September 22, 2009
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Philosophy in Action (I Hope)
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, including some Buddhist philosophy. One thing that has begun to strike a chord with me is the concept of the Noble Eightfold Path, as divided into three basic divisions: wisdom, ethical conduct, and concentration. A *very* short summary of each would be:
Wisdom:
Right view (the right way of looking at life, nature, and the world as they really are; to understand how reality works),
Right resolve (the idea that one should constantly aspire to rid themselves of whatever qualities they know to be wrong and immoral)
Ethical Conduct:
Right speech (abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter)
Right action (being morally upright in one’s activities, not acting in ways that would be corrupt or bring harm to oneself or to others)
Right livelihood (not engaging in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm for other living beings)
Concentration:
Right effort (make a persisting effort to abandon wrong and harmful thoughts, words, and deeds, instead persisting in giving rise to what would be good and useful to themselves and others in their thoughts, words, and deeds, without a thought for the difficulty or weariness involved)
Right mindfulness (being mindful and deliberate, making sure not to act or speak due to inattention or forgetfulness)
Right concentration (concentration on an object of attention until reaching full concentration and a state of meditative absorption)
Cultivation of the Noble Eightfold Path leads to the development of two further factors, falling under the category of Wisdom. Right Knowledge is seeing things as they really are by direct experience, not as they appear to be, nor as you want them to be, but as they truly are. A result of Right Knowledge is the tenth factor – Right Liberation, which is where self-awakening occurs and the practitioner has reached the pinnacle of their practice. The bottom line for all these practices is to control our mind and intentions; to change our behavior into not harming others, but helping them instead.
“Conquer the angry man by love. Conquer the ill-natured man by goodness. Conquer the miser with generosity. Conquer the liar with truth.” The Buddha (The Dhammapada)
I’ve known for years that being negative takes a lot more energy (for me, anyway) than being positive or letting bad things just slide off. But, I’ve noticed lately that I’ve become fairly rigid in my thinking in various areas, holding on to negative thoughts, emotions and memories. So, I think I need to concentrate a bit more on the Noble Eightfold Path, especially Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Effort.
I need to let some past wrongs go and maybe try to get to know better some people I’ve dismissed as (for lack of a better word) jerks because of something or some things they’ve done that I’ve internalized as wrongs. Not that I’m going to go all mooshie and roll over if someone is rude or hurtful, but there’s lots of stuff I’ve been holding onto that is years old that really just needs to go away so that I can look at certain people and events with a fresh perspective. I’d rather be a good person than spend my energy proving (if only to myself) that someone else is a bad person. Does that make sense? Anyway, it does to me, so I’ll see what I can do to keep working on making myself.
Comments (3)
Thanks for the insight, I hope it works well for you.
I find it interesting that you discover this in yourself just before Yom Kippur and during Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Repentance.
I wish you well.
I find a lot to admire about buddhism. It works very well for me. Best of luck in your studies and meditations.
I started studying Buddhism about 20 years ago. While I don’t always succeed at it, I really do try to follow the path. I’m far from “good” at it, but it is an incredibly logical and meaningful philosophy and I know it’s helped me be a happier and more thoughtful person.