The Noble Path of the Noble Ones...

The Noble Path of the Noble Ones

by Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara

The moral, ethical, psychological, philosophical, practical, and intellectual systems expounded by the Buddha are called the Dhamma. It is more popularly know as Buddhism. Strictly speaking, Buddhism is not a religion, nor a system of faith or worship. Buddhism is rather a course or way that guides a disciple through pure living and pure thinking to achieve supreme wisdom and final liberation from all evil and defilement.

The foundation of Buddhism is the Middle Way, or Noble Path. This path avoids two extremes: one is the search for happiness through pleasure of senses; the other is the search for peace through self-mortification. The Middle Path gives clear vision, the eye of wisdom, and it leads to calmness, peace, happiness, purification of mind, liberation from defilement, and enlightenment.

The Eight-fold Path

The Noble Path, or the Middle Way, is composed of eight factors:

1. right understanding
2. right thinking
3. right speaking
4. right action
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right mindfulness
8. right concentration

 
Right Understanding

Right understanding is the keynote of Buddhism. Right understanding is defined as the understanding of realities and truths-- in other words, it is the understanding of oneself as one really is, because these realities and truths are concerned with every fathomable portion of our body. To understand rightly things as they really are, we should penetrate into the deepest level of our body. Deep understanding is called penetration, seeing a thing is its true nature without name or label. Thinking about truths is not enough. We must realize these truths by ourselves. We must penetrate deep into ourselves in order to experience ultimate reality and to eliminate defilement and suffering. It is right understanding that is true wisdom.

Right understanding involves a profound and subtle knowledge of our true nature. In the course of mediation practice it becomes increasingly clear that everything is impermanent. All the elements of the mental and physical body exist in a moment and pass away. These are arising and vanishing continuously. All phenomena are in constant flux. There is no lasting security in a flow of impermanence. Deep insight into the selfless characteristic of all things begins to offer us a radically different perspective on our lives and the world. When we experience the process of mind and body without the burden of self, and the microscopic transience of all things is realized, then our mind will stop grasping and clinging.

This is he right understanding that is developed in meditation through careful and penetrating observation.

Right Thinking

Clear vision leads to clear thinking. Right thinking serves a double purpose: it eliminates evil thought, and develops pure thoughts. Right thinking is free of any sense of desire, ill will, or cruelty. It is characterized by selfless renunciation, lovingkindness, and non-violence. These are extended to all beings. The endless cycle of desire for sense pleasures keeps the mind in turbulence and confusion. Right thinking means being aware of sense desires, and the letting go or them. Then the mind becomes lighter-- there is no disturbance or tension, and we begin to free ourselves from selfishness and possessiveness. Freedom from ill will means freedom from anger. Anger is a burning fire in the mind that causes great suffering to others as well. One should be able to recognize anger and let go of it. Then the mind becomes lighter and easier, expressing its good will and lovingkindness. Thinking that is free of cruelty, free of harmfulness, free of violence, is thinking steeped in compassion, sympathetic to the suffering of others and wanting to alleviate this anger.

The thoughts of selfless renunciation, non-hatred, and non-violence are grouped on the side of wisdom. All thoughts of selfish desire, ill will, hatred, and violence are the results of a lack of wisdom in all spheres of life.

Right Speaking

Right thinking leads to right speech. How we relate to the world, to our environment, and to others depends upon our speech. The Buddha's teaching is a prescription for putting us into harmony with our surroundings, and for establishing a proper ecology of mind so that we are in accord with others and with nature around us. The first aspect of relation to the world is the way of right speech. Right speaking means not saying what is not true, not lying, not backbiting, and not speaking slanderous, abusive or harsh language. We should abstain from false, harsh, rude, impolite, malicious, idle, and useless speech, foolish babble, and gossip. We should not speak in any way that might bring about enmity, disunity, or disharmony among people.

When we abstain from these forms of wrong or harmful speech, we naturally will have to speak truthful, friendly, benevolent, pleasant, gently, meaningful, and useful speech. Our speech must be honest and helpful, creating a resonance of peace and harmony. We should not speak carelessly. Our speech must be steadfast in its truthfulness, dependable, and straightforward with others. We should try to reconcile those quarreling. We should encourage those united. We should delight in harmony, seek after peace, and rejoice in unity, creating this harmony and peace by our speech. Our speech must be sweet and pleasing to the other's ear. Our speech must be kind, heartwarming, courteous, agreeable, and enjoyable to others. It must be trustworthy and treasured. We must not be a deceiver of the world with our wrong speech. Our speech must be reasonable, well defined, connected with the goal, worth remembering, well chosen, well constructed, and timely. Our speech must be at the right time and in the right place. If we cannot say something useful, helpful, and peaceful, it is better to keep "noble silence".

Right Action

We reap what we sow. Evil results in suffering and good results in happiness. Our suffering and happiness are the direct results of our own good and evil deeds. When a person with right understanding realizes this just law of action and reaction, he refrains from evil actions: killing living beings; taking things not given by their owner, and dishonest dealings; committing sexual misconduct; intoxication whereby one loses one's sense of what is good or bad, right or wrong. Right action aims at promoting moral, honorable, and peaceful conduct.

Our action also must be pure. Avoiding these four evil actions, we can establish pure and wholesome action. Although we are not always able to see the far-reaching consequences of each of our actions, we should take care not to create disturbances in our environment, but to emanate love and compassion, peace and harmony, gentle ness and happiness.

If we understand rightly that life is precious to all, we should not destroy the life of other beings. We should extend love and compassion towards all living beings.

If we understand rightly that honesty, trustworthiness, and uprightness are high values, we should not do any stealing or dishonest dealing.

If we understand rightly that illegitimate sexual intercourse debases the exalted life of man, we should abstain from such misconduct.

If we understand rightly that intoxication causes one to lose one's knowledge of right and wrong, we should abstain from it to cultivate heedfulness and clarity of vision.

If it is so, then our actions will become right and pure.

Right Livelihood

Purifying thought, words, and deeds at the outset, our sublime mental activities try to purify our livelihood by refraining from five kinds of trade forbidden to a lay disciple. These are: trading in arms; trading in human beings; breeding animals for slaughter; trading or producing intoxicating drinks or drugs; and trading in poisons. Everybody must have a proper way of making a living. One's livelihood should not require one to break any of the five precepts in order to earn a living. If one breaks one of the five precepts, one clearly causes harm to another. Neither directly nor indirectly should our means of livelihood involving injuring other beings. Any livelihood that requires killing any living being, whether human or animal, is clearly not right livelihood. Selling intoxicating drinks and drugs, selling poisons, weapons, arms, bullets, or bombs brings harm to others, and injures the peace and harmony of multitudes. All of these are not right livelihood. (We clearly see from this position that the trade in arms and lethal weapons is evil and unjust means of livelihood that Buddhism is strongly opposed to war of any kind.) Operating a gambling casino also may be a cause of harm to those who come to play there. If one exploits others by deception, performing feats of magic, or falsely claiming spiritual attainments, then one is not practicing right livelihood. One should live be a profession which is honorable, blameless, pure, and innocent to others. Right livelihood is an important part of integration to show the beauty of life.

Right Effort

Right effort is the first step in the practice of meditation. It is the energetic will of man. Our mind is easily overwhelmed by ignorance, badly waved by craving, passionately enraged by anger. We must therefore strengthen our mind so that the mind becomes firm and stable. Thus it becomes more energetic and powerful for supporting the other mental states and for preventing disturbances.

In the course of meditation practice, as meditators, we find how difficult it is to control our mind. As soon as we try to focus the mind on the object of meditation, thousands of thoughts jump into our minds. After some time, we have forgotten completely about meditation. We begin again with renewed determination, and again after a short time, we realize that the mind has slipped away without our noticing. Our mind is always fluctuating-- it is fickle, swift, and flits wherever it likes. It is hard to check; it is difficult to control. Our mind flutters like a fish that is drawn from its watery abode and thrown upon land. This is the deep-rooted habit of our mind, but we must start to investigate our true nature. We must try to stop such a running mind. We must try to control such a fickle mind. The Buddha stated that the wise person straightens such a mind as a fletcher straightens an arrow.

Right effort is closely associated with right mindfulness. Right effort plays a very important part in this Noble Path. We can find a rubbish heap of evil, and a storehouse of virtue. By this energetic effort we must remove the rubbish heap and cultivate the seeds of virtue. We must maintain and develop the storehouse of virtue.

The Buddha described four types of right effort:

• To prevent evil and unwholesome states from arising
• To abandon those evil states that have already arisen within
• To produce and cultivate good and wholesome states not yet arisen.
• To develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of mind already present within.

We must practice all four of these right efforts.

• We must prevent ourselves from falling into evil.
• We must eliminate evil from within ourselves.
• We must cultivate good within ourselves.
• We must develop good within ourselves for our own purification and liberation.

This is right effort which leads to right mindfulness. Effort if the root of all achievements.

Right Mindfulness

Right mindfulness means being aware of what is happening in the present moment. Our mind spends most of its time lost in fantasies and illusions, pleasant and unpleasant experiences, and anticipating the future with eagerness and fear. While we are sinking in such craving and aversions, we are unaware of what is happening in the present moment, and what we are doing right now. But, surely, it is this moment that is the most important for us. We cannot live in the past—it is gone. We cannot live in the future—it is note yet come. We can only live in the present. If we can pay attention to every one of our present actions, we would not be blamed for repeating the mistakes of our past, and we would not more dream of the future. If we can cultivate and develop the ability to be aware of the present moment, we can use it as a guide for planning our actions in the future so as to never fail to attain our destination. Therefore we must develop our ability to be aware of the present moment. To establish this right mindfulness, we have to give our attention diligently to:

1. The activities of the body
2. Sensations of feelings
3. The activities of the mind
4. Ideas, thought, conceptions, or the phenomena of mind objects

We must be aware and mindfully attentive constantly with regard to these four foundations.

Sati (mindfulness) is very powerful. If we could be constantly aware of every action of our mental and physical body, then our mind would be fixed firmly on a single object, and would discover the nature or characteristics of reality, giving us a good guardian over our mind. Thus the establishment of concentration and the penetration of wisdom would be well completed. Therefore, right mindfulness on these four objects tends to eradicate the misconceptions with regard to desirability, so-called happiness, permanence, and an immortal soul. Mindfulness attends to the flow of things as they are. Observing the process of realities, right mindfulness brings the qualities of poise, equilibrium, mental balance, purification of mind, and advancement toward liberation.

Right Concentration

Right effort and right mindfulness lead to right concentration. Samadhi is one-pointedness of mind. It is the concentration of the mind on one object to the entire exclusion of all else. Concentration is the ability of mind to stay with one object, to be stuck to one object as it is. The characteristic of concentration is non-distraction of the mind. The function of concentration is to integrate the mental states, to keep them together. The manifestations of concentration are peacefulness, calmness, and steadiness of mind. Happiness or comfort of mind is the proximate cause of concentration. When meditators experience happiness of comfort, concentration will follow. A concentrated mind acts as a powerful aid to seeing things as they truly are by means of penetrative insight. Right concentration resembles a polished mirror where everything is clearly reflected with no distortion or distraction.

According to the Theravada scriptures, there are forty subjects of meditation which differ according to the temperaments of individuals. Among those forty meditation subjects, meditation on the mindfulness of breathing is a very popular one and a practical example for establishing concentration in the meditators’ world.

Another aid for deepening meditation is silence. Much of the energy that is conserved by not talking can be used for the development of mindfulness. As with the meditation practice itself, silence, too, should be easy and relaxed. By keeping silence, the whole range of mental and physical activity will become extremely clear. Verbal silence makes possible a deeper silence of mind. Try to cultivate a sense of solitude. To do this it is helpful to suspend preconceptions about yourself, about relationships, about other people. During meditation take time to experience yourself deeply. When we understand ourselves, then relationship become easy and meaningful. Concentrated effort during meditation leads to the development of moment-to-moment mindfulness that can remain focused on a single object. Through this cultivated skill the mind will become powerful and penetrating. During the meditation you will become very mindful and notice carefully all of your moments, returning each time to your main object of meditation, which is the inflow and outflow of the breath. You will find that meditation deepens through the continuous application of this kind of awareness.

Now we will begin our sitting practice with this very simple object of awareness, the mindfulness on breathing, which is the most basic and easiest of all practices. It is capable of producing extremely deep states of meditation calm called the four-fold absorptions (jhana). The jhanas temporarily dispel the hindrances (nivarana) that normally contaminate the mind and produce joy, calm, peace, happiness, purification, equilibrium and keenness of mind. Having perfected the jhanas it is then possible to cultivate various supernormal powers (abhinna).

By practicing meditation on breathing in and out, your mind becomes tranquil, purified, cleansed, flawless, perfect, free from defilements, subtle, ready to act, firm, and imperturbable. With a mind so developed you can acquire such types of abhinna.

Here are five different methods for giving attention to breathing in and out:

1. Counting
2. Connection
3. Touching
4. Fixing
5. Observing

Counting Method

In this method, counting means just counting of slow and quick breaths. You should practice the slow counting method first and the quick counting later. As a beginner, you should first give attention to the tip of your nose, where the touch of breath is most evident, and count with mindfulness. Take mental notes and count a pair of in-breaths and out-breaths as "one", then the next pair of in-breaths and out-breaths as "two", then the next pair of in-breaths and out-breaths as "three", and so on. Count until you get to number "ten". When you get to number "ten", begin again from number "one"- thus,

in-out one

in-out two,

in-out three,

and so on up to ten.

The counting should not be less than five or more than ten. You should not make any break in the series. You should do your counting of breaths without break or interruption. At first you should do this slowly, continuously. As you do your counting in this way, the in-breath and out-breath will become evident to you as they enter in and issue out. Then you can leave off slow counting. In this way the in-breath and out-breath, which had already become evident to you while you counted them in the former way, allows you to count more quickly, continuously, and naturally since you have better concentration.

Then knowing that the breaths keep moving along quickly, not apprehending them either inside or outside of the body, but apprehending them just as they reach the nostrils, you can do your counting quickly; in-out one, in-out two, and so on up to ten. For as long as the meditation subject is connected with counting, the mind becomes unified with the help of counting, just as a boat in a swift current is steadied with the help of a rudder. When you can fix your mind on the place touched by the breath, at the tip of your nose, your development of mindfulness will be successful.

How long are you to go on counting? Until, without counting, mindfulness remains settled on the in-breath and out-breath as its object.

Connection Method

When you become perfect in the method of counting numbers and are able to catch up without fail every in-breath and every out-breathing with mindfulness and awareness, you will have to switch over to the next stage called "connection method". This means that you must connect the beginning, middle and end of the breath and the out-breath without fail.

Let there be mindfulness and awareness from the very beginning of each breath until the middle of the breath becomes evident, and let there be mindfulness and awareness also when each breath comes to the end. At this time your mind becomes rather concentrated. You must be aware of the very place where the breaths touch, that is, the tip of the nose. You must not move your attention from the nostrils where the in-breath and out-breath come together. You must note with awareness the very moment of beginning, middle and the end of breaths.

Touch method

The place where the in-breath and out-breath touch or make contact is called the "touching place" (in Pali, putthokasa). This is the tip of nose. Keep your mind fixed on this place with mindfulness. If the mind tries to run away, tie it up with mindfulness so that it cannot move anywhere else. There is a method where the mind does not move from the touching place. It is called the "method of keeping mind immovable" or "touching method". The awareness if focused in this way:

1. Beginning of touching breaths
2. Moving of touching breaths
3. Stopping of touching breaths

There are only three points. This is how the beginning, the middle, and end, the three points are to be caught up.

Here let me give the parable of the gatekeeper. There was a city where, for the sake of security, a sentry was posted at the gate. The duty of the gatekeeper was to check carefully everyone coming in and going out of the city and to find out whether he was a good or bad man. The check, carried out only at the city gate where many people kept coming in and going out of the city, enabled the gate keeper to know whether the people coming in or going out were good or bad. He did not need to follow them from behind into the city or out of city. The gatekeeper must wait and check at the gate only.

In the same way, you must investigate or examine your breath in and out of the nostril gate only with mindfulness and effort until your mind concentrates. You must be aware at this moment. Mindfulness must be kept in waiting at the touching place, which is the gate of the town where breaths contact the nose. You must not move your concentration anywhere else.

Fixing Method

For the method of keeping the mind fixed you have to remember one important point. Do not move your mind from the touching place-- fix your mind firmly at the touching place. Your mind must stand steadily at the gate and check the breaths coming in and going out and investigate what is the nature of this contact. You will then clearly discern reality. This method is called "keeping the mind fixed", or "the fixing method". The mind and its mindfulness must be fixed at the place of in-breathing and out-breathing at the nose.

Now by these methods for developing mindfulness on the breath, you can obtain any level of concentration, mystic power, and supernatural knowledge. To summarize them:

1. The first method is counting with numbers the in-breaths and out-breaths
2. The second method is connection, or following the in-breathing and out-breathing
3. The third method is to focus on the touch or contact.
4. The fourth method is to fix the mind at the touching place.

Observing

The fifth method is observation, which means insight meditation. Mental concentration leads to insight by observing and fixing attention on the activities of materiality and mentality as they really are. If your mind becomes concentrated perfectly with the method of keeping the mind fixed, if you are able to keep your mind firmly on the phenomenon of contact without allowing it to move elsewhere, insight knowledge is to be developed, to find out analytically what it is, which is contact. Therefore, it will be seen that it is not only concentration on breathing that is required, but, also the knowledge of investigation on the reality of contact.

When you are seated in a suitable place and in a suitable posture, you should establish mindfulness. You must pay attention to the meditation object, being mindful and alert, fixing the mind at the trip of the nose, the place where the breath touches. The in-breath and out-breath are the body. In this case, a body means a group, or a heap, or a collection of physical phenomena.

When you contemplate, observe, and investigate in the body with mindfulness and knowledge, you can experience four material qualities. They are the elements of extension (earth), cohesion (water), heat (fire), and motion (air). When you stand up, your feet are touching the ground or floor. When you sit, the lower parts of your body are touching the carpet or floor. When you sleep, some parts of your body are touching the bed. There are many touchable parts on your body. Whenever you touch any parts on your body with anything, you can experience the four material qualities of elements. Sometimes the touch will be soft or hard, this is the element of extension. Sometimes you will touch fluid with your body, this is the element of cohesion. Sometimes you will touch something hot or cold with your body, this is the element of heat. Sometimes you touch air, wind or inflation of matter with your body, this is the element of motion (air).

The material elements of our bodies are called great because of their destructive and constructive powers. Our bodies are constituted of these four great primary elements, as are the earth, sun, moon, planets and stars. It is these very elements experienced in our body, whose natures we investigate that are responsible for the creation and destruction of the whole solar system, and the whole body. The power of these elements is enormous. For a short period of time the elements are in some kind of balance. So we forget, not realizing the tremendous destructive power inherent in them, that by their own nature, when they begin to get out of balance, they cause decay, the dissolution of the body, great pain and death.

There is also pain of the mind; depression, despair, anxiety, worry, anger, hatred, fear, lust, greed, desire, grief, sorrow, dissatisfaction, jealousy, separation from beloved ones, association with hated persons, etc., which cause suffering in the mind-body or mental-body.

How long will we remain ensnared in this cycle of rebirth and death, the suffering of this endless hurrying onwards, driven by ignorance and craving? Every morning we have to wake up and go day and night, looking at sense-objects. We are subject to colors, sounds, smells, tastes, contacts, thoughts and sensations in endless repetition. You go throughout the day, you sleep at night, and you wake up to be exposed to the same sense-objects, sensations and thoughts over and over again.

Therefore, we have to give full attention, full mindfulness to the mental-body also. We must observe the flow of sensations, feelings, thinking, knowing, etc…. Whatever appears and disappears from moment to moment in the mental-body or material-body, you must examine it as it really is, carefully, observing it with knowledge. When you do so constantly, the three characteristics of the material-body and mental-body will become evident in your knowledge. You will see or know the three signs of mind and matter. They are always changing, not everlasting. They are impermanence, suffering and egolessness (soullessness). After distinguishing these as materiality and mentality, you should contemplate these three characteristics to develop successive knowledge of insight until enlightenment is attained and the Absolute Truth of Nibbana is realized.

This is insight-meditation which leads to the ten kinds of insight wisdom, seven kinds of purification, eight kinds of higher supra-mundane wisdom, four kinds of wisdom in discrimination, final liberation, real happiness, ultimate peace, cessation of suffering, absolute truth, Nibbana.

Concentration meditation is the mental state of one-pointedness. It leads to mystic power and supernatural power. Insight-meditation is the knowledge of wisdom which penetrates the three characteristics of mind and matter. It leads to the highest wisdom, Enlightenment, Noble Truth, Absolute Truth the Nibbana.

In conclusion, the great benefit of mindfulness on the breath should be understood as the basic condition for the perfecting of clear vision, final liberation and purification of the mind. For this had been said by the Buddha, "Bhikkhus (Monks), mindfulness of breathing, when developed and much practiced, perfects the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of mindfulness, when developed and much practiced, perfect the seven enlightenment factors, and the seven enlightenment factors, when developed and much practiced, perfect clear vision and total liberation".

" The best of paths is the Eightfold Path. The best of truths are the four Sayings. Non-attachment is the best of states. The best of bipeds is the Seeing One."

Venerable Ashin Nyanissara

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