Hands up all those who are trying to follow the Noble Eightfold Path?

[sun burn]

I am curious to know if there are many permies who are assiduously following the buddhist path.

I've only just discovered it myself and love it. That said, i leave all the supernatural claptrap aside and stick to the practical down to earth guidance.

I am finding the benefits immediate and multiple even at a micro level. Creative solutions pop up easily out of the blue. I feel more at ease. I am finding it easy to sit down and meditate at least once a day though i am trying to do it two or three - though i probalby have more time to do it than many others.

I am ordering a list of great books from amazon. If anyone is interested in titles let me know. Also let me know what ones you have found excellent.

So far the best book on mindfulness and meditation i have come across is called
Mindfulness in Plain English. Its hard to imagine a better book on the subject. I"ve just about come to the end of this one. I got it from the library and am buying my own copy. Its the sort of book you can easily read over adn over again.

Buddha by Karen Armtrong is an excellent introductory biography for beginners. Though there seem to be a lot of good ones out there. I think i am buying some more. One other i found really helpful since it went into some aspects more deeply than Armstrong was The End of Suffering: The Buddha in the World by Pankaj Mishra.

Anyway these are the three books so far that have really made me take it up seriously though others i have been reading are all adding to my knowledge and understanding. Some of those too i will be getting my own copies of.

For modern buddhists, i found this really really helpful to get an overview of buddhist traditions and modern buddhism. It paints the big picture very well. Its called The New Buddhism by James William Coleman. Probably the most interesting part of this book (though i didn't think so when i was reading it) is the part where buddhism came to the west and all sorts of troubles and scandals occurred because of the huge cultural gaps between say america and Tibet or Japan. This is still relevant since the teacher student issue will always be a weak a point for women in the west. Another interesting point was the role of women in buddhism but i think this is getting sorted now for the most part. If somewhat gradually.

[mischief]

I dont know what the 8 fold path is so I dont know if I'm doing it without realising or not, but probably not.
Lecture time, please.

[eco4560]

The books that are in my collection that I have found useful are both by David Michie - "Buddhism for Busy People" and "Hurry Up and Meditate". He doesn't cover the 8 fold path so I don't know any more about it either.

[ecodharmamark]

Been 'trying' for about 10-years now, I suppose.

Two particularly 'enlightening' pieces I return to once every couple of years are:

Lama Yeshe (1998) Becoming Your Own Therapist

Lama Yeshe (1975) Make Your Mind an Ocean

Oh, and the Eightfold Path is (in essence):



Peace, Markos

[mischief]

Have to say that I probably dont do right speech then\.

[sun burn]

Mischief, its a matter of trying to do it. We all have our weaknesses. or do you only mean you swear? lol naughty you.

I must say that i've noticed that since taking this up, i've become self conscious and guilt ridden again. Therapy helped me get rid of guilt and self flagellation to some degree. Now i've got it back agian. That disturbs me. Anyway never mind that. Here's my lecture on teh eightfold path starting off with the four NOble truths and the notion of hte middle way which is what the buddha called buddhism. HOld tight.\

[QUOTE] The Middle Way - is the way to enlightenment between a sensuous life of the householder where one gives free reign to desires and emotions and the punishing way of the ascetic where one tries to wipe out the body with austerities. The middle way does require a fair bit of renunciation of the world while at the same time requiring you live in it. [I wrote this]

Renunciation according to buddha’s example invovled leaving home and family, giving up material possessions except a robe and a razor and a begging bowl. I think.

The Four Noble Truths
-From James william coleman the new buddhism

The first is that the unenlightened life most of us lead, has an unsatisfactory quality about it and is full of suffering.
The second is that the cause of this suffering is desire or thirst. Our desires lead us to long for things we do not have and to become attached to things we do have which sooner or later we always lose.
The third truth is that the cause of suffering may be ended. When we stop our clinging, we end suffering and enter the only unconditioned, uncaused state: nirvana.
The final truth is the means by which suffering can be ended, that is, the eightfold path involving ethical behaviour, meditation, and wisdom.

The Eightfold Path - is the path to Enlightenment.
From the forum website

Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
Ethical Conduct
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
Mental Development
7. Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. 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 [or to see through things?], 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 delinquently, 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 Precepts.
5. 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.
6. 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 endeavours 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.

[sun burn]

7. 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 facticity 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.
8. 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.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (i'm doing a course on this at hte moment at a local buddhist centre its very good.)
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.

Mishra writes from gandhi - “the quest for truth cannot be prosecuted in a cave.” Hence buddhism is practiced ultimately by being in the world not retrating to a cave to discover enlightenment, find yourself or sort yourself out. Though it seems that retreat is still and essential part.

From Appreciate Your life: The Essence of Zen Practice by Taizen Maezumi Roshi and in the forward by Bernie Glassmen, the latter writes that the teacher said to him
“Taste as as much of this as you can,”…”Swallow what you need and spit out the rest.” What that is about partly is that hte buddha tells his followers that everything he says the follower must try to experience for himself. You do not have ot trust the truth the buddha tells. YOu can discover it for yourself. Hence the importance of meditation because that is ultimately where you experience these truths for yourself.

Development of self-awareness and compassion are essential buddhist practices. There's also a concept called loving kindness or loving friendliness. These concepts are antidotes to negativity and to your identity as a separate self. One of the things of buddhism to let go this notion of an individual self and become aware of the self as interconnected with all over selves. Its not so easy come around to this but if you have someone explain it well, its not so threatening at all. the benefits of this way of seeing the world are enormous and ultimately it seems to be what one experiences for oneself during a moment of enlightenment. I have some further questions about this particular experience but even so, i think its a useful concept.

Meditating on death and impermanence can make you inclined to live more purposely and doing what’s important. Being kind to all and being loving to those you care about. And not wasting time on frivolous activities. Lost Art of compassion has some exercise on pages 83 and 84. The ticking clock, waking up in the morning and thinking about how I could have died last night and could die to day and therefore think about how I want to spend the day. Do this every day. It will make a difference he says to motivate you to live well. These are tibettan practices. These exercises are meant to override the ego’s defenses against death. Which means that the ego tries to protect us against the fear that we had as children so we become less aware of our possible imminent death. It makes sense. [/QUOTE]

Well there's quite a lot to it.

Thich nhat than is a significant writerand highly respected' on the topic. Do you want me to post my booklist? It's well researched.

Oh one thing. the earliest text is called the Pali Canon. I haven't read it yet but i am waiting until i have understood most of the concepts through more modern texts first in order to make this fairly old text easier to digest. It seems there's quite an art to understanding the early texts so for now, i prefer interpretations by people who have done all the work of understanding it already.

[Yukkuri_Kame]

Awesome collection of recorded teachings on Tibetan Buddhism:

http://www.steamboatbuddhistcenter.o...Teachings.html

[Grahame]

I give it a crack sunburn. I'm better sometimes than I am at others - it ebbs and flows.

[mischief]

There is alot packed into afew paragraphs thats for sure.
I think I do some of these, some better than others.

I like the bit about being out in the world and not tucked up in a nice safe cosy cave.
Especially if one of the main steps is to confront yourself as you are as well as the world around you as it really is.
If you arent out in the world then you never see it at all.

Brings to mind another quote out of one of my dads books.....when seeking enlightenment, chop wood and carry water, when achieving enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

It has to be a part of life and not an alternative to living.

I think the hardest part for me would still be having to become a vegaterian.I just cant see me doing that.