Incorporating the Eightfold Path Into My Day
followthepath
Explorer
Can anybody give me a little advice on how to remember each factor on the Eightfold path and practice it daily? It seems like a lot to remember, although I have come up with an acronym for it. I've actually read that the way to Enlightenment is by embracing wisdom and compassion. From what I've read, that's pretty much the same as following the Eightfold path. I know I can find ways to practice compassion during the day, but I'm not so sure about wisdom. I know the two qualities are supposed to be dependent on each other, so is it safe to say that if I practice compassion I'm practicing wisdom as well?
I'm trying to get a daily practice down. I can meditate in the mornings and try to be mindful as much as possible, but that's all I've got so far. Any help would be much appreciated.
Comments
One thing I did when I was getting started was to take one factor per day. I would have a reminder right on my phone at work about it. And I would emphasize that part of the path all day long. Some pretty easy, others took a little more work. By doing so, eventually I found a lot of it just more natural to do without thinking about it.
It's REALLY hard to be mindful of 8 aspects that keep you on the path, so I have to keep writing THEM down in some way shape or form, again and again and again.
However, I have learned one thing, and one thing only, from the 8FP:
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
REPETITION IS THE KEY TO LEARNING
I recite this as a mantra from time to time - to make me recite the 8FP and learn what I feel is necessary to achieve what I believe is necessary.
Mettha
Just trying to stay mindful is a fulltime job, as I'm sure you've seen
Nothing wrong with that being "all you've got" in my opinion!
The eightfold path is broken into parts, but it's really taken as a whole. For example, it's pretty hard to have right livelihood without right view, and so on. It's more an attitude and a work in progress than a checklist. It's kind of a way of taking more complex teachings and breaking them down.
When I first started practicing, I was very hung up on the eightfold path. Since in my logic at the time, the 4th noble truth was the eightfold path, clearly, that was the way. Then, I found a teacher and some of us created a local Sangha, and, honestly, the eightfold path never, ever comes up! I was really surprised about this, and actually asked another user about his experience with this just a few days ago. But my teacher is a Vajrayana teacher, so his starting point is different than other teachers. Is there a particular "brand" of Buddhism you are drawn to?
By the way, I'm not saying in any way to just leave the Eightfold path to the side. Of course not, it's a great thing to learn and keep in mind. But simply taking refuge and taking precepts is a lot to keep you busy for a while. You could try incorporating the Eightfold path into sort of a prayer to end your meditation. Every day when I meditate, I take refuge and precepts. Some days I take more precepts than others. But it serves as a good way to start my day, and maybe it would help you memorize them if that is important to you. You could bookmark a webpage or write them down (which also helps commit things to memory) and just recite them every morning. You'll know them all before you know it.
My interpretation of what you have stated @karasti is that the path is not written in stone, and an open interpretation is acceptable. I find that view acceptable.
If you find the Eightfold Path a useful model @followthepath, then thats great.
At the same time it may be useful to know that many Buddhists and whole schools of Buddhism make little or no reference to the 8 fold path at all.
This is particularly important in discussions on forums like this, where it is easy to assume that everyone must have a similar baseline.
I think a lot in Buddhism is open to interpretation, that's why we all have to discuss it so much
But I think inexperienced people (including myself) can misinterpret things that lead to truly incorrect understandings, which doesn't help anyone. Just because something might be open to interpretation, doesn't mean they should be open to any and all interpretations. Again, one of the reasons it's so helpful to find a teacher.
I think it's too easy and too tempting in our culture these days to put everything into compartments when in my experience anyhow, Buddhism is more about the big picture. Things tend to come together in pieces, but usually in several pieces from several directions at one time.
We in the west have inherited from classical antiquity a tendency to think that we should codify things and turn them into rules which we then din into that yang part of our brain which deals with logic.
But there is another way..the way of the receptive and intuitive, the way of the yin side of the mind.
The way of soft eyes and an open heart.
You can work on wisdom by meditating on the breath. The calm that develops provides stability of the mind to 'see'. You don't have to think to make the mind 'see' like some kind of pumping it up. The mind already has a tendency to see and by calming you can increase the wisdom.
Incidentally when I first started meditation I would have still meditation like I was a statue and all of my body sensations were far away. It was pleasant, but actually I feel better with a little more animation and energy to my meditation including energy via thinking. My teacher said that too much concentration can impair the minds natural insight. (IIRC)
So it is a different kind of mindspace than used to solve crosswords or decide what to eat tonight.
Another way to develop wisdom is to read, discuss, analyze, and meditate to Buddhist teachers, sutras, youtubes, web dudes (and dudettes too!)...
In my tradition the effort is not made on the 8 fold until right view is stable for enough time. The Buddhas own teaching of the 8 fold and 4 noble truths was his first sermon. It was given to his old friends who were yogis practicing extreme austerity. They had practiced years and years and had already renounced sense pleasures. Thus I reason that the 4NT and 8FP are advanced teachings. My teacher says that the 8FP is only _the noble _ 8FP after right view is stabilized for awhile.
So what is right view? There is an intuitive way to experience right view in that you try to "be spacious". Which in morality it might mean "being big about it"..."being grown up,,," "letting go of ego"... "be spacious"...
What is the dharma in two words? "be spacious"..
Once you stabilize right view then you can study the 8FP
The first thing is to practice morality. However you practice, but 5 or 8 precepts would be good. Also study the dependent origination and emptiness and just understand at an accurate conceptual level. It is important to really on a teacher to point out emptiness though they might not be actually in the role of Lama or sangha leader. That is to say that a senior dharma practitioner might also help with right view. Of course then you have to be careful to pick out the right person. Ultimately you will have to test whatever view they give on the basis of what you yourself can intuit, ie you intuit whether or not they are a teacher who is helping you.
So morality, dependent origination/non-self of skhandas, and finally meditation with a teacher or fellow.
Just my view!!!
Be a nice person, do what's right, treat and deal with others the way you want to be treated and dealt with, stay in control. Probably all easier said than done, but it's a goal. At least for me. Speech is something I have to work on. :-/
Did you wish to train?
http://www.unfetteredmind.org/mindtraining/beginning.php
find a comfortable station?
http://m.wikihow.com/Practice-Buddhism
or become instantly wise?>
@Jainarayan said:
Practice? You bet your life.
Jeffrey I was a student of your teacher's teacher for many years.
I was a student of Thrangu Rinpoche for years, I still consider him my teacher.
I have been a student of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu for 5 years.
In that time I have never heard any of them allude to the 8 fold path or 4 noble truths ever.
Neither positively nor negatively.
This could of course be because none of us ( a total of many thousands of students ) were/are ready for that teaching.
I suspect though that it is simply because the emphasis in Vajrayana/Dzogchen is elsewhere.
@followthepath
Some of my more memorable digestions of the 8 fold path have occurred on 8 day retreats where each new day was focused on the next spoke of the Dharmachakra.