Which is a preliminary step for the eightfold path

The Buddha was well ahead of his time on this one, and many books have been written about the power of the right attitude. While Right Effort is a very easy concept for most of us, Right Mindfulness is somewhat trickier to grasp, and may involve quite a change of thinking. I suggest that you take a short break, stand up and walk or cruise if you are mobile around the room or house, and then come back here before reading on. Right Mindfulness means being aware of the moment, and being focused in that moment.

When we travel somewhere, we are hearing noises, seeing buildings, trees, advertising, feeling the movement, thinking of those we left behind, thinking of our destination. So it is with most moments of our lives. Right Mindfulness asks us to be aware of the journey at that moment, and to be clear and undistracted at that moment. Right Mindfulness is closely linked with meditation and forms the basis of meditation. Right Mindfulness is not an attempt to exclude the world, in fact, the opposite.

Right Mindfulness asks us to be aware of the moment, and of our actions at that moment. By being aware, we are able to see how old patterns and habits control us. In this awareness, we may see how fears of possible futures limit our present actions.

Now, having read this, try the same walk as before but with a focused mind, which now concentrates only on the action of the walking. Observe your thoughts before reading on. Sometimes you may be absorbed in what you are doing. Music, art, sport can trigger these moments. Have you ever done anything where your mind is only with that activity? At that moment, you are mindful, and the Buddha showed how to integrate that awareness into our everyday lives.

Once the mind is uncluttered, it may then be concentrated to achieve whatever is desired. It will therefore be more helpful for a coherent and better understanding of the eight divisions of the path if we group them and explain them according to these three heads. According to Buddhism, for a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion karuna on one side, and wisdom panna on the other. Here compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance, and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities of the mind.

If one develops only the emotional, neglecting the intellectual, one may become a good-hearted fool; while to develop only the intellectual side [and] neglecting the emotional may turn one into a hard-hearted intellect without feeling for others.

Therefore, to be perfect one has to develop both equally. That is the aim of the Buddhist way of life: in it wisdom and compassion are inseparably linked together, as we shall see later. Now, in ethical conduct sila , based on love and compassion, are included three factors of the noble eightfold path: namely, right speech, right action, and right livelihood. Right speech means abstention 1 from telling lies, 2 from backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity, and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, 3 from harsh, rude, impolite, malicious, and abusive language, and 4 from idle, useless, and foolish babble and gossip.

When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful, and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place.

Right action aims at promoting moral, honorable, and peaceful conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honorable life in the right way.

One can clearly see here that Buddhism is strongly opposed to any kind of war, when it lays down that trade in arms and lethal weapons is an evil and unjust means of livelihood.

These three factors right speech, right action, and right livelihood of the eightfold path constitute ethical conduct. It should be realized that the Buddhist ethical and moral conduct aims at promoting a happy and harmonious life both for the individual and for society. This moral conduct is considered as the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainments. No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.

Next comes mental discipline, in which are included three other factors of the eightfold path: namely, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. People who follow the Buddhist Dhamma also called Dharma need to live in a way that minimises harm and develops love, kindness and courage ethics. The Noble Eightfold Path, or magga, is a more detailed development of the Threefold Way ethics, meditation and wisdom. What is the magga? The Noble Eightfold Path The first step for a Buddhist is to decide to pursue the Buddhist principles of reducing suffering , finding inner calm, and attaining enlightenment and nirvana.

Buddha laid tremendous stress on the will: especially in transcending harmful mental states. Psychological pain is much more difficult to deal with than physical pain. Attempt to overcome crippling sentiments such as taking offense at the remarks of others. Tao Te Ching pronounced roughly like "dow day jhing" : "He who takes the longest stride does not walk the fastest. Right effort entails doing things at the "staying speed. The story of the ferryman carrying an old man and boy carrying books: "You can make it though the gates of the city before they close, if you do not hurry.

Right Mindfulness : their mind leads people into disharmonious living. Our imaginations make things more or less than they really are and is the cause of excessive desire tanha. Watch your emotions come and go. What is it that you just "have to" have? We need not crave or cling to any thing. Dammapada : "All we are is a result of what we have thought.

As Carl Rogers pointed out, "When man's awareness of experience is operating, his behavior is to be trusted. If we fully understand ourselves and life itself, neither would be a problem. Awareness is truth; see things as they are, not what you fear or want them to be. How does a small child view dogs after that child is bitten by one? Intensive Self-examination : in Buddhism, we go wrong through ignorance, not sin.

The greatness of a person is in proportion to self-knowledge. Everything we experience esp. Relate your actions through the overself or "second-self": that who thinks of that who reads this sentence.