The Buddhist way of practice can better be
described by the Noble Eightfold Path as it shows the way to the end of
suffering. It was preached by Lord Buddha to his disciples. The Eightfold
Path provides one a practical guideline to ethical and mental development by
freeing the person from attachments and delusions, and thereby, paves way to
the quest for truth. They are called noble because all these ways combine
together to stand on the threshold of the noble or transcendent attainments.
The eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path are as follows:
1. Right View.
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Right View
Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see
and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble
Truths. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to
see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly
objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic
conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just
as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is
attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins
with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it
ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our
view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields
right thoughts and right actions.
Right Intention
While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention
refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that
controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to
ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of
right intentions:
1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of
desire,
2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and
aversion, and
3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly,
violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
Right Speech
Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the Eightfold
Path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which
supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not
self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be
achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of
speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save
lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained
right speech as follows:
1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and
not to speak deceitfully,
2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously
against others,
3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and
4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively
phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently
and to talk only when necessary.
Right Action
The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural
means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions.
Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions
lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of
abstinence: right action means
1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from
taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or deliquently,
2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing,
robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and
3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action
means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the
belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.
Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found
in the percepts.
Right Livelihood
Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way
and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions
four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid
for this reason:
1. Dealing in weapons,
2. Dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as
well as slave trade and prostitution),
3. Working in meat production and butchery, and
4. Selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore
any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and
right action should be avoided.
Right Effort
Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the
path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be
achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and
confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right
effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same
type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the
other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right
effort is detailed in four types of endeavors that rank in ascending order
of perfection:
1. To prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states,
2. To abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen,
3. To arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and
4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.
Right Mindfulness
Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It
is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness.
Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by
perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere
impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions and
thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other
thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facts of the
original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into
constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes.
All this happens only half consciously, and as a result, we often see things
obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it
penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness
enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualisation in a way that we
actively observe and control the way our thoughts go.
Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of
mindfulness
1. Contemplation of the body,
2. Contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral),
3. Contemplation of the state of mind, and
4. Contemplation of the phenomena.
Right Concentration
The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the
development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although
at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration
in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state
where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular
object. Right concentration for the purpose of the Eightfold path means
wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and
actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is
through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a
selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains
concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through
this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also
in everyday situations.
