Re: Right
"The fourth truth of the Buddha-dharma, also known as the eightfold path,
offers us a realization and a practice for bringing about the cessation of
duhkha.
"This is not a path we can take to get from point A to point B. Its peculiar
nature is that the moment we step on it, the entire path is realized at once.
Still, with each step we take we can deepen our understanding.
"The eight aspects of this path are _right view, right intention, right speech,
right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right
meditation._
"We'll preview each of these in a moment, but first let's consider the world
"right." The word the Buddha actually used was samma. Samma is usually
translated as "right" --- but not "right" as opposed to "wrong," or "bad" or
"evil." Normally, the moment we say "right," we've already implied "wrong."
We've implied dualism.
"For those unfamiliar with the term as it's being used here, dualism simply
refers to the world of left and right, dark and light, good and bad, pure and
impure. It's the psychological backdrop for our everyday world of chasing
after some things and running away from others, the world in which if you
differ from me, then there's something wrong with you.
"Obviously, this isn't what the Buddha meant by samma. The term suggests
something far more subtle. It's better that we understand right as "this is
appropriate," "this works," "this is in sync with Reality." Right, on the
eightfold path, doesn't mean right versus wrong so much as it means _seeing_
versus _not seeing._ It refer to being in touch with Reality as opposed to
being deluded by our own prejudices, thoughts, and beliefs. Samma refers to
Wholeness rather than fragmentation.
"Thus, when I use the word "right" in the chapters to come, I intend it to
refer to what is conducive to awakening, rather than something that can be
compared against something wrong.
---
"The first aspect of the eightfold path is right view. According to the
Buddha, to hold onto any particular view is to freeze Reality, to try to
encapsulate the world into thought. To take a view is like taking a
snapshot---you've frozen the scene right there.
"Once we hold a view, it's not long before our view will buck up against other
views. After that, the people holding the various views will file off into
separate camps. And then we start to go after each other.
"What the Buddha meant by right view isn't like this at all. The view of a
buddha isn't an ordinary, frozen view.
---
"There are those who argue that the Buddha didn't have any view whatsoever, but
this is not correct. What the Buddha meant by right view is not being caught
by a particular view. It's not being caught by ideas, concepts, beliefs,
opinions.
"The view of a buddha is of how things actually are---which, in light of the
constant flux and flow of the world, is no one way in particular. After all,
how can things be a particular way if they are in constant motion? How can a
hard-and-fast view of a world that is never hard or fast possibly be accurate?
"It's not the particulars of the world that provide us with right view, but the
world itself, as an ever-dynamic Whole. Right view is Wholesome---that is,
it's of the Whole. It's all inclusive. It leaves nothing out. Such a view,
by definition, does not go to war with any other view. In fact, it cannot.
Since it's already of the dynamic world as a Whole, we can't conceive of
anything that opposes it."
(Hagen, Steve, 'Buddhism: Plain and Simple,' Tuttle Co., Inc., p.53-55)
Warm and Light Solstice Blessings to All.
Marsha
_____________
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars...
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
