Along the Path
Morality, Concentration, and Wisdom are the summation of the 8-fold path - the cure for all human suffering as detailed by The Buddha. No other information is required to succeed - but it is precisely it's simplicity that makes it not entirely clear to everyone, so Buddha gave many sermons to support his explanation. The following is a few basic instructions and pieces of Wisdom to help guide us along the path.
The
Five Hindrances
Buddha described five negative mental states that impede meditation, hinder
our spiritual progress, and perpetuate suffering.
These same two lists from the same book demonstrate that it is not important
to cling to the letter of the teaching, but to the spirit of the teaching.
(1)
Greed 2) Anger 3) Idleness 4) Distraction 5) Skeptical doubt[2]
Lust[3] – concentration
Ill will – bliss
Sloth – applied thought
Agitation – happiness
Doubt – sustained thought
The
nine levels of jhana are:
1.
Delightful Sensations
2. Joy
3. Contentment
4. Utter peacefulness
5. Infinity of space
6. Infinity of consciousness
7. No-thingness
8. Neither perception nor non- perception
9. Cessation
The
different kinds of people in the world
4 kinds
of people[4]
·
Those
who because of not knowing the way
hurt themselves
·
Those
who by their actions harm others
·
Those
who cause others to suffer along with themselves.
· Those who do not suffer themselves and save others from suffering.
“These
people of the last category, by following the teachings of Buddha, do not give
way to greed, anger, or foolishness, but live peaceful lives of kindness and
wisdom without killing or stealing.”
· Those who are like letters written in rock, they easily anger and retain their angry thoughts for a long time.
· Those who are like letters written in sand, they also anger, but their angry thoughts quickly pass away.
·
Those
who are like letters written in water, who do not retain their passing thoughts
and let abuse and gossip pass by unnoticed; their minds are always pure and
undisturbed.
3 other kinds of people[6]
· Those who are proud, act rashly and are never satisfied; their natures are easy to understand.
· Then there are those who are courteous and always act after consideration; their natures are hard to understand.
·
Then
there are those who have overcome desire completely; it is impossible to
understand their natures.
“Thus
people can be classified in many different ways, but nevertheless, their natures
are hard to understand.
Only Buddha
understands them and, by His wisdom, leads them through varied teachings.” Page
90 100%.
There are five evils in the world[7].
· Cruelty
· No clear demarcation of what belongs to whom
· No clear demarcation for the behaviour between men and women.
· There is a tendency for people to disrespect the rights of others, to exaggerate their own importance at the expense of others, to set bad examples of behaviour and, being unjust in their speech, to deceive, slander and abuse others.
·
A
tendency for people to neglect their duties toward others.
They think too much of their own comfort and their own desires; they
forget the favours they have received and cause annoyance to others that often
passes into great injustice.
“People
should have more sympathy for one another; they should respect one another for
their good traits and help one another in their difficulties; but, instead, they
are selfish and hard-hearted; they despise one another for their failings and
dislike others for their advantages.
These aversions generally grow worse with time, and after a while, become
intolerable.”
Page 97-98
[1] The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom. Page 50
[2] The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist Wisdom. Page 110
[3] Isaac Newton believed that when you focus on something you also receive its opposite, so by taking grand measures of celibacy you would automatically receive more lustful thoughts in its place. So how he overcame this problem was to busy his mind with scientific and mathematical thought so that he simply had no time to spend his energy otherwise.
[4] Man’s Nature; The Teachings of Buddha. Page 89
[5] Man’s Nature; The Teachings of Buddha. Page 89
[6] Man’s Nature; The Teachings of Buddha. Page 89
[7] Reality of Human Life; The Teachings of Buddha. Page 97