Buddhism

Buddhism is a nontheistic religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs

and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is
commonly known as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". According to
Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian
subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.
[1]
He is recognized
by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to
help sentient beings end their suffering through the elimination
of desire and ignorance by way of understanding and the seeing of dependent
origination, with the ultimate goal of attainment of the sublime state of nirvana.
[2]

Two major branches of Buddhism are generally recognized: Theravada ("The School
of the Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread
following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar
etc.). Mahayana is found throughout East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam,
Singapore, Taiwan etc.) and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren
Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, and Tiantai (Tendai). In some
classifications, Vajrayanapracticed mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent
parts of China and Russiais recognized as a third branch, while others classify it
as a part of Mahayana.
While Buddhism is practiced primarily in Asia, both major branches are now found
throughout the world. Estimates of Buddhists worldwide vary significantly depending
on the way Buddhist adherence is defined. Estimates range from 350 million to 1.6
billion, with 350550 million the most widely accepted figure. Buddhism is also
recognized as one of the fastest growing religions in the world.
[3][4][5][6]

Buddhist schools vary on the exact nature of the path to liberation, the importance
and canonicity of various teachings and scriptures, and especially their respective
practices.
[7]
The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels:
the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community). Taking
"refuge in the triple gem" has traditionally been a declaration and commitment to
being on the Buddhist path, and in general distinguishes a Buddhist from a non-
Buddhist.
[8]
Other practices may include following ethical precepts; support of the
monastic community; renouncing conventional living and becoming amonastic; the
development of mindfulness and practice of meditation; cultivation of higher wisdom
and discernment; study of scriptures; devotional practices; ceremonies; and in the
Mahayana tradition, invocation of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
The four truths[edit]
The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvri ryasatyni; Pali: cattri ariyasaccni) are
regarded as the central doctrine of the Buddhist tradition, and are said to provide a
conceptual framework for all of Buddhist thought. These four truths explain the
nature of dukkha (Pali; commonly translated as "suffering", "anxiety",
"unsatisfactoriness"
[a]
), its causes, its cessation, and the path leading to its
cessation.
The four noble truths are:
[b]

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, unsatisfactoriness
[a]
)
2. The truth of the origin of dukkha
3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha
4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha
The first noble truth explains the nature of dukkha. Dukkha is commonly translated
as suffering, anxiety, unsatisfactoriness, unease, etc., and it is said to have the
following three aspects:
[c]

The obvious physical and mental suffering associated with birth, growing
old, illness and dying.
The anxiety or stress of trying to hold onto things that are constantly changing.
A basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all forms of existence, due to the fact that all
forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance.
On this level, the term indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never
measure up to our expectations or standards.
The central importance of dukkha in Buddhist philosophy has caused some
observers to consider Buddhism to be a pessimistic philosophy. However, the
emphasis on dukkha is not intended to present a pessimistic view of life, but rather to
present a realistic practical assessment of the human conditionthat all beings must
experience suffering and pain at some point in their lives, including the inevitable
sufferings of illness, aging, and death.
[6]
Contemporary Buddhist teachers and
translators emphasize that while the central message of Buddhism is optimistic, the
Buddhist view of our situation in life (the conditions that we live in) is neither
pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic.
[d]

The second noble truth is that the origin of dukkha can be known. Within the context
of the four noble truths, the origin of dukkha is commonly explained
ascraving or thirst (Pali: tanha) conditioned by ignorance (Pali: avijja). On a deeper
level, the root cause of dukkha is identified as ignorance (avijja) of the true nature of
things. The third noble truth is that the complete cessation of dukkha is possible, and
the fourth noble truth identifies a path to this cessation.
According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha first taught the four noble truths in
the very first teaching he gave after he attained enlightenment, as recorded inThe
Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta),
and he further clarified their meaning in many subsequent teachings.
[e]

The two main traditions of Buddhism, the Theravada and Mahayana, have different
approaches to learning about the four noble truths and putting them into practice.
The Theravada tradition strongly emphasizes reading and contemplating the The
Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truththe first discourse of the Buddha
as a method of study and practice. In the Mahayana tradition, practitioners are more
likely to learn about the four noble truths through studying various Mahayana
commentaries, and less like to study the first discourse directly. The Mahayana
commentaries typically present the four noble truths in the context of the Mahayana
path of the bodhisattva.
[7]

Conceptual framework for Buddhist thought[edit]
The Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism; they
are said to provide a unifying theme, or conceptual framework, for all of Buddhist
thought. According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha compared these four truths
to the footprints of an elephant: just as the footprints of all the other animals can fit
within the footprint of an elephant, in the same way, all of the teachings of the
Buddha are contained within the teachings on the four noble truths.
[f][e][g]

According to tradition, the Buddha taught on the four noble truths repeatedly
throughout his lifetime, continually expanding and clarifying his meaning.
[e]
Walpola
Rahula explains:
[8]

The heart of the Buddha's teaching lies in the Four Noble Truths (Cattri
Ariyasaccni) which he expounded in his very first sermon to his old
colleagues, the five ascetics, at Isipatana (modern Sarnath) near Benares. In
this sermon, as we have it in the original texts, these four Truths are given
briefly. But there are innumerable places in the early Buddhist scriptures
where they are explained again and again, with greater detail and in different
ways. If we study the Four Noble Truths with the help of these references and
explanations, we get a fairly good and accurate account of the essential
teachings of the Buddha according to the original texts.
Contemporary Tibetan teacher Geshe Tashi Tsering emphasizes the importance
of the four noble truths for the individual path:
[13]

The four noble truths lay down the blueprint for the entire body of the
Buddhas thought and practice and set up the basic framework of the
individuals path to enlightenment. They encapsulate all of Buddhist
philosophy. Therefore studying, meditating, and fully understanding this
teaching is very important, because without an understanding of the four
noble truths it is impossible to fully integrate the concepts and practices of
Buddhism into our daily lives.

The four noble truths are:
[b]

1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, unsatisfactoriness
[a]
)
2. The truth of the origin of dukkha
3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha
4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha
First truth: dukkha[edit]
Main article: Dukkha
The first noble truth is the truth of dukkha. Within the Buddhist tradition, the
term dukkha is commonly explained according to three different patterns or
categories:
[h]

The dukkha of ordinary suffering (dukkha-dukkha) - the obvious physical and
mental suffering associated with birth, growing old, illness and dying.
The dukkha produced by change (viparima-dukkha) - the anxiety or stress of
trying to hold onto things that are constantly changing.
The dukkha of conditioned states (sakhra-dukkha) - a basic unsatisfactoriness
pervading all forms of existence, due to the fact that all forms of life are changing,
impermanent and without any inner core or substance. On this level, the term
indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never measure up to our
expectations or standards.
Contemporary translators of Buddhist texts use a variety of English words to convey
the different aspects of dukkha, such as: anxiety, stress, frustration, unease,
unsatisfactoriness, etc.
[a]
As one source notes: "Dukkha contains not only the
ordinary meaning of suffering, but also includes deeper ideas such as imperfection,
pain, impermanence, disharmony, discomfort, irritation, or awareness of
incompleteness and insufficiency".
[web 7]

The central importance of dukkha in Buddhist philosophy has caused some
observers to consider Buddhism to be a pessimistic philosophy.
[d]
However, the
emphasis on dukkha is not intended to present a pessimistic view of life, but rather to
present a realistic practical assessment of the human conditionthat all beings must
experience suffering and pain at some point in their lives, including the inevitable
sufferings of illness, aging, and death.
[6]
Contemporary Buddhist teachers and
translators emphasize that while the central message of Buddhism is optimistic, the
Buddhist view of our situation in life (the conditions that we live in) is neither
pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic.
[d]

The Buddha acknowledged that there is both happiness and sorrow in the world, but
he taught that even when we have some kind of happiness, it is impermanent and
subject to change. And due to this unstable, impermanent nature of all things,
everything we experience is said to have the quality of dukkha or unsatisfactoriness.
Therefore unless we can gain insight into that truth, and understand what is really
able to give us happiness, and what is unable to provide happiness, the experience
of unsatisfactoriness or dissatisfaction will persist.
[6][22][23][24]

Traleg Kyabgon explains:
[24]

Normally we think our happiness is contingent upon external circumstances
and situations, rather than upon our own inner attitude toward things, or
toward life in general. The Buddha was saying that dissatisfaction is part of
life, even if we are seeking happiness and even if we manage to find
temporary happiness. The very fact that it is temporary means that sooner or
later the happiness is going to pass. So the Buddha said that unless we
understand this and see how pervasive dissatisfaction or duhkha is, it is
impossible for us to start looking for real happiness.
Second truth: origin of dukkha[edit]
Main article: Dukkha samudaya
The second noble truth is the truth of the origin of dukkha. Within the context of
the four noble truths, the origin (Pali: samudaya) of dukkha is commonly
explained as craving (Pali: tanha) conditioned by ignorance (Pali: avijja).
[25][web
1][i]
This craving runs on three channels:
[25][26][27]

Craving for sense-pleasures (kama-tanha): this is craving for sense objects
which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures.
Craving to be (bhava-tanha): this is craving to be something, to unite with an
experience. This includes craving to be solid and ongoing, to be a being that
has a past and a future,
[28]
and craving to prevail and dominate over others.
Craving not to be (vibhava-tanha): this is craving to not experience the world,
and to be nothing; a wish to be separated from painful feelings.
[j]

Ignorance (Pali: avijja) can be defined as ignorance of the meaning and
implication of the four noble truths.
[29]
On a deeper level, it refers to a
misunderstanding of the nature of the self and reality.
[k]

Another common explanation presents the cause of dukkha as disturbing
emotions (Sanskrit: kleshas) rooted in ignorance (Sanskrit: avidya).
[l]
In this
context, it is common to identify three root disturbing emotions, called the three
poisons,
[30][31]
as the root cause of suffering or dukkha. These three poisons are:
Ignorance (Sanskrit: avidya or moha): misunderstanding of the nature of
reality; bewilderment.
Attachment (Sanskrit: raga): attachment to pleasurable experiences.
Aversion (Sanskrit: dvesha): a fear of getting what we don't want, or not
getting what we do want.
[m]

Third truth: cessation of dukkha[edit]
See also: Nirodha
The third Noble Truth is the truth of the cessation of dukkha. The
term cessation (Pali: nirodha) refers to the cessation of suffering and the causes
of suffering. It is
the cessation of all the unsatisfactory experiences and their causes in such a way
that they can no longer occur again. It's the removal, the final absence, the
cessation of those things, their non-arising."
[web 8]

Cessation is the goal of one's spiritual practice in the Buddhist
tradition.
[32]
According to the Buddhist point of view, once we have developed a
genuine understanding of the causes of suffering, such as craving (tanha) and
ignorance (avijja), then we can completely eradicate these causes and thus be
free from suffering.
[33]

Cessation is often equated with nirvana (Sanskrit; Pali nibbana), which can be
described as the state of being in cessation
[34]
or the event or process of the
cessation.
[35]
A temporary state of nirvana can be said to occur whenever the
causes of suffering (e.g. craving) have ceased in our mind.
[36]

Joseph Goldstein explains:
Ajahn Buddhadasa, a well-known Thai master of the last century, said that when
village people in India were cooking rice and waiting for it to cool, they might
remark, "Wait a little for the rice to become nibbana". So here, nibbana means
the cool state of mind, free from the fires of the defilements. As Ajahn
Buddhadasa remarked, "The cooler the mind, the more Nibbana in that moment".
We can notice for ourselves relative states of coolness in our own minds as we
go through the day.
[36]

Fourth truth: path to the cessation of dukkha[edit]
The fourth noble truth is the path to the cessation of dukkha. This path is called
the Noble Eightfold Path, and it is considered to be the essence of Buddhist
practice.
[37]
The eightfold path consists of: Right Understanding, Right Thought,
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and
Right Concentration.
While the first three truths are primarily concerned with understanding the nature
of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress) and its causes, the fourth truth presents a
practical method for overcoming dukkha.
[38]
The path consists of a set of eight
interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, lead to the
cessation of dukkha.
[39][web 1]
Ajahn Sucitto describes the path as "a mandala of
interconnected factors that support and moderate each other."
[39]

Thus, the eight items of the path are not to be understood as stages, in which
each stage is completed before moving on to the next. Rather, they are to be
understood as eight significant dimensions of one's behaviourmental, spoken,
and bodilythat operate in dependence on one another; taken together, they
define a complete path, or way of living.
[40]

Dependent arising . origination

The doctrine of prattyasamutpda, (Sanskrit; Pali: paticcasamuppda; Tibetan:
rten.cing.'brel.bar.'byung.ba; Chinese: ) is an important part of Buddhist
metaphysics. It states that phenomena arise together in a mutually interdependent
web of cause and effect. It is variously rendered into English as "dependent
origination", "conditioned genesis", "dependent co-arising", "interdependent arising",
or "contingency".
The best-known application of the concept of prattyasamutpda is the scheme
of Twelve Nidnas (from Pli "nidna" meaning "cause, foundation, source or
origin"), which explain the continuation of the cycle of suffering and rebirth (sasra)
in detail.
[49]

Main article: Twelve Nidnas
The Twelve Nidnas describe a causal connection between the subsequent
characteristics or conditions of cyclic existence, each one giving rise to the next:
1. Avidy: ignorance, specifically spiritual ignorance of the nature of reality;
[50]

2. Saskras: literally formations, explained as referring to karma;
3. Vijna: consciousness, specifically discriminative;
[51]

4. Nmarpa: literally name and form, referring to mind and body;
[52]

5. ayatana: the six sense bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind-
organ;
6. Spara: variously translated contact, impression, stimulation (by a sense
object);
7. Vedan: usually translated feeling: this is the "hedonic tone", i.e. whether
something is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral;
8. T: literally thirst, but in Buddhism nearly always used to mean craving;
9. Updna: clinging or grasping; the word also means fuel, which feeds the
continuing cycle of rebirth;
10. Bhava: literally being (existence) or becoming. (The Theravada explains this
as having two meanings: karma, which produces a new existence, and the
existence itself.);
[53]

11. Jti: literally birth, but life is understood as starting at conception;
[54]

12. Jarmaraa: (old age and death) and also soka, parideva, dukkha,
domanassa and upys (sorrow, lamentation, pain, affliction and despair).
[55]

Sentient beings always suffer throughout sasra, until they free themselves from
this suffering (dukkha) by attaining Nirvana. Then the absence of the first Nidna
ignoranceleads to the absence of the others.
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariyo ahagiko
maggo, Sanskrit: rygamrga)
[1]
is one of the principal teachings of the
Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering (dukkha)
and the achievement of self-awakening.
[2]
It is used to develop insight into the true
nature of phenomena (or reality) and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion. The
Noble Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths; the first
element of the Noble Eightfold Path is, in turn, an understanding of the Four Noble
Truths. It is also known as the Middle Path or Middle Way.
All eight elements of the Path begin with the word "right", which translates the
word samyac (in Sanskrit) or samm (in Pli). These denote completion,
togetherness, and coherence, and can also suggest the senses of "perfect" or
"ideal".
[3]
'Samma' is also translated as "wholesome", "wise" and "skillful".
In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of
the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), whose eight spokes represent the eight elements
of the path.
Origin[edit]
According to discourses found in both the Theravada school's Pali canon, and some
of the gamas in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Noble Eightfold Path was
rediscovered by Gautama Buddha during his quest for enlightenment. The scriptures
describe an ancient path which has been followed and practiced by all the previous
Buddhas. The Noble Eightfold Path is a practice said to lead its practitioner toward
self-awakening and liberation. The path was taught by the Buddha to his disciples so
that they, too, could follow it.
In the same way I saw an ancient path, an ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-
awakened Ones of former times. And what is that ancient path, that ancient road,
traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times? Just this noble
eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration...I followed that path. Following it, I
came to direct knowledge of aging & death, direct knowledge of the origination of
aging & death, direct knowledge of the cessation of aging & death, direct knowledge
of the path leading to the cessation of aging & death...Knowing that directly, I have
revealed it to monks, nuns, male lay followers & female lay followers...
Nagara Sutta
[4][5]

The practice of the Noble Eightfold Path varies from one Buddhist school to another.
Depending on the school, it may be practiced as a whole, only in part, or it may have
been modified. Each Buddhist lineage implements the path in the manner most
conducive to the development of the students drawn to that lineage.
Additionally, some sources give alternate definitions for the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Ekottara gama in particular contains variant teachings of basic doctrines such
as the Noble Eightfold Path, which are different from those found in the Pali Canon.
[6]

Practice[edit]
According to the bhikkhu (monk) and scholar Walpola Rahula, the divisions of the
noble eightfold path "are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as
possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and
each helps the cultivation of the others."
[9]
Bhikkhu Bodhi explains that "with a certain
degree of progress all eight factors can be present simultaneously, each supporting
the others. However, until that point is reached, some sequence in the unfolding of
the path is inevitable."
[10]

According to the discourses in the Pali and Chinese canons, right view, right
intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness
are used as the support and requisite conditions for the practice of right
concentration. Understanding of the right view is the preliminary role, and is also the
forerunner of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.
[11][12]
The practitioner should first try to
understand the concepts of right view. Once right view has been understood, it will
inspire and encourage the arising of right intention within the practitioner. Right
intention will lead to the arising of right speech. Right speech will lead to the arising
of right action. Right action will lead to the arising of right livelihood. Right livelihood
will lead to the arising of right effort. Right effort will lead to the arising of right
mindfulness.
[13][14]
The practitioner must make the right effort to abandon the wrong
view and to enter into the right view. Right mindfulness is used to constantly remain
in the right view.
[12][15]
This will help the practitioner restrain greed, hatred and
delusion.
Once these support and requisite conditions have been established, a practitioner
can then practice right concentration more easily. During the practice of right
concentration, one will need to use right effort and right mindfulness to aid
concentration practice. In the state of concentration, one will need to investigate and
verify his or her understanding of right view. This will then result in the arising of right
knowledge, which will eliminate greed, hatred and delusion. The last and final factor
to arise is right liberation.
Wisdom[edit]
"Wisdom" (praj / pa), sometimes translated as "discernment" at its preparatory
role, provides the sense of direction with its conceptual understanding of reality. It is
designed to awaken the faculty of penetrative understanding to see things as they
really are. At a later stage, when the mind has been refined by training in moral
discipline and concentration, and with the gradual arising of right knowledge, it will
arrive at a superior right view and right intention.
[10]

Right view[edit]
Right view (samyag-di / samm-dihi) can also be translated as "right
perspective", "right outlook" or "right understanding". It is the right way of looking at
life, nature, and the world as they really are for us. It is to understand how our reality
works. It acts as the reasoning with which someone starts practicing the path. It
explains the reasons for our human existence, suffering, sickness, aging, death, the
existence of greed, hatred, and delusion. Right view gives direction and efficacy to
the other seven path factors. It begins with concepts and propositional knowledge,
but through the practice of right concentration, it gradually becomes transmuted into
wisdom, which can eradicate the fetters of the mind. An understanding of right view
will inspire the person to lead a virtuous life in line with right view. In
thePli and Chinese canons, it is explained thus:
[16][17][18][19][20][21]

And what is right view? Knowledge with reference to suffering, knowledge with
reference to the origination of suffering, knowledge with reference to the cessation of
suffering, knowledge with reference to the way of practice leading to the cessation of
suffering: This is called right view.
There are two types of right view:
1. View with taints: this view is mundane. Having this type of view will bring
merit and will support the favourable existence of the sentient being in the
realm of samsara.
2. View without taints: this view is supramundane. It is a factor of the path and
will lead the holder of this view toward self-awakening and liberation from the
realm of samsara.
Right view has many facets; its elementary form is suitable for lay followers, while
the other form, which requires deeper understanding, is suitable for monastics.
Usually, it involves understanding the following reality:
1. Moral law of karma: Every action (by way of body, speech, and mind) will
have karmic results (a.k.a. reaction). Wholesome and unwholesome actions
will produce results and effects that correspond with the nature of that action.
It is the right view about the moral process of the world.
2. The three characteristics: everything that arises will cease (impermanence).
Mental and body phenomena are impermanent, source of suffering and not-
self.
3. Suffering: Birth, aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief,
distress, and despair are suffering. Not being able to obtain what one wants is
also suffering. The arising of craving is the proximate cause of the arising of
suffering and the cessation of craving is the proximate cause of the cessation
of the suffering. The quality of ignorance is the root cause of the arising of
suffering, and the elimination of this quality is the root cause of the cessation
of suffering. The way leading to the cessation of suffering is the noble
eightfold path.
[22]
This type of right view is explained in terms ofFour Noble
Truths.
Right view for monastics is explained in detail in the Sammdihi Sutta ("Right View
Discourse"), in which Ven. Sariputta instructs that right view can alternately be
attained by the thorough understanding of the unwholesome and the wholesome, the
four nutriments, the twelve nidanas or the three taints.
[23]
"Wrong view" arising from
ignorance (avijja), is the precondition for wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong
action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness and wrong
concentration.
[24][25]
The practitioner should use right effort to abandon the wrong
view and to enter into right view. Right mindfulness is used to constantly remain in
right view.
The purpose of right view is to clear one's path of the majority of confusion,
misunderstanding, and deluded thinking. It is a means to gain right understanding of
reality. Right view should be held with a flexible, open mind, without clinging to that
view as a dogmatic position.
[26][27][28]
In this way, right view becomes a route to
liberation rather than an obstacle.
Right intention[edit]
Right intention (samyak-sakalpa/samm sankappa) can also be known as "right
thought", "right resolve", "right conception", "right aspiration" or "the exertion of our
own will to change". In this factor, the practitioner should constantly aspire to rid
themselves of whatever qualities they know to be wrong and immoral. Correct
understanding of right view will help the practitioner to discern the differences
between right intention and wrong intention. In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is
explained thus:
[16][18][19][29][30]

And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will,
on harmlessness: This is called right resolve.
It means the renunciation of the worldly things and an accordant greater commitment
to the spiritual path; good will; and a commitment to non-violence, or harmlessness,
towards other living beings.
Ethical conduct[edit]
Main article: Buddhist ethics
For the mind to be unified in concentration, it is necessary to refrain from
unwholesome deeds of body and speech to prevent the faculties of bodily action and
speech from becoming tools of the defilements. Ethical conduct (la / Sla) is used
primarily to facilitate mental purification.
[10]

Right speech[edit]
Right speech (samyag-vc / samm-vc), deals with the way in which a Buddhist
practitioner would best make use of their words. In the Pali Canon, it is explained
thus:
[29][30][31][32][33]

And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive
speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
The Samaaphala Sutta, Kevatta Sutta and Cunda Kammaraputta
Sutta elaborate:
[34][35][36][37]

Abandoning false speech... He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable,
no deceiver of the world...
Abandoning divisive speech... What he has heard here he does not tell there to
break those people apart from these people here...Thus reconciling those who have
broken apart or cementing those who are united, he loves concord, delights in
concord, enjoys concord, speaks things that create concord...
Abandoning abusive speech... He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are
affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing and pleasing to people at
large...
Abandoning idle chatter... He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in
accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the Vinaya. He speaks words worth
treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal...
The Abhaya Sutta elaborates:
[38][39]

In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial,
unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does not say them.
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, yet unbeneficial,
unendearing and disagreeable to others, he does not say them.
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, yet
unendearing and disagreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for
saying them.
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be unfactual, untrue, unbeneficial,
yet endearing and agreeable to others, he does not say them.
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, but unbeneficial,
yet endearing and agreeable to others, he does not say them.
In the case of words that the Tathagata knows to be factual, true, beneficial, and
endearing and agreeable to others, he has a sense of the proper time for saying
them. Why is that? Because the Tathagata has sympathy for living beings.
In every case, if it is not true, beneficial nor timely, one is not to say it. The Buddha
followed this, for example, when asked questions of a purely metaphysical nature,
unrelated to the goal, path or discipline that he taught. When asked a question such
as "Is the universe eternal?", the Buddha dismissed the topic with the response: "It
does not further." (or: "The personal possibilities (goals) assigned you are not
furthered by an answer to an ultimate question about the universe's fate.")
Right action[edit]
Right action (samyak-karmnta / samm-kammanta) can also be translated as "right
conduct". As such, the practitioner should train oneself to be morally upright in one's
activities, not acting in ways that would be corrupt or bring harm to oneself or to
others. In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is explained as:
[18][19][29][30][40]

And what is right action? Abstaining from taking life, from stealing, and from
illicit sex [or sexual misconduct]. This is called right action.
Saccavibhanga Sutta
And what, monks, is right action? Abstaining from taking life, abstaining from
stealing, abstaining from unchastity: This, monks, is called right action.
Magga-vibhanga Sutta
For the lay follower, the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta elaborates:
[41]

And how is one made pure in three ways by bodily action? There is the case where a
certain person, abandoning the taking of life, abstains from the taking of life. He
dwells with his... knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, compassionate for the welfare
of all living beings. Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from
taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, things in a village
or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. Abandoning
sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. He does not get sexually
involved with those who are protected by their mothers, their fathers, their brothers,
their sisters, their relatives, or their Dhamma; those with husbands, those who entail
punishments, or even those crowned with flowers by another man. This is how one is
made pure in three ways by bodily action.
For the monastic, the Samaaphala Sutta adds:
[42][43]

Abandoning uncelibacy, he lives a celibate life, aloof, refraining from the sexual act
that is the villager's way.
Right livelihood[edit]
Right livelihood (samyag-jva / samm-jva). This means that practitioners ought
not to engage in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in
harm for other living beings. In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is explained
thus:
[18][29][30][44][45]

And what is right livelihood? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones,
having abandoned dishonest livelihood, keeps his life going with right livelihood: This
is called right livelihood.
More concretely today interpretations include "work and career need to be integrated
into life as a Buddhist,"
[46]
it is also an ethical livelihood, "wealth obtained through
rightful means" (Bhikku Basnagoda Rahula) - that means being honest and ethical in
business dealings, not to cheat, lie or steal.
[47]
As people are spending most of their
time at work, its important to assess how our work affects our mind and heart. So
important questions include "How can work become meaningful? How can it be a
support, not a hindrance, to spiritual practice a place to deepen our awareness
and kindness?"
[46]

The five types of businesses that should not be undertaken:
[48][49][50]

1. Business in weapons: trading in all kinds of weapons and instruments for
killing.
2. Business in human beings: slave trading, prostitution, or the buying and
selling of children or adults.
3. Business in meat: "meat" refers to the bodies of beings after they are killed.
This includes breeding animals for slaughter.
4. Business in intoxicants: manufacturing or selling intoxicating
drinks or addictive drugs.
5. Business in poison: producing or trading in any kind of poison or a toxic
product designed to kill.
Samdhi[edit]
Samadhi is literally translated as "concentration", it is achieved through training in the
higher consciousness, which brings the calm and collectedness needed to develop
true wisdom by direct experience.
[10]

Right effort[edit]
Right effort (samyag-vyyma / samm-vyma) can also be translated as "right
endeavor" or "right diligence". In this factor, the practitioners should make a
persisting effort to abandon all the wrong and harmful thoughts, words, and deeds.
The practitioner should instead be 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. In the Chinese and Pali Canon, it is
explained thus:
[29][30][51]

And what, monks, is right effort?
(i) There is the case where a monk generates desire, endeavors, activates
persistence, upholds and exerts his intent for the sake of the non-arising of evil,
unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen.
(ii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his
intent for the sake of the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen.
(iii) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his
intent for the sake of the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen.
(iv) He generates desire, endeavors, activates persistence, upholds and exerts his
intent for the maintenance, non-confusion, increase, plenitude, development, and
culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen:
This, monks, is called right effort.
Although the above instruction is given to the male monastic order, it is also meant
for the female monastic order and can be practiced by lay followers of both genders.
The above four phases of right effort mean to:
1. Prevent the unwholesome that has not yet arisen in oneself.
2. Let go of the unwholesome that has arisen in oneself.
3. Bring up the wholesome that has not yet arisen in oneself.
4. Maintain the wholesome that has arisen in oneself.
Right mindfulness[edit]
Main article: Mindfulness (Buddhism)
Right mindfulness (samyak-smti / samm-sati), also translated as "right memory",
"right awareness" or "right attention". Here, practitioners should constantly keep their
minds alert to phenomena that affect the body and mind. They should be mindful and
deliberate, making sure not to act or speak due to inattention or forgetfulness. In the
Pali Canon, it is explained thus:
[18][29][30][52][53]

And what, monks, is right mindfulness?
(i) There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in and of itself
ardent, aware, and mindfulputting away greed and distress with reference to the
world.
(ii) He remains focused on feelings in and of themselvesardent, aware, and
mindfulputting away greed and distress with reference to the world.
(iii) He remains focused on the mind in and of itselfardent, aware, and mindful
putting away greed and distress with reference to the world.
(iv) He remains focused on mental qualities (dhammesu
[54]
) in and of themselves
ardent, aware, and mindfulputting away greed and distress with reference to the
world.
This, monks, is called right mindfulness.
Although the above instruction is given to the male monastic order, it is also meant
for the female monastic order and can be practiced by lay followers from both
genders.
Bhikkhu Bodhi, a monk of the Theravada tradition, further explains the concept of
mindfulness as follows:
[55]

The mind is deliberately kept at the level of bare attention, a detached observation of
what is happening within us and around us in the present moment. In the practice of
right mindfulness the mind is trained to remain in the present, open, quiet, and alert,
contemplating the present event. All judgments and interpretations have to be
suspended, or if they occur, just registered and dropped.
The Maha Satipatthana Sutta also teaches that by mindfully observing these
phenomena, we begin to discern its arising and subsiding and the Three
Characteristics of Dharma in direct experience, which leads to the arising of insight
and the qualities of dispassion, non-clinging, and release.
Right concentration[edit]
Right concentration (samyak-samdhi / samm-samdhi), as its Sanskrit and Pali
names indicate, is the practice of concentration (samadhi). It is also known as right
meditation.
[citation needed]
As such, the practitioner concentrates on an object of
attention until reaching full concentration and a state of meditative absorption
(jhana). Traditionally, the practice of samadhi can be developed through mindfulness
of breathing (anapanasati), through visual objects (kasina), and through repetition of
phrases (mantra). Samadhi is used to suppress the five hindrances in order to enter
into jhana. Jhana is an instrument used for developing wisdom by cultivating insight
and using it to examine true nature of phenomena with direct cognition. This leads to
cutting off the defilements, realizing the dhamma and, finally, self-awakening. During
the practice of right concentration, the practitioner will need to investigate and verify
their right view. In the process right knowledge will arise, followed by right liberation.
In the Pali Canon, it is explained thus:
[52][53][56][57]

And what is right concentration?
(i) Herein a monk aloof from sense desires, aloof from unwholesome thoughts,
attains to and abides in the first meditative absorption [jhana], which is detachment-
born and accompanied byapplied thought, sustained thought, joy, and bliss.
(ii) By allaying applied and sustained thought he attains to, and abides in the second
jhana, which is inner tranquillity, which is unification (of the mind), devoid of applied
and sustained thought, and which has joy and bliss.
(iii) By detachment from joy he dwells in equanimity, mindful, and with clear
comprehension and enjoys bliss in body, and attains to and abides in the third jhana,
which the noble ones [ariyas] call "dwelling in equanimity, mindfulness, and bliss".
(iv) By giving up of bliss and suffering, by the disappearance already of joy and
sorrow, he attains to, and abides in the fourth jhana, which is neither suffering nor
bliss, and which is the purity of equanimity mindfulness.
This is called right concentration.
Although this instruction is given to the male monastic order, it is also meant for the
female monastic order and can be practiced by lay followers from both genders.
According to the Pali and Chinese canon, right concentration is dependent on the
development of preceding path factors:
[29][30][58]

The Blessed One said: "Now what, monks, is noble right concentration with its
supports and requisite conditions? Any singleness of mind equipped with these
seven factors right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, and right mindfulness is called noble right concentration with its
supports and requisite conditions.
Maha-cattarisaka Sutta
Acquired factors[edit]
In the Mahcattrsaka Sutta
[59][60]
which appears in the Chinese and Pali canons,
the Buddha explains that cultivation of the noble eightfold path leads to the
development of two further factors, which are right knowledge, or insight (samm-
a), and right liberation, or release (samm-vimutti). These two factors fall under
the category of wisdom (pa).
Right knowledge and right liberation[edit]
Right knowledge is seeing things as they really are by direct experience, not as they
appear to be, nor as the practitioner wants them to be, but as they truly are. A result
of Right Knowledge is the tenth factor - Right liberation.
[61]

These two factors are the end result of correctly practicing the noble eightfold path,
which arise during the practice of right concentration. The first to arise is right
knowledge: this is where deep insight into the ultimate reality arises. The last to arise
is right liberation: this is where self-awakening occurs and the practitioner has
reached the pinnacle of their practice.
Cognitive psychology[edit]
In the essay "Buddhism Meets Western Science", Gay Watson explains:
[62]

Buddhism has always been concerned with feelings, emotions, sensations, and
cognition. The Buddha points both to cognitive and emotional causes of suffering.
The emotional cause is desire and its negative opposite, aversion. The cognitive
cause is ignorance of the way things truly occur, or of three marks of existence: that
all things are unsatisfactory, impermanent, and without essential self.
The noble eightfold path is, from this psychological viewpoint, an attempt to change
patterns of thought and behavior. It is for this reason that the first element of the path
is right understanding (samm-dihi), which is how one's mind views the world.
Under the wisdom (pa) subdivision of the noble eightfold path, this worldview is
intimately connected with the second element, right thought (samm-sakappa),
which concerns the patterns of thought and intention that controls one's actions.
These elements can be seen at work, for example, in the opening verses of
the Dhammapada:
[63]
The noble eightfold path is also the fourth noble truth.
All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind,
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.
All experience is preceded by mind,
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a peaceful mind,
And happiness follows
Like a never-departing shadow.
[64]

Thus, by altering one's distorted worldview, bringing out "tranquil perception" in the
place of "perception polluted", one is able to ease suffering. Watson points this out
from a psychological standpoint:
Research has shown that repeated action, learning, and memory can actually
change the nervous system physically, altering both synaptic strength and
connections. Such changes may be brought about by cultivated change in emotion
and action; they will, in turn, change subsequent experience.
[62]

Three marks of existence
The Three marks of existence, within Buddhism, are three
characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaa; Sanskrit: trilakaa) shared by all sentient beings,
namely: impermanence(anicca); suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha); non-
self (anatt).
According to Buddhist tradition, a full understanding of these three can bring an end
to suffering (dukkha nirodha, ). The Buddha taught that all beings conditioned by
causes (sakhra) are impermanent (anicca) and suffering (dukkh) while he said
not-self (anatt) characterises all dhammas meaning there is no "I" or "mine" in the
conditioned as well as the unconditioned (i.e. Nibbna).
[1][2]
The central figure of
Buddhism, Siddhartha is believed to have achieved Nirvana and awakening after
muchmeditation, thus becoming the Buddha Shakyamuni. With the faculty
of wisdom the Buddha directly perceived that all sentient beings (everything in
the phenomenology ofpsychology) are marked by these three characteristics:
Anicca (Sanskrit anitya) "inconstancy" or "impermanence". This refers to the fact
that all conditioned things (sankhara) are in a constant state of flux. In reality
there is no thing that ultimately ceases to exist; only the appearance of a thing
ceases as it changes from one form to another. Imagine a leaf that falls to the
ground and decomposes. While the appearance and relative existence of the leaf
ceases, the components that formed the leaf become particulate material that
may go on to form new plants. Buddhism teaches a middle way, avoiding the
extreme views of eternalism and nihilism.
[3]

Dukkha (Sanskrit duhkha) or dissatisfaction (or "dis-ease"; also often translated
"suffering", though this is somewhat misleading). Nothing found in the physical
world or even the psychological realm can bring lasting deep satisfaction.
Anatta (Sanskrit anatman) or "non-Self" is used in the suttas both as a noun and
as a predicative adjective to denote that phenomena are not, or are without, a
self; to describe any and all composite, consubstantial, phenomenal and
temporal things, from the macrocosmic to microcosmic, be it matter pertaining to
the physical body or the cosmos at large, as well as any and all mental
machinations, which are impermanent.
There is often a fourth Dharma Seal mentioned
[citation needed]
:
Nirvana is peace. Nirvana is the "other shore" from samsara.
Together the three characteristics of existence are called ti-lakkhana in Pali or tri-
laksana in Sanskrit.
By bringing the three (or four) seals into moment-to-moment experience through
concentrated awareness, we are said to achieve wisdomthe third of the three
higher trainingsthe way out of samsara. Thus the method for leaving samsara
involves a deep-rooted change in world view.
Anicca
[4]
[edit]
Main article: Anicca
[Pronounced Anitcha/Anitya] All compounded phenomena (things and experiences)
are inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. Everything we can experience through
our senses is made up of parts, and its existence is dependent on external
conditions. Everything is in constant flux, and so conditions and the thing itself is
constantly changing. Things are constantly coming into being, and ceasing to be.
Nothing lasts.
The important point here is that phenomena arise and cease according to (complex)
conditions. In Mahayana Buddhism, a caveat is added: one should indeed always
meditate on the impermanence and transitory nature of compound structures and
phenomena, but one must guard against extending this to the realm of Nirvana,
where impermanence holds no sway. In this view, the ultimate nature of reality is
free from the stains of dualistic thought, and should therefore not be labeled as 'one'
or the 'other' (i.e. 'permanent' or 'impermanent').
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche states that in the four seals of the
Mahayana, Nirvana should be viewed as "beyond extremes". Furthermore, he says
"In many philosophies or religions, the final goal is something that you can hold on to
and keep. The final goal is the only thing that truly exists. But nirvana is not
fabricated, so it is not something to be held on to. It is referred to as 'beyond
extremes.' We somehow think that we can go somewhere where well have a better
sofa seat, a better shower system, a better sewer system, a nirvana where you dont
even have to have a remote control, where everything is there the moment you think
of it. But as I said earlier, its not that we are adding something new that was not
there before. Nirvana is achieved when you remove everything that was artificial and
obscuring."
[5]

Dukkha[edit]
Whatever is impermanent is subject to change. Whatever is subject to change is
subject to suffering.
[citation needed]

The Buddha
Dukkha is the belief that there is suffering everywhere, and there will always be
suffering in life. the Buddha himself taught his desciples this
Anatta[edit]
In Indian philosophy, the concept of a self is called tman (that is, "soul" or
metaphysical self), which refers to an unchanging, permanent essence conceived by
virtue of existence. This concept and the related concept of Brahman, the
Vedantic monistic ideal, which was regarded as an ultimate tman for all beings,
were indispensable for mainstream Indian metaphysics, logic, and science; for all
apparent things there had to be an underlying and persistent reality, akin to
a Platonic form. The Buddha rejected all concepts of tman, emphasizing
changeability not permanence. He taught that all concepts of a substantial personal
self were incorrect, and formed in the realm of ignorance. The Buddha criticized
conceiving theories even of a unitary soul or identity immanent in all things as
unskillful in the Great Discourse on Causation.
[6]
In fact, according to the Buddha's
statement in Khandha Samyutta 47, all thoughts about self are necessarily, whether
the thinker is aware of it or not, thoughts about the five aggregates or one of them.
[7]

In a number of major Mahayana sutras (e.g. the Mahaparinirvana Sutra,
the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, the Srimala Sutra, among others), the Buddha is
presented as clarifying this teaching by saying that, while the skandhas (constituents
of the ordinary body and mind) are not the self, there does truly exist an eternal,
unchanging, blissful Buddha-essence in all sentient beings, which is the uncreated
and deathlessBuddha-nature ("Buddha-dhatu") or "True Self" of the Buddha himself.
The "tathagatagarbha"/Buddha nature does not represent a substantial self; rather, it
is a positive language expression of "sunyata" (emptiness) and represents the
potentiality to realize Buddhahood through Buddhist practices; the intention of the
teaching of tathagatagarbha (Buddha nature) is soteriological rather than
theoretical.
[8]

This immaculate Buddhic Self (atman) is in no way to be construed as a mundane,
impermanent, suffering "ego", of which it is the diametrical opposite. On the other
hand, this Buddha-essence or Buddha-nature is also often explained as
the potential for achieving Buddhahood, rather than an existing phenomenon one
can grasp onto as being me or self.
Anatta is discussed in the Questions of King Milinda, composed during the period of
the Hellenistic Indo-Greek kingdom of the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. In this text, the
monk Nagasena demonstrates the concept of absolute "non-Self" by likening human
beings to a chariot and challenges the Greek king "Milinda" (Menander) to find the
essence of the chariot. Nagasena states that just as a chariot is made up of a
number of things, none of which are the essence of the chariot in isolation, without
the other pieces, similarly no one part of a person is a permanent entity; we can be
broken up into five constituents body, sensations, ideation, mental formations and
consciousness the consciousness being closest to the permanent idea of "Self",
but is ever-changing with each new thought according to this viewpoint.
According to some thinkers both in the East and the West, the doctrine of "non-Self",
may imply that Buddhism is a form of nihilism or something similar. However, as
thinkers like Nagarjuna have clearly pointed out, Buddhism is not simply a rejection
of the concept of existence or meaning, but of the hard and fast distinction between
existence and non-existence, or rather between being and no-thingness.
Phenomena are not independent from causes and conditions and do not exist as
isolated things as we perceive them to be. The lack of a permanent, unchanging,
substantial Self in beings and things does not mean that they do not experience
growth and decay on the relative level. But on the ultimate level of analysis, one
cannot distinguish an object from its causes and conditions or even distinguish
between object and subject (an idea appearing relatively recently in Western
science). Buddhism thus has much more in common with
Western empiricism, pragmatism, anti-foundationalism, and
evenpoststructuralism than with nihilism.
In the Nikyas, the Buddha and his disciples commonly question or declare "Is that
which is impermanent, subject to change, subject to suffering fit to be considered
thus: 'This I am, this is mine, this is my self'?" The question which the Buddha poses
to his audience is whether compounded phenomena are fit to be considered as self,
to which the audience agrees that it is unworthy to be considered so. And in
relinquishing such an attachment to compounded phenomena, such a person gives
up delight, desire and craving for compounded phenomena and is unbounded by its
change. When completely free from attachments, craving, or desire to the five
aggregates such a person experiences, that person then transcends the very causes
of suffering.
In this way, the insight wisdom or praj of non-Self gives rise to cessation of
suffering, and not an intellectual debate over whether a self exists or not.
It is by realizing (not merely understanding intellectually, but making real in one's
experience) the three marks of conditioned existence that one develops praj,
which is the antidote to the ignorance that lies at the root of all suffering.
Karma and Intention
I would like to talk about the Buddhist concept of karma. It is a big topic, and you
could spend years talking about it, and decades arguing about it. Karma is
considered very important, and to get a little sense of its importance, a number of
Buddhist teachers, including the Dalai Lama, have been asked, What is more
important: to understand the great philosophical Buddhist teachings about
emptiness, or to understand karma, to understand cause and effect? The answer is
that it is more important to understand karma, to understand cause and effect. That
teaching is really much more essential. Without understand karma, you will not
understand where you have personal responsibility and how to take responsibility.
Some people who understand emptiness only, or some of the deeper teachings of
Buddhism, will sometimes interpret that to mean that there is no personal
responsibility. They may abdicate responsibility and think that everything is OK, and
perhaps just float along in life.
In a number of places, when the Buddha talked about the practice of Buddhism, he
used a compound word. That compound word is sati-sampajanna. Sati means
mindfulness, which is one of the core practices we do here. Sampajanna means
wisdom, or understanding, or clear comprehension. Mindfulness focuses primarily on
understanding what is, on what is going on, and learning how to be present for what
is, learning how to be present for our experience. This is a huge undertaking
because it can be very hard to be present for life as it is since we have so much
reactivity and so many judgments and interpretations which we overlay on it. The
primary task of mindfulness is to understand the way things are. Sampajanna, the
wisdom side, has a lot to do with learning how we can respond to the way things are.
So rather than just leaving things as they are, we, as human beings, have to
respond, and we have to make choices about what we do in response. There was a
period of time in my Buddhist practice where I became very good at the first part, at
learning how to just be with things, and just let go of everything else. I would just let
go and let go and just be really present. That can be very peaceful, and life could be
very peaceful, very content, and very happy just being present by letting go. That
was quite fine when I was a monk since I did not have to make a lot of choices. Then
I became a parent, and just letting go and being present was not going to be enough.
Lying in bed at two oclock in the morning when the kid has an earache, or the two
kids are fighting. Just let go, let gothis is not enough. You have to make a choice
about how to act. You have to be creative and think ahead. A lot of thought has to go
into how to respond to this situation. You cannot just sit there and be present to this
situation. Being present and letting go is very important, but there is more to it.
Something is required of us.
So what do we do about that part of life when something is required of us? Buddhas
teachings about karma have a lot to do with this aspect of our lives, the places where
we have choice, and how we make choices. The practice of mindfulness brings us to
that place where we see that we have a choice. We want to be present for what is,
but as we are present for what is, what is not static. What is is actually an
ongoing process of change and movement. The present moment is part of a causal
chain of cause and effect. There is cause and effect and the effect is a cause for the
next thing. It just goes on and on. We can see ourselves in the great stream of cause
and effect and we find ourselves here in the present moment in that stream, the
stream of change and impermanence. The question is: how do we relate to this sea
of change and impermanence?
Mindfulness is clear. We learn how to rest and be present and be mindful in what is
going on this moment. Then we start seeing where we have choice, where the
moment of choice is. If a person does not see choice, then there is no choice. If we
live deluded, and we cannot see what is going on, then we dont see that we have a
choice about what we do with our lives. The more carefully we investigate, the more
sensitive we get to the present moment, the more we see that there is a lot of choice
each moment about how we react and respond and behave. The greater array of
choice and places for choice that we can see, the more choice we have and the
more responsibility we can take. If a person sees no choice in their life, sees no
place where they can make a choice and make a difference, then people will just feel
like victims of life. They think that their happiness, their well-being, their peace, is just
caused by the sway of the causes and conditions around them in the world. So when
the world is a good place, we can be happy. When the world is a bad place, when
unfortunate things are happening, then we are unhappy. Our happiness is a slave to
the causes and conditions that are external to us. But as we can see the places of
choice, then we are not victims of circumstances. We can actually send influence on
this causal chain of cause and effect. Does that make sense?
The teaching of karma has to do with the place of choice, the choices we make. It
gets very subtle, if you want it to be. There is one story I like to tell. After spending
about three years in a Zen monastery, it was a big surprise to leave the monastery
and come back to San Francisco to live there. In many ways it was a surprise, and I
had been changed by the experience of the monastery. One big surprise was that in
the monastery, much of the daily life was choreographed. You were told how to
stand, how to sit, how to eatthere was a choreographed way in which we ate most
of the meals. You had these bowls and you had to lay them out a certain way and
you ate in a certain way and you had to put down your spoons in a certain way and
your chopsticks had a particular way to be put down. Also, your napkin had to be put
down in a certain way; how you put it down was choreographed and how you folded
it was choreographed. They rang a bell and you stood up, and then they rang a bell
again and you would walk out. How you walked out was choreographedin fact, it
was choreographed right down to which foot went out the door first. Everything was
well-choreographed.
Then I came back to San Francisco where life was not choreographed any more. I
discovered I had a lot of choices I had to make that, before, the monastery had made
for me. The choice that really stood out to me was that I had a choice about how I
sat in a chair. In the monastery, I never realized I had a choice and that chairs were
things to make choices over. In Zen they say that when you sit, just sit. Its very
simplejust sit. But I found out that I had a lot of choice. I could slump or sit up
straight or cross my legs. Before I went to the monastery, I did not take advantage of
all of those choices because I was unconscious about how I sat in a chair. After the
monastery, it became harder to be unconscious about it, and I had to make choices
about how to sitslump, sit up straight, or cross my legs. I noticed that how I sit in a
chair affected my well-being. In fact, it had a big effect on many different things. It
affected my own well-being and my energy, and I noticed how, if I was feeling down,
and I let myself slump really low, that it would subtly reinforce that feeling of being
down. But if I sat up straight in a more energetic way, it did not take my blues away,
but it made the blues paler, a lighter blue. It made a little difference. Also, how I sat
made a difference about how I was in relation to somebody else sitting in another
chair. If I were sitting slumped down and receding and trying to disappear in my
chair, then I had a very different presence, a very different contact with someone
than if I sat up and was facing them.
I saw all these little choices I had to make. I was in my twenties, and I also got
interested in what it was like to fall in love. I wondered if there was choice in falling in
love. We think that we are victims of lovethat is the Romeo and Juliet scenario of
something that just happens. So I tried to pay very careful attention when I was
attracted to someone or getting to know someone to see if there was some turning
point where I could make a choice to go towards that person. Sometimes I could see
that there were very subtle choices abut leaning into someone or moving towards
someone, or a choice to pursue a certain desire or wish or want. When I was
nineteen, I can tell you definitively that I had no choice in the matter. And when I was
fourteen, there was no choice but to go through the entire telephone book and call
every house on the street where she lived and ask if she lived there. That is because
all I knew was the street she lived on, and I knew her first name. I had help. My
friend went through the phone book from the back, and I went through it from the
front. We called all the houses on that street until we found her. There was no choice
in the matter.
One of the functions of mindfulness is to show us where we have choice. Then the
question is: how do we make choices? What is the basis of making a choice? There
are many bases for choice. The Buddhas teaching of karma is one consideration
around the choices we make.
Karma, as it is pronounced in Sanskrit, or kamma, in Pali, has the usual meaning of
action. It is related to words that have the meaning of to make and to do. Karma is
activity. There are many theories of action in India, theories about the efficacy of
action. What happens to action? Once you make an action, does it just affect that
particular circumstance where you just made it, or does action have consequences
in the next minute or the next hour or the next day or the next year? What are the
consequences of the actions we make? Karma theory has to do with action and its
consequences.
When the Buddha showed up on the scene, there were many theories of karma, and
the Buddha offered his own. This is very important to understand because, here in
America, many people think that there is just one meaning of karma. Actually, there
are many kinds of theories of karma from different Indian religious traditions. We
should not assume that all the different theories of karma are the same, and they are
not the same as the Buddhist one.
For the Buddha, though it literally means action, the meaning of karma is intention,
or intentionality. He equates karma with intention. This meaning of karma needs
some explanation.
We live in a sea of cause and effect. I like the word sea because, if you take a pond,
and you throw a whole bunch of pebbles into the pond, you create wave patterns
that ripple out in all directions. The waves will hit each other and create other wave
patterns, which in turn hit other wave patterns, and it gets very complex. If you just
throw one pebble, you just get one concentric pattern that is very clear. But if you
throw one hundred pebbles in, the number of cause-effect relationships in the way
the waves hit each other becomes quite immense. If you put a rubber duck in the
pond before you throw all those pebbles in, which pebble is affecting the duck,
making it bob up and down? They all are, and they all are in this complicated way by
which the pebbles and the waves are interacting on the surface of the water. In the
same way, in this life of ours, we live in this big sea of cause and effect. The ripples
of cause and effect and the way in which all these ripples affect each other in turn
affect us. We are like ducks. Then the question is: does everything that happens to
us relate to our karma? Some teachings about karma say that everything that
happens to us in this life is the result of our past karma. Whatever happens to you
here is the result of past karma. The Buddha did not say that. What the Buddha said
is that there is a big sea of cause and effect, and within that, there is a subcategory
of cause and effect which has to do with a cause and effect of intentionality, of the
intentions we act on. In the case of sickness, the Buddha did not attribute all
sickness to karma. Sickness may happen just by logical conditions or by genetic
conditions. You do not have to attribute the sickness to your karma. The Buddha
also said that even if someone assaults you, like when you are in a war, it is not
necessarily the result of your past karma. In a sense, it may just be bad luckyou
happen to be born in certain place and time.
There are many people who would like the teaching of karma to be a theory of
justice. People really would like the world be a just place. Karma is one way of
getting justice out of the world, because it guarantees that the sucker will get his due
sooner or later. The idea here is that there is a wonderful correlation that every
action has a karmic result, or every result has a karmic source. If someone has
stolen from you, or has done something terrible to you, as a result you have became
poor by the end of your life, while the offender has become rich and dies rich. We
would like to think that the offender will get his just punishment in the next life. That
is the balancethe confirmation of justice is maintained by having a theory of multiple
lifetimes in which everything works out eventually. But I dont think that the Buddhist
idea of karma was meant to be a form of justice. It is not supposed to explain
everything and why everything is happening the way it is. Some Buddhists,
especially later Buddhists in the development of Buddhism, took karma theory to be
an explanation for everything. I have heard Buddhists say that if your retreat center
is on a road with potholes, it is because the people at the center have not practiced
right speech. If everyone just practices right speech better, somehow those potholes
will get cleaned up. We have some cracks in our sidewalkI dont know what karma
that is. We have had septic problems. Was that our karma, or was it the karma of the
previous owners of the building?
People want karma to explain everything, but the Buddha did not want karma to
explain everything. What the Buddha was trying to do was to point to the tremendous
impact that our motivations, our intentions, have on our lives. In looking at the
choices that we have to make, the Buddha said that it is very important to look at
what motivates those choices, what intentions fuel those choices. To be somewhat
simplistic about Buddhist karmic theory, it might go something like this: in whatever
fuels an action, the fuel of an action produces more of itself. If your action is fueled
by hate, it somehow produces more of itself. In different words, if our intentions are
unhealthy, that unhealthy fuel produces more unhealthy intentions. If our intentions
are healthy, it produces more health. If the actions which fuel our actions are healthy,
they tend to produce more health. If the intentions which produce our actions are
unhealthy, it tends to produce something unhealthy.
For example, if the action I do is motivated by hate, that puts in motion a certain
cause and effect relationship that creates some kind of disease for me and the world
around me. If I act on hate, it sets in motions two distinct causal chains. One is that
there is a kind of physical cause and effect relationship in the world. If I do something
hateful to all of you tonight (I wont do it intentionally), some of you could be hurt, or
some of you could leave here and be distressed or angry, or you could get in your
car and drive angrily and run through a red light and get a ticket. There is a cause
and effect chain that gets sets in motion. You can see the conditionality of how my
hate conditioned certain behaviors in you and that ripples out into the world. It does
not have to ripple out into the world. Some of you have spent 45 minutes meditation
first, so you are cool and collected and you are tracking yourself and see how you
have a choice. You may say to yourself, I dont know what Gil was about today. Im
just going to leave that at IMC and not take it with me. So you get in your car and
forget that I was being mean and drive home mindfully and clearly. You dont get a
traffic ticket. Or you leave here and are subject to whatever cause and effect process
is happening out there. Thus there is a physical causal process that gets set in
motion that sets up conditions.
That is not what the Buddha was talking about as karma. If you put a ball on the top
of a hill and push it down, it will roll faster and faster. That is not karmathat is just
how the ball works because of gravity. The karma theory of the Buddha has to do
with the causal chain, the causal conditions that are set in motion directly by our
intentions. The intentions themselves, especially when we act on them, operate in
some kind of tracks. So we have to understand what kind of tracks that intentionality
works at. For that, we have to see how intentionality works within ourselves. That is
where the real primary track is. For example, there is the instant karma that we have.
If we do something that is really generous and we feel really happy because of it,
that sense of generosity instantly produces a sense of well being. That is called
instant karma. But it also produces something down the line. One of the things that
our actions produce is memory. We remember what we have done, and that memory
is not something that disappears, but it can actually have a very profound influence
in our lives. Meditators will sometimes see this because, especially during retreats,
memories long since forgotten will bubble up. Those memories have not been
forgotten deep in the psyche or body. They are somehow there and have not been
noticed and we have been so busy dealing with our lives that we have not finished
processing or dealing with those events. It is common for meditators to have all
these memories bubbling up at 20 or 30 or 40 years old, because they are unfinished
and the have to be finished. The mind has to process it. Sometimes they are
unfortunate things we have done and we feel really bad about it. I have known
people who have had to go make amends after 20 years. They call up someone and
say, Remember me? And the other person says, No. Well, I want to apologize.
When you get really quiet and still in the mind, when the mind gets really peaceful, it
gets to a point where it realizes that further peace in the mind will not happen unless
you somehow resolve some of the conflicts and issues that are unresolved. Or there
can be really good memories that come back When I was beginning to meditate on a
regular basis, I started having memories of when I was a child of six or seven or
eight years old in which I had feelings of tremendous well being of laying in bed
before I went to sleep. I felt complete and whole and very peaceful. When I started
meditating as an adult, I had forgotten those memories and the felt sense of well
being I had as a child. When I started meditating coming towards that edge of the
possibility of that kind of well being and peace then those memories resurfaced. I did
not have to resolve anything about it, but those memories resurfaced for me and
became a support for me to go further into the happiness and well being that
meditation can provide.
We carry our memories with us to certain degrees. Good memories can produce a
sense of happiness and delight for a long time. Bad memories can produced the
opposite for a long, long time. Still, if I think about certain things I did forty or thirty
years ago, I actually feel kind of offit still affects me. If I spend the whole day
thinking about some of the things I did, by the end of the day, I would feel lousy
because those memories have perhaps a charge and are not happy memories. The
intentions we live by give us memories. The intentions we act on give us memories.
Do not underestimate the power of those memories in our lives.
The other kind of track that intentions have is that they affect our physical body.
When we act with fear, when fear is in our intention, then it produces tension and the
body contracts. Anger and aversion also contract the body. If you live chronically
trying to protect yourself from the world, if that is your intention, or if you live
chronically in a state of greed or ambition in which the mind is always wanting, then
the physical body is affected. You will also notice this if you start meditating
regularly, because some of the holding patterns of the body get revealed and show
themselves. People start noticing: I did not know that my shoulders are so tense, or
I did not know that I have so much tightness in my belly. For example, I had just
taught a month-long retreat. One person came to an interview with me after three
weeks of the retreat. She basically said, I did not know that I carried chronic tension
in my belly. This person was about fifty years old and realized that the tension had
always been there throughout her adult life. But she had never noticed that it was
there. She had kept a distance from it, but as her mind became very still in
meditation, the chronic tension of fear in her belly revealed itself.
The intentions that we live with regularly will affect our body, and sooner or later we
will have to come to terms with that. In the extreme form, it affects our health, and a
person could become quite unhealthy because of the kind of tension they carry
around.
Another way that tracked intentionality works within us is that it works by conditioning
us. It sets up habit formation. As a habit gets formed, it becomes easier and easier to
do that action and harder not to do that action. I have noticed that process, for
example, if I get a little bit too enthusiastic or frantic about cleaning my house. I do a
lot of cleaning and laundry and this and that and it becomes doing, doing, doing. At
some point, when the basic stuff has been done, and I stop, I can sometimes feel
that my mind is in a have to do stuff trackthe momentum is still there and I cant
put it down. A habit is created. Some of us do the same things over and over again
for decades. We are always trying to defend ourselves, or we are always trying to
measure up to other people, or we are always judging other people to make
ourselves safer, or we are always trying to make ourselves as comfortable as
possible in every possible situation as we are driven by comfort. There are many
very common habits that we have that represent a certain kind of motivation. The
more we act on that, the more it can become a habit, and habits can be something
that drives us, rather than we driving it. Addictions can be like that, addictions to
cigarettes or alcohol or almost anything. We can even include the addiction to talk,
for some people just cannot stop talking, and they have such a strong momentum,
such a strong drive, to talk.
What is often said about intentions is that intentions are seeds. If you act on certain
intentions, you are planting those certain seeds. You may plant seeds of hate, of
greed, of lust, or of delusion. It is one thing to plant one seed, but if you keep
planting them, then you keep nourishing them, keep watering them, and they grow
and grow until they almost become our character.
So why is there this focus on intentions, why is it so important in Buddhist practice? It
is because the world of our happiness and our inner peace is primarily a product of
our intentions. That is a surprise for many people to hear because many people think
that happiness is dependent on the stock market or who I manage to partner up with.
Or they think that happiness depends on getting a good job. These things can be
conditions for happiness, but it can be fleeting and unstable to have the world be the
reason for why we are happy or unhappy. In order to become mature spiritually in
Buddhism, we have to learn to be happy and at peace independently of the
conditions of the world. If we are always looking for the conditions of the world to be
just right, our happiness will be fleeting at best. But if you want your happiness to be
stable, then you have to find the kind of happiness and peace that is independent of
the conditions of the world. Whether or not you have a job, you have the capacity to
be at peace with yourself. You can be happy whether or not you have a relationship,
or whether or not you are healthy, or whether you have a good job or not, or whether
you have recreational opportunities or not, or whether you have a good house or not.
If we can learn to be happy independent of those conditions, then Buddhism says
you have a stable happiness. That world of happiness that is stable has a lot to do
with our intentions.
If we monitor our intentions and make choices based upon which motivations
produce health and happiness and which do not, then it is possible to set in motion
the conditions that make it possible to be happy. If you act on intentions of
generosity or personal integrity, or on intentions of kindness, love, friendship, or
compassion, then those are watering those seeds, and that will help to form and
shape the inner life in a particular way. It forms in such a way that you are much
more likely to discover the capacity for inner happiness. If you act on greed or hate
or delusion, you create different kinds of internal conditions. I remember once when I
lied to someone, and the lie seemed to help very much at that moment. But it set in
motion all kinds of problems. There were problems in me because I felt I had to lie
again to get around it and hide the lie. Then I was worried about getting caught, and
it just became a mess. It creates a situation in which it is hard to be happy because
you have to worry about your ethical integrity.
Certain intentions are conducive to creating more happiness and certain ones are
not. The ones that will create a stable sense of happiness are the ones that are said
to be health producing, skillful, or wholesome. They are based on love, generosity,
and wisdom. Those are the primary roots for healthy motivations. If you want to be
happy, or create the conditions for a more stable inner happiness, then you want to
begin being the gardener or tender of your intentional world. You want to be able to
stop and look carefully at what is motivating you to do this activity right now. You
ask, What is motivating me to do what I am about to do? Learning to stop and
consider your intentionality becomes a very important thing. You are in the present
moment, you have gotten that far, and then you see that you have a choice, and
then you can ask yourself, What is my intention in the choice I want to make here?
Why do I want to say what I am going to say?
Speech is very interesting to do this analysis for, because most of the time we are
not talking because the person we are talking to needs to have this important
information. It is not about just giving information, as when someone asks you for
directions on how to get to San Francisco. Speech acts have a lot of motivations and
intentions around them. We may be trying to have a relationship with someone and
trying to communicate much more than facts and information. We may be trying to
accomplish much more, as when we are trying to show ourselves in a certain way
we want people to see us in a certain way, or we are trying to manipulate the
situation. So what is the intention behind saying what you are going to say? Look at
that and you will find it very interesting. Stop and look. Stop and pay attention.
One of the great supports for the study of intention is your physical body. To really
be in touch with your body, to feel your body, to be in touch with the physical
experience of being in a body, enables you to notice the tensions and release of
tensions. You can notice the warmth and energy in your body. That becomes a very
important guidepost for understanding your intentions. If your intentions are ones
that are going to produce disease, you will feel that disease when having that
intention. If you feel hate, you will feel physically what that is like in your body, the
anger, and it just does not feel good. If you have genuine generosity, you will feel
good, you will feel that physically. So it does not have to be only a mental analysis
that tells you what the intention is here and what the results are. You can actually
feel it in an embodied kind of way.
Rebirth
In the process of becoming enlightened, the Buddha is said to have recognised all his
previous lives. At the same time, he also said that nothing from one life goes on to
the next. Quite a paradox really!
Buddhists understand life as samsara, meaning perpetual wandering, and describe
the transition like a billiard ball hitting another billiard ball. While nothing physical
transfers, the speed and direction of the second ball relate directly to the first. So the
term most often used is rebirth, rather than reincarnation. Reincarnation implies the
transfer of an essence, or a soul, while rebirth follows the law of causality, or
dependant origination, where this arises because of circumstances which happened
before.
A primary aim of Buddhism is to break free of the wheel of samsara, and to reach a
new level called Nirvana.

Nirvana
Nirvana is the most misunderstood term in Buddhism.
Those in the West recognise the term as meaning Heaven, or a Heaven on Earth, or
perhaps a famous rock band.
The Buddha described Nirvana as the ultimate goal, and he reached that state during
his enlightenment. At this point, he chose to teach others so that they might also
experience this realisation, and so when he died, forty-five years later, he then
passed through pari nirvana, meaning completed nirvana.
Nirvana literally means extinguishing or unbinding. The implication is that it is
freedom from what ever binds you, from the burning passion of desire, jealousy, and
ignorance. Once these are totally overcome, a state of bliss is achieved, and there is
no longer the need the cycle of birth and death. All karmic debts are settled.
The Buddha refused to be drawn on what occurred then, but implied that it was
beyond word and without boundaries. Certainly, he saw it in a much different state
than our current existence, and not a simple parallel to the process of individual
rebirth.