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Books By Bhikkhu Bodhi
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In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (The Teachings of the Buddha) Aug 10, 2005
by The Dalai Lama , Bhikkhu Bodhi , Dalai Lama
( 534 )
AUD 19.38

This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings - in his own words. The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight. A concise, informative introduction precedes each chapter, guiding the reader toward a deeper understanding of the texts that follow.

In the Buddha's Words allows even readers unacquainted with Buddhism to grasp the significance of the Buddha's contributions to our world heritage. Taken as a whole, these texts bear eloquent testimony to the breadth and intelligence of the Buddha's teachings, and point the way to an ancient yet ever-vital path. Students and seekers alike will find this systematic presentation indispensable.
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The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering Mar 12, 2020
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
( 229 )
AUD 9.69

This book offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life. The work's final chapter addresses the Buddhist path and its culmination in enlightenment.
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The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha) Jun 10, 2005
by Bhikkhu Bodhi , Bodhi
( 96 )
AUD 55.41

This volume offers a complete translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon. The Samyutta Nikaya consists of fifty-six chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's suttas or discourses. The chapters are organized into five major parts.

The first, The Book with Verses, is a compilation of suttas composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha in his full grandeur as the peerless "teacher of gods and humans." The other four books deal in depth with the philosophical principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They combine into orderly chapters all the important short discourses of the Buddha on such major topics as dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Noble Truths.

Among the four large Nikayas belonging to the Pali Canon, the Samyutta Nikaya serves as the repository for the many shorter suttas of the Buddha where he discloses his radical insights into the nature of reality and his unique path to spiritual emancipation. This collection, it seems, was directed mainly at those disciples who were capable of grasping the deepest dimensions of wisdom and of clarifying them for others, and also provided guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth.

The present work begins with an insightful general introduction to the Samyutta Nikaya as a whole. Each of the five parts is also provided with its own introduction, intended to guide the reader through this vast, ocean-like collection of suttas.

To further assist the reader, the translator has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the mean
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The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha) Jun 10, 2005
by Bhikkhu Nanamoli , Bhikkhu Bodhi
( 188 )
AUD 52.64

This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pali Canon, the authorized scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection--among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings--consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections. The Majjhima Nikaya might be concisely described as the Buddhist scripture that combines the richest variety of contextual settings with the deepest and most comprehensive assortment of teachings. These teachings, which range from basic ethics to instructions in meditation and liberating insight, unfold in a fascinating procession of scenarios that show the Buddha in living dialogue with people from many different strata of ancient Indian society: with kings and princes, priests and ascetics, simple villagers and erudite philosophers. Replete with drama, reasoned argument, and illuminating parable and simile, these discourses exhibit the Buddha in the full glory of his resplendent wisdom, majestic sublimity, and compassionate humanity.

The translation is based on an original draft translation left by the English scholar-monk Bhikkhu Nanamoli, which has been edited and revised by the American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, who provides a long introduction and helpful explanatory notes. Combining lucidity of expression with accuracy, this translation enables the Buddha to speak across twenty-five centuries in language that addresses the most pressing concerns of the contemporary reader seeking clarification of the timeless issues of truth, value, and the proper conduct of life.

Winner of the 1995 Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Book Award, and the Tricycle Prize for Excellence in Buddhist Publishing for Dharma Discourse.
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The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Complete Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha) Nov 13, 2012
by bhikkhu Bodhi , Bodhi
( 83 )
AUD 83.12

Like the River Ganges flowing down from the Himalayas, the entire Buddhist tradition flows down to us from the teachings and deeds of the historical Buddha, who lived and taught in India during the fifth century B.C.E. To ensure that his legacy would survive the ravages of time, his direct disciples compiled records of the Buddha's teachings soon after his passing. In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, which prevails in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, these records are regarded as the definitive "word of the Buddha." Preserved in Pali, an ancient Indian language closely related to the language that the Buddha spoke, this full compilation of texts is known as the Pali Canon.

At the heart of the Buddha's teaching were the suttas (Sanskrit sutras), his discourses and dialogues. If we want to find out what the Buddha himself actually said, these are the most ancient sources available to us. The suttas were compiled into collections called "Nikayas," of which there are four, each organized according to a different principle. The Digha Nikaya consists of longer discourses; the Majjhima Nikaya of middle-length discourses; the Samyutta Nikaya of thematically connected discourses; and the Anguttara Nikaya of numerically patterned discourses.

The present volume, which continues Wisdom's famous Teachings of the Buddha series, contains a full translation of the Anguttara Nikaya. The Anguttara arranges the Buddha's discourses in accordance with a numerical scheme intended to promote retention and easy comprehension. In an age when writing was still in its infancy, this proved to be the most effective way to ensure that the disciples could grasp and replicate the structure of a teaching.
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Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy (The Teachings of the Buddha) Jan 30, 2012
by Nyanaponika , Hellmuth Hecker , Bodhi
( 81 )
AUD 19.38

A perennial favorite, Great Disciples of the Buddha is now relaunched in our best-selling Teachings of the Buddha series.

Twenty-four of the Buddha's most distinguished disciples are brought to life in ten chapters of rich narration. Drawn from a wide range of authentic Pali sources, the material in these stories has never before been assembled in a single volume. Through these engaging tales, we meet all manner of human beings - rich, poor, male, female, young, old - whose unique stories are told with an eye to the details of ordinary human concerns. When read with careful attention, these stories can sharpen our understanding of the Buddhist path by allowing us to contemplate the living portraits of the people who fulfilled the early Buddhist ideals of human perfection. The characters detailed include:

Sariputta
Nanda
Mahamoggallana
Mahakassapa
Ananda
Isidasi
Anuruddha
Mahakaccana
Angulimala
Visakha
and many more.
Conveniently annotated with the same system of sutta references used in each of the other series volumes, Great Disciples of the Buddha allows the reader to easily place each student in the larger picture of Buddha's life. It is a volume that no serious student of Buddhism should miss.
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A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Philosophical Psychology of Buddhism Mar 13, 2020
by Bhikkhu Bodhi , Mahāthera Nārada
( 1 )
AUD 9.69

This modern translation of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha (Manual of Abhidhamma) offers an introduction to Buddhism's fundamental philosophical psychology. Originally written in the 11th or 12th century, the Sangaha has served as the key to wisdom held in the Abhidhamma. Concisely surveyed are Abhidhamma's central themes, including states of consciousness and mental factors, the functions and processes of the mind, the material world, dependent arising, and the methods and stages of meditation. This work presents an exact translation of the Sangaha alongside the original Pali text. A detailed, section-by-section explanatory guide and more than 40 charts and tables lead modern readers through the complexities of Adhidhamma. A detailed introduction explains the basic principles of this highly revered ancient philosophical psychology.

The Abhidhamma, the third division of the Tipitaka, is a huge collection of systematically arranged, tabulated and classified doctrines of the Buddha, representing the quintessence of his Teaching. Abhidhamma, meaning Higher or Special Teaching, is unique in its abstruseness, analytical approach, immensity of scope and conduciveness to one's liberation. In the Abhidhamma, the Buddha treats the dhamma entirely in terms of ultimate reality (paramattha sacca), analyzing every phenomenon into its ultimate constituents. All relative concepts such as person, mountain, etc. are reduced to their ultimate elements which are then precisely defined, classified and systematically arranged.

In Abhidhamma, everything is expressed in terms of khandha, five aggregates of existence; ayatana, five sensory organs and mind, and their respective sense objects; dhatu, elements; indriya, faculties; sacca, fundamental truths; and so on. Relative conceptual objects such as man, woman, etc. are resolved into ultimate components and viewed as an impersonal psycho-physical phenomenon, which is conditioned by various factors and is impermanent (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and without a permanent entity (anatta).

Having resolved all phenomena into ultimate components analytically it aims at synthesis by defining inter-relations (paccaya) between the various constituent factors.
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Abhidhamma Studies: Buddhist Explorations of Consciousness and Time Nov 12, 2012
by Nyanaponika , Bodhi
( 25 )
AUD 19.38

The Abhidhamma, the third great division of early Buddhist teaching, expounds a revolutionary system of philosophical psychology rooted in the twin Buddhist insights of selflessness and dependent origination. In keeping with the liberative thrust of early Buddhism, this system organizes the entire spectrum of human consciousness around the two poles of Buddhist doctrine - bondage and liberation, Samsara and Nirvana - the starting point and the final goal. It thereby maps out, with remarkable rigour and precision, the inner landscape of the mind to be crossed through the practical work of Buddhist meditation.

In this book of groundbreaking essays, Venerable Nyanaponika Thera, one of our age's foremost exponents of Theravada Buddhism, attempts to penetrate beneath the formidable face of the Abhidhamma and to make its principles intelligible to the thoughtful reader of today. His point of focus is the Consciousness Chapter of the Dhammasangani, the first treatise of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. Basing his interpretation on the detailed list of mental factors that the Abhidhamma uses as a guide to psychological analysis, he launches into bold explorations in the multiple dimensions of conditionality, the nature of consciousness, the temporality of experience, and the psychological springs of spiritual transformation. Innovative and rich in insights, this book does not merely open up new avenues in the academic study of early Buddhism. By treating the Abhidhamma as a fountainhead of inspiration for philosophical and psychological inquiry, it demonstrates the continuing relevance of Buddhist thought to our most astute contemporary efforts to understand the elusive yet so intimate nature of the mind.
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Dhamma Reflections: Collected Essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi Mar 13, 2020
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
( 9 )
AUD 9.69

This volume brings together 53 essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi previously published by the Buddhist Publication Society in newsletters and other publications. These essays reveal the depth and breadth of Bhikkhu Bodhi's ability to communicate the timeless teachings of the Buddha and his skillful guidance in applying the Dhamma in everyday life.
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Investigating the Dhamma: A Collection of Papers Mar 13, 2020
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
( 1 )
AUD 9.69

This book brings together eight essays of Bhikkhu Bodhi, five of which were earlier published in academic journals and volumes, and three not published before. Most of the essays are critical responses to various modern interpretations of the Dhamma that the author considers to be at odds with the Buddha’s teachings, in particular as transmitted and interpreted by the Theravada school of Buddhism. The other essays are in depth discussions of important Buddhist doctrinal terms.
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The Buddha and His Dhamma Oct 10, 2014
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
( 6 )
AUD 4.14

Two lectures on Buddhism by Bhikkhu Bodhi. The first part explores the Buddha’s mission, the second his doctrine and path.

Excerpt from the introduction— “That the Buddha’s teaching should remain perennially relevant throughout the changing eras of human history, that his message should be undimmed by the sheer passage of time, is already implicit in the title by which he is most commonly known. For the word “Buddha,” as is widely known, is not a proper name but an honorific title meaning “the Enlightened One,” “the Awakened One.” This title is given to him because he has woken up from the deep sleep of ignorance in which the rest of the world is absorbed; because he has penetrated the deepest truths about the human condition; and because he proclaims those truths with the aim of awakening others and enabling them to share his realization. Despite the shifting scenarios of history over twenty-five centuries, despite the change in world views and modes of thought from one epoch to the next, the basic truths of human life do not change. They remain constant, and are recognizable to those mature enough to reflect on them and intelligent enough to understand them. For this reason, even today in our age of jet travel, computer technology, and genetic engineering, it is perfectly fitting that the One who has Awakened should speak to us in words that are just as powerful, just as cogent, just as illuminating as they were when they were first proclaimed long ago in the towns and villages of Northeast India.”
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#1 New Release

Reading the Buddha's Discourses in Pali: A Practical Guide to the Language of the Ancient Buddhist Canon Dec 8, 2020
by Bhikkhu Bodhi
AUD 47.90



Renowned scholar-monk and bestselling translator Bhikkhu Bodhi’s definitive, practical guide on how to read ancient Buddhist texts in the original language.

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s sophisticated and practical instructions on how to read the Pali of the Buddha’s discourses will acquaint students of Early Buddhism with the language and idiom of these sacred texts. Here the renowned English translator of the Pali Canon opens a window into key suttas from the Sa?yutta Nikaya, giving a literal translation of each sentence followed by a more natural English rendering, then explaining the grammatical forms involved. In this way, students can determine the meaning of each word and phrase and gain an intimate familiarity with the distinctive style of the Pali suttas—with the words, and world, of the earliest Buddhist texts.

Ven. Bodhi’s meticulously selected anthology of suttas provides a systematic overview of the Buddha’s teachings, mirroring the four noble truths, the most concise formulation of the Buddha’s guide to liberation. Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pali shares with readers not only exceptional language instruction but also a nuanced study of the substance, style, and method of the early Buddhist discourses.
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the Catch-22 of delusion through two approaches.

 

希修   

The Skillful Teachings of Thanissaro Bhikkhu

5tSposnseoredmh  · 

Hello, everyone!

The following sentence is in the 5th paragraph of https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/intentions.html.

"They are contained in a discourse to his young son, Rahula, and attack the Catch-22 of delusion through two approaches."

Could someone please tell me what "Catch-22" is in this paragraph?

Thank you very much.

Heesoo

----

Dominic Kihlstrand Hello. I can offer an explanation of what the term “Catch-22” means, and then provide my interpretation of how it’s used in this context; hopefully that will be beneficial.

The term Catch-22 is used to describe a situation that is inescapable because the conditions of getting out of that situation cannot be met, due to the conditions being dependent on one another.

An example is getting a job for the first time. An employer requires you to have experience in a position in order to give you a job, but you cannot gain experience unless you are given the job. You need the job to gain experience, but you can’t get the job until you have experience - a Catch-22.

As for how it’s used here, I believe what’s being identified is the problematic nature of delusion as that which is not properly comprehend in the framework of the Four Noble Truths.

We must properly diagnose a problem in order to accurately search for and find a solution, but delusion by its nature is that which we do not properly comprehend. If we could comprehend it more thoroughly, there would be less delusion, but because there is delusion it is difficult to comprehend. We need knowledge about our delusion in order to correct it, but delusion keeps us from gaining knowledge - a Catch-22. The attack against delusion is supported by the skills developed in meditation, which is articulated in the second half of the 4th paragraph: “... delusion — by its very nature — is obscure. When we're deluded, we don't know we're deluded. That's why meditation has to focus on strengthening and quickening our powers of mindfulness and alertness: so that we can catch sight of delusion and uproot it before it takes over our minds.”

---

The Road to Nirvana Is Paved with Skillful Intentions by Thanissaro Bhikkhu © 1999 ----

There's an old saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but that's not really the case. The road to hell is paved with intentions that are careless, lustful, or mean. Good intentions — in proportion to their true goodness — tend toward heavens of pleasure. So why do they have such a bad reputation? For three main reasons. One is that not all good intentions are especially skillful. Even though they mean well, they can be misguided and inappropriate for the occasion, thus resulting in pain and regret. A second reason is that we often misunderstand the quality of our own intentions. We may mistake a mixed intention for a good one, for instance, and thus get disappointed when it gives mixed results. A third reason is that we easily misread the way intentions yield their results — as when the painful results of a bad intention in the past obscure the results of a good intention in the present, and yet we blame our present intention for the pain. All these reasons, acting together, lead us to become disillusioned with the potential of good intentions. As a result, we either grow cynical about them or else simply abandon the care and patience needed to perfect them. One of the Buddha's most penetrating discoveries is that our intentions are the main factors shaping our lives and that they can be mastered as a skill. If we subject them to the same qualities of mindfulness, persistence, and discernment involved in developing any skill, we can perfect them to the point where they will lead to no regrets or damaging results in any given situation; ultimately, they can lead us to the truest possible happiness. To train our intentions in this way, though, requires a deep level of self-awareness. Why is that? If you look carefully at the reasons for our disillusionment with good intentions, you'll find that they all come down to delusion: delusion in how we formulate our intentions, delusion in how we perceive our intentions, and delusion in how we attend to their results. As the Buddha tells us, delusion is one of the three main roots for unskillful mental habits, the other two being greed and aversion. These unskillful roots lie entangled with skillful roots — states of mind that are free of greed, aversion, and delusion — in the soil of the untrained heart. If we can't isolate and dig up the unskillful roots, we can never be fully sure of our intentions. Even when a skillful intention seems foremost in the mind, the unskillful roots can quickly send up shoots that blind us as to what's actually going on. If we were to sketch this state of affairs, the picture would look something like this: The straight road to hell is paved with bad intentions, some of which may look good to a casual glance. Roads paved with good intentions, leading to heavens of pleasure — some of them quite skillful — branch off on either side of the way, but all too often they get lost in an underbrush of unskillfulness and we find ourselves back on the road to hell. The Buddha's discovery was that if we nourish the skillful roots, they can grow and effectively block the road to hell; if we cut away the underbrush of unskillfulness and dig out its roots, we can develop our good intentions to higher and higher levels of skill until ultimately they bring us to a happiness totally unlimited, beyond any further need for a path. The most basic step in this process is to make sure that we stay off the road to hell. We do this through the practice of generosity and virtue, consciously replacing unskillful intentions with more skillful ones. We then refine our intentions even further through meditation, digging up the roots of greed, aversion, and delusion to prevent them from influencing the choices shaping our lives. Greed and anger are sometimes easy to detect, but delusion — by its very nature — is obscure. When we're deluded, we don't know we're deluded. That's why meditation has to focus on strengthening and quickening our powers of mindfulness and alertness: so that we can catch sight of delusion and uproot it before it takes over our minds. The Buddha's most basic meditation instructions for refining intention start, not on the cushion, but with the activity of daily life. They are contained in a discourse to his young son, Rahula, and attack the Catch-22 of delusion through two approaches.

The first is what the early Buddhist texts call "appropriate attention" — the ability to ask yourself the right questions, questions that cut straight to the causes of pleasure and pain, without entangling the mind in needless confusion.

The second approach is friendship with admirable people — associating with and learning from people who are virtuous, generous, and wise. These two factors, the Buddha said, are the most helpful internal and external aids for a person following the path. In essence, the Buddha told Rahula to use his actions as a mirror for reflecting the quality of his mind. Each time before he acted — and here "acting" covers any action in thought, word, or deed — he was to reflect on the result he expected from the action and ask himself: "Is this going to lead to harm for myself and others, or not?" If it was going to be harmful, he shouldn't do it. If it looked harmless, he could go ahead and act.

However, the Buddha cautioned Rahula, he shouldn't blindly trust his expectations. While he was in the process of acting, he should ask himself if there were any unexpected bad consequences arising. If there were, he should stop. If there weren't, he could continue his action to the end. Even then, though, the job of reflection wasn't finished. He should also notice the actual short- and long-term consequences of the action. If an action in word or deed ended up causing harm, then he should inform a fellow-practitioner on the path and listen to that person's advice. If the mistaken action was purely an act of the mind, then he should develop a sense of shame and disgust toward that kind of thought. In both cases, he should resolve never to make the same mistake again. If, however, the long-term consequences of the original action were harmless, he should take joy in being on the right path and continue his training. From this we can see that the essential approach for uncovering delusion is the familiar principle of learning from our own mistakes. The way the Buddha formulates this principle, though, has important implications, for it demands qualities of self-honesty and maturity in areas where they are normally hard to find: our evaluation of our own intentions and of the results of our actions. --- As children we learn to be dishonest about our intentions simply as a matter of survival: "I didn't mean to do it," "I couldn't help it," "I was just swinging my arm and he got in the way." After a while, we begin to believe our own excuses and don't like to admit to ourselves when our intentions are less than noble. Thus we get into the habit of not articulating our intentions when faced with a choice, of refusing to consider the consequences of our intentions, and — in many cases — of denying that we had a choice to begin with. This is how addictive behavior starts, and unskillful intentions are given free rein. A similar dynamic surrounds our reactions to the consequences of our actions. We start learning denial at an early age — "It wasn't my fault," "It was already broken when I lay down on it" — and then internalize the process, as a way of preserving our self-image, to the point where it becomes our second nature to turn a blind eye to the impact of our mistakes. As the Buddha points out, the end of suffering requires that we abandon craving and ignorance, but if we can't be honest with ourselves about our intentions, how can we perceive craving in time to abandon it? If we can't face up to the principle of cause and effect in our actions, how will we ever overcome ignorance? Ignorance is caused less by a lack of information than by a lack of self-awareness and self-honesty. To understand the noble truths requires that we be truthful with ourselves in precisely the areas where self-honesty is most difficult. It also requires maturity. As we examine our intentions, we need to learn how to say no to unskillful motives in a way that's firm enough to keep them in check but not so firm that it drives them underground into subconscious repression. We can learn to see the mind as a committee: the fact that unworthy impulses are proposed by members of the committee doesn't mean that we are unworthy. We don't have to assume responsibility for everything that gets brought to the committee floor. Our responsibility lies instead in our power to adopt or veto the motion. At the same time, we should be adult enough to admit that our habitual or spontaneous impulses are not always trustworthy — first thought is not always best thought — and that what we feel like doing now may not give results that will be pleasant to feel at a later date. As the Buddha said, there are four courses of action that may be open to us at any particular time: one that we want to do and will give good results; one that we don't want to do and will give bad results; one that we want to do but will give bad results; and one that we don't want to do but will give good results. The first two are no-brainers. We don't need much intelligence to do the first and avoid the second. The measure of our true intelligence lies in how we handle the last two choices. Examining the results of our actions requires maturity as well: a mature realization that self-esteem can't be based on always being right, and that there's nothing demeaning or degrading in admitting a mistake. We all come from a state of delusion — even the Buddha was coming from delusion as he sought Awakening — so it's only natural that there will be mistakes. Our human dignity lies in our ability to recognize those mistakes, to resolve not to repeat them, and to stick to that resolution. This in turn requires that we not be debilitated by feelings of guilt or remorse over our errors. As the Buddha states, feelings of guilt can't undo a past error, and they can deprive the mind of the strength it needs to keep from repeating old mistakes. This is why he recommends an emotion different from guilt — shame — although his use of the word implies something totally unlike the sense of unworthiness we often associate with the term. Remember that both the Buddha and Rahula were members of the noble warrior class, a class with a strong sense of its own honor and dignity. And notice that the Buddha tells Rahula to see his past mistakes, not himself, as shameful. This implies that it's beneath Rahula's dignity to act in ways that are less than honorable. The fact that he can see his actions as shameful is a sign of his honor — and is also a sign that he'll be able not to repeat them. This sense of honor is what underlies a mature, healthy, and productive sense of shame. At first glance, we might think that continual self-reflection of this sort would add further complications to our lives when they already seem more than complicated enough, but in fact the Buddha's instructions are an attempt to strip the questions in our minds down to the most useful essentials. He explicitly warns against taking on too many questions, particularly those that lead nowhere and tie us up in knots: "Who am I? Am I basically a good person? An unworthy person?" Instead, he tells us to focus on our intentions so that we can see how they shape our life, and to master the processes of cause and effect so that they can shape our life in increasingly better ways. This is the way every great artist or craftsman develops mastery and skill. The emphasis on the intentions behind our actions and their resulting consequences also carries over from daily life onto the meditation seat, providing our meditation with the proper focus. In examining our actions in terms of cause and effect, skillful and unskillful, we are already beginning to look at experience in line with the two sets of variables that make up the four noble truths: the origination of stress (unskillful cause), the path to the cessation of stress (skillful cause), stress (unskillful effect), and the cessation of stress (skillful effect). The way the Buddha recommended that Rahula judge the results of his actions — both while doing them and after they are done — echoes the insight that formed the heart of his Awakening: that intentions have results both in the immediate present and over time. When we look at the present moment from this perspective, we find that our experience of the present doesn't "just happen." Instead, it's a product of our involvement — in terms of present intentions, the results of present intentions, and the results of past intentions — in which present intentions are the most important factor. The more we focus on that involvement, the more we can bring it out of the half-light of the subconscious and into the full light of awareness. There we can train our intentions, through conscious trial and error, to be even more skillful, enabling us to lessen our experience of suffering and pain in the present. This is how skillful intentions pave the road to mental health and well being in the ordinary world of our lives. As we work at developing our intentions to even higher levels of skill, we find that the most consummate intentions are those that center the mind securely in a clear awareness of the present. As we use them to become more and more familiar with the present, we come to see that all present intentions, no matter how skillful, are inherently burdensome. The only way out of this burden is to allow the unraveling of the intentions that provide the weave for our present experience. This provides an opening to the dimension of unlimited freedom that lies beyond them. That's how skillful intentions pave the road all the way to the edge of nirvana. And from there, the path — "like that of birds through space" — can't be traced.

Noble Eightfold Path -- Wikipedia

 Noble Eightfold Path - Wikipedia

Noble Eightfold Path

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"Eightfold Path" redirects here. For other uses, see Eightfold Path (disambiguation).

The eight spoke Dharma wheel symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path

Translations of The Noble Eightfold Path
Sanskrit	आर्याष्टाङ्गमार्ग (IAST: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)
Pali	अरिय अट्ठङगिक मग्ग (ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga)
Bengali	অষ্টাঙ্গিক আর্য মার্গ (Astangik ārya mārga)
Burmese	မဂ္ဂင်ရှစ်ပါး (IPA: [mɛʔɡɪ̀ɰ̃ ʃɪʔ pá])
Chinese	八正道 (Pinyin: bā zhèngdào)
Japanese	八正道 (rōmaji: Hasshōdō)
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The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga; Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)^[1] is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth.^[2][3]

The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union').^[4] In early Buddhism, these practices started with understanding that the body-mind works in a corrupted way (right view), followed by entering the Buddhist path of self-observance, self-restraint, and cultivating kindness and compassion; and culminating in dhyana or samadhi, which reinforces these practices for the development of the body-mind.^[5] In later Buddhism, insight (prajñā) became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the path,^[5][6] in which the "goal" of the Buddhist path came to be specified as ending ignorance and rebirth.^{[7][8][9][3][10]}

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of Buddhism, taught to lead to Arhatship.^[11] In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila (morality), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (insight). In Mahayana Buddhism, this path is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which is believed to go beyond Arhatship to full Buddhahood.^[11]

In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), in which its eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.

Contents

• 1Etymology and nomenclature
• 2The Eightfold Path
  • 2.1Origin
  • 2.2The Eight Divisions
  • 2.3Liberation
  • 2.4Threefold division
  • 2.5Tenfold Path
• 3Further explanation
  • 3.1Right view
    • 3.1.1Theravada
  • 3.2Right resolve
  • 3.3Right speech
  • 3.4Right action
  • 3.5Right livelihood
  • 3.6Right effort
  • 3.7Right mindfulness
  • 3.8Right concentration
    • 3.8.1Samadhi
    • 3.8.2Practice
    • 3.8.3Mindfulness
• 4Practice
  • 4.1Order of practice
  • 4.2Gender
• 5Cognitive psychology
• 6See also
• 7Notes
• 8References
• 9Sources
• 10External links

Etymology and nomenclature[edit]

The Pali term ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga (Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga) is typically translated in English as "Noble Eightfold Path". This translation is a convention started by the early translators of Buddhist texts into English, just like ariya sacca is translated as Four Noble Truths.^[12][13] However, the phrase does not mean the path is noble, rather that the path is of the noble people (Pali: arya meaning 'enlightened, noble, precious people').^[14] The term magga (Sanskrit: mārga) means "path", while aṭṭhaṅgika (Sanskrit: aṣṭāṅga) means "eightfold". Thus, an alternate rendering of ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga is "eightfold path of the noble ones",^[3][15][16] or "eightfold Aryan Path".^[17][18][19]

All eight elements of the Path begin with the word samyañc (in Sanskrit) or sammā (in Pāli) which means "right, proper, as it ought to be, best".^[17] The Buddhist texts contrast samma with its opposite miccha.^[17]

The Eightfold Path[edit]

Origin[edit]

See also: Buddhist paths to awakening

According to Indologist Tilmann Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term the middle way.^[5] In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.^[5] Tilmann Vetter and historian Rod Bucknell both note that longer descriptions of "the path" can be found in the early texts, which can be condensed into the eightfold path.^{[5][20][note 1]}

The Eight Divisions[edit]

The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism

The eight Buddhist practices in the Noble Eightfold Path are:^{[23][note 2]}

1. Right View: our actions have consequences, death is not the end, and our actions and beliefs have consequences after death. The Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and underworld/hell).^{[24][25][26][27][note 3]} Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when "insight" became central to Buddhist soteriology.^[28][29]
2. Right Resolve or Intention: the giving up of home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant in order to follow the path; this concept aims at peaceful renunciation, into an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to loving kindness), away from cruelty (to compassion).^[30] Such an environment aids contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self.^[30]
3. Right Speech: no lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says about him to cause discord or harm their relationship.^[23]
4. Right Conduct or Action: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct
5. Right Livelihood: Gaining one's livelihood by benefiting others also not selling weapons, poisons or intoxicants
6. Right Effort: preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and generating wholesome states, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). This includes indriya-samvara, "guarding the sense-doors", restraint of the sense faculties.^[31][30]
7. Right Mindfulness (sati; Satipatthana; Sampajañña): "retention", being mindful of the dhammas ("teachings", "elements") that are beneficial to the Buddhist path.^{[note 4]} In the vipassana movement, sati is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing; this encourages the awareness of the impermanence of body, feeling and mind, as well as to experience the five aggregates (skandhas), the five hindrances, the four True Realities and seven factors of awakening.^[30]
8. Right samadhi (Passaddhi; Ekaggata; sampasadana): practicing four stages of dhyāna ("meditation"), which includes samadhi proper in the second stage, and reinforces the development of the bojjhagā, culminating into upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness.^[33] In the Theravada tradition and the Vipassana movement, this is interpreted as ekaggata, concentration or one-pointedness of the mind, and supplemented with Vipassana-meditation, which aims at insight.

Liberation[edit]

Following the Noble Eightfold Path leads to liberation in the form of nirvana:^[34][35]

(...) Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. 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. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth... becoming... clinging... craving... feeling... contact... the six sense media... name-&-form... consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.

— The Buddha, Nagara Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya ii.124, Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu^[36][37]

Threefold division[edit]

The Noble Eightfold Path is sometimes divided into three basic divisions, as follows:^[38]

Division	Eightfold Path factors
Moral virtue[29] (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)	3. Right speech
	4. Right action
	5. Right livelihood
Meditation[29] (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)	6. Right effort
	7. Right mindfulness
	8. Right concentration
Insight, wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)	1. Right view
	2. Right resolve

This order is a later development, when discriminating insight (prajna) became central to Buddhist soteriology, and came to be regarded as the culmination of the Buddhist path.^[39] Yet, Majjhima Nikaya 117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, describes the first seven practices as requisites for right samadhi. According to Vetter, this may have been the original soteriological practice in early Buddhism.^[5]

The "Moral virtues" (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) group consists of three paths: right speech, right action and right livelihood.^[29] The word śīla, though translated by English writers as linked to "morals or ethics", states Bhikkhu Bodhi, is in ancient and medieval Buddhist commentary tradition closer to the concept of discipline and disposition that "leads to harmony at several levels – social, psychological, karmic and contemplative". Such harmony creates an environment to pursue the meditative steps in the Noble Eightfold Path by reducing social disorder, preventing inner conflict that result from transgressions, favoring future karma-triggered movement through better rebirths, and purifying the mind.^[40]

The meditation group ("samadhi") of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the mind.^[41] Right effort and mindfulness calm the mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non-automatic responses, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). The practice of dhyana reinforces these developments, leading to upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness.^[33] According to the Theravada commentarial tradition and the contemporary Vipassana movement, the goal in this group of the Noble Eightfold Path is to develop clarity and insight into the nature of reality – dukkha, anicca and anatta, discard negative states and dispel avidya (ignorance), ultimately attaining nirvana.^[42]

In the threefold division, prajna (insight, wisdom) is presented as the culmination of the path, whereas in the eightfold division the path starts with correct knowledge or insight, which is needed to understand why this path should be followed.^[43]

Tenfold Path[edit]

In the Mahācattārīsaka Sutta^[44][45] which appears in the Chinese and Pali canons, the Buddha explains that cultivation of the noble eightfold path of a learner leads to the development of two further paths of the Arahants, which are right knowledge, or insight (sammā-ñāṇa), and right liberation, or release (sammā-vimutti).^[46] These two factors fall under the category of wisdom (paññā).^[47]

The Noble Eightfold Path, in the Buddhist traditions, is the direct means to nirvana and brings a release from the cycle of life and death in the realms of samsara.^[48][49]

Further explanation[edit]

Right view[edit]

See also: View (Buddhism)

"Right view" (samyak-dṛṣṭi / sammā-diṭṭhi) or "right understanding"^[50] explicates that our actions have consequences, that death is not the end, that our actions and beliefs also have consequences after death, and that the Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and underworld or hell).^{[51][25][26][27]} Majjhima Nikaya 117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, a text from the Pāli Canon, describes the first seven practices as requisites of right samadhi, starting with right view:

Of those, right view is the forerunner [...] And what is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed.^{[note 5]} There are fruits, and results of good and bad actions. There is this world and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives and brahmans who faring rightly and practicing rightly, proclaim this world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.' This is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.^[44][52]

Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when "insight" became central to Buddhist soteriology.^[28] This presentation of right view still plays an essential role in Theravada Buddhism.^[53]

The purpose of right view is to clear one's path from confusion, misunderstanding, and deluded thinking. It is a means to gain right understanding of reality.^[54] In the interpretation of some Buddhist movements, state Religion Studies scholar George Chryssides and author Margaret Wilkins, right view is non-view: as the enlightened become aware that nothing can be expressed in fixed conceptual terms and rigid, dogmatic clinging to concepts is discarded.^[54]

Theravada[edit]

Right View can be further subdivided, states translator Bhikkhu Bodhi, into mundane right view and superior or supramundane right view:^[55][56]

1. Mundane right view, knowledge of the fruits of good behavior. Having this type of view will bring merit and will support the favourable rebirth of the sentient being in the realm of samsara.
2. Supramundane (world-transcending) right view, the understanding of karma and rebirth, as implicated in the Four Noble Truths, leading to awakening and liberation from rebirths and associated dukkha in the realms of samsara.^[57][53]

According to Theravada Buddhism, mundane right view is a teaching that is suitable for lay followers, while supramundane right view, which requires a deeper understanding, is suitable for monastics. Mundane and supramundane right view involve accepting the following doctrines of Buddhism:^[58][59]

1. Karma: Every action of body, speech, and mind has karmic results, and influences the kind of future rebirths and realms a being enters into.
2. Three marks of existence: everything, whether physical or mental, is impermanent (anicca), a source of suffering (dukkha), and lacks a self (anatta).
3. The Four Noble Truths are a means to gaining insights and ending dukkha.

Right resolve[edit]

Right resolve (samyak-saṃkalpa / sammā-saṅkappa) can also be known as "right thought", "right intention", "right aspiration", or "right motivation".^[60] In this factor, the practitioner resolves to leave home, renounce the worldly life and dedicate himself to an ascetic pursuit.^[61][53] In section III.248, the Majjhima Nikaya states,

And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called right resolve.^[62]

Like right view, this factor has two levels. At the mundane level, the resolve includes being harmless (ahimsa) and refraining from ill will (avyabadha) to any being, as this accrues karma and leads to rebirth.^[53][63] At the supramundane level, the factor includes a resolve to consider everything and everyone as impermanent, a source of suffering and without a Self.^[63]

Right speech[edit]

Right speech (samyag-vāc / sammā-vācā) in most Buddhist texts is presented as four abstentions, such as in the Pali Canon thus:^[44][64]

And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.

Instead of the usual "abstention and refraining from wrong" terminology, a few texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta and Kevata Sutta in Digha Nikaya explain this virtue in an active sense, after stating it in the form of an abstention.^[65] For example, Samaññaphala Sutta states that a part of a monk's virtue is that "he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world."^[65] Similarly, the virtue of abstaining from divisive speech is explained as delighting in creating concord.^[65] The virtue of abstaining from abusive speech is explained in this Sutta to include affectionate and polite speech that is pleasing to people. The virtue of abstaining from idle chatter is explained as speaking what is connected with the Dhamma goal of his liberation.^[65][53]

In the Abhaya-raja-kumara Sutta, the Buddha explains the virtue of right speech in different scenarios, based on its truth value, utility value and emotive content.^[66][67] The Tathagata, states Abhaya Sutta, never speaks anything that is unfactual or factual, untrue or true, disagreeable or agreeable, if that is unbeneficial and unconnected to his goals.^[67][68] Further, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata speaks the factual, the true, if in case it is disagreeable and unendearing, only if it is beneficial to his goals, but with a sense of proper time.^[67][69] Additionally, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata, only speaks with a sense of proper time even when what he speaks is the factual, the true, the agreeable, the endearing and what is beneficial to his goals.^[67][68][70]

The Buddha thus explains right speech in the Pali Canon, according to Ganeri, as never speaking something that is not beneficial; and, only speaking what is true and beneficial, "when the circumstances are right, whether they are welcome or not".^[70]

Right action[edit]

Right action (samyak-karmānta / sammā-kammanta) is like right speech, expressed as abstentions but in terms of bodily action. In the Pali Canon, this path factor is stated as:

And what is right action? Abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from sexual misconduct. This is called right action.^[71]

The prohibition on killing precept in Buddhist scriptures applies to all living beings, states Christopher Gowans, not just human beings.^[72] Bhikkhu Bodhi agrees, clarifying that the more accurate rendering of the Pali canon is a prohibition on "taking life of any sentient being", which includes human beings, animals, birds, insects but excludes plants because they are not considered sentient beings. Further, adds Bodhi, this precept refers to intentional killing, as well as any form of intentional harming or torturing any sentient being. This moral virtue in early Buddhist texts, both in context of harm or killing of animals and human beings, is similar to ahimsa precepts found in the texts particularly of Jainism as well as of Hinduism,^[73][74] and has been a subject of significant debate in various Buddhist traditions.

The prohibition on stealing in the Pali Canon is an abstention from intentionally taking what is not voluntarily offered by the person to whom that property belongs. This includes, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, taking by stealth, by force, by fraud or by deceit. Both the intention and the act matters, as this precept is grounded on the impact on one's karma.

The prohibition on sexual misconduct in the Noble Eightfold Path, states Tilmann Vetter, refers to "not performing sexual acts".^[75] This virtue is more generically explained in the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta, which teaches that one must abstain from all sensual misconduct, including getting sexually involved with someone unmarried (anyone protected by parents or by guardians or by siblings), and someone married (protected by husband), and someone betrothed to another person, and female convicts or by dhamma.^[76]

For monastics, the abstention from sensual misconduct means strict celibacy, states Christopher Gowans, while for lay Buddhists this prohibits adultery as well as other forms of sensual misconduct.^[77][78][79] Later Buddhist texts, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, state that the prohibition on sexual conduct for lay Buddhists includes any sexual involvement with someone married, a girl or woman protected by her parents or relatives, and someone prohibited by dhamma conventions (such as relatives, nuns and others).

Right livelihood[edit]

Right livelihood (samyag-ājīva / sammā-ājīva) precept is mentioned in many early Buddhist texts, such as the Mahācattārīsaka Sutta in Majjhima Nikaya as follows:^[44]

"And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions; there is right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

"And what is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.

"And what is the right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. (...)

The early canonical texts state right livelihood as avoiding and abstaining from wrong livelihood. This virtue is further explained in Buddhist texts, states Vetter, as "living from begging, but not accepting everything and not possessing more than is strictly necessary".^[75] For lay Buddhists, states Harvey, this precept requires that the livelihood avoid causing suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way.^[30]

The Anguttara Nikaya III.208, states Harvey, asserts that the right livelihood does not trade in weapons, living beings, meat, alcoholic drink or poison.^[30][80] The same text, in section V.177, asserts that this applies to lay Buddhists.^[81] This has meant, states Harvey, that raising and trading cattle livestock for slaughter is a breach of "right livelihood" precept in the Buddhist tradition, and Buddhist countries lack the mass slaughter houses found in Western countries.^[82]

Right effort[edit]

See also: Four Right Efforts and Viriya

Right effort (samyag-vyāyāma / sammā-vāyāma) is preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and the generation of wholesome states. This includes indriya-samvara, "guarding the sense-doors", restraint of the sense faculties.^[31] Right effort is presented in the Pali Canon, such as the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta, as follows:^[64][71]

And what is right effort?

Here the monk arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to prevent the arising of evil and unwholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will... and strives to eliminate evil and unwholesome mental states that have already arisen. He arouses his will... and strives to generate wholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen, to keep them free of delusion, to develop, increase, cultivate, and perfect them.

This is called right effort.

The unwholesome states (akusala) are described in the Buddhist texts, as those relating to thoughts, emotions, intentions, and these include pancanivarana (five hindrances) – sensual thoughts, doubts about the path, restlessness, drowsiness, and ill will of any kind.^[75] Of these, the Buddhist traditions consider sensual thoughts and ill will needing more right effort. Sensual desire that must be eliminated by effort includes anything related to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. This is to be done by restraint of the sense faculties (indriya-samvara). Ill will that must be eliminated by effort includes any form of aversion including hatred, anger, resentment towards anything or anyone.

Right mindfulness[edit]

Main article: Mindfulness (Buddhism)

See also: Sampajañña, Dhamma vicaya, Satipatthana, Anapanasati, and Satipatthana Sutta

In the vipassana movement, mindfulness (samyak-smṛti / sammā-sati) is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing. Yet, originally it has the meaning of "retention", being mindful of the dhammas ("teachings", "mind objects") that are beneficial to the Buddhist path. The Brahmins had used the word to refer to remembering the Vedas, a usage close to its everyday meaning, "memory". The Buddha appropriated sati to mean remember the meditation object, and this meaning at first may have applied mainly to the cultivation of deeply absorbed, secluded states of mind. Over time sati evolved beyond the simple yogic imperative, remember the object, and came to signify remember to attend, opening onto an ever wider field during the breath "frame". In practice, it enables two important forms of progress. First, it repeatedly "yokes" the yogi to the present moment, lessening identification with mentally fabricated scenarios involving past and future. Second, he keeps attention in the neighborhood of the body, an arena in which any reactivity in the form of afflictive volitions—clinging—will usually be reflected.^[83] According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner this may have been the Buddha's original idea.^[32] According to Trainor, mindfulness aids one not to crave and cling to any transitory state or thing, by complete and constant awareness of phenomena as impermanent, suffering and without self.^[42]

The Satipatthana Sutta describes the contemplation of four domains, namely body, feelings, mind and phenomena.^{[note 6]} The Satipatthana Sutta is regarded by the Vipassana movement as the quintessential text on Buddhist meditation, taking cues from it on "bare attention" and the contemplation on the observed phenomena as dukkha, anatta and anicca.^{[84][85][note 7][note 8]} According to Grzegorz Polak, the four upassanā have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four upassanā do not refer to four different foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the jhanas, describing how the samskharas are tranquilized:^[87]

• the six sense-bases which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);
• contemplation on vedanās, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (vedanānupassanā);
• the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
• the development from the five hindrances to the seven factors of enlightenment (dhammānupassanā).^{[note 9]}

Rupert Gethin notes that the contemporary Vipassana movement interprets the Satipatthana Sutta as "describing a pure form of insight (vipassanā) meditation" for which samatha (calm) and jhāna are not necessary. Yet, in pre-sectarian Buddhism, the establishment of mindfulness was placed before the practice of the jhanas, and associated with the abandonment of the five hindrances and the entry into the first jhana.^{[22][note 10]}

The dhyāna-scheme describes mindfulness also as appearing in the third and fourth dhyana, after initial concentration of the mind.^{[39][note 11]} Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhana denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth jhana one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully awareness of objects while being indifferent to them.^{[note 12]} According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element.

Right concentration[edit]

Main article: Dhyāna in Buddhism

Samadhi[edit]

Samadhi (samyak-samādhi / sammā-samādhi) is a common practice in Indian religions. The term samadhi derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means 'to collect' or 'bring together',^{[citation needed]} and thus it is often translated as 'concentration' or 'unification of mind'. In the early Buddhist texts, samadhi is also associated with the term "samatha" (calm abiding).^{[citation needed]} In the suttas, samadhi is defined as one-pointedness of mind (Cittass'ekaggatā).^[88] Buddhagosa defines samadhi as "the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object...the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered."^[89]

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the right concentration factor is reaching a one-pointedness of mind and unifying all mental factors, but it is not the same as "a gourmet sitting down to a meal, or a soldier on the battlefield" who also experience one-pointed concentration. The difference is that the latter have a one-pointed object in focus with complete awareness directed to that object – the meal or the target, respectively. In contrast, right concentration meditative factor in Buddhism is a state of awareness without any object or subject, and ultimately unto nothingness and emptiness.

Practice[edit]

Bronkhorst notes that neither the Four Noble Truths nor the Noble Eightfold Path discourse provide details of right samadhi.^[90] The explanation is to be found in the Canonical texts of Buddhism, in several Suttas, such as the following in Saccavibhanga Sutta:^[64][71]

And what is right concentration?

[i] Here, the monk, detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome states, enters and remains in the first jhana (level of concentration, Sanskrit: dhyāna), in which there is applied and sustained thinking, together with joy and pleasure born of detachment;
[ii] And through the subsiding of applied and sustained thinking, with the gaining of inner stillness and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without applied and sustained thinking, and in which there are joy and pleasure born of concentration;
[iii] And through the fading of joy, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware, and he experiences in his body the pleasure of which the Noble Ones say: "equanimous, mindful and dwelling in pleasure", and thus he enters and remains in the third jhana;
[iv] And through the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the previous disappearance of happiness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is without pleasure and pain, and in which there is pure equanimity and mindfulness.

This is called right concentration.^[71][91]

Bronkhorst has questioned the historicity and chronology of the description of the four jhanas. Bronkhorst states that this path may be similar to what the Buddha taught, but the details and the form of the description of the jhanas in particular, and possibly other factors, is likely the work of later scholasticism.^[92][93] Bronkhorst notes that description of the third jhana cannot have been formulated by the Buddha, since it includes the phrase "Noble Ones say", quoting earlier Buddhists, indicating it was formulated by later Buddhists.^[92] It is likely that later Buddhist scholars incorporated this, then attributed the details and the path, particularly the insights at the time of liberation, to have been discovered by the Buddha.^[92]

Mindfulness[edit]

Although often translated as "concentration", as in the limiting of the attention of the mind on one object, in the fourth dhyana "equanimity and mindfulness remain",^[94] and the practice of concentration-meditation may well have been incorporated from non-Buddhist traditions.^[95] Vetter notes that samadhi consists of the four stages of dhyana meditation, but

...to put it more accurately, the first dhyana seems to provide, after some time, a state of strong concentration, from which the other stages come forth; the second stage is called samadhija.^[39]

Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhana denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth jhana one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully awareness of objects while being indifferent to it.^{[note 13]} According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element.

Practice[edit]

Order of practice[edit]

Vetter notes that originally the path culminated in the practice of dhyana/samadhi as the core soteriological practice.^[5] According to the Pali and Chinese canon, the samadhi state (right concentration) is dependent on the development of preceding path factors:^[44][96][97] quote|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

According to the discourses, right view, right resolve, 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.^[44][98]

According to the modern Theravada 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."^[99] Bhikkhu Bodhi explains that these factors are not sequential, but components, and "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."^[100]

The stage in the Path where there is no more learning in Yogachara Abhidharma, state Buswell and Gimello, is identical to Nirvana or Buddhahood, the ultimate goal in Buddhism.^[101][102]

Gender[edit]

According to Bernard Faure, the ancient and medieval Buddhist texts and traditions, like other religions, were almost always unfavorable or discriminatory against women, in terms of their ability to pursue Noble Eightfold Path, attain Buddhahood and nirvana.^[103][104] This issue of presumptions about the "female religious experience" is found in Indian texts, in translations into non-Indian languages, and in regional non-Indian commentaries written in East Asian kingdoms such as those in China, Japan and southeast Asia.^[103] Yet, like other Indian religions, exceptions and veneration of females is found in Indian Buddhist texts, and female Buddhist deities are likewise described in positive terms and with reverence. Nevertheless, females are seen as polluted with menstruation, sexual intercourse, death and childbirth. Rebirth as a woman is seen in the Buddhist texts as a result of part of past karma, and inferior than that of a man.^[103]

In some Chinese and Japanese Buddhist texts, the status of female deities are not presented positively, unlike the Indian tradition, states Faure.^[103] In the Huangshinu dui Jingang (Woman Huang explicates the Diamond Sutra), a woman admonishes her husband about he slaughtering animals, who attacks her gender and her past karma, due to the belief that women are further from enlightenment as the common man is further from enlightenment to a monk, or an ant to a mouse.^[105][106] Similar discriminatory presumptions are found in other Buddhist texts such as the Blood Bowl Sutra and the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.^[103][105] In the Five Obstacles theory^{[note 14]} of Buddhism, a woman is required to attain rebirth as a man before she can adequately pursue the Eightfold Path and reach perfect Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra similarly presents the story of the Dragon King's daughter, who desires to achieve perfect enlightenment. The Sutra states that, "Her female organs vanished, the male organs became visible, then she appeared as a bodhisattva".^[109]

Gender discrimination worsened during the medieval era in various sub-traditions of Buddhism that independently developed regionally, such as in Japan.^[110]

Some scholars, such as Kenneth Doo Young Lee, interpret the Lotus Sutra to imply that "women were capable of gaining salvation", either after they first turned into a man, or being reborn in Pure Land realm after following the Path.^[111] Peter Harvey lists many Sutras that suggest "having faded out the mind-set of a woman and developed the mind-set of a man, he was born in his present male form", and who then proceeds to follow the Path and became an Arahant.^[112] Among Mahayana texts, there is a sutra dedicated to the concept of how a person might be born as a woman. The traditional assertion is that women are more prone to harboring feelings of greed, hatred and delusion than a man. The Buddha responds to this assumption by teaching the method of moral development through which a woman can achieve rebirth as a man.^[113]

According to Wei-Yi Cheng, the Pali Canon is silent about women's inferior karma, but have statements and stories that mention the Eightfold Path while advocating female subordination.^[114] For example, a goddess reborn in the heavenly realm asserts:

When I was born a human being among men I was a daughter-in-law in a wealthy family. I was without anger, obedient to my husband, diligent on the Observance (days). When I was born a human being, young and innocent, with a mind of faith, I delighted my lord. By day and by night I acted to please. Of old (...). On the fourteenth, fifteenth and eighth (days) of the bright fortnight and on a special day of the fortnight well connected with the eightfold (precepts) I observed the Observance day with a mind of faith, was one who was faring according to Dhamma with zeal in my heart...

— Vimanavatthu III.3.31, Wei-Yi Cheng^[114]

Such examples, states Wei-Yi Cheng, include conflating statements about spiritual practice (Eightfold Path, Dhamma) and "obedience to my husband" and "by day and by night I acted to please", thus implying unquestioned obedience of male authority and female subjugation.^[114] Such statements are not isolated, but common, such as in section II.13 of the Petavatthu which teaches that a woman had to "put away the thoughts of a woman" as she pursued the Path and this merit obtained her a better rebirth; the Jataka stories of the Pali Canon have numerous such stories, as do the Chinese Sutta that assert "undesirability of womanhood".^[114] Modern Buddhist nuns have applied Buddhist doctrines such as Pratītyasamutpāda to explain their disagreement with women's inferior karma in past lives as implied in Samyutta Nikaya 13, states Wei-Yi Cheng, while asserting that the Path can be practiced by either gender and "both men and women can become arhant".^[115]

Cognitive psychology[edit]

The noble eightfold path has been compared to cognitive psychology, wherein states Gil Fronsdal, the right view factor can be interpreted to mean how one's mind views the world, and how that leads to patterns of thought, intention and actions.^[116] In contrast, Peter Randall states that it is the seventh factor or right mindfulness that may be thought in terms of cognitive psychology, wherein the change in thought and behavior are linked.^[117]

See also[edit]

• Buddhist Paths to liberation
• Bodhipakkhiyādhammā (thirty-seven qualities for awakening)
• Four Right Exertions
• Four stages of enlightenment
• Index of Buddhism-related articles
• Raja Yoga (Ashtanga yoga)
• Secular Buddhism
• Seven Factors of Enlightenment
• Three Vajras (body, speech and mind)

Notes[edit]

1. ^ One of those longer sequences, from the CulaHatthipadopama-sutta, the "Lesser Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprints", is as follows:^[21]
   1. Dhammalsaddhalpabbajja: A layman hears a Buddha teach the Dhamma, comes to have faith in him, and decides to take ordination as a monk;
   2. sila: He adopts the moral precepts;
   3. indriyasamvara: He practises "guarding the six sense-doors";
   4. sati-sampajanna: He practises mindfulness and self-possession (actually described as mindfulness of the body, kāyānussatti);
   5. jhana 1: He finds an isolated spot in which to meditate, purifies his mind of the hindrances (nwarana), and attains the first rupa-jhana;
   6. jhana 2: He attains the second jhana;
   7. jhana 3: He attains the third jhana;
   8. jhana 4: He attains the fourth jhana;
   9. pubbenivasanussati-nana: he recollects his many former existences in samsara;
   10. sattanam cutupapata-nana: he observes the death and rebirth of beings according to their karmas;
   11. dsavakkhaya-nana: He brings about the destruction of the dsavas (cankers), and attains a profound realization of (as opposed to mere knowledge about) the four noble truths;
   12. vimutti: He perceives that he is now liberated, that he has done what was to be done.
   A similar sequence can be found in the Sāmaññaphala-sutta.^[22]
2. ^ See also Majjhima Nikaya 44, Culavedalla Sutta
3. ^ Quotes:
   * Vetter: "Compare AN 10.17.10 (Nal. ed. IV p. 320,26): "He has the right views (sammiiditthiko hotz), he does not see things in a wrong way: that which is given exists, that which is sacrificed exists, that which in poured (into the fire) exists, the fruit, i.e. retribution for good and evil actions, exists, the world, here, exists, the other world exists, the mother exists, the father exists, beings who appear (spontaneously) exist, in the world ascetics and brahmans exist who have gone and followed the right path and who describe this world and the other world from their own experience and realization."
   * Wei-hsün Fu and Wawrytko: "In the Theravada Buddhist Canon, many episodes appear where the Buddha emphasizes that accepting the reality of an afterlife is a part of having the Right View, the initial wisdom that one must have in pursuit of [...]"^[26]
4. ^ According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects; this may have been the Buddha's original idea;^[32] compare Buddhadasa, Heartwood of the Bodhi-tree, on Pratītyasamutpāda; and Grzegorz Polak (2011), Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology, p.153-156, 196–197.
5. ^ Vetter translates it as "offering into the fire".^[52]
6. ^ The formula is repeated in other sutras, for example the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta (MN 141): "And what is right mindfulness?
   Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
   he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;
   he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;
   he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
   This is called right mindfulness."^[64][71]
7. ^ From The Way of Mindfulness, The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary, Soma Thera (1998),
   (...)
   For the dull-witted man of the theorizing type [ditthi carita] it is convenient to see consciousness [citta] in the fairly simple way it is set forth in this discourse, by way of impermanence [aniccata], and by way of such divisions as mind-with-lust [saragadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of permanence [nicca sañña] in regard to consciousness. Consciousness is a special condition [visesa karana] for the wrong view due to a basic belief in permanence [niccanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. The contemplation on consciousness, the Third Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity of this type of man.^[86]
   For the keen-witted man of the theorizing type it is convenient to see mental objects or things [dhamma], according to the manifold way set forth in this discourse, by way of perception, sense-impression and so forth [nivaranadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of a soul [atta sañña] in regard to mental things. Mental things are special conditions for the wrong view due to a basic belief in a soul [attanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. For this type of man the contemplation on mental objects, the Fourth Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity.^[86]
   (...)
8. ^ Vetter and Bronkhorst note that the path starts with right view, which includes insight into anicca, dukkha and anatta.
9. ^ Note how kāyānupassanā, vedanānupassanā, and cittānupassanā, resemble the five skandhas and the chain of causation as described in the middle part of Pratītyasamutpāda; while dhammānupassanā refers to mindfulness as retention, calling into mind the beneficial dhammas which are applied to analyse phenomena, and counter the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions.
10. ^ Gethin: "The sutta is often read today as describing a pure form of insight (vipassanā) meditation that bypasses calm (samatha) meditation and the four absorptions (jhāna), as outlined in the description of the Buddhist path found, for example, in the Sāmaññaphala-sutta [...] The earlier tradition, however, seems not to have always read it this way, associating accomplishment in the exercise of establishing mindfulness with abandoning of the five hindrancesand the first absorption."^[22]
11. ^ Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007). Religious Experience in Early Buddhism. OCHS Library.
12. ^ Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007). Religious Experience in Early Buddhism. OCHS Library.
13. ^ Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007). Religious Experience in Early Buddhism. OCHS Library.
14. ^ The Lotus Sutra, for example, asserts "A woman's body is filthy, it is not a Dharma-receptacle. How can you attain unexcelled bodhi?... Also a woman's body even then has five obstacles.^[107][108]

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102. ^ Rinpoche Karma-raṅ-byuṅ-kun-khyab-phrin-las (1986). The Dharma: That Illuminates All Beings Impartially Like the Light of the Sun and Moon. State University of New York Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-88706-156-1.; Quote: "There are various ways of examining the Complete Path. For example, we can speak of Five Paths constituting its different levels: the Path of Accumulation, the Path of Application, the Path of Seeing, the Path of Meditation and the Path of No More Learning, or Buddhahood."
103. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e} Bernard Faure (2009). The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender. Princeton University Press. pp. 53–54, 67–70, 78–81, 99–106. ISBN 978-0-691-09171-6.
104. ^ Gwilym Beckerlegge (2001). The World Religions Reader. Routledge. pp. 365–70. ISBN 978-0-415-24749-8.
105. ^ Jump up to:^a b R. Alan Cole (1994). Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism. Stanford University Press. pp. 203–04. ISBN 978-0-8047-6510-7.
106. ^ Wm. Theodore de Bary; Richard Lufrano (2010). Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume 2: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press. pp. 118–20. ISBN 978-0-231-51799-7.
107. ^ Gene Reeves (2002). A Buddhist kaleidoscope: essays on the Lotus Sutra. Kosei. pp. 363, 447–i48, 475. ISBN 978-4-333-01918-2.
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109. ^ Bernard Faure (2009). The Power of Denial: Buddhism, Purity, and Gender. Princeton University Press. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-691-09171-6.
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111. ^ Kenneth Doo Young Lee (2012). Prince and the Monk, The: Shotoku Worship in Shinran's Buddhism. State University of New York Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-0-7914-8046-5.
112. ^ Peter Harvey (2000). An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues. Cambridge University Press. pp. 368–70. ISBN 978-0-521-55640-8.
113. ^ Peter Harvey (2000). An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues. Cambridge University Press. pp. 371–72. ISBN 978-0-521-55640-8.
114. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Wei-Yi Cheng (2007). Buddhist Nuns in Taiwan and Sri Lanka: A Critique of the Feminist Perspective. Routledge. pp. 58–60. ISBN 978-1-134-16811-8.
115. ^ Wei-Yi Cheng (2007). Buddhist Nuns in Taiwan and Sri Lanka: A Critique of the Feminist Perspective. Routledge. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-1-134-16811-8.
116. ^ Gil Fronsdal (5 December 2006). The Dhammapada: A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations. Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 9780834823808. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
117. ^ Peter Randall (2013). The Psychology of Feeling Sorry: The Weight of the Soul. Routledge. pp. 206–208. ISBN 978-1-136-17026-3.

Sources[edit]

Primary sources

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External links[edit]

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