Buddhist Hour
Script No. 417
Broadcast live on Hillside 88.0 FM
11.00 am till 12 midday.
On
Sunday 29 January 2006 CE 2549 Buddhist Era

This script is entitled:
"Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life"
Class 10

We now continue with our series "Applying the Buddha's Teachings to Everyday Life." with Class No. 10 presented on the 22nd of January 2006 at the Dandenong Ranges Community Cultural Centre, Upwey.

"To eradicate one mighty force (craving) eight powerful factors have to be developed. All these eight factors are purely mental. Eight powerful good forces are summoned to attack one latent evil force." (Narada Thera)

We may think the purpose of religious or spiritual practice is to improve ourself, or to make what we already have pure, or to bring us closer to God, or to make us ‘more spiritual’, or to live a ‘spiritual’ life. Many people, particularly people born into Western cultures, make statements like this when discussing their own belief systems and views about religion.

The statements may at first glance sound fine, but if you analyse what the words really mean, you may see these type of notions expressing persons fundamental beliefs and trusts are often expressed very vaguely.

Buddhism however, makes no statements of this sort. There is nothing in Buddhism that says the purpose of Buddhist practice is to become more spiritual, or to improve oneself, or to be evangelical and improve others! To turn everyone we know into a Buddhist is not our task. Buddhist teachings state it is improper to teach someone Buddha Dhamma unless they request to be taught, three times and no less.

There is something very specific and clearly stated to be done in Buddhism. It is a path of practices with an unmistakably defined goal. The goal is enlightenment, the point at which you are forever free from suffering. Everything in Buddhism is to do with getting to that result and helping others who wish to be helped to get to that result.

Buddhism also allows us to recognise that it is up to us to work our way out of suffering. There is no one else who can do it for us, there is no one other than ourself to ‘save us’. We are responsible for ourselves. We inherit the causes we make.

Therefore the Buddhist Eightfold Path is a Do-It-Yourself path, and that is the wonderful thing. There is nothing outside us to stop us, there are no mysteries which prevent us from finding the truth. We are not dependent on another person's favour or agreement for us to improve our generosity, loving kindness and wisdom and to apply the Buddha's teachings in our life. We already have everything we need to start. In fact, we have already started. We are only here now because we have already started. We are reaping causes made by our past practice to hear the Buddhist teachings again this life. It is a message from our past to us now - at least at one time in our past we wanted to wake up!

We have a healthy human body, which is the best birth of all to practice Buddhism, we have sufficient leisure time and the teachings we need are in our world, available to us now. We can see there is a clear path of practice and we can see there is nothing to stop us from achieving the goal - except for us!

The problem is, we like our old instructions, our existing instructions of how we live and how we behave. We have trust and familiarity with our existing habits even though we may recognise they are flawed. You could say we each have our own eightfold path already - but ours is not called ‘Noble’. It is not called Noble because it will never get us out of suffering, it will never conquer old age, death and dying, it will never allow us to develop the wisdom to see ourselves and others clearly.

We have to give up at least some of ‘our’ instructions first, through renunciation, in order to have any space to practice new instructions. In other words, we have to be willing and enthusiastic to change once we recognise the benefit of doing so.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not just eight steps or practices that are good for us. It is a set of perfect and effective instructions for overcoming craving and stopping suffering. They are precious instructions shown to us by the Buddha, one who trained himself wholeheartedly for eons of time in order to find them. He then he taught this path to others who also became perfectly enlightened. Because of this, may you too become fully enlightened.

The Buddha's instructions, which are known as the Dhamma never date. They are timeless. They remain true; independent of time and place, because they relate to the nature of mind - as it is now, and as it has been for countless eons.

In previous weeks we have discussed each of the eight parts of The Noble Eightfold Path.

All Buddhist practices, from whatever style of Buddhism, fit these eight paths of training. Each of the eight practices serves to support and bolster the others. In this way, the Noble Eightfold path is like an eight-stranded rope. If all the strands are strong, the rope will be strong. If one strand is weak, the other strands which are interdependent reflect this weakness in themselves. The whole rope has less strength.

Tonight we will review the Noble Eightfold path, looking briefly at each training and how each supports the other parts of training. Please see that this path is like eight medicines. To benefit from these medicines we have to use them, and use them all.

We begin now with Right Understanding, or samma ditthi in Pali. In our second week, we wrote:

"There is a useful simile which illustrates the function of Right Understanding in directing Buddhist practice. In archery the archer uses great care and attention in setting his or her body, the bow and the arrow to the right positions before letting go of the arrow. They also hold the arrow correctly before releasing it. If the body is not steady or balanced, perhaps the bow will shake when the arrow is let go. If the bow is not in the right position the arrow will not fly to the centre of the target when let go. If all are correct the arrow will fly straight to the centre of the target. Right Understanding performs a similar function for directing a person in their Buddhist practice."

Right Understanding is the first of the Eightfold Path because it is the starting point on the path. Right Understanding enables a person to see why it is worthwhile to investigate and practice Buddhism. Right Understanding then guides the other seven factors. By developing correct conceptions of Buddhist Practice, we can act accordingly with the natural principles of the world and create the right causes for our wellbeing and happiness, which eventually produce the fruit of enlightenment.

The fault of having misconceptions of the Dhamma is like a builder with the motto ‘Measure once, cut two, three, four times or more!’ Without Right Understanding the builder will never get the desired result, a new house! In Buddhist practice, our desired result is enlightenment, so we must develop Right Understanding.

The way to achieve this is to study the Buddhist teachings, set aside time for contemplating the teachings, and then actually meditate upon them using the vipassana-bhavana method.

Right Thought, samma-samkhappa, is the next step of the Eightfold Path and is an expression of Right Understanding. Regarding what constitutes Right Thought, we wrote:

"There are three aspects to Right Thought. First, a person should maintain an attitude of detachment from worldly pleasures rather than being selfishly attached to them. They should be selfless in their thoughts and think of the welfare of others. Second, they should maintain loving-kindness, goodwill and benevolence in their mind, which is opposed to hatred, ill will or aversion. Third, they should act with thoughts of harmlessness or compassion to all beings, which is opposed to cruelty and lack of compassion for others. As a person progresses along the spiritual path, their thoughts will become increasingly benevolent, harmless, selfless, and filled with love and compassion."

From Right Understanding flows Right Thought, which is the activity of having wholesome thoughts. However, being that we are not yet pure, we cannot help having bad thoughts on occasion. The second function of Right Thought is to prevent bad thoughts from arising, or if they have arisen to stop them from arising.

At the advanced level of practice Dorje Sengye, in his famous Eight Verses for Developing the Good Heart, said:

"As I go through the day may I watch my mind,
To see if a negative thought has come.
If it does, may I stop it right there, with force,
Since it hurts myself and others."

This aspiration is an example of Right Thought. It has the basis of Right Understanding and it serves to eliminate bad thoughts. It also has a compassionate motivation. He says, "Since it hurts myself and others", which means that you are concerned for others, and understand that your thoughts and the actions that follow affect the people around you.

Right Thought is essential for all other trainings because every action of body or speech is preceded by a thought, a volition to do something. If our thoughts are Right Thoughts, then our speech and action will be Right Speech and Right Action, which are of benefit to ourselves and others.

Right Speech is the third Path of training. It concerns how we communicate with others through speech. If we were to consider it carefully, we would see that speech has a powerful influence on our life. Even the simplest statements can change our lives forever.

With this in mind, we realise that our own speech definitely influences others. We have the power to help or hinder people, just by the way we speak to them. As Buddhist practitioners, it is definitely in our interest to practice Right Speech, which involves abandoning the four types of wrong speech which are lying, slandering, using harsh words or divisive words, and frivolous talk and cultivating speech that is truthful, pleasing, gentle and meaningful.

When we have Right Speech, we will be free from the fetters of wrong speech. Because of kamma, the law of cause and effect, when we lie we will be lied to in the future. Moreover, we will become confused and be unable to see the truth, even if it stares us in the face from a foot away. It is the same with the three other varieties of wrong speech. Each creates a hindrance to our happiness and peace, and so they should be abandoned.

Slandering others comes from the root of hate or greed. Slandering another person often comes from the motive of making ourselves look good, or to produce some gain for ourselves at the slandered persons expense. Its object is to denigrate another person, put them down and by comparison, because we have identified their fault, we must be superior to them.

Slandering is also used by persons to attack things they don't like personally, without accounting for whether there is any truth in the statements being made. For example people regularly slander politicians as a group regardless of the tireless work they perform in governing the country and regardless that some politicians are intelligent, sincere and genuine persons.

The slander concentrates on a few aspects of behaviour which we may find disagreeable and ignores all other activities and benefits which may be associated with the object of the slander. Sure there are things which we can point to regarding the faults of others but slander never acknowledges a balanced view. It is always lopsided and selfish.

Divisive speech is one that seeks to divide people. To upset harmony, to create disagreement where there was agreement, to cause one to take a side against another. It too is usually rooted in hate. The kamma of making such causes is friendships and relationships we have will be disturbed, disrupted, friends will become enemies.

"He who tries to eradicate selfish desires cannot indulge in uttering falsehood or in slandering for any selfish end or purpose. He is truthful and trustworthy and ever seeks the good and beautiful in others instead of deceiving, defaming, denouncing or disuniting his own fellow human beings. A harmless mind that generates loving-kindness cannot give vent to harsh speech which first debases the speaker and then hurts another. What he utters is not only true, sweet and pleasant but also useful, fruitful and beneficial." (Narada)

Right Action comes after Right Speech, and involves conducting ourselves in a way that is harmless to others. Most important is to refrain from the three worst physical misdeeds, those of killing other beings, taking that which is ungiven, and committing sexual misconduct.

Even conventionally these actions bring us trouble. People who break precepts by stealing, lying, and sexual misconduct for example are heading for trouble in their lives. By stealing from others, people will not trust us, and will abandon friendship and kindness toward us. If we steal something of value, we can be put into jail. If we commit sexual misconduct; cheating on our spouse, or using sexuality to manipulate others, we may lose those who we love. None of these are fit for the spiritual aspirant.

In addition, the subtle kammic effects of these bad actions will disturb our mind and body and we will be unable to practice the Buddha's way. Killing even small creatures is a cause for ill health and short life. Stealing even small things is a cause for not having what we need or loosing what we have. By committing sexual misconduct we are making causes for our future emotional suffering and having unstable relationships with others.

As opposed to wrong action, Right Action produces many benefits and blessings for us. By not killing and instead supporting life (giving others food, shelter and so forth), we will enjoy good health and long life. By not stealing and instead being generous to others, we will generate the causes to have the things we need. By not committing sexual misconduct, and instead being loyal and pure in our sexual life, we will enjoy harmonious relationships, long lasting and free of disturbance. In short, the causes for disturbance in our lives will reduce and we will have better conditions for our well-being and happiness. Only with this platform of morality can we practice Buddhism.

The fifth factor Right Livelihood means that our method for generating wealth should be free of unwholesome behaviour, and we should not deal in harmful goods. Generally, wrong livelihood is when we break precepts to earn a wage. For example, taking advantage of others or deceiving them to get ahead is definitely wrong livelihood. In addition, there are five livelihoods which the Buddha advised against, which are:

(1) trading in weapons,
(2) trading in human beings (slaves),
(3) trading in the flesh of animals or animals for slaughter,
(4) intoxicating drinks and other drugs,
(5) poisons.

These livelihoods indirectly bring harm to others and so they are to be avoided.

By practicing the Morality group trainings, Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood, we create the conditions for our practice of the higher trainings, concentration and wisdom. Cutting off our worst behaviours is the start of cutting off and renouncing our worst minds. Cutting off our moderately bad behaviours cuts off the next level of our unwholesome minds and finally through cutting off our subtle bad behaviours our minds gradually become purer. In this way, morality is the ground, or basis, from which all other spiritual accomplishments grow.

The sixth path of training, Right Effort, is described by Venerable Narada thus:

"In man are found a rubbish-heap of evil and a store-house of virtue. By effort one removes this rubbish heap and cultivates these latent virtues." (Narada)

Right Effort means that we must earnestly and sincerely apply ourselves to eliminating our bad habits and developing positive ones. An example of Right Effort is when discarding evil that has already arisen, thinking, "A bad thought or intention has arisen in me. I know now that, because of the law of kamma, it can only ever produce further suffering for myself and others. In addition, it is a direct hindrance to reaching the ultimate goal, enlightenment, therefore right now I endeavour to abandon this attitude or way of thinking."

Once one has identified the unwholesome mind with clear comprehension, we use the knowledge of cause and effect to apply the right antidote. For example, if we are feeling angry or upset, practicing Metta meditation is one antidote. If we practice like this again and again, over extended periods of time, the negative thoughts will never arise again.

In addition, we must endeavour to cultivate what is good and wholesome. We must prompt ourselves to think in wholesome ways that will be progressive to our practice. For example, if something bad happens to us we should contemplate that it only happened because of the kamma we created in the past. This is an example of how Right Understanding, Right Thoughts and Right Effort all work together.

The next factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is Right Mindfulness, or samma-sati in Pali. Right Mindfulness is the quality of being mentally present in our moment-to-moment experiences. You may remember the teaching we used when we discussed mindfulness a few weeks ago, which was to focus our attention inside our body. The aim is to not loose awareness of the position of our body and the feeling and sensations which arise. We can practice this mindfulness anywhere anytime and it is a key factor in being able to brighten your mind and develop clarity.

The fault of being unmindful is that we will be unable to apply any of the other Noble Eightfold Path's trainings. For example, if we have low mindfulness we will be unable to recognise a bad thought until it has taken firm hold of our mind. When we are alert and mindful, we see unwholesome thoughts a moment after they arise, allowing us to make efforts to stop the thought before it takes any great hold of us. It is the same with actions of body and speech. If we carefully monitor our actions, we can more easily avoid all wrongdoing.

The last factor of the Noble Eightfold path is Right Concentration, or samma-samadhi in Pali. Buddhist meditation is divided into two systems, namely (1) one-pointed meditation (samatha-bhavana), and insight meditation (vipassana-bhavana).

The first system, samatha-bhavana, joins together the faculties of effort and mindfulness, whereby the meditator volitionally focuses the mind on a single object, such as the breath. Through focusing the mind, the meditator becomes free of distractions and other unwholesome hindrances and achieves the various meditative absorptions, called jhanas.

After the mind has been transformed into the suitable investigative tool through samatha-bhavana, the meditator then begins the practice of vipassana-bhavana, or insight meditation.

In vipassana meditation we thoroughly investigate our body and our four mind components in order to see them as they really are. After continued practice, the meditator achieves direct insight into the nature of the body and mind, seeing that:

1) all things are impermanent, (anicca) arising from past causes
2) all things have the nature of being unsatisfactory and unreliable (dukkha)
3) our mind and body components are neither a permanent self or soul (anatta)

The mind knowing these things has Right Understanding based in insight. All grabbing and grasping at a body, feelings, perceptions, thoughts and self-images and various types of consciousness has ceased. The mind has given up its ignorant view and instead resides in a state of non-grasping, nibbana, which is the goal of the Noble Eightfold Path. Nibbana is sometimes referred to as perfect peace.

An enlightened being or Arahant automatically has Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action and so on. When we practice the Noble Eightfold Path we are copying an Enlightened beings behaviour, we are emulating enlightened activity, albeit not so perfectly at first, but gradually we change and transform ourselves more and more until eventually we become a perfect replica of an enlightened being. At that point we too are enlightened.

In this course we have given you the bare bones of the Buddhist Path. It is enough to recognise what Buddhism has to offer us and what our possibilities are this life should we decide to practice Buddhism.

The following is a quote taken from the form of Buddhism developed in China called Ch'an Buddhism, (Zen Buddhism in Japan originated from Ch'an Buddhism).

"The basic prerequisite for Ch'an practice is to live fully in the present moment. Every word and action is a part of practice. Put your mind wholly on every moment in your life."

1. Venerable Narada Thera. 1998. The Buddha and His Teachings. Publisher. Buddhist Missionary Society, 123, Jalan Behala, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. pp 98-99.

3. Ch'an Master Sheng-yen. 1996. Dharma Drum. The Life and Heart of Ch'an Practice. Publisher Dharma Drum Publications, 90 - 56 Corona Ave, Elmhurst, New York, 11373. p. 136

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