The Fourth Noble Truth - the Eightfold Path

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We are continuing a series of talks on the Basics of Buddhism.  I recommend the book Naked Buddha, a Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Life and Teachings, by Adrienne Howley.   We’ve talked about compassionate awareness, honesty and curiosity and how we often inaccurately label ourselves and others.

For the third talk in this series, we’ll discuss the Fourth Noble Truth, which is the Eightfold Path.  These eight practices are designed to invigorate our daily lives with compassionate awareness, honesty and curiosity.  It’s translated as a path but in the original teachings it was described more like a wheel with eight spokes or an eight-limb concurrent process.  It’s not designed to start at the first step and end at the last, but rather to incorporate each as the situation arises. 

These steps are often described as Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.  However, the word “Right” may not accurately relate the original teaching.   Many translations use the word, “Right”, but that implies a rigidness, a right versus wrong.  A better translation might be Clear or Wise or Complete.  I like the word “Clear” because it describes how we are wiping off the windows of our vision to see more clearly ourselves and our lives.  But perhaps Wise is the best description.  Wise describes what is skillful and what does the most good and the least harm. 

The Eightfold Path is often broken down into three sections—this is a little different than Adrienne Howley’s take on them, but I admit I prefer the description in Lama Surya Das’ book, Awakening the Buddha Within, which is the book we are going to tackle next.  In it, he describes the three sections as Wisdom, Ethics and Meditation.  Let’s look at these three separately.

The first two steps are part of the Wisdom training:  Wise View and Wise Intention.  We all have a certain view of the world.  We may hang on to the view that our parents told us, or we may have come up with our own perspective through our life experiences.  If I were to ask you, “How do you describe the world?”  What would you say?  What would your parents have said?  Is it a scary place?  A difficult place?  A wonderful place?  An unfair place?  A beautiful place?   We often view the world through our past experiences or from the perspective of others who have convinced us of how they see things.

When I was growing up, there was a girl down the street named Shirley Stewart.  I can see her face right now.  She lived catty-cornered to me, and she would follow me home from school every day and taunt me the whole way, saying that she wanted to fight me for some reason or other.  Now, I was a scrawny, sickly little kid—I did not have one good punch in me, but I certainly fantasized about hitting her right in the face!  I’d like to say I was a pacifist but I was just too dang scared to try and mess with her.   She never hit me but threatened to do so about a thousand times.  Luckily, we moved away from the neighborhood when I was 12, but I can still see Shirley’s face staring me down, making me feel stupid and weak.  When I was young, I saw myself through the eyes of Shirley Stewart.  When I was in college, I began to have more confidence in myself, the mental and emotional energy looking for ways to hate her.  She turned out to be a very nice person, but at first I didn’t realize why I hated her so much.   I wasn’t seeing her clearly.  Wise view is about about being willing to have a certain fresh curiosity about ourselves and those around us.

Can we really put one label on the world or on ourselves or on others, particularly since everything and everyone are always changing?  What has happened in your past that you are still hanging on to? What are the filters through which you see the world?  We may have a relationship that went sour, and then all potential partners start to seem to have those same traits.  We may have been mistreated when we were young, now the whole world might look like a scary place.   We begin to recognize these filters and peel them away, so that we can see ourselves and others more clearly. It helps build a sense of wonder in each moment, a fresh curiosity to see more clearly. 

Wise intention is how we prioritize what to do.  What are your intentions in your life?  What do you value?  If you could describe your values in three words, what would it be?  Now, think about your thoughts, words and actions this last week.  How well did those match your values that you just described?   The Buddhist path is designed to help us live our values, and the first step is being clear about what you care about, then translating that into practice every day. 

These first two steps are cultivating a desire and intention to see ourselves and the world more clearly.    The next three steps are about ethical living.  With this clear perspective, we can begin to live a sacred life.

Wise speech is about being more careful before we respond.  As we discussed the very first day in this series, we can ask ourselves three questions:  Is it true?  Is it kind?  Is it necessary?  That may cut out about 75% of what we’re telling ourselves and others! 

Have you ever hung up your cellphone and started recapping the conversation to the person you’re with, only to double check that the cellphone is disconnected?  What were you saying that you didn’t want the person on the phone to hear?  It’s easy to use gossip and slander as a bonding process among friends.  Wise speech is reminding us that words have power, and we can choose words to encourage and support.  Encouragement and support can be a better way to bond with each other.  What do you say to yourself? How do you encourage and support yourself each day?

Wise Action is acting in ways that are wise and compassionate.  With greater awareness, we can create more options on how to respond to outer circumstance.  Habit and past experience are not the only ways to choose how to act.  Wise action comes from a place of reflection and an intention for good.

Wise Livelihood is working in a way that supports oneself and others on their spiritual journey.  This step does not mean we all have to change jobs! Of course, we try to choose jobs that don’t include weapons of mass destruction, but any job has some potential for killing—even a nurse is killing bacteria in order to reduce illnesses.  It is far more important to wake up to how we work.  You may have an awesome job but still be acting in ways that are unskillful.  Wise Livelihood reminds us to seek work that is supportive but also to do whatever work we’re doing in ways that are supportive as well.

And lastly, we have the Meditation Training of Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness and Wise Concentration.  Adrienne translates these in slight different words, but I think they convey the same meaning

Wise Effort is having a passion for enlightenment.  It can feel much easier sometimes to just do what we’ve done before.  Go back to the rut, go back to old habits.  This Eightfold Path is about applying energy and focus to a new way of living.  What thought will you have in those difficult moments to keep you doing/thinking this new habit?  Wise Effort is encouraging us to reach within and find that passion for happiness and to, as the Dalai Lama proclaims, “Never give up!”

We talked a few weeks ago that we can practice mindfulness as if our hair is on fire, and the only way to put out the flames is compassionate awareness.  This new way of living takes practice and energy.  Dig deep within you to find the passion and fire to change.  In the coming weeks, there will be moments when an old way of thinking will arise.  A moment of craving to go back to the old way of living, it will at times seem so much easier than practicing these newfangled steps.  At that moment, when the past coping mechanisms seem to have renewed allure, we can remember to connect with the passion to live a new life, a greater life, a more fulfilling life.  Find that passion now so you’ll know where it is when the going gets tough.

Wise Mindfulness is practicing mindfulness by being fully present in each moment.  Mindfulness is a commitment to staying awake to the reality in each moment, no sleepwalking through life.  We can approach living with curiosity and non-preference, savoring things just as they are.  Then, from this place of curiosity, the richness and fullness of the world opens up and provides us with amazing gifts of clarity.  It’s important to NOT think about mindfulness as a burden to bear but as a gift that we are giving ourselves, a totally free, easily obtained, always there, medication for what ails us.

"He who maintains attentive mindfulness is like the great sage, the Buddha. Careful attention to mindfulness is an elixir and a blessing."  --Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, Tibet, nineteenth century

Wise Concentration is practicing concentration to train our mind.  These changes don’t occur overnight.  It takes practice and focus. To experience this amazing transformation, it helps to practice concentration daily. We practice by focusing on our breath or on a mantra or on walking or on eating, being very focused on whatever is that we are doing.  Eventually, we can release the focus into just being, when just being becomes our natural state of openness and awareness. 

So, this week, your assignment is simple:  Look for ways to bless yourself and the people around you. Bless others with your undivided attention, listen with an open heart.  Bless others with your smile-smile at people you don’t know even smile at the people you do know.  Bless yourself by kind thoughts of encouragement and support. Try being with yourself or another in a non-judgmental way.  You might even have someone in your life that would be willing to have a mindful lunch or dinner with, where the two of you practice these eight steps as best you can.  It might make for a very different eating experience!