THE TRUTHS AND THE PATH

The Buddha's Four Noble Truths are like a physician's diagnosis of an ailment.  First, there is the determination that there is a problem, in this case human suffering.  As the Buddha put it, birth is suffering; decay is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering.  Presence of objects we hate is suffering; separation from objects we love is suffering; not to obtain what we desire is suffering; clinging to existence is suffering.

Second of the Truths is the determination that this suffering has a cause.  Craving is the cause, the Buddha said, craving in the sense of blind compulsion.  Suffering is caused by craving what one cannot have, or craving to avoid what cannot be avoided.  Craving money when one is poor leads to suffering; craving health when one is ill leads to suffering; craving immortality in the face of the inevitability of death leads to suffering, and so on.

Third of the Truths is the determination that this suffering has a remedy.  Suffering ceases with the complete cessation of craving, the Buddha said.

The fourth Truth states that the cessation of craving is accomplished by the Noble Eight-fold Path, which is Right View or Belief, Right Aspiration or Purpose, Right Speech, Right Behavior or Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right Effort or Endeavor, Right Mindfulness or Attentiveness, Right Meditation, Contemplation, or Absorption.  The word "right" is not in a moral sense but in the sense of correctness, what is accurate.

Right View is an understanding of and belief in the Four-Noble Truths and the possibilities reflected in them.  To begin with, a person must look at life for what it truly is.  When he understands that his trouble is caused by his not seeing the true facts of this life, and when he accepts responsibility for this, he can proceed to eliminate his craving/suffering.  The Buddha said that as long as we see life from the wrong viewpoint, we will continue our craving.

The second step on the path is Right Aspiration or Purpose.  Everyone aspires after something.  The trouble is that often we aspire after the wrong things.  We do not focus on worthwhile objectives, such as kindness and compassion.  Aspiring to kindness and compassion can only occur when we have gone beyond "I," "me," "mine."  Self-centeredness has no place in Buddhism.

The first two steps deal with correct understanding while the next three address correct conduct.  Accordingly, Right Speech states that one must not participate in gossip, slander, and abusive or idle talk.  Our speech must be controlled, considerate, and thoughtful, stemming as it should from kindness and compassion.  Right Speech means avoiding all talk that would lead to unhappiness, using instead that speech that would bring about happiness.

Right Behavior means avoiding killing or hurting, and precludes stealing, cheating, and all otherwise immoral activity.  One's actions should aim at promoting peace and happiness in others and respecting the well-being of all living creatures.

Right Livelihood extends the principle of Right Behavior to one's chosen profession.  It rules out professions that would harm others, such as trading in firearms, liquor, drugs, poisons, killing, and so forth.  Only those means of living that promote peace and well-being are in accord with this principle.

The final group in the Noble Eight-fold Path deals with correct concentration.  Here Buddhism is most akin to Brahmanism.  The goal of these steps is the pure ecstasy that comes from meditative exercises.  Thus, Right Endeavor or Effort entails a commitment to discriminating between wise and unwise desires and attachments, with a determination to live a liberated life.  This sets the stage for Right Mindfulness.

By Right Mindfulness or Attentiveness the Buddha meant paying attention to all of one's activities, be they of the body, of sensing and feeling, of perceiving, or of thinking.  Being attentive this way means understanding what these activities are, how they arise, how they are developed, controlled, linked together, and, if need be, gotten rid of.  Being aware this way yields a calmness that in turn sets the stage for the final step, Right Concentration.

Right Concentration, Meditation, or Absorption is the turning away from unwholesome mental activities such as lust, ill-will, laziness, worry, anxiety, and doubt, and replacing them with feelings of joy and happiness.  Next is seeing through and getting beyond ALL mental activities, no matter what they are, and replacing them, once again, with feelings of joy and happiness.  This is followed by a going beyond joy and happiness and proceeding to feelings of equanimity.  Complete equanimity beyond all feelings is bliss, nirvana.

At the heart of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight-fold Path is the Buddha's contention that the mind is behind everything.  If we are unhappy, the mind can be blamed.  If we are happy, the mind can be thanked.  As the Buddhist Dammapada puts it: 

"Mind precedes all unwholesome states and is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.  If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts, misery follows him like the wheel that dogs the foot of the ox.  Mind precedes all wholesome states and is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.  If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.