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Basics of Buddhism – Week 2 - The Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path includes eight practices that transform the way we experience ourselves and the world.
These eight practices are (from Lama Surya Das’ translation in Awakening the Buddha Within):
1. Wise View: Seeing things as they truly are, not through the filters of our past experiences
2. Wise Intentions: Buddha emphasized, “As we think, so we become.” Changing our intentions
changes the way we see and experience the world
3. Wise Speech: Speaking in a way that supports ourselves and others on their spiritual path
4. Wise Action: Acting in ways that are wise and compassionate
5. Wise Livelihood: Working in a way that supports oneself and others on their spiritual journey
6. Wise Effort: Having a passion for enlightenment
7. Wise Awareness: (sometimes translated as mindfulness) by practicing being “spaciously
dynamically aware” in each moment
8. Wise Concentration: (sometimes translated as meditation) Training our mind in several ways that
promote our awareness of each moment: including concentration/focus, natural awareness and
positive imagery
These eight practices are designed to invigorate our daily lives with the awareness, honesty and curiosity. It’s
translated as a path but in the original teachings it was described more like a wheel with eight spokes or an
eight-limb concurrent process. It’s not necessary to start at the first step and end at the last, but rather to
incorporate each as the situation arises. (Although some would say that having Wise View enables all the other
components.)
The next part of the translation that we should address is the adjective at the beginning that has been called
many different words: Right or Clear or Wise or Complete or Perfect. Many translations use the word, “Right”,
but for me that implies a rigidness, a “right versus wrong”. With these teachings, we are encouraged to see a
situation as a whole, and to consider that no rule or dogma can fit exactly every moment of living. These ideas
encourage us to be fully aware within the context of each moment, then we can choose more wisely if we are
aware of the nuances of the present moment. So, the word “wise” sounds pretty close to that description. I
also like the word clear because it describes how we are wiping off the windows of our vision (“cleaning the
filters of our past experiences and misconceptions) to see more clearly ourselves and our lives. If it’s necessary
to choose only one, perhaps wise is the best description. For me, wise describes what is skillful and what does
the most good and eases the most suffering.
The Eightfold Path can be broken down into three sections. In it, he describes the three sections as Wisdom,
Ethics and Meditation. Let’s look at these three separately.
The first two steps are part of the Wisdom training: wise view and wise intention. We all have a certain view of
the world. We may hang on to the view that our parents told us, or we may have come up with our own
perspective through our life experiences. If I were to ask you, how do you describe the world? What would you
say? What would your parents have said? Is it a scary place? A difficult place? A wonderful place? An unfair
place? A beautiful place? We often view the world through our past experiences and the vision that other
people and our culture have ingrained in us.
When I was growing up, there was a girl down the street named Shirley Stewart. I can see her face right now.
She lived catty-cornered to me, and she would follow me home from school and taunt me the whole way,
saying that she wanted to fight me for some reason or other. I was a scrawny, sickly little kid—I did not have
one good punch in me, but I certainly fantasized about it! I’d like to say I was a pacifist but I was just too dang
scared to try and hit her. She threatened to do so about a thousand times and did get a good punch in one
that chipped my lower front tooth. Luckily, we moved away from the neighborhood when I was 12, but I can
still see Shirley’s face staring me down, making me feel stupid and weak. As I grew up, I had to deal with this
lingering fear and anxiety. It no longer had to do with Shirley Stewart. It had to do with the old conditioned
habits inside my brain and my body. Wise view is about clear seeing. I began to practice sending lovingkindness to Shirley, wherever she might be, and to make friends with the fear and anxiety that I had tried to
push away for so long. Wise view is an opportunity to see ourselves and other people in a clear, fresh way. .
Wise view is also encouraging us to practice seeing the world with newfound curiosity. Can we really put one
label on the world or on others or on ourselves, particularly when everything and everyone is always changing?
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When we make a decision that we and the world are a certain way, we then only see those things that confirm
our prior opinion. What has happened in your past that you are hanging on to? What are the filters through
which you see the world? We may have had a relationship go bad, then all potential partners start to seem to
have those same traits. We were mistreated when we were young and the whole world might look like a scary
place. We begin to recognize these filters and peel them away, so that we can see ourselves and others more
clearly. It helps build a sense of wonder in each moment, a fresh curiosity to see more clearly, to also see the
unnecessary JUDGMENTS we often place on ourselves, on situations and on other people. Wise view is about
opening ourselves up to new possibilities and dropping the need to be so judgmental and opinionated.
Wise intention is how we decide what to do. What are your intentions in life? What do you value? If you could
describe your values in three words, what would they be? Now, think about your thoughts, words and actions
this last week. How well did those match your values that you just described? The Buddhist path is designed to
help us live our values, and the first step is being clear about what you value, then putting those values into
practice every day.
These first two steps are cultivating a desire and intention to see ourselves and the world more clearly. The
next three steps are about ethical living. With this clear perspective, we can begin to live a wise and more
compassionate life.
Wise speech is about being more careful how we speak/write/reacte. We can create a GAP between stimulus
and response by asking ourselves these questions: “Is it true?” “Is it helpful?” “Is it inspiring?” “Is it necessary?” “Is
it kind?” These questions may cut out about 75% of what we say to ourselves and to others!
It’s easy to use gossip and slander as a bonding process among friends. Wise speech is reminding us that words
have power, and we can choose words that encourage and support. What do you say to yourself? Wise
speech is also about that voice that we all have in our head, giving a regular commentary on our behavior
and our circumstances. How might you encourage and support yourself through examining your current inner
voice and exploring the possibility of giving yourself a break, with some encouraging and supportive inner
words, what I call your inner cheerleader?
Wise Action is about acting in ways that encourage and inspire. With greater awareness, we create more
options on how to respond to any stimulus. Habit and past experience are not the only ways to choose how to
act. Wise action can come from a place of reflection and intention for good. What action will ease suffering?
What action will create the most good?
Wise Livelihood can sometimes be thought of as limited to only a few jobs that really “do” any good. Instead,
Wise Livelihood includes not only WHAT you do to make a living but also HOW you do it. How do you show up
for work? HOW do you interact with your co-workers? We can practice working in a way that supports us and
others on our spiritual journey.
This step does not mean we all have to change jobs! If you’re an arms dealer or making nuclear bombs, you
might want to reconsider your profession. However, in most cases, it is far more about waking up to how we
work. You can find an awesome job but still be acting in ways that are unskillful. Wise Livelihood reminds us to
seek work that is supportive but also to do whatever work we’re doing in ways that are supportive as well.
Lastly, we have the Meditation Training of Wise Effort, Wise Awareness and Wise Concentration. (I have a
separate handout on Meditation.)
Wise effort is about having a passion for awakening! It might feel easier at times to just do what you’ve always
done before. We crave to go back to the rut, go back to old unskillful habits. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO DECIDE
RIGHT NOW: What thought will you have in those difficult moments to keep you thinking and doing in more
skillful ways? Wise Effort is encouraging us to reach within and find that passion for happiness and to, as the
Dalai Lama proclaims, “Never give up!”
Dig deep within you to find the passion and fire within you to change. In the coming weeks, there will be
moments when an old way of thinking will arise. A moment of craving to go back to the old way of living, it will
at times seem so much easier than practicing these darn teachings. Find that passion now so you’ll be able to
access it when the going gets tough.