Buddha and his eight fold path

Lately my wife and myself have started to observe the Buddha statues in houses and how people have been using those. While this piqued my interest, it also gave way too many questions – some of which we had read in the history books and possibly forgotten by now.

Buddhism as we know today is mainly a religion followed in the Eastern Asia, though originated in India. Today there are approx. 500+ Million Buddhist followers across the globe – thus making it one of the major religions of the day.

As most of us know, Buddhism is following the teachings of Gautam Buddha, who was born as Prince Siddhartha of Kaushambi. When Siddhartha was born to his parents Mahamaya and King Shudhodhana, Mahamaya had a dream of a white elephant. The elephant gave her a flower and circumambulated her three times before entering her womb. The learned scholars of the time explained the dream as the mark of the birth of a great prince who shall be very wise and very powerful. However, the prince shall be highly emotional and in such a case, he may even renounce everything in search of higher wisdom. Mahamaya passed away just after the birth of the great prince. King Shudhodhana made every effort in his capacity to keep the prince engulfed in the fun and frolic and kept him away from the sorrows and suffering faced by the humans. Yet, one day, Siddhartha went out of the palace to see the people living out there and saw the three scenes – a sick person crying in pain, a dead person being carried for the final rites and an ascetic who had given up all the worldly relations. Siddhartha then realized that the life is more than what he has led in the palace. And he must make amends to understand the true meaning or purpose of life and escape the suffering of the three scenes he saw. Siddhartha gave up his family – wife Yashodhara, son Rahul, father Shudhodhana and the kingdom of Kaushambi to meditate and find the truth.

At one point in his search for the truth, he was fatally ill and hungry. At that time a girl offered him food. With this he realized that most of the suffering we face is a result of our own desires. Desires give rise to expectations and they cause grief when they are not met.

Prince Siddhartha meditated and looked for the answers within. Having been born at a time when the Hinduism and Jainism were already prevalent, Siddhartha looked for a path that is acceptable to both yet was different. And with this he gained nirvana and became Gautama Buddha ~ one who destroys darkness with the bright light of his mind.

Buddha’s teachings were later adopted as the middle path (Neither rigid as Jainism and nor fluid as Hinduism) and were widely known as the eight-fold path –

1.     Right view – The first of the eight-fold path, relates to the view about karma and rebirth and a belief in the importance of the four noble truths (Dukkha – the pain from the incapability of satisfaction, Samudaya – arising of Dukkha, Niroda – cessation of dukkha and Magga – the path leading to the cessation of dukkha) and the true realities.

2.     Right resolve – Also considered as “right thought”, “right intention” or “right aspiration”, this path tells the practitioner to have a resolve to dedicate himself to the spiritual pursuit.

3.     Right speech – Abstaining from lying, divisive or abusive speeches and idle chatter have been suggested to be the way of right speech. In a Pali canonical scripture, Buddha says that never speaking something that is not beneficial, and only speaking what is true and beneficial – when the circumstances are right and whether they are welcome or not – are all the signs of right speech.

4.     Right action – Abstaining from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct were stated as parts of right action.

5.     Right livelihood – Earning of livelihood by following the noble path and not by any wrong doings to anyone. Also, the Buddhist monks always preached not to earn more than necessary to lead the life.

6.     Right effort – The right effort is by putting forth your effort to generate energy and strive to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen and to keep them free of delusion.

7.     Right mindfulness – This path leads the practitioner to cultivate complete and constant awareness of the nature of reality as impermanent, suffering. The most important learning in this path is to be able to separate self from the surroundings – be an observer.

8.     Right concentration – Right Samadhi – state in which the practitioner is detached from all senses or desires and enters the state of dhyana in which there is applied and sustained thinking.

The eight-fold path have a lot more to explain and lay wonderful guidelines for a practitioner. My knowledge is too limited to be able to comment and decipher them all. Yet, I found a pattern –

·      The first two paths relate to Wisdom. (Prana)

·      The next three paths relate to Moral Virtues. (Sheel)

·      And finally the last three paths relate to Meditation. (Samadhi)

If one is able to follow the paths or even resolve to follow the paths to an extent, I am sure there is a great difference one can make to their life and all those around them.