Daily Buddhism

The Eightfold Path Step 1: Right View

The Eightfold Path Step 1: Right View

This week, we start discussion of the Eightfold Path, Buddha’s “cure” for the suffering of this world. The first two steps on the path, Right View and Right Intention, are often paired together and called the “Wisdom” portion of the path. Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood fall into the “Ethical Conduct” category, and Right Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration are considered “Mental Discipline.” So between wisdom, ethics, and mental disciple, the eightfold path covers all the important stuff a Buddhist should focus on.

“Right View” is also called “right perspective”, “right vision” or “right understanding.” It’s all about having the right perspective on the yourself and the universe. You need to see the world and yourself as they truly are, not what you have been conditioned to see. Much of this relates to really understanding the four Noble Truths. Understand that nothing is permanent or perfect. To think through karma and all the effects it has on you. Having the proper way of looking at the world is especially crucial to a Buddhist, since your perspective actually shapes your life and how you live it.

It is important that in perfecting your “right view” that you clear out your misunderstanding, misconceptions, and confusion. Keep an open mind, and look at everything in a critical manner.

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What Is Buddhism?

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Daily Buddhism

What is Buddhism?

Buddhism is a path of practices and spiritual development which lead to insight into the true nature of life. Practices such as meditation are means of changing oneself in order to develop and perfect the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. The methods developed within the Buddhist tradition over thousands of years has created an incredible resource for all those who wish to follow the path which ultimately culminates in Enlightenment or Buddhahood.The foundation of Buddhism is the Fourfold Noble Truth:

  1. The world is full of suffering and stress.
  2. The cause of this suffering and stress is desires of physical instincts.
  3. If desire can be removed, then suffering and stress will be ended.
  4. Desire can be removed by following the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Views, Right Thoughts, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.

Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a God, some people do not describe it as a religion. The basic teachings of Buddhism are straightforward and practical: nothing is permanent; actions have consequences; but change is possible. Thus Buddhism addresses itself to all people irrespective of race, nationality, or gender. It also teaches practical methods such as meditation which enable people to make use of its teachings in order to transform their lives, to be fully responsible for those lives and to develop the desirable qualities of Wisdom and Compassion.

Buddhism began about 523 B.C.E., and the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha was a Hindu from northern India. His birthplace, Lumpini, is now part of Nepal. The “bible” of Buddhism is the “Tripitaka”, or Three Baskets, formed of the Sutta (Sutras of the Buddha), Vinaya (precepts for the Sangha), and the Abhidhamma (higher teachings, or analytical writings about the higher states). The oldest extant manuscripts date to the first century B.C.E.

There are approximately 362 million buddhists in the world. There are many different forms of Buddhism, which developed and grew as it spread from India and Nepal throughout Asia. The three main vehicles are Theravada (sometimes known as Hinayana), Mahayana and Tantrayana (also known as Vajrayana). Theravada is the oldest tradition and is practiced predominently in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. Theravada practice has the goal of reaching the state of nirvana, becoming an arhat, and achieving liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Mahayana predominates in Northern India, China, Japan, and Vietnam. Tantrayana predominates in Tibet, Nepal, and Mongolia. Both Mahayana and Tantrayana practice is primarily to help all sentient beings reach enlightenment and in doing so achieve both nirvana and buddhahood. In Tantrayana additional tantric practices are used in order to achieve Buddhahood more quickly.

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Daily Buddhism Episode 0

<Transcript Start>

And welcome to episode 0 of the Daily Buddhism. This episode is not going to be so much of a typical lesson as it is going to be an introduction to what Daily Buddhism is all about. The Daily Buddhism is undergoing what Buddhists would call ‚ÄúRebirth.‚Äù It’s been on hold for about six months while I spent time in Japan learning and studying. But I am finishing up, I will be returning in March, and so will the Daily Buddhism. So over the next month, the email list will be starting up again, and if you aren’t already a subscriber to the Daily Buddhism mailing list, sign up right away; it’s free, it’s easy to do, just go to www.dailybuddhism.com and there’s a little sign-up form in the top right-hand corner. Again, it’s perfectly free, no SPAM; it’s going to be one email per day about Buddhism. No SPAM. I hate SPAM as much as you do. Be sure to also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, Feedburner, or directly on the DailyBuddishm.com website.

At this point, I’m not quite sure whether the podcast is going to be a daily thing or a weekly thing, but it’s going to be an integral part of the Daily Buddhism experience from now on. Subscribe to both, you’ll like it.

So what is the Daily Buddhism all about? Well, the main idea of the Daily Buddhism is to get a little bit of ‚ÄúBuddhist Brilliance‚Äù in your mailbox every day. I think most people find that the ‚Äúright mindfulness‚Äù part of Buddhism is one of the most difficult aspects of being a good Buddhist. You have to keep Buddhism in-mind and live the right lifestyle in order to be a good Buddhist. Many people tend to forget these things as the day goes on. We work, we go to school, we raise children, and the day can get to you very quickly. It’s easy to forget these things. By having a reminder show up in your mailbox every day, it might help you keep your mind where it’s supposed to be during the day; something to focus on during your lunch break, coffee break in the afternoon.

Almost everything on the Daily Buddhism is designed to take five to ten minutes a day; no long sermons, no long history lessons. It’s going to be short, to the point, and most importantly, I think: in plain English. One of the things that annoys me about Buddhist books and Buddhist material are the incredibly long words, names and ideas in these books. I mean do you really have to memorize the name Avalokiteshivara? Well, it’s an important name and subject, but these words get in the way for most Americans and most English speakers. Everything originally from Buddhism comes from the language Pali, which tends to have really, really, really long words by English standards. Don’t worry; I’ll keep it easy. A few names, a few complicated ideas, I’ll explain it in plain English whenever possible. When it’s not possible, I’ll make it easy.

So, we’ve got the email list. Sign up and you’ll get something in your email every day. We’ve got the podcast. I don’t know yet whether it will be daily or weekly yet; we’ll figure that out when the time comes. And– Youtube is coming. I have to figure out exactly how I want to deal with Youtube, but there will be at least a weekly video for the Daily Buddhism. Stay tuned for more details.

So what will you find in the Daily Buddhism everyday? Depends on the day; we do something a little bit differently each day. For example, Monday we might talk about a Zen koan. Maybe on Tuesday, a story of the Original Buddha’s life. Wednesday could be some current event pertaining to the world of Buddhism or some modern Buddhist. Thursday, a book review or website review or some other podcast review– some kind of media review. Friday could be an interview with someone. There are many important Buddhists out there in the world; we can talk to a few on the show. Maybe some Buddhist doctrine or theory; you know, the ‚Äúdeep stuff‚Äù behind Buddhism. Or reader and listener question-and-answer sessions. The Internet’s completely interactive; send me an email, send me a video clip or audio clip and I’ll play it on the show. Make it fun! And it could be anything else, depending on whatever comes up. We’ll see.

We’ll be starting out very simply, with introductory Buddhist material like the life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, the very basics. If you don’t know what those are yet, don’t worry about it; you will very soon. We’ll cover most of the foundational material of Buddhism, you can call it ‚ÄúBeginner’s Buddhism‚Äù if you like. But once we cover the basics, we’ll move into more advanced ideas, but the goal of Daily Buddhism is to keep it short, keep it simple, keep it basic. Really, that’s the whole idea of Buddhism itself anyway; keep it simple. Keep it clear. Don’t get attached to too many advanced ideas.

But that’s where we are going to be heading in the show. If you do have any questions, feel free to email me at dailybuddhism@gmail.com . A regular text email is fine or if you’d like to send an audio clip in MP3 format, maybe I’ll play it on the show. That should be fun.

See you next time!

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Plain English Guide to Buddhism