Buddhist Belief – More Steps on the Eightfold Path
“Lead a righteous life; lead not a base life. The righteous live happily both in this world and the next.”~~~ Buddha
Last time we took a break from the teachings about the Eightfold Path for some meditation. We gave you both the transcript of one of the versions of the Metta/Loving-Kindness Meditation as well as my reading of it via a podcast. With this article, we’ll continue with more of the Eightfold Path as taught by Buddha and the basic teachings of
Buddhist Belief.
One of the reasons why I decided to do the Loving-Kindness Meditation was to help us to cultivate compassion. The more we cultivate the many aspects of compassion such as loving-kindness, well-wishing prayers, charity, service and altruism, the more we take an active role in warming the entire environment. We may not be aware of it, but showing compassion is a major force in the universe. Not only are we radiating light when we’re being compassionate, but out of that naturally comes the actions of caring and helping others. Plus, when we’re putting those good vibes out there, people will emulate us.
We’ve looked at Right or Perfect View, Right or Perfect Understanding, and Right or Perfect Attitude. This leads us to the second group in the Eightfold Path — self-discipline, character, and virtue, which are Right or Impeccable Speech — Right or Impeccable Action and Right or Impeccable Livelihood.
Right, Perfect or Impeccable Speech: There’s a whole laundry list of things pertaining to how we speak which come under this element of the Path. Things like lying, manipulating, gossiping, cursing, saying harsh or nasty words, putting other people down, and so on.
Right Speech also refers to being honest in our self-talk about ourselves, either inwardly or to others. Impeccable Speech means to say what is wholesome, helpful, appropriate and necessary. When we misuse the way we speak by squandering our energy in producing endless static for no good reason, we’re only defusing our energy rather than focusing it on something positive.
The self-discipline of Right Speech is very helpful for meditation as well. It deepens our spiritual experience into wisdom by focusing our energy, rather than just dispersing it, frittering it away and distracting ourselves with harmful talk.
Right, Perfect, or Impeccable Action: This can also be translated as “right conduct”. As such, we should train ourselves to be morally upright in our activities, not acting in ways that would be corrupt or bring harm to ourself or to others. It means to not be harmful, but rather helpful, wholesome, and sane. This means refraining from the taking of life. It means being merciful and compassionate to all living beings.
Obviously, this would also include not stealing — not taking anything which hasn’t been freely given to you. Whatever belongs to someone else is not to be taken from them. Right Action also refers to refraining from misconduct in our intimate relations. It means avoiding addictive, obsessive and exploitive behavior. Finally, it also includes not harming our own bodies through negative actions and/or allowing for addictions of any kind.
Right, Perfect, or Impeccable Livelihood or Vocation: This means that we should not engage in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm for other living beings. Such occupations as:
1. Business in weapons: trading in all kinds of weapons and instruments for killing.
2. Business in human beings: slave trading, prostitution, or the buying and selling of children or adults.
3. Business in meat: “meat” refers to the bodies of beings after they are killed. This includes breeding animals for slaughter.
4. Business in intoxicants: manufacturing or selling intoxicating drinks or addictive drugs.
5. Business in poison: producing or trading in any kind of toxic product designed to kill.
Right Livelihood can also be extended to include following our own calling. Living positively and helpfully. If at all possible, it’s best to do something we love so we can put ourselves fully into our vocation. This would also include being environmentally conscious and not doing things which will destroy our Earth.
Look also at your investments. Have you invested in the stock market into companies which might be engaged in products harmful to people, animals or the environment? We have to look at which side we are on of those ethical issues. Right or Impeccable Vocation is very helpful in living the enlightened life and achieving clarity in our dealings with the world.
The Eightfold Path is a tough set of rules for those of us who are so used to doing whatever feels good at the moment. However, if we keep in mind why we would want to adopt this as our way of living — which is to end our suffering and dissatisfaction — we can see that it is a practical guideline. This is how we can train our minds and our bodies to achieve greater ethical and mental development. It’s the way for us to free ourselves from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things.
Isn’t it worth it? The payoff is to attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The quote at the beginning of this article says it all.
Next time we’ll continue our journey through the Eightfold Path of Buddhist Belief with Right, Perfect or Impeccable Effort, Concentration and Awareness.
Namaste – Be in Peace.
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Have you ever taken a step back and just observed life, while thinking “Why am I here?”
It’s in that stupefying moment you realize that you’re the architect of life, but there’s no blueprint. We have this mysterious internal compass, but beyond that we’re on our own. We have to fend for ourselves and make things up as we go along.
We have to take control and steer through life the best we can. We have to take the wheel and avoid living accidentally. We’re in charge. We need to avoid losing control and relinquishing control of our minds.
The Beautification of Your Mind
There is a lot of credit (and merit) given to creating a beautiful space. We spend inordinate amounts of time and money decorating our homes, buying new clothes and products in the effort to make our lives more desirable.
But not much credit is given to the beautification of our minds.
We adorn our bodies, homes and spaces with expensive things. We often associate the value of our lives with the value of our possessions. Once we buy or obtain the object of our desire, within a few days or hours we begin thinking about our next purchase.
The illness of materialism has a stranglehold on us; we are always in need of our next fix.
The reality is that this search for the beautification of our bodies and our spaces will never satisfy us. We have more luxury and more convenience than a lot of Royalty had a few hundred years ago. In fact, royal servants now have more luxury than the same Kings they served a few hundred years ago. Obviously something is seriously wrong. Our value system is distorted.
I keep talking about the fact that internal wealth is the greatest asset you can have. Why is it so overlooked? You know why? It’s because you can’t see a luxurious mind. You can’t brag to your friends about it. You can’t say “Hey Lucy, look at the shiny mind I’ve got.”
So, if we can shine up our external bodies and spaces, why can’t we put a spit-shine on our minds?
I think we can. Creating a beautiful mind is about placing permanent fixtures of beautiful thoughts and ideas in all the corners of your mind. It’s about cleaning away the cobwebs of self-limiting beliefs. It’s about creating the auto-response to be right, perfect and impeccable with your word, and to not ever use your mind against yourself or others. It’s about coming to terms with your practical mind, and creating a relationship between your head and your heart. It’s about taking ownership of your mind, and realizing that that is the most powerful and precious gift that you have. Use it with wisdom and compassion.
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For those who wanted me to repeat the links for the books I’ve mentioned in the last few articles, here they are again — And, I have added another wonderful book by Sharon Salzberg. Here’s some information about it. I highly recommend all these books to you:
Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook
“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that.” – From The Kindness Handbook — “The Kindness Handbook
Eckhart Tolle’s amazing best seller, “A New Earth”
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s wonderful book, “My Stroke of Insight” — “Nirvana is just a breath away!”
And this one by Sharon Salzberg and is entitled: “A Heart as Wide as the World: Living with Mindfulness, Wisdom and Compassion“.
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Always remember this wonderful quote from Buddha ….
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”~~~ Buddha
Shanti everyone, … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”~~~ Buddha
Have a peaceful day!! —
Ron Rink
http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com
http://www.buddhistbelief.com
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Tags: attachment, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddhist Belief, detachment, Eightfold Path, First Noble Truth, Four Noble Truths, Fourth Noble Truth, inner peace, karma, loving kindness, Meditation, metta, Nirvana, Peace, Second Noble Truth, Third Noble Truth