely, Right Speech, Right
Action and Right Livelihood. (Nos. 3,4 and 5 in the list).
Right speech means abstention (1) from telling lies, (2) from
backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity
and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, (3) from harsh, rude,
impolite, malicious and abusive language, and (4) from idle, useless and
foolish babble and gossip. When one abstains from these forms of wrong and
harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are
friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful and useful. One should
not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one
cannot say something useful, one should keep "noble silence."
Right Action aims at promoting moral, honorable and peaceful
conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from
stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and
that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honorable life in the
right way.
Right Livelihood means that one should abstain from making one's
living through a profession that brings harm to others, such as trading in arms
and lethal weapons, intoxicating drinks or poisons, killing animals, cheating,
etc., and should live by a profession which is honorable, blameless and
innocent of harm to others. One can clearly see here that Buddhism is strongly
opposed to any kind of war, when it lays down that trade in arms and lethal
weapons is an evil and unjust means of livelihood.
These three factors (Right Speech, Right Action and Right
Livelihood) of the Eightfold Path constitute Ethical Conduct. It should be
realized that the Buddhist ethical and moral conduct aims at promoting a happy
and harmonious life both for the individual and for society. This moral conduct
is considered as the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual
attainments. No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.
Next comes Mental Discipline in which
are included three other factors of the Eightfold Path: namely, Right Effort,
Right Mindfulness (or Attentiveness) and Right Concentration. (Nos. 6, 7 and 8
in the list). Right Effort is the energetic will (1) to prevent evil and
unwholesome states of mind from arising, and (2) to get rid of such evil and
unwholesome states that have already arisen within a man, and also (3) to
produce, to cause to arise, good and wholesome states of mind not yet arisen,
and (4) to develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of
mind already present in a man.
Right Mindfulness (or Attentiveness) is to be diligently aware,
mindful and attentive with regard to (1) the activities of the body (kaya), (2)
sensations or feelings (vedana), (3) the activities of the mind (citta) and (4)
ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things (dhamma).
The practice of concentration on breathing (anapanasati) is one of
the well-known exercises, connected with the body, for mental development.
There are several other ways of developing attentiveness in relation to the
body as modes of meditation.
With regard to sensations and feelings, one should he clearly
aware of all forms of feelings and sensations, pleasant, unpleasant and
neutral, of how they appear and disappear within oneself.
Concerning the activities of mind, one should be aware whether
one's mind is lustful or not, given to hatred or not, deluded or not,
distracted or concentrated, etc. In this way one should be aware of all
movements of mind, how they arise and disappear.
As regards ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things, one should
know their nature, how they appear and disappear, how they are developed, how
they are suppressed, and destroyed, and so on.
The third and last factor
of Mental Discipline is Right Concentration, leading to the four stages of
Dhyana, generally called trance or recueillement. In
the first stage of Dhyana, passionate desires and certain unwholesome thoughts
like sensuous lust, ill-will, languor, worry, restlessness, and skeptical doubt
are discarded, and feelings of joy and happiness are maintained, along with
certain mental activities. In the second stage, all intellectual activities are
suppressed, tranquillity and "one-pointedness" of mind developed, and
the feelings of joy and happiness are still retained. In the third stage, the
feeling of joy, which is an active sensation, also disappears, while the
disposition of happiness still remains in addition to mindful equanimity. In
the fourth stage of Dhyana, all sensations, even of happiness and unhappiness,
of joy and sorrow, disappear, only pure equanimity and awareness remaining.
Thus the mind is trained and disciplined and developed through
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
The remaining two factors, namely Right Thought and Right
Understanding, go to constitute Wisdom.
Right Thought denotes the thoughts of selfless renunciation or
detachment, thoughts of love and thoughts of non-violence, which are extended
to all beings. It is very interesting and important to note here that thoughts
of selfless detachment, love and non-violence are grouped on the side of
wisdom. This clearly shows that true wisdom is endowed with these noble
qualities, and that all thoughts of selfish desire, ill-will, hatred and
violence are the result of a lack of wisdom in all spheres of life whether
individual, social, or political.
Right Understanding is the understanding of things as they are,
and it is the Four Noble Truths that explain things as they really are. Right
Understanding therefore is ultimately reduced to the understanding of the Four
Noble Truths. This understanding is the highest wisdom which sees the Ultimate
Reality.
From this brief account of the Path, one may see that it is a way
of life to be followed, practiced and developed by each individual. It is
self-discipline in body, word and mind, self-development and self-purification.
It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship or ceremony. In that sense,
it has nothing which may popularly be called "religious." It is a
Path leading to the realization of Ultimate Reality, to complete freedom,
happiness and peace through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment