The Noble Eightfold Path is made up of eight practices that lead to the transformation of suffering. The path begins with Right View. In the Buddhist tradition, there is the practice of demolishing attachment to views. So “Right View” means we don’t allow ourselves to be caught in any kind of idealism, theories, or systems of thought, even Buddhist ones. The Buddha describes each of the eight practices of the Noble Path as “Right” to indicate that they are practices that go in the direction of well-being and happiness.
Sometimes Right View is also referred to as insight or wisdom (prajña in Sanskrit). Right View isn’t bestowed on us from some deity or absolute power; it comes from the practice of looking deeply inside ourselves. We use mindfulness and concentration to examine the Four Noble Truths and arrive at Right View. As long as we think and believe that our actions are right according to God, or right according to even the best of ideologies, we will remain caught in the wheel of suffering.
Right View is the absence of all attachment to views. Right View is the insight of inter-being. Inter-being describes the awareness that all human beings and all phenomena are intricately connected to each other and interdependent. None of us can be by ourselves alone; we have to inter-be with all living beings. We inter-are with all animals, plants, and minerals. If you do harm to animals, plants, and minerals, you do harm to yourself. With this insight, when you look deeply into another human being, you see the animals, plants, and minerals that contribute to making up his or her being, and therefore you think and act differently than you would otherwise.
When there is Right View, Right Thinking follows. Right Speech and Right Bodily Action also depend on Right View. Body, speech, and mind are all sources of action. Every day our bodies, our speech, and our minds produce a tremendous number of actions. These actions can contribute to healing or to suffering. When we give rise to a thought of forgiveness or compassion, it’s Right Thinking. If we give rise to a thought of anger, hatred, or despondency, it’s wrong thinking. Every day we talk, we write, and we send emails or texts. What we write and say can be Right Speech, bringing ourselves and the other person happiness or it can be wrong speech and bring suffering and misunderstanding.
We use our bodies to act. When our bodily action protects and supports life, it is Right Action. With Right View, we can choose a vocation that nourishes ourselves, our loved ones, and the planet, rather than one that brings about the destruction of the environment and harm to other species. That is Right Livelihood. When we’re diligent in serving our own and others’ happiness, it’s Right Diligence. These eight right practices can be seen as the basis of Buddhist ethics that can be applied in society. We cannot live in isolation. We always need to be in contact with other people and other species. With the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path we avoid the actions of body, speech, and mind that will harm others.
When we practice Right Mindfulness, we use our breathing to return to ourselves and unite body and mind. When we walk, we walk with awareness and not because something is pulling us along. When we say something, it’s because it’s what we truly want to say and not because our old habit energies are urging us to say it. Mindfulness strengthens our sovereignty over ourselves. As mindfulness and concentration grow, our freedom also grows. The more we practice, the less our freedom is limited. We become free of drifting and sinking with the currents of our mind.
The Third Noble Truth, the cessation of suffering, reminds us that we have the ability to change the direction of our lives. This means that we have free will. Right Mindfulness leads to Right Concentration, which supports and strengthens insight and Right View. So the path is a circular path, with each limb of the path leading to and supporting the other limbs. There is suffering, but there is also happiness. We can practice to reduce suffering and to increase happiness.
Sometimes Right View is also referred to as insight or wisdom (prajña in Sanskrit). Right View isn’t bestowed on us from some deity or absolute power; it comes from the practice of looking deeply inside ourselves. We use mindfulness and concentration to examine the Four Noble Truths and arrive at Right View. As long as we think and believe that our actions are right according to God, or right according to even the best of ideologies, we will remain caught in the wheel of suffering.
Right View is the absence of all attachment to views. Right View is the insight of inter-being. Inter-being describes the awareness that all human beings and all phenomena are intricately connected to each other and interdependent. None of us can be by ourselves alone; we have to inter-be with all living beings. We inter-are with all animals, plants, and minerals. If you do harm to animals, plants, and minerals, you do harm to yourself. With this insight, when you look deeply into another human being, you see the animals, plants, and minerals that contribute to making up his or her being, and therefore you think and act differently than you would otherwise.
When there is Right View, Right Thinking follows. Right Speech and Right Bodily Action also depend on Right View. Body, speech, and mind are all sources of action. Every day our bodies, our speech, and our minds produce a tremendous number of actions. These actions can contribute to healing or to suffering. When we give rise to a thought of forgiveness or compassion, it’s Right Thinking. If we give rise to a thought of anger, hatred, or despondency, it’s wrong thinking. Every day we talk, we write, and we send emails or texts. What we write and say can be Right Speech, bringing ourselves and the other person happiness or it can be wrong speech and bring suffering and misunderstanding.
We use our bodies to act. When our bodily action protects and supports life, it is Right Action. With Right View, we can choose a vocation that nourishes ourselves, our loved ones, and the planet, rather than one that brings about the destruction of the environment and harm to other species. That is Right Livelihood. When we’re diligent in serving our own and others’ happiness, it’s Right Diligence. These eight right practices can be seen as the basis of Buddhist ethics that can be applied in society. We cannot live in isolation. We always need to be in contact with other people and other species. With the practice of the Noble Eightfold Path we avoid the actions of body, speech, and mind that will harm others.
When we practice Right Mindfulness, we use our breathing to return to ourselves and unite body and mind. When we walk, we walk with awareness and not because something is pulling us along. When we say something, it’s because it’s what we truly want to say and not because our old habit energies are urging us to say it. Mindfulness strengthens our sovereignty over ourselves. As mindfulness and concentration grow, our freedom also grows. The more we practice, the less our freedom is limited. We become free of drifting and sinking with the currents of our mind.
The Third Noble Truth, the cessation of suffering, reminds us that we have the ability to change the direction of our lives. This means that we have free will. Right Mindfulness leads to Right Concentration, which supports and strengthens insight and Right View. So the path is a circular path, with each limb of the path leading to and supporting the other limbs. There is suffering, but there is also happiness. We can practice to reduce suffering and to increase happiness.
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