Unit MB 103/07A
Essential Early Buddhist Doctrines Unit MBI 103
LESSON 7A
The Eightfold path
(Magganga)
PART I
The famous Eightfold Path of Buddhism makes its appearance as the second group of the thirty seven factors of awakening. There is perhaps no teaching of the Buddha that has been more quoted and more misunderstood and even abused than this.
One of the grave problems is that it is easy to remember, makes complete good sense and yet is completely useless unless one understands its content and how it is to be used.
It is, for example, very easy to say, “follow the eightfold path’s ideal of correct livelihood.” What good does that do if one does not know exactly what correct livelihood is, how to recognize it and how to get it when one doesn’t have it? In relation just to this theme, one can ask how one can follow any correct livelihood in a world full of deceit and corruption and still make a living and enjoy balance and harmony with all around one.
How can you have a correct livelihood and explain to your children, who go to school with other children, that their father or mother, who is nobly washing dishes in the kitchen of a restaurant, or living the life of a Buddhist recluse is as great as the other children’s fathers and mothers who are bankers, politicians and doctors? It is not easy. How can your children explain that their toys are hand made and their clothes “hand-me-downs”? It is the mind that says that these things are undesirable.
Here we will try to make amends for the lack of information that makes the great and Noble Eightfold Path the equivalent of bad housekeeper’s shopping list.
Lesson 7A The Eightfold Path
An Ancient Path Rediscovered
Samyutta Nikaya XII.65
"It is just as if a man, traveling along a wilderness track, were to see an ancient path, an ancient road, traveled by people of former times. He would follow it. Following it, he would see an ancient city, an ancient capital inhabited by people of former times, complete with parks, groves, and ponds, walled, delightful. He would go to address the king or the king's minister, saying.
'Sire, you should know that while traveling along a wilderness track I saw an ancient path... I followed it... I saw an ancient city, an ancient capital... complete with parks, groves, and ponds, walled, delightful. Sire, rebuild that city!' The king or king's minister would rebuild the city, so that at a later date the city would become powerful, rich, and well-populated, fully grown and prosperous.
"In the same way I saw an ancient path, an ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. And what is that ancient path, that ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times? Just this noble eightfold path: correct view, correct resolve, correct speech, correct action, correct livelihood, correct effort, correct mindfulness (attention), correct concentration... I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth... becoming... clinging... craving... feeling... contact... the six sense media... name-and-form... consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.
"Following it, I came to direct knowledge of fabrications, direct knowledge of the origination of fabrications, direct knowledge of the cessation of fabrications, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of fabrications. Knowing that directly, I have revealed it to monks, nuns, male lay followers and female lay followers, so that this holy life has become powerful, rich, detailed, well-populated, wide-spread, proclaimed among celestial and human beings."
The eight factors or constituents of the Path are:
1. Correct View (sammà-ditthi)
2. Correct Thought or Attitude (sam mà-sankappa)
3. Correct Action (sammà-kammanta)
4. Correct Speech (sammà-vàcà)
5. Correct Livelihood (sammà-àjìva)
6. Correct Effort or Energy (sammà-vàyàma)
7. Correct Mindfulness (sammà-sati)
8. Correct Concentration(sammà-samàdhi)
Wisdom (pannà)
Virtue (sìla)
Concentration (samàdhi)
The eight fold path was introduced by Buddha as a radical departure from Hindu ethics. The question is, in what way is it different from the eight kriyas of orthodox Hindu thought?
The Eight Limbs of Ancient Yoga Practices: Astanga
The first known systematic writing about the thought and practices of Yoga, is the Patanjali Sutra. The Eight Kriyas (limbs) consist of:
1. Yama (control and discipline) niyama - purity of body and mind, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and devotion
2. Niyama - Correct following of rules, methods and principle
3. Asana - Correct posture
4. Pranayama (kriyas with air) - Correct of the breath and subtle life currents
5. Prathyahara - Correct actions by the withdrawal of senses from external objects
6. Dharana - Correct Attention keeping the mind focused on a thought or object
7. Dhyana - Correct Meditative Concentration
8. Samadhi - superconscious experience.
Eightfold Path components numbers one, two, five, six and seven appear the same as in Buddha’s eightfold path. It seems that Buddha’s addition of Correct Speech, Correct Livelihood and Correct Effort (energy and intention) and the elimination of right posture and breath are the main differences, although certainly both the latter play an important role in Buddhist practices.
It is then quite possible that this is the ancient path of which Buddha spoke.
Does Correct Speech, Correct Livelihood and Correct Effort constitute a major shift? Certainly that appears so, because the focus in not simply oriented to body/mind control, but to the development of a path for daily practice.
What is Correct and Incorrect?
In many texts, instead of “correct”, which we use here, the word “right” is used; however, the sense is the same. What the word does not mean to imply is that there is a set of commands or rules which must be obeyed. Similarly, there is no intent to imply moral judgement in any of the elements. We prefer the word “correct” in this context to mean, “correct development and growth in a way that is not harmful to oneself or any sentient creature and is, in fact, beneficial for oneself and all sentient creatures”.
The Bodhisattva understanding is that oneself and others are not separate and that one grows and develops with the natural objective of helping all others.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
Wisdom, Virtue and Concentration
We have said that the eight components are gathered into three different groups: wisdom, Virtue, and Meditative Concentration. Let us first examine these three categories.
WISDOM
What exactly is the wisdom of the Dharma that seems so precious? It is certainly not what is learned in schools and universities, which are planned to make you "successful". It is certainly not the esoteric learning of metaphysical teachers who build cosmic structures with their words and golden edifices with their wealth. It is not the psychological learning required to treat the socially maladapted so that they can return to the "normal" behavior of society. It is not the learning of investigators who unravel the secrets of the phenomenological world with great skills.
It is an understanding of the relationship between mankind and the rest of nature that is not related to traditional knowledge. It is the unravelling of the knots that man's folly has created. It is setting aside unnatural suffering and accepting, with happiness and equanimity, the benefits of the natural life that are available.
How do you find this wisdom? You need not seek it. You must allow nature to reveal its secrets to you as you open your mind freely to your human heritage, which is natural curiosity, free from delusion, greed, and hostility. You must experience natural truth by your own direct experience. What you need to know is not a mass of facts, figures, and theories that will bring social comfort, security, and power, but how to discover what you already know, which has been covered up by hundreds of generations of folly.
When you finally touch this wisdom you will see that it has four major dimensions:
1. Unsurpassed wisdom that understands the laws of cause and effect.
2. wisdom of noble judgement.
3. Illuminating wisdom that casts off ignorance.
4. wisdom of equanimity
These four are the heritage of the wisdom of the Dharma within which all Buddhists are advised to take refuge.
It is the release of three of these various forms of wisdom that form a mutual cycle of growth with Correct Attitudes, Correct Intentions, and Correct Actions.
The experience of compassion is directly related to Correct Intentions. Be sure that you remember that this relationship exists, for it will later become an important point of discussion and practice. There are two other equally important experiences that we must know about. They are Gladness and Benevolent Love, which accompany Correct Attitudes and Correct Actions respectively.
The cultivation of these three experiences, through correct natural attitudes, intentions, and actions, form a powerful internal liberating force that leads to the nurture of the cycle and the fruitful development and perfection of natural wisdom, which is quite different from the academic knowledge that is based upon an the apparent wisdom of conscious intellect, which has learned how to divide and name everything so that there can be better mundane understanding and communication.
Do not despise academic knowledge. Without it, the human creature might long ago have fallen into extinction along his evolutionary path to this modern age. There is nothing wrong with academic knowledge. However, when that knowledge is assumed to be the truth, and that assumed truth divorces the human creature from all other creatures, objects, and processes of this apparent existence, then the intervening variable, Man as an Identity, deforms that useful tool. He then generates the total destruction of consciousness, transforming the magnificent understanding of what is into suffering and false happiness.
Thus wisdom can be said to be an understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
THE CYCLE OF WISDOM
CORRECT ATTITUDES
ROOTS CORRECT INTENTIONS
CORRECT ACTIONS
GLADNESS
EXPERIENCE COMPASSION
BENEVOLENT LOVE
Nurture Then Brings
WISDOM OF NOBLE JUDGEMENT
CONSEQUENCE WISDOM OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
WISDOM OF ILLUMINATION
Note that there are three types of wisdom in this cycle. Each is related to its root and is accompanied by a related experience. The fourth wisdom, equanimity, has a very special function within this cycle of reinforcing correct attitudes.
In many texts, you will hear these wisdoms called Mirror Wisdom, Discrimination Awakening Wisdom, Spontaneous Wisdom, and Equality Wisdom. Often you will hear of a fifth wisdom called Primordial Wisdom. This is the elementary wisdom of the Buddha Nature that guides us from birth. It is the wisdom of our ancestors, the guiding wisdom of evolutionary experience.
There are few who would reject these wisdoms if they were offered as a gift, but it is surprising how many reject them when they have to give up the folly that they cling to every day. Promise wisdom and no toil and there will be masses waiting to receive. Promise wisdom without sacrifice and the crowds will multiply. There is a price, however. To receive wisdom you must give up folly, and folly appears to give such enticing rewards that this often becomes too difficult.
One of the problems with folly is that it doesn't allow you to know what wisdom is all about. For most people, it appears only to be something that it would be nice to have. Wisdom is more than that. It is an internal knowledge that tells you exactly how to live in harmony with all things without suffering or stress. It is an internal knowledge that brings true comfort, true security, and a true sense of belonging. It is an internal knowledge that allows you to lead a correct, happy and healthy life.
It is a knowledge accompanied by the liberation of Gladness, Compassion, and Benevolent Love. It is your birthright, which most have sold for a few glittering baubles, believing that they would bring comfort, security, and a sense of belonging. Instead, those who have embroiled themselves in the tangles of this life have purchased false comfort, false security, and false belonging.
If you are one of these who have sold your birthright, inside of you, a smothered voice may occasionally cry out for deliverance. You may sense, perhaps, that there is something wrong with the life that you are leading, but most of the time you do not listen. You are too busy enjoying the false and very seductive delights of this world.
Listen to this voice that protests within you. The growth of wisdom will bring the Awakening that will allow you to enjoy the fruits of real knowledge in a manner that will make all false delights appear insignificant.
The wonderful thing about wisdom, is that although its voice has been blanketed by the "noise" in your memory and in your conscious awareness, and then sublimated through your subconscious processes, it has not been completely silenced.
This "noise" has been set in place by all the folly that you have accepted as truth. No one else is to blame for this. You yourself have chosen that folly, and every day you continue to build it up more and more. Your major task then is not to receive wisdom, but to cast out folly so that fundamental wisdom can be heard; then you can build upon that base.
VIRTUE
One thing should be made clear, and that is the importance of virtue. Without virtue you will not be able to proceed very far. Your FIRST preparation is to accept virtue as the pre-requisite for personal evolution.
What is virtue? It is not the same as the virtue you hear about in religious groups. First of all, a person is considered to be virtuous if he has the true internal volition to be virtuous. In other words, a person who is constantly and truly trying to act with virtue, but without success, is still a virtuous person.
Remember:
1. You are a new person, ever changing both physically and mentally, every second of your life.
2. What you were in the last few seconds you are not now.
3. There is no reason for guilt for a past action that was not virtuous.
4. You are not culpable for any past action that was not virtuous.
5. You are responsible as a social creature in this world of the senses to repair any damage that your actions my have caused.
Responsibility is not the same as guilt or culpability. As a person with Benevolent Love, Gladness, and Compassion, you will be responsible quite naturally.
You can see that virtue, as here applied, is sensible and in the best interest of the natural system. To create guilt and culpability is folly. Not only do you tend to create that guilt in yourself, but you heap guilt and culpability upon others, and everybody suffers.
Where does virtue come from? You already have it. It is not something you must learn about that has been set up by the law of a patriarch. It is a part of your natural wisdom.
Unfortunately, this Buddha Nature has been smothered by all the ignorance that has accrued in your lifetime. It begins when society and social systems start to operate. Well meaning, but misguided parents and relatives, religious groups, the state, educational systems and friends all play their part in masking the virtue that is within you. When you begin to develop virtue, you begin to strip away this mask of ignorance.
What are the components of virtue?
Virtue is the VOLITION present in one who abstains from the following:
Killing any living thing
Taking what is not given
Sexual activity with Identity presence
Lust
Covetousness
Ill Will
False Speech
Malicious Speech
Harsh Speech
Gossip
Torpor
Worry and Remorse
Uncertainty
Ignorance
Non enthusiasm
Wrong Views
Remember that it is the volition, the will to avoid all the above, that makes a man or woman virtuous. There do not have to be virtuous actions for a person to be virtuous.
Virtue then for us is the conscious concomitant of correct volition, which hopefully is followed by restraint and finally non transgression.
If you have virtue and speak maliciously of someone, then you are no less virtuous. It simply means that you have not succeeded in exercising restraint. The ground will not open up beneath you. There will be no retribution or punishment. All that happens is that you will suffer the natural consequences of that lack of restraint.
What then is the utility of virtue?
There is no utility in the sense that it will lead to no special reward. There will be no mundane gain. You will not build yourself a place automatically in some heaven. All you will do is retrieve your natural heritage, your Buddha Nature, and you will open the door to a fuller natural life without suffering. There is no reward for developing virtue. It is simply folly if you do not.
Virtue then is a prerequisite for a fuller natural life that opens the door to advances in Discipline, (mindfulness); Concentration, (an altered state of consciousness awareness); and Penetration, (a profound understanding). All these things are not reserved for the most intelligent, the strongest, or the most beautiful. They are your birthright.
In the Vhisuddhi Magga, in the first chapter, the following question was asked of Buddha:
The inner tangle and the outer tangle:
This generation is entangled in a tangle.
Who succeeds in disentangling this tangle?
The answer given was the following:
When a wise man, established well in Virtue,
Develops Concentration and Understanding,
Then as a bhikkhu ardent and sagacious,
He succeeds in disentangling this tangle.
Virtue then is the base. In taking refuge, all are advised to submit to the natural virtue within every human creature. With this base of virtue, you will find less resistance to the wisdom of the Dharma.
The words and knowledge that come from the bodhisattvas and buddhas are meant for you. Absorb that knowledge and understand it without using a conscious grasping intellect.
The Purification of Virtue
The purification of virtue is the process that eliminates the mental blanket of moral virtue set in place by society. It also reduces the force of the Identity that encounters virtue an impediment to its drives.
It is said in the Magganga Vibhanga that this release has the nature of detachment.
"He develops Right Speech, dependent on detachment, dependent on absence of lust, dependent on cessation, culminating in relinquishment. He develops Right Action dependent on detachment, dependent on absence of lust, dependent on cessation, culminating in relinquishment... Right Livelihood, dependent on detachment, dependent on absence of lust, dependent on cessation, culminating in relinquishment."
Detachment is cutting oneself off, taking a watchful stance, without Identity attachment.
The greatest enemy of virtue is Greed. When detachment of the Identity from the greed of possession is accomplished, the major enemy is vanquished and desire loses its great force.
Detachment from Confusion may seem to be a difficult task, but in reality, the confused person does not possess a large range of clinging to the particular. His clinging is to the comfort of the “nest”, where there are few problems. Thus the process for a confused person is to develop detachment from the desire for a comfortable nest or a from clinging to it.
What then must a person of Aversion detach himself from? He must detach himself from a clinging to the cause of justice as his tainted eyes see it.
When one develops virtue, one is developing the groundwork for Correct Speech, Correct Action and Correct Livelihood. However, virtue is not independent of these three, for it is entwined with behavior. Thus, when working upon these three elements of the Eightfold Path, one is also opening one’s heart to natural virtue.
As speech, action and livelihood are ruled by the Identity that is developed by the cycle of Dependent Origination, detachment from the Identity destroys clinging and craving and permits a clear comprehension of the correct path of virtuous behavior.
But one does not apply one’s mind to the development of virtue; that would be to place the cart before the horse. If you try to do that, you are simply putting virtuous ideas in direct conflict with Identity, with the battle being fought in the territory of Identity, the tainted mind.
No. One approaches the problem more quietly, dealing with each problem, approaching each little skirmish in the areas of speech, action and livelihood with quiet resolve, as each impediment develops within one’s intentions.
When there is an intention to speak, apply correct attention and energy and detach your Identity from the process. When you are about to spring into action, look at your intention and detach Identity from the intention. When engaged in your livelihood, look at your intention and divorce your Identity from the idea of livelihood.
Natural intentions will gradually replace cankered intentions and the need and direction of changes will be more evident. Correct intentions will be slowly liberated. These correct and natural intentions is true virtue and the cessation of clinging and craving brings a relinquishment of non virtue.
What then are the main points to remember?
First, the development of a “letting go” of desire does not refer to virtue (sìla) that has leanings towards happy forms of existence (bhava-sampatti). It refers to the establishment of a state that is correct and natural.
Second, virtue is not religious virtue directed by commandments or authority. Virtue arises naturally, for it is the innate state of being. It is glad when others are glad; it is compassionate when others are suffering, wishing that all can release themselves from the bonds of Mara; and it possesses the benevolent wish that all can live with happiness. Virtue cannot then be imposed. It must be released.
Third, the Path factors of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood are not components of morality (sìlakkhandha); they are instead the perfection of natural virtue. They are called sometimes, in error, the three virati-cetasikà, mental factors of abstention, but they are better termed the three mental factors of release from bondage.
CONCENTRATION
Concentration is much easier to understand and describe than virtue, and the Majjhima Nikaya 44, does so without equivocation.
Visakha: "Now what is concentration, what qualities are its themes, what qualities are its requisites, and what is its development?"
Sister Dhammadina: "Singleness of mind is concentration; the four frames of reference are its themes; the four right exertions are its requisites; and any cultivation, development, and pursuit of these qualities is its development."
Concentration, however, has two faces: one that is directed at Buddhist laity and the other for those who really wish to encounter full liberation. We will deal with the latter in the next lesson.
Here, in this lesson, we deal with the Concentration of the Eightfold Path, which is for all those who wish to avoid the pitfalls of “existence” while not taking that apparently extreme step of letting everything go. This is The Noble Path, the Ten Asekhadhamma. Describing the Ten Asekhadhamma it may then be said:
Majjhima Nikaya 26
Give ear then, for the Immortal is found. I reveal, I set forth the Truth. As I reveal it to you, so act! And that supreme goal of the holy life, for the sake of which, sons of good families rightly go forth from home to the homeless state: this you will, in no long time, in this very life, make known to yourself, realize, and make your own.
Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11
This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has found out, which makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to discernment, to awakening, to Nirvana…Free from pain and torture is this path, free from groaning and suffering; it is the perfect path.
While the Eightfold Path can clearly be called a Middle Path, it is no less difficult to tread than the extreme of Eternalism. Certainly it leads to insight, but the struggle is one that has to be made daily.
Dhammapada 274-6
Truly, like this path there is no other path to the purity of insight. If you follow this path, you will put an end to suffering. But each one has to struggle for himself, the Perfect Ones have only pointed out the way.
That indeed is what it is -- a struggle-- a struggle continually against Mara. It is not a matter of attending a pretty lecture once a month, going to a wonderful retreat with majestic stupas, temples and an aura of spirituality. The truth is to be discovered upon the Eightfold Path by investing your time every waking moment in the idea of liberation. No Buddha can lift you on his shoulders and carry you across the river of Mara.
The way has been pointed out. You can expect to stumble, get your pretty clothes wet, cut your flesh on jagged rocks, be tired and wonder what you are doing amidst a rushing river when everyone else is back there where you came from dancing and enjoying themselves.
What lies ahead? Tranquility and the truth. Is it worth struggling for? You will only know when you are on the other side.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
GROUP I
The Two Factors of wisdom
CORRECT VIEW
Majjhima Nikaya 117
"And how is correct view the forerunner? One discerns wrong view as wrong view. One discerns correct view as correct view. This is one's correct view. And what is wrong view? 'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no priests or contemplatives who, faring correctly and practicing correctly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.' This is wrong view.
"And what is correct view? Correct view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is correct view with fermentations, siding with merit, resulting in the paraphernalia (of becoming); and there is noble correct view, free from fermentations, transcendent, a factor of the path.
"And what is the correct view that has fermentations, sides with merit, and results in paraphernalia? 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits and results of good and bad actions. There is this world and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are priests and contemplatives who, faring correctly and practicing correctly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.' This is the correct view that has fermentations, sides with merit, and results in paraphernalia.
This, I must say, is my favorite passage with regard to the Eightfold Path because it sets things straight: there is wrong view and there are two correct views. It is most important to have an understanding of correct view with fermentations because if you are not aware of this trap, you will fall right into it. Look at what this passage says again.
"And what is the correct view that has fermentations, sides with merit, and results in paraphernalia? 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits and results of good and bad actions. There isthis world and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are priests and contemplatives who, faring correctly and practicing correctly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.
This correct view, you see, still holds on to Duality. It is correct inasmuch as it sees the offer and the sacrifice, the fruit and results, this world and the next world, mother and father, but it has not yet let go of the mind that dissects and classifies.
Only when one can, with correct view, let go of the offerings and sacrifice, fruits and results, this world and the next world, and see them with equanimity as undifferentiated, are there fermentations (agitations).
"And what is the correct view that is free from fermentations, transcendent, a factor of the path? The discernment, the faculty of discernment, the strength of discernment, analysis of qualities as a factor for Awakening, the path factor of correct view in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is free from fermentations, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This is the correct view that is free from fermentations, transcendent, a factor of the path.
"One tries to abandon wrong view and to enter into correct view: This is one's correct effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong view and to enter and remain in correct view: This is one's correct mindfulness. Thus these three qualities -- correct view, correct effort, and correct mindfulness -- run and circle around correct view."
This passage points out that correct view, correct effort, and correct mindfulness all run and circle around correct view. This is true, for when we examine correct view or understanding, we find it has are essential connections to correct mindfulness or attention, and to correct effort or energy. (As correct energy has force and direction, it is therefore better termed “energized intention.”)
Thus this circle is one in which correct attention and correct energy resist and reject the incorrect and embrace and develop the correct. Correct view, you see, is not simply a static idea; it embraces every aspect of life as it changes.
We also find that there are two kinds of correct view or understanding: the "mundane," practiced by "ordinary people"; and the “ultra-mundane”, practiced by those who are sincerely on the path, having given up the insanity of the world of the senses.
Majjhima Nikaya 117
Therefore, I say, Right Understanding is of two Kinds:
1. The view that alms and offerings are not useless; that there is fruit and result, both of good and bad actions; that there are such things as this life, and the next life; that father and mother as spontaneously born beings ( in the heavenly worlds) are no mere words; that there are monks and priests who are spotless and perfect, who can explain this life and the next life, which they themselves have understood: this is called the "Mundane Right Understanding," which yields worldly fruits, and brings good results.
2. But whatsoever there is of wisdom, of penetration, of right understanding, conjoined with the Path - the mind being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued; - this is called the "Ultramundane Right Understanding," which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the Path.
In understanding wrong understanding as wrong, and right understanding as right, one practices Right Understanding (1st element in the path); and in making efforts to overcome wrong understanding, and to arouse right understanding, one practices Right Effort (6th element in the path); and in overcoming wrong understanding with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in the possession of right understanding, one practices Right Attentiveness (7th element in the path.) Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon right understanding, namely: right understanding, right effort, and right attentiveness.
CORRECT ATTITUDE OR THINKING
Correct Attitude as Right Thought (sammà-sankappa) is the mental factor sometimes termed “thought-conception” (vitakka cetasika). As it is the process that supports correct view and allows it to be applied to all situations, it is included in the wisdom category (pannàkkhandha) of the Eightfold Path.
Digha Nikaya 22
What, now, is Correct Attitude (Mindedness)? It is thought free from lust; thoughts free from ill-will; thoughts free from cruelty. This is called Correct Attitude.
We tend to associate the concept of lust with sexual desire, and although this is a prime cause of much incorrect behavior, lust is actually a term for craving of any type. Certainly in this complex world, lust is one of the most frequent attitudes that lurks beneath the surface of much incorrect behavior and is one of the most difficult to dissolve.
In addition to lust, there is aversion, which can also arise from thwarted craving. Often in its development, it is less violent than the aggressive behavior of lust, but it can also be more cruel in its application.
It is difficult to point an accusing finger at confusion as an incorrect attitude, until one realizes that the confused person is tempted to travel the easiest path and be led by others. Do not also forget that the confused person, in those rare moments when they arouse a strong opinion, is very contentious, not having developed the social skills of the greedy.
Correct attitude is threefold, namely:
1. correct thoughts of restraint,
2. compassion,
3. benevolence.
We know that compassion is an experience related to natural intention and that benevolence is related to natural action. Thus we see that attitude is linked to the karmic cycle: correct attitude, correct intention, and correct action.
The human creature is trapped in a net of incredible complexity, and as time passes the net becomes stronger and more difficult to untangle. There are many who are overwhelmed with suffering, many who are conscious of the folly of this way of life and seek another way, and many who are aware that there may be a greater truth to be obtained.
As all this suffering has ignorance as its cause, developing correct wisdom and its associated correct attitude is essential.
Buddha declared that correct attitude is of two types:
Majjhima Nikaya 9
Now , Correct Attitude, let me tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Thoughts free from lust, from ill-will, and from cruelty:- this is called the "'Mundane Right Attitude," which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But, whatsoever there is of thinking, considering, reasoning, thought, rationalization, application - the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued - : these "Verbal Operations" of the mind are called the "Ultramundane Correct Attitude" which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the paths.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
GROUP II
The Three Factors of Virtue
CORRECT ACTION
The word often used for action is karma, although karma is more correctly associated with intention. But since incorrect intention is masked by a host of faulty reasons and justifications, it is much easier to locate and see karma in actions that arise from intentions, understanding that many intentions with corresponding karmic formation do not manifest themselves as overt behavior. It is clear also that correct view or understanding generates natural restraint of incorrect action. Thus it is declared in the Anguttara Nikaya X, 174:
Anguttara Nikaya X, 174
When the noble disciple understands what is karmically wholesome, and the root of wholesome karma; what is karmically unwholesome, and the root of unwholesome karma, then he has Right Understanding. What, now, is "karmically unwholesome?" (The Ten Unwholesome Actions)
In Bodily Action it is destruction of living beings; stealing; and unlawful sexual intercourse. In Verbal Action it is lying; tale-bearing; harsh language; and frivolous talk. In Mental Action it is covetousness; ill-will; and wrong views. (The Ten Unwholesome Actions)
And what is the root of unwholesome karma? Greed is a root of unwholesome karma; Anger is a root of unwholesome karma; Delusion is a root of unwholesome karma…
…What, now, is "karmically wholesome?" (The Ten Wholesome Actions)
In Body Action it is to abstain from killing; to abstain from stealing; and to abstain from unlawful sexual intercourse. In Verbal Action it is to abstain from lying; to abstain from tale-bearing; to abstain from harsh language; and to abstain from frivolous talk. In Mental Action it is absence of covetousness; absence of ill-will; and right understanding.
And what is the root of wholesome karma? Absence of greed (unselfishness) is a root if wholesome karma; absence of anger (benevolence) is a root of wholesome karma, absence of delusion (wisdom) is a root of wholesome karma.
Therefore, I say, these demeritorious actions are of three kinds: either due to greed, or due to anger, or due to delusion.”
Notice that covetousness, ill-will, and incorrect view are mentioned as mental actions in the context of “wholesome and unwholesome actions”. But in the context of the Eightfold Path, these are really related to correct intentions or effort that are actually manifested in action.
Buddha also declared declared that correct action is of two types:
Majjhima Nikaya 177
Now, Correct Action, let me tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Abstaining from killing, from stealing, and from unlawful sexual intercourse - this is called the "Mundane Correct Action," which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the abhorrence of the practice of this three - fold Incorrect action, the abstaining, withholding, refraining therefrom - the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued -: this is called the "Ultramundane Correct Action," which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the paths.
Now, in understanding Incorrect action as Incorrect, and Correct action as Correct, one practices Correct Understanding (1st in the path); and in making efforts to overcome Incorrect action, and to arouse Correct action, one practices Correct Effort (6th in the path); and in overcoming Incorrect action with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of Correct action, one practices Correct Attentiveness ( 7th in the path). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Correct action, namely: Correct understanding, Correct effort, and Correct attentiveness.[
CORRECT SPEECH
Correct speech is refraining from vain speech, that is speech that is not expressed for the benefit of the mind/body of all sentient creatures and oneself.
Majjhima Nikaya 21
What, now, is Correct Speech? It is abstaining from lying; abstaining from tale-bearing; abstaining from harsh language; abstaining from vain talk.
There, someone avoids lying, and abstains from it. He speaks the truth, is devoted to the truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, is not a deceiver of men. Being at a meeting, or amongst people, or in the midst of his relatives, or in a society, or in the king's court, and called upon and asked as witness, to tell what he knows, he answers, if he knows nothing: “I know nothing"; and if he knows, he answers: "I know"; if he has seen nothing, he answers: "I have seen nothing'" and if he has seen, he answers: "I have seen."
Thus, he never knowingly speaks a lie, neither for the sake of his own advantage, nor for the sake of another person's advantage, nor for the sake of any advantage what so ever.
He avoids tale-bearing, and abstains from it. What he has heard here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here. Thus he unites those that are divided; and those who are united, he encourages. Concord gladdens him, he delights and rejoices in concord, and it is concord that he spreads by his words.
He avoids harsh language, and abstains from it. He speaks such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, loving, going to the heart, courteous and dear, and agreeable to many.
"Even, O monks, should robbers and murderers saw through your limbs and joints, he who so gave way to anger (angry invective ) there, would not be following my advice. For thus ought you to train yourselves: [
Anguttara Nikaya. X, 176
"Undisturbed shall our mind remain, no evil words shall escape our lips; friendly and full of sympathy shall we remain, with heart full of love, and free from any hidden malice; and that person shall we penetrate with loving thoughts, wide deep, boundless, freed from anger and hatred."
He avoids vain talk, and abstains from it. He speaks at the correct time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful, speaks about the law and the discipline; his speech is like a treasure, at the Correct moment accompanied by arguments, moderate and full of sense. This is called Correct speech.”
This naturally takes great skill and experience, for it is difficult to know when it is the correct time and what it is correct to disclose. The difficulty arises not with untruths, vain talk and such clearly inappropriate ways of speech, but when telling the truth. The first and important thing to watch is the presence of Identity interest. If there is the slightest suspicion of Identity, then it is better to remain silent.
The truth, you see, can be hurtful and can cause mental stress and even physical stress when it is disclosed inappropriately, in the incorrect way, or at the incorrect time. Sometimes the lion’s roar is correct at other times the song of the bird is appropriate. There is a “golden” rule. Silence well held is precious.
Once more we see that correct speech is of two kinds.
Majjhima Nikaya.117
Now, correct speech, let me tell you, is of two kinds:
1. Abstaining from vain talk; this is called the "Mundane Correct Speech," which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the abhorrence of the practice of this four-fold Incorrect speech, the abstaining, withholding, refraining there from - the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued - : this is called the "Ultramundane Correct Speech," which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the paths.
Now, in understanding Incorrect speech as Incorrect, and Correct speech as Correct, one practices Correct Understanding (1st in the path); and in making efforts to overcome evil speech and to arouse Correct speech, one practices Correct Effort (6th in the path); and in overcoming Incorrect speech with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of Correct speech, one practices Correct Attentiveness (7th in the path). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Correct speech.
How one actually develops correct action, as we have seen, is with the application of correct energy and attention. This is specifically expressed in Buddha’s conversation with Rahula, documented in the Majjhima Nikaya 61.
Majjhima Nikaya 61
Buddha: "What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?"
Rahula: "For reflection, sir."
Buddha: "In the same way, Rahula, bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts are to be done with repeated reflection.
Future Bodily Acts
"Whenever you want to perform a bodily act, you should reflect on it: 'This bodily act I want to perform -- would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?'
If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful bodily act with painful consequences, painful results, then any bodily act of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. But if on reflection you know that it would not cause affliction... it would be a skillful bodily act with happy consequences, happy results, then any bodily act of that sort is fit for you to do.”
Present Bodily Acts
"While you are performing a bodily act, you should reflect on it: 'This bodily act I am doing -- is it leading to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Is it an unskillful bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?' If, on reflection, you know that it is leading to self-affliction, to affliction of others, or both... you should give it up. But if on reflection you know that it is not... you may continue with it.”
Past Bodily Acts
“After you have performed a bodily act, you should reflect on it: 'This bodily act I have done -- has it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Was it an unskillful bodily act, with painful consequences, painful results?'
If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful bodily act with painful consequences, painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having confessed it... you should exercise restraint in the future.
But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction... it was a skillful bodily act with happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in skillful bodily qualities.
As was Buddha’s custom, he applies the same logic to verbal and mental acts.
Verbal Acts
Having performed a verbal act, you should reflect on it... If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful bodily act with painful consequences, painful results, then you should confess it, reveal it, lay it open to the Teacher or to a knowledgeable companion in the holy life. Having confessed it... you should exercise restraint in the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction... it was a skillful verbal act with happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in skillful verbal qualities.
Mental Acts
"Having performed a mental act, you should reflect on it... If, on reflection, you know that it led to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it was an unskillful mental act with painful consequences, painful results, then you should feel horrified, humiliated, and disgusted with it. Feeling horrified... you should exercise restraint in the future. But if on reflection you know that it did not lead to affliction... it was a skillful mental act with happy consequences, happy results, then you should stay mentally refreshed and joyful, training day and night in skillful mental qualities.
"Rahula, all the priests and contemplatives in the course of the past who purified their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts, did it through repeated reflection on their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts in just this way.
"All the priests and contemplatives in the course of the future... All the priests and contemplatives at present who purify their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts, do it through repeated reflection on their bodily acts, verbal acts, and mental acts in just this way.
"And so, Rahula, you should train yourself: 'I will purify my bodily acts through repeated reflection. I will purify my verbal acts through repeated reflection. I will purify my mental acts through repeated reflection.' That's how you should train yourself."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Ven. Rahula delighted in the Blessed One's words.
Note very clearly Buddha’s advice. Reflection is the answer. He does not say restrict, or renounce incorrect speech or actions. The word used is “reflect”, and that is the key to restraint. Just as one does not stop a runway horse with a brutish and abrupt pulling of the reigns, --except in films of the Wild West,-- one skillfully controls the reigning effect.
CORRECT LIVLIHOOD
What now, is correct livelihood?
Digha Nikaya 22
When the noble disciple, avoiding a correct way of living, gets his livelihood by a correct way of living, this is called Correct Living.
Now it certainly doesn’t help much to know that a correct livelihood is maintained by avoiding an incorrect livelihood.
Once more, we learn that there are two kinds of correct living. However, while it is easy to see what “ultramundane correct living” might be like, it is not so easy to see what “mundane correct living” is.
Majjhima Nikaya 117
Now, Correct living, let me tell you, is of two kinds:
1. When the noble disciple, avoiding Incorrect living, gets his livelihood by a Correct way of living - this is called the "Mundane Correct Living," which yields worldly fruits and brings good results.
2. But the abhorrence of Incorrect living, the abstaining, withholding, refraining therefrom - the mind being holy, being turned away from the world, and conjoined with the path, the holy path being pursued -: this is called the "Ultramundane Correct Living," which is not of the world, but is ultramundane, and conjoined with the paths.
Now, in understanding Incorrect living as Incorrect, and Correct living as Correct, one practices Correct Understanding [1st in the path]; and in making efforts to overcome Incorrect living, to arouse Correct living, one practices Correct Effort (6th in the path); and in overcoming Incorrect living with attentive mind, and dwelling with attentive mind in possession of Correct living, one practices Correct Attentiveness (7th in the path). Hence, there are three things that accompany and follow upon Correct living, namely: Correct understanding, Correct effort, and Correct attentiveness.
Let us look at Correct Livelihood of the first kind. We can start perhaps by examining the life of early man. What did he really need?
Well the North American Indian required bow and arrows to obtain food, a horse for transport, an axe to cut trees and brush, a tepee or simple hut to live in, a knowledge of nature and man in relation to all things and a clear comprehension of his unity with the tribe. His life was perhaps not easy, but from what we know of the early tribes, he was satisfied and joyful. On the negative side, there was tribal conflict, generally for horses, rarely for women, and later serious conflict with civilization and liquor.
Well we are not North American Indians, but we have not come far. On the negative side, things have got worse. Now we require an elaborate and complex job instead of a bow and arrow. We need a car, --- a big car, a better car, a faster car,-- or money for transportation. We require apartments, houses, second houses, grand houses, luxurious houses, instead of a tepee.
We don’t feel that we need a knowledge of nature, because we are no longer a part of it. We have divorced ourselves from the natural world, so we destroy all flora and fauna. We have no knowledge of our fellow man nor correct relations with him. We are not one with the unity of all things, because only we, as individuals, are important. We flock to flags, teams, clubs and the like, but we have no sense of solidarity with a tribe or with the human race. We are neither satisfied nor joyful.
We have global conflict and weapons of mass destruction, all for power and territory, not for horses or women. Once there was no sense of being a man or a woman; there was a unity between both. Now there are men and there are women in perpetual disharmony, without understanding one another. Horses have gone along with all the other animals we have neglected and destroyed.
We are not at all civilized, although with great egoism we have developed the arts, rather like an antique collector collects things of value long gone. The Indians painted on crude canvas with earth pigments because of their love of life and of Manitou. “Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing.”
Do you really have to ask what correct livelihood is?
Certainly we cannot return to the times of the tribes, for we have, in some ways, advanced our knowledge, but in other ways, we have lost our knowledge.
Correct livelihood is a return to simplicity without clinging and craving. It is difficult to let go, but that is the only way. Our greatest fault lies in our loss of true understanding.
The tribesmen had one precious possession, the old tales of the Elders. They told how to live in harmony and peace with nature. Now, not only don’t we listen to our old tales, but when we do hear them, we nod and treat them as if they were for children and not applicable to this life. Today the tales are gone. True, we are more serious, more sophisticated, but we have lost our way. Now we only have the Dharma, but we don’t even listen to that.
So, if you wish to have correct livelihood, the first place to start is to work on all the members of the Eightfold Path and cut your life down to the simplest possible. You don’t have to take the path of he who walks with two sets of robes and a bowl, but you can mentally walk without either clinging or craving and say to your Identity, as it was once said to Satan, “Get behind me Satan”. In fact, better than simply get behind me, “Disappear altogether”.
Exercise 7A
Explain, in a clear and personal way, the major changes you would have to make in your Actions, Speech and Livelihood in order to tread the correct path of Virtue.