The Fourth Noble Truth describes how one can achieve the end of suffering. A quick review of the Noble Truths up to this point: 1. There is suffering; 2. Suffering arises not from external causes but from our response to them. 3. An end to suffering is possible.
The Fourth Noble Truth states that there is a path to take that will lead to the end of suffering, and that path is the Noble Eightfold Path (remember I warned you about all these numbered lists?). Before I describe this path, though, it is essential to point out a couple of things. First of all, the Buddha was saying that the complete end of suffering (which is to say Nirvana or enlightenment) is entirely possible in this very lifetime. Second, the path can easily sound like a set of commandments, but it is nothing of the sort. Once again, the Buddha was simply sharing observations from his own experience; since he had gotten there, he knew the path up the mountain, and he was sharing its landmarks. So, the path:
Wise Understanding, Wise Intention, Wise Speech, Wise Action, Wise Livelihood, Wise Effort, Wise Concentration, and Wise Mindfulness. Not everyone interprets wisdom as part of the description of these parts of the path, but this seems to me an essential aspect of them. One can expand almost endlessly on what each of these mean, but let me just briefly cover each of them, and perhaps in future posts I can expand on them a bit.
Wise Understanding (sometimes known as Wise View): in order to proceed on this path with any hope of fruition, one must understand why and what the end point might in fact be. To do this, one must have enough knowledge to make good judgments. But it is important to know that intellectual understanding alone will not lead to freedom. You will encounter many people with a great deal of knowledge and no wisdom; this is not understanding.
Wise Intention: If you choose to follow this path, you must be clear why you are doing so. If this is a self-improvement project, or if you have a particular end in mind (say, to be more patient or less angry), that is the ego/mind attempting to take control. The only thing certain is uncertainty and if one has a particular goal in mind and that expectation is frustrated, one will be tempted to think the path is not an effective one. What we are after here is freedom, not a (by definition) temporary condition.
Wise Speech is speech that does no harm. Harsh speech, lying, and gossip are typically thought of as harmful speech, but there are much more subtle forms of doing harm. One teacher took a vow to do absolutely no harm with his speech, no matter how small the harm, and to do so for a month; he quickly found he had very little to say. Idle speech is also generally thought to be unwise speech.
Wise Action: Now, don't shoot the messenger. You can't say I didn't warn you about all these lists. Wise Action is generally thought to encompass the Five Precepts, which are: To refrain from killing, taking that which is not freely given, sexual harm, harmful speech, and intoxicants.
Wise Livelihood is a way of making your living in the world that does not do harm, at least to the best of your ability. If you have a choice between being a gunrunner and being a doctor, hopefully the wise livelihood is obvious.
Wise Effort is vitally important. Quite often we can get caught up in an idea of the Ideal Meditator or the Ideal Buddhist, and strive and strive to fulfill that ideal. Sad to say, this is just the mind trying to take control over this process. On the other hand, if we do nothing, or only meditate when we are in the mood, or only practice Wise Action when we feel like it, then we are making essentially no effort at all.
Wise Concentration refers most specifically to meditation, or at least a specific aspect of it. Back when I was writing about meditation, I said that one part of it was to develop our minds to focus like the beam of a flashlight in order to make it possible for us to see the workings of our mind. This is wise concentration in its most basic form.
Wise Mindfulness simply means seeing things as they truly are, not as we wish them to be. When we are truly mindful, we are aware of the minutest perception we have, and how these perceptions are creations of our senses and our reactions to them.
As I said at the start, volumes could be (and have been!) written about the Noble Eightfold Path, but this should give you a general idea. Tomorrow I will try to tie this all together so it makes some sense to this quest we are on together.
The Fourth Noble Truth states that there is a path to take that will lead to the end of suffering, and that path is the Noble Eightfold Path (remember I warned you about all these numbered lists?). Before I describe this path, though, it is essential to point out a couple of things. First of all, the Buddha was saying that the complete end of suffering (which is to say Nirvana or enlightenment) is entirely possible in this very lifetime. Second, the path can easily sound like a set of commandments, but it is nothing of the sort. Once again, the Buddha was simply sharing observations from his own experience; since he had gotten there, he knew the path up the mountain, and he was sharing its landmarks. So, the path:
Wise Understanding, Wise Intention, Wise Speech, Wise Action, Wise Livelihood, Wise Effort, Wise Concentration, and Wise Mindfulness. Not everyone interprets wisdom as part of the description of these parts of the path, but this seems to me an essential aspect of them. One can expand almost endlessly on what each of these mean, but let me just briefly cover each of them, and perhaps in future posts I can expand on them a bit.
Wise Understanding (sometimes known as Wise View): in order to proceed on this path with any hope of fruition, one must understand why and what the end point might in fact be. To do this, one must have enough knowledge to make good judgments. But it is important to know that intellectual understanding alone will not lead to freedom. You will encounter many people with a great deal of knowledge and no wisdom; this is not understanding.
Wise Intention: If you choose to follow this path, you must be clear why you are doing so. If this is a self-improvement project, or if you have a particular end in mind (say, to be more patient or less angry), that is the ego/mind attempting to take control. The only thing certain is uncertainty and if one has a particular goal in mind and that expectation is frustrated, one will be tempted to think the path is not an effective one. What we are after here is freedom, not a (by definition) temporary condition.
Wise Speech is speech that does no harm. Harsh speech, lying, and gossip are typically thought of as harmful speech, but there are much more subtle forms of doing harm. One teacher took a vow to do absolutely no harm with his speech, no matter how small the harm, and to do so for a month; he quickly found he had very little to say. Idle speech is also generally thought to be unwise speech.
Wise Action: Now, don't shoot the messenger. You can't say I didn't warn you about all these lists. Wise Action is generally thought to encompass the Five Precepts, which are: To refrain from killing, taking that which is not freely given, sexual harm, harmful speech, and intoxicants.
Wise Livelihood is a way of making your living in the world that does not do harm, at least to the best of your ability. If you have a choice between being a gunrunner and being a doctor, hopefully the wise livelihood is obvious.
Wise Effort is vitally important. Quite often we can get caught up in an idea of the Ideal Meditator or the Ideal Buddhist, and strive and strive to fulfill that ideal. Sad to say, this is just the mind trying to take control over this process. On the other hand, if we do nothing, or only meditate when we are in the mood, or only practice Wise Action when we feel like it, then we are making essentially no effort at all.
Wise Concentration refers most specifically to meditation, or at least a specific aspect of it. Back when I was writing about meditation, I said that one part of it was to develop our minds to focus like the beam of a flashlight in order to make it possible for us to see the workings of our mind. This is wise concentration in its most basic form.
Wise Mindfulness simply means seeing things as they truly are, not as we wish them to be. When we are truly mindful, we are aware of the minutest perception we have, and how these perceptions are creations of our senses and our reactions to them.
As I said at the start, volumes could be (and have been!) written about the Noble Eightfold Path, but this should give you a general idea. Tomorrow I will try to tie this all together so it makes some sense to this quest we are on together.
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