30,474
edits
Eightfold Path: Difference between revisions
Added link for sacred labor, formatting
(Created page with "File:Jokhang dharma wheel-5447.jpg|thumb|alt=caption|Dharma wheel on the roof of Jokhang Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet. The eight spokes of the wheel represent the Eightfold Path....") |
(Added link for sacred labor, formatting) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:Jokhang dharma wheel-5447.jpg|thumb|alt=caption|Dharma wheel on the roof of Jokhang Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet. The eight spokes of the wheel represent the Eightfold Path.]] | [[File:Jokhang dharma wheel-5447.jpg|thumb|alt=caption|Dharma wheel on the roof of Jokhang Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet. The eight spokes of the wheel represent the Eightfold Path.]] | ||
Also called the Middle Way. The message [[Gautama]] taught in his first sermon is still the cornerstone of Buddhism today: the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the Eightfold Path. | Also called the '''Middle Way'''. The message [[Gautama]] taught in his first sermon is still the cornerstone of Buddhism today: the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the Eightfold Path. | ||
The Four Noble Truths are | The Four Noble Truths are | ||
Gautama explained that by avoiding the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, one gains knowledge of the “middle path” which leads to insight, wisdom, calmness, knowledge, enlightenment, and Nirvana. He advocated the Middle Way because he had learned from his own experience that the two extremes of sensual indulgence and harsh asceticism do not lead to liberation. | : (1) that life is [[dukkha]], “suffering”; | ||
: (2) that the cause of this suffering is ''tanha'', “desire” or “craving”; | |||
: (3) that suffering will cease when the craving that causes it is forsaken and overcome; | |||
: (4) that the way to this liberation is through living the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right understanding or views, right thought or aspiration, right speech, right action or conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration or absorption. | |||
Gautama explained that by avoiding the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, one gains knowledge of the “middle path” which leads to insight, wisdom, calmness, knowledge, enlightenment, and [[Nirvana]]. He advocated the Middle Way because he had learned from his own experience that the two extremes of sensual indulgence and harsh asceticism do not lead to liberation. | |||
=== The Eightfold Path and the rays === | |||
In the ascended-master teachings, the first step of the Eightfold Path corresponds to the first (blue) ray of the will of God. '''Right Understanding''' requires self-analysis and the conviction that the Four Noble Truths are true. It is discovering and examining the problems if life—recognizing that one is out of alignment with the cosmos and making the decision to follow the Path back to integration with God. This involves faith and determination; it is the impetus, or power, of the Buddhic way. | In the ascended-master teachings, the first step of the Eightfold Path corresponds to the first (blue) ray of the will of God. '''Right Understanding''' requires self-analysis and the conviction that the Four Noble Truths are true. It is discovering and examining the problems if life—recognizing that one is out of alignment with the cosmos and making the decision to follow the Path back to integration with God. This involves faith and determination; it is the impetus, or power, of the Buddhic way. | ||
| Line 17: | Line 24: | ||
'''Right Livelihood''', the fifth step, relates to the fifth (green) ray of healing, Truth, and precipitation. One cannot accelerate on the Path and precipitate the true abundance of God if one’s occupation pulls one in the opposite direction. In earning our living, we should not engage in any business that compromise the path of the Buddha—any activity that involves deceit, exploitation, injustice, or harm to others. Buddha actually listed certain occupations not in keeping with the Eightfold Path, including; poison peddler, slave dealer, prostitute, butcher, hunter, brewer, armament maker, and fortune-teller. | '''Right Livelihood''', the fifth step, relates to the fifth (green) ray of healing, Truth, and precipitation. One cannot accelerate on the Path and precipitate the true abundance of God if one’s occupation pulls one in the opposite direction. In earning our living, we should not engage in any business that compromise the path of the Buddha—any activity that involves deceit, exploitation, injustice, or harm to others. Buddha actually listed certain occupations not in keeping with the Eightfold Path, including; poison peddler, slave dealer, prostitute, butcher, hunter, brewer, armament maker, and fortune-teller. | ||
The sixth step, on the sixth (purple and gold) ray of ministration and service, is '''Right Effort'''—exerting oneself for good through a strong will and steady “plodding” on the Path. The way of service and ministration is the way of proving in action the previous five steps of the Eightfold Path; it is the embroidering—the going over and over again—expressed in the life of constancy and dedication to the sacred labor. | The sixth step, on the sixth (purple and gold) ray of ministration and service, is '''Right Effort'''—exerting oneself for good through a strong will and steady “plodding” on the Path. The way of service and ministration is the way of proving in action the previous five steps of the Eightfold Path; it is the embroidering—the going over and over again—expressed in the life of constancy and dedication to the [[sacred labor]]. | ||
The seventh step, the seventh (violet) ray of transmutation and freedom, is '''Right Mindfulness'''—the “alchemy of self-awareness.” All that we are is the result of what we are doing at a particular moment. We use the fires of transmutation, the violet flame, to invoke the energy that consumes all of the blocks to the fusion of the mind on the action and the word of the moment. | The seventh step, the seventh (violet) ray of transmutation and freedom, is '''Right Mindfulness'''—the “alchemy of self-awareness.” All that we are is the result of what we are doing at a particular moment. We use the fires of transmutation, the violet flame, to invoke the energy that consumes all of the blocks to the fusion of the mind on the action and the word of the moment. | ||