Transcript
[0:08] Hi everyone. Welcome to The Enthusiastic Buddhist.
In this episode I want to talk about the Noble
[0:13] Eightfold Path, which is part of the Four
Noble Truths. In my last episode I covered
[0:19] the Four Noble Truths so I'll put a link to
that episode up here in case you missed it and you'd like to watch it now.
[0:26] So I ended the previous episode talking about the Fourth
[0:30] Noble Truth, which explains that if we want
to reach enlightenment and be free of all
[0:35] suffering we have to follow and practice the
path called the Noble Eightfold Path, so in
[0:42] effect there are eight things that we need to train in. The Noble Eightfold Path comprises of
[0:48] eight different aspects about ourselves that
we need to monitor, practice and perhaps change
[0:53] to ensure that they're in line with our spiritual aspirations, which are presumably to lead
[0:59] a moral life based on compassion and wisdom.
[1:02] So the Buddha summarized the eight trainings
in the Noble Eightfold Path. There are two
[1:07] trainings in wisdom, three trainings in morality
and three trainings in meditation. In the
[1:13] Pali language these are known as panna, sila
and samadhi.
[1:19] The first of the eight is Right View. Right
View, is also known as Right Understanding
[1:25] and it comes first in the sequence of eight,
because it acts like a core principle that
[1:30] guides the seven other trainings. In the beginning Right View helps us to steer our behavior
[1:37] towards cultivating wholesome actions which helps direct us towards peace and liberation,
[1:44] rather than further from it. Then in the end
Right View is representative of the wisdom that
[1:50] we gain from our meditative realizations and this only comes as a result of having practiced
[1:57] the seven other trainings. So Right View is
important in the beginning, middle and end
[2:03] of the path, all the way up to Enlightenment.
Right View is perhaps the hardest for beginners
[2:10] to understand and practice, so I will come
back to it at the end of this video and go
[2:15] over the seven other trainings first.
[2:18] The second training of wisdom is the practice
of Right Intention.
[2:22] The Buddha explained Right Intention as having the intention of renunciation, the intention
[2:28] of goodwill and the intention of harmlessness. Having an intention of renunciation...
[2:36] one way we can look at this is that it means
our intentions should be more selfless rather
[2:43] than selfish, and so we're not motivated by
personal greed so much, in fact, we're renouncing selfishness!
[2:52] Practicing more selfless behavior
helps us to move away from fortifying our
[2:58] own egos and always coming from a place of
self-centeredness. Instead we need to recognize
[3:04] that everyone is the same boat as us, in wanting
happiness and avoiding pain, so we should
[3:09] try to live in a way that helps the majority
instead of trying to secure the happiness
[3:16] of just one being, you know, this separate self, this individual 'I'. The Buddha taught that we're all interconnected,
[3:24] so renouncing selfishness and selfish pursuits and working towards the greater good is considered
[3:32] more in line with true reality than what we
might first realize or appreciate.
[3:39] Intention of renunciation also means living
a life more inclined towards peace and letting go.
[3:44] Renunciation doesn't necessarily mean
becoming monks and nun, and renouncing our
[3:49] families and living in a cave to meditate.
It could mean that but mostly it means renouncing
[3:56] our greed, our anger, our jealousy and other
harmful emotions.
[4:02] The Buddha said that he who has renounced
his impurities is called a renunciate. So
[4:08] the impurities we are seeking to renounce
are our mental impurities or defilements of
[4:13] greed, aversion, pride and jealousy which
all arise from ignorance and selfishness.
[4:20] And why do we try to remove these? Why do we try to renounce these? Because they cause us so much pain for ourselves,
[4:28] as well as others.
[4:29] Intention of renunciation also means letting
go of the belief that happiness is to be found
[4:35] in things that are external to us. I mean,
society tells us that happiness is to be found
[4:41] in acquiring more and more things, yet the
Buddha taught that happiness isn't found in
[4:46] external objects and their acquisition, or
through increasing our craving and desires,
[4:53] but through finding the inner happiness that is within us instead. So having an intention
[4:59] of renunciation means we slowly loosen the
grasp of our craving and attachment to external
[5:05] things so we can start to find the peace and happiness that lies within our minds,
[5:09] which we can find through the practice
of meditation and mindfulness.
[5:14] Now the next one is Intention of Goodwill.
[5:17] Having an intention of goodwill means we should
act with the attitude of good-will and love
[5:22] as opposed to ill-will and anger. Our actions
of body, speech and mind should resonate with
[5:29] the wish to help others and make them happy.
Anger is something that affects us all, in
[5:34] various degrees. If we do have anger or ill-will towards anyone then the Buddha prescribes
[5:41] the meditation of loving-kindness to help
us eradicate these tendencies of ill-will or anger.
[5:47] It's said that our mind's true
nature is one of love, peace and wishing
[5:54] other's happiness, so it is this state
that the Buddha wants us to tap back into.
[6:00] The last part of Right Intention is the Intention of Harmlessness.
[6:04] Having an intention of harmlessness means
we should be motivated by compassion and not
[6:08] wanting to cause or increase the suffering
of others. This means we refrain from harming
[6:14] others in any way, such as through physical
violence, verbal abuse, mental manipulation
[6:20] or power games. Actually this intention of
harmless should be employed in anything
[6:26] and everything that we set out to achieve. We should
always carefully consider the ramification
[6:33] of all our actions to ensure that it doesn't
cause harm or suffering in any way to any living creature.
[6:39] The next three trainings in the Noble
Eightfold Path are the three trainings of
[6:45] morality. These include the practice of Right
Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
[6:51] In essence, we try to practice these because
it helps us to have a mind
[6:55] that is kind, open and free of discursive
thought, and this allows us to achieve deeper
[7:01] levels of concentration when we meditate.
We cannot become enlightened unless we meditate,
[7:07] but we cannot meditate if we're constantly
creating unease in our minds. So the three
[7:13] trainings in morality help create a building
block or stable foundation for our meditation
[7:20] to be supported on and this in turn allows
for realizations and greater wisdom to occur.
[7:28] And remember these practices of morality are
also motivated by Right Intention, the training
[7:34] which came before these. So you will notice
that these trainings of Right Speech, Right
[7:39] Action and Right Livelihood are geared towards
acting out of compassion and refraining from
[7:46] causing harm towards others.
[7:48] So the first is the practice of Right Speech.
The Buddha advised us that Right Speech means
[7:54] not lying, not engaging in slanderous or divisive
speech, refraining from abusive or harsh speech
[8:03] and refraining from idle gossip or chatter.
[8:06] Instead our speech should be truthful, kind,
beneficial and full of love. I actually want
[8:13] to devote an entire video to Right Speech
because it is such an important topic. I mean,
[8:18] how often do we say things that we later regret,
or wish we had some guidelines as to what
[8:25] we should say and when? So I'll cover this topic in
another video in the near future!
[8:32] The next training in morality is the practice
of Right Action.
[8:37] Right Action means to avoid killing, stealing
and sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct basically
[8:44] refers to being unfaithful to our partner
or sleeping with someone else's partner. Although
[8:50] these three trainings of killing, stealing
and sexual misconduct are singled out in
[8:55] this training, Right Action really means that
we should avoid any behavior that harms others,
[9:01] and instead we should perform virtuous deeds motivated by compassion, kindness and generosity, for instance.
[9:09] Now the reason the Buddha brought our actions
into the spotlight is because the Buddhist
[9:14] path is a path of training our minds towards
wholesome and virtuous habits. If we repeatedly
[9:21] engage in killing and violence, stealing or
being unfaithful in relationships, it's going to strengthen
[9:28] these unwholesome mental factors or defilements in our mind until they become dominant and
[9:34] natural patterns of our thought and behavior.
Then in the future we will more easily do
[9:40] non-virtuous things without giving it a second thought.
[9:45] Now at the moment, we might not kill other
sentient beings out of violence or wishing them harm,
[9:51] but we do strengthen our disregard for the
suffering of others every time we take the
[9:56] life of another. And if we want to cultivate
a mind of compassion and love, we have to
[10:01] refrain from behavior that is antithetical
to this. Taking another being's life is not
[10:06] compassionate as it takes away the very thing
all beings value most - which is their right
[10:12] to live and breathe. The Buddha said:
[10:16] In this matter the noble disciple reflects:
'Here am I, fond of my life, not wanting to die,
[10:22] fond of pleasure and averse from pain.
Suppose someone should deprive me of my life,
[10:27] it would not be a thing pleasing or delightful
to me. If I, in my turn, were to deprive of
[10:31] his life one fond of life, not wanting to
die, one fond of pleasure and averse from
[10:36] pain, it would not be a thing pleasing or
delightful to him. For that state which is
[10:42] not pleasant or delightful to me must be not
pleasant or delightful to another: and a state
[10:47] undear and unpleasing to me, how could I inflict
that upon another?' As a result of such reflection
[10:53] he himself abstains from taking the life of
creatures and he encourages others so to abstain,
[11:00] and speaks in praise of so abstaining.
[11:05] And in another sutra the Buddha said:
[11:08] "The disciple, abstaining from the taking
of life, dwells without stick or sword, conscientious,
[11:15] full of sympathy, desirous of the welfare
of all living beings."
[11:21] In Buddhism we use the term 'sentient beings'
quite a bit. Sentient beings are said to be
[11:26] any living creature that has a consciousness
and can feel and perceive. So in this we include
[11:32] animals and even insects. For those of us
who love animals, we can see that animals
[11:39] have emotions, and they are worthy of our
love and respect. But for some of us it might
[11:46] be a bit harder to appreciate that insects have their own consciousness too. But why not?
[11:52] If mean if we try to kill an insect they
will try to run or fly away. So surely they
[11:58] perceive danger, feel threatened and they
react to this.
[12:02] I remember when I was doing one of my retreats, and one day I walking up the hill, I saw this caterpillar that was rolling down the hill
[12:11] and it was covered in bull ants which were biting it. And it looked to me like this caterpillar was writhing in
[12:17] pain and really fighting for its life. I mean
if it wasn't sentient, wouldn't it just lie
[12:22] there and let the ants kill it and devour
it? But even if we don't believe that insects
[12:29] are sentient, can we really feel proud of
our actions if we consciously take the lives
[12:34] of those that are so much smaller and weaker and more vulnerable than ourselves?
[12:40] The Buddha highly praised anyone who abstained
from killing. He said:
[12:45] "He who has renounced violence towards all
living beings, weak or strong, who neither
[12:50] kills nor causes others to kill - him do I
call a holy man.
[12:56] The Buddha really stressed the importance
of living a life of non-violence and compassion.
[13:01] Not only did he include not killing as part
of the Noble Eightfold Path, but he also made
[13:06] it the first Buddhist precept or vow taken
by a lay person, or an ordained monk or nun.
[13:13] Of course we cannot eliminate all killing,
like the accidental killing of ants when we
[13:17] walk. One of my teachers pointed out that
we would need to be suspended in space if
[13:23] we wanted to prevent all killing. But the most important thing is our attention and intention.
[13:30] We need to examine how aware we are whenever we do things; like checking to see whether our
[13:36] actions are possibly causing the death of another. And we should check to see what our intention was
[13:42] if we did cause the death of another. Did
they die as a result of our malice or because
[13:48] of our desire for entertainment? What is important
is that we consciously choose to refrain from
[13:55] actions that cause suffering to others. If
we want peace in the world, it has to start with
[14:01] ourselves and our actions in the world.
[14:05] The Buddha said that all beings have been
our mother or our father in our past lives.
[14:10] Now I can't verify that for myself, but I took
this teaching and decided that every time
[14:15] I came across an animal or insect, or even other humans beings, I would mentally name them, 'Mum'.
[14:22] So I saw a spider, I'd mentally greet
them, 'Hi, Mum!' If I saw a dog, I'd think
[14:28] 'Hi, Mum!' If I was served by someone at the local shops, I'd think, 'Thanks Mum'.
[14:33] Now, the teachings don't just point out what
we shouldn't do, but they also encourage us
[14:38] to do the opposite. So in the case of taking
life, we should practice the opposite and
[14:43] save lives. So whenever I could I would save
the lives of insects drowning in the toilet,
[14:49] or caught in the spider's web. Or move them off a bike path before they got run over or
[14:55] stepped on.
And over the years, these two things, mentally
[14:59] calling other beings Mum in my mind, and saving lives, has made it impossible for me to knowingly
[15:06] take the life of another creature now.
[15:09] No matter how much I might disdain ants when
they invade our kitchen, or hate cockroaches
[15:15] in the house, I won't kill them. I'll find
an alternative to removing them. I literally
[15:21] can't kill creatures with my own hands.
And this didn't always used to be the case!
[15:26] I used to kill insects, especially mosquitoes
and spiders and I also used to go fishing. But
[15:35] through mindfulness of my intentions, which came through meditating, I realized that I killed
[15:41] insects out of fear and aversion, which I don't think is a just reason for killing something,
[15:48] and I used to fish because I was drawn to
the peace and serenity of being by the lake
[15:53] and it was nice to share that space of peace and silence with the friends that I fished with.
[15:58] But now I can get that same payoff when I meditate with others and no one has to come to any harm.
[16:06] If we really want to walk the path of peace,
we need to examine our relationship with
[16:11] this idea of non-killing and compassion. But
ultimately, whatever we do, the thing that
[16:17] matters most in every situation is our intention.
And this is just as important when it comes
[16:23] to the next training, the training of Right
Livelihood.
[16:27] Right Livelihood makes up the last of the
three trainings in morality. Because we spend
[16:33] so much of waking hours at work, the Buddha
wanted to ensure that our activities there
[16:38] were also in line with living a kind and compassionate
life.
[16:42] The Buddha explicitly said there are
five occupations that we should avoid. He said:
[16:46] "Monks, a lay follower should not engage in
[16:50] five types of business. Which five? Business
in weapons, business in human beings, business
[16:56] in meat, business in intoxicants, and business
in poison.
[17:01] "These are the five types of business that
a lay follower should not engage in."
[17:08] So business in weapons refers to selling guns or weapons that can cause the death of others.
[17:14] Business in human beings refers to slavery
or prostitution. Business in meat refers to
[17:21] working as a butcher or in a slaughterhouse.
Business in intoxicants means selling alcohol
[17:27] or illicit drugs. And business in poison could
mean manufacturing or selling poison to kill
[17:34] insects or animals.
[17:37] So you can see these livelihoods directly
or indirectly cause
[17:41] suffering in some way to other beings so they're ones that we should try to avoid.
[17:46] And also when it comes to practicing Right Livelihood,
it's not just about the actual occupation
[17:52] that's important, but how we conduct ourselves
in our business. For instance, it's important
[17:57] to avoid scheming, deceit or trickery in any
of our business dealings.
[18:03] So these three trainings of morality: Right
Speech, Right Actions, and Right Livelihood
[18:09] encourage us to act in virtuous, honorable
and peaceful ways in the world.
[18:16] Morality is the foundation or basis of all
spiritual development
[18:21] if we live a virtuous life we won't have any
regrets or guilt or worry and our minds
[18:27] will be less scattered or full of discursive,
unwholesome or unhelpful thoughts. Then when
[18:35] we come to the cushion to meditate we will
be able to meditate much better because our
[18:40] minds will be open and carefree. And then it's just a matter of disciplining ourselves to
[18:46] meditate on a regular basis so we can move
through the stages of meditation to reach
[18:52] special insight, which is realizing the true
nature of our own mind.
[18:56] Which brings us to the next three trainings
- the three trainings of meditation which include
[19:02] the practice of Right Effort, Right Mindfulness
and Right Concentration.
[19:06] The practice of Right Effort has four parts.
These are:
[19:10] The effort to prevent negative mental states
from arising in our mind. For example, preventing
[19:15] anger or jealousy from arising.
The effort to abandon any negative states
[19:21] of mind that have arisen.
The effort to cultivate positive mental states
[19:26] not yet arisen, such as cultivating compassion in our mind.
[19:31] And the effort to maintain these wholesome
states of mind that have arisen.
[19:37] These trainings are what really make Buddhism shine, in my opinion. None of us want to experience
[19:44] negative states of mind such as anger or ill-will towards another and Buddhism has many different
[19:51] techniques for helping us eliminate these states of mind and preventing them from arising
[19:56] in the future. And the meditations
on loving-kindness and compassion are all
[20:02] about cultivating positive mental states and
maintaining them. I'm going to be doing some
[20:07] videos on these meditations in the near future,
and actually I want to devote another future video
[20:12] just to the practice of Right Effort so I
can go into more detail about these four.
[20:19] So the next training is the practice of Right
Mindfulness.
[20:22] If you've been following my website you would
have seen that I've been writing a fair bit
[20:26] about mindfulness lately. Anyone would have thought
that I had covered this topic thoroughly enough
[20:31] by now! But actually I've been saving the
best bit for last and that is how mindfulness
[20:37] is such an important tool for cultivating
an awareness of our thoughts and how this
[20:43] assists us in and out of meditation. There's
also the importance mindfulness plays
[20:49] in strengthening the quality of our concentration
which ultimately improves our meditation. So because
[20:56] this is quite a big and important topic, I'm
going to again dedicate this to another future video.
[21:04] The last of the trainings in the training
of Meditation is Right Concentration.
[21:09] Right Concentration means we train our minds
to be one-pointed and focused when we meditate
[21:16] in order to achieve a concentrated mind known
as Samadhi. Samadhi is a very pure state of
[21:23] consciousness and awareness. In this state, our mind can stay fixated on a meditation object
[21:29] without wavering and it experiences a calmness
and stability that we would find hard to comprehend at the moment.
[21:39] If we continue to meditate
in this intensified state of concentration
[21:44] it will lead us into the jhanas which are
necessary stages of meditative absorption
[21:52] that we must pass through in order to gain
special insight and become awakened.
[21:56] Now getting back to the training of Right
View.
[22:00] Right View ensures that our behaviour, speech
and thoughts are being born from a mind that
[22:05] is infused with wisdom and compassion and
that our behaviour is in line with these principles.
[22:12] So what does wisdom mean here? It means having
an understanding of the true nature of reality
[22:18] and seeing things as they really are. It means
we have penetrated the Four Noble Truths and
[22:24] seen the truth of them for ourselves. Since the Four Noble Truths are directly tied into Right View,
[22:32] I'll quickly recap on its importance and how it relates to our right understanding of the world.
[22:40] As I explained in my previous video, understanding
[22:44] the First Noble Truth means that we recognize that all phenomena are impermanent and unsatisfactory.
[22:50] We can see that no matter what happiness we
find in our daily lives, it isn't everlasting
[22:57] and it cannot provide constant satisfaction.
Instead, we're always left with this feeling
[23:03] of wanting more, wanting more happiness and pleasure while we do everything we can to avoid pain.
[23:12] And it's this craving for happiness, as outlined in the Second Noble Truth, that drives our
[23:19] behavior and ultimately our dissatisfaction
because we aren't able to feel absolute contentment in
[23:25] what we have at the present moment.
But if we examine carefully we will notice that
[23:32] there are moments when we do experience great peace and satisfaction. These are times when
[23:38] we're completely content in the moment and we're desiring absolutely nothing more or different.
[23:48] Like when you're sitting by the lake on a nice spring day and you feel so content as if you
[23:53] could just sit there forever. There isn't
a trace of craving in your mind. Or when you've
[23:59] been desiring after something or someone for
so long, that it's literally consumed your
[24:04] waking life and just one day you decide to drop it and let it all go and you suddenly feel this immense
[24:12] peace, spaciousness and satisfaction. That
is the Third Noble Truth being brought into action.
[24:18] And the Fourth Noble Truth is the practice
[24:20] of this Noble Eightfold Path. So by practicing the path of morality and meditation, we will
[24:27] start to see how this really is a path to
peace and happiness and then our faith in
[24:34] the Fourth Noble Truth will be ignited.
[24:37] It can take time to really appreciate the
Four Noble Truths at a heart level. But if you
[24:42] want to try and internalize this teaching
a little bit more, you might want to try this exercise.
[24:48] Next time you find yourself experiencing some
suffering, look deeply at what the underlying
[24:55] craving might be. What is the craving that's
not being fulfilled here? Is it our craving
[25:01] for love, attention, praise, validation? Whatever
it is, once you've recognized it, we can then employ
[25:10] wisdom and compassion to let it go and through
this we'll begin to experience true peace.
[25:17] But meanwhile if we're still struggling with
the Four Noble Truths, we can still practice
[25:21] the seven other trainings in the Noble Eightfold Path.
[25:25] And I should also mention that Right View
isn't restricted to simply understanding the
[25:31] Four Noble Truths. It also incorporates an understanding that not only is all compounded phenomena
[25:37] impermanent and unsatisfactory, but that it's also empty of inherent existence.
[25:44] Again, this emptiness of inherent existence
is something I will go into more detail in
[25:49] another future video.
And lastly Right View means having a correct
[25:54] understanding of karma and appreciating that all actions have karmic consequences.
[26:00] Meaning that wholesome actions lead to favorable
results and unwholesome actions lead to negative results.
[26:07] So in brief, Right View consists of understanding
[26:12] the relevance of the Four Noble Truths, the
role of karma and realizing the nature of
[26:17] phenomena as being impermanent, unsatisfactory
and without a permanent or inherent existence.
[26:24] As I mentioned before, Right View is perhaps the hardest of the eight of the Noble Eightfold Path
[26:29] to understand and practice. Whereas the other
trainings, such as Right Speech and Right
[26:35] Mindfulness, may seem much more straightforward
and practical. Again, don't worry if it doesn't
[26:42] all make sense to you at the moment. I'll put links below to some e-books that you can read more
[26:47] about the Noble Eightfold Path. My explanation
of it is only one way of presenting these
[26:53] teachings, so before you either agree with
them or dismiss them, I highly recommend that
[26:59] you do a bit more reading about this subject.
[27:02] So in summary, these trainings are really
inviting us to embark on a big adventure - to
[27:08] know and understand the workings of our own
mind, to become aware of our intentions and
[27:14] how to live peacefully and compassionately
in the world.
[27:18] These trainings are the first steps towards
uprooting unwholesome and harmful states of
[27:23] mind and instead cultivating qualities in
ourselves that we probably admire in others.
[27:29] By coming to know the psychology of our own
mind, we will slowly start to see that we
[27:35] are the creators of our own happiness.
And by practicing the Noble Eightfold
[27:39] Path, we'll find that it's a path of self-purification of our minds and a path
[27:45] that will lead to realization, awakening,
freedom and happiness.
[27:52] So that's all from me. I hope this video wasn't
too long. As I said, I'll be covering some
[27:56] of these topics in greater detail in future
videos. So please subscribe to my channel, please
[28:02] like and share this video if you found it
helpful, leave me a comment below and check out
[28:07] my website enthusiasticbuddhist.com for more
information on Buddhism and meditation. So
[28:12] have a great week everyone and I hope to see you in the next video.
