Download Week One: The story of the Historical Buddha and its symbolic

Walking The Path
In his first public teaching after the enlightenment experience, the Buddha set out his primary teaching. It
contained four parts. The first was the universal truth of mental anguish, the second was the root cause of
anguish, namely attachment. The third was that some elements of mental anguish could be lessened or
eradicated during your lifetime. The fourth part of this teaching was a practical, step-by-step guide as to
how to lessen or eradicate avoidable anguish. Within Buddhism this is known as the Eightfold Path and is
represented by an image of a wheel which has eight spokes. Each of these spokes represents one of the
eight things the Buddha suggests will give us the greatest opportunity to realise the Dharmadatu for
ourselves. It needs to be understood from the outset that this path is not a stage by stage path. We do not
work on each of the eighty spokes separately, moving on to the next one when we think we’ve perfected
the previous one in a consecutive way. We practice all of them together at the same time and all of the
time.
The eightfold path is separated into two distinct parts. The first is the path of vision and the second is the
path of transformation. The eightfold path itself begins with our initial vision and once we have
experienced that we then begin practicing the next seven stages of the path in an effort to transform our
lives in a way that is consistent with that initial vision. The seven spokes of the path of transformation are
the way in which we fully engage with the changes to our being that are required to realise the end of the
path. It should also be understood, as with everything else within Buddhism, that this is an active thing
for us to do. It doesn’t rub off from another person. No amount of incense burning, bell ringing, candle
lighting or chanting mantras will get us there. If we really do want to transform ourselves in line with our
initial vision then we have work to do and only we can do it.
In most Buddhist books the preceding word to each of the eight spokes is ‘right’ as in right vision. For
those conditioned by Western culture this can cause a difficulty, as we will tend to associate that word
with its opposite ‘wrong’. Part of our western conditioning relies heavily on themes such as right and
wrong, good and bad, evil and saintly. As a result, if we use these types of words to understand the path it
can very easily lead us off in the opposite direction to what the Buddha was suggesting. The Dharma path
is a path of ideals. It is the gradual movement, in a forward direction (and sometimes backwards) towards
the ideal of perfection. Here we find a paradox. Although we are aiming towards perfection, the law of
conditionality shows us that the state of perfection is impossible because if it was, that would mean that
perfection would be a fixed, permanent and finite state. This is why, as part of our practice we aim for
perfection despite knowing it can never be achieved on an ultimate level. There is always more to do. No
way is this a negative thing, quite the opposite. This understanding or approach actually prevents us from
settling down into complacency thinking we’ve done it or gone as far as we can.
The path begins with the experience of mental anguish. If we do not experience mental anguish there will
be no motivation to walk the path of transformation. There is no set pattern to this initial experience of
mental anguish. It will be different for each of us, but within all of those experiences there will be a
realisation on some level or other that mental anguish is present within our experience and that we would
rather be without it. Quite often it might arise as a result of personal tragedy or loss, bereavement of a
loved one, the end of a long-term relationship, the loss of a job or maybe even financial ruin. It can arise
at a time when someone begins to question their own existence or the meaning and purpose of life, maybe
when the children have all left home or they are looking to fill in time with something of interest. For
some people this initial vision might even arise as a result of what appears to them to be a spontaneous
mystical experience of some kind.
Others have experienced this on hearing the Dharma for the first time, visiting a Buddhist temple or even
just meeting a Dharma practitioner who has inspired them. Something just clicks in their head as if they
had found something that they had already known in the depth of their consciousness, often described as a
kind of coming home. Something just feels comfortable or makes sense. For others it might arise in a rare
moment of ecstasy whilst surrounded by the beauty, peace and quiet of nature or listening to a beautiful
piece of music or exploring a work of art. It can even arise within the intellectual or those with an
analytical mind, who try to explore by reason and logic the meaning of existence. It can certainly arise as
a result of meditation practice when the mind has been systematically stilled and when all thoughts have
gone and just clear consciousness remains. Some people experience this initial vision whilst engaged in
altruistic activities such as nursing or looking after elderly people. It may also arise simply out of the
whole experience of someone’s life as they get older and more mature. I’m not suggesting that wisdom
automatically comes with age but for those who, as they get older, have mellowed and sweetened a little
this might provide the opportunity for this experience to arise. For some people it may have even
happened in a dream-state.
Sadly, it has to be said that it is also a time when having experienced any of these scenarios many people
do not listen to that little voice in their head and turn instead to a destructive pattern of drug or alcohol
abuse or other methods of distraction and avoidance to try and blot out the mental anguish. They do not
realise that by doing this they are just adding on another layer. Conversely it is also clear that many
people do experience mental anguish and just get on with it. They accept their lot and are content not to
do anything about it. This type of person is symptomatic of being on auto-pilot, where human
consciousness is barely switched on. However this initial experience of mental anguish has arisen for you
it’s important not to lose it or forget it. It needs to be cultivated, deepened and clarified to a stage where it
permeates and transform our whole being, our entire life on a moment by moment basis, if we are to
lessen or eradicate those elements of mental anguish that can be transformed. It is very clear that many
who begin Dharma practice lose sight of this initial vision when the level of mental anguish becomes
manageable or they begin to feel a bit more comfortable with how things are for them or when a
particular problem has been solved. When that does happen you will have stepped off the path onto the
verge of being yet another title carrying Buddhist.
The main obstacle to engage fully with the experience of transforming mental anguish is faith and belief.
The vast majority of the world’s population turns to religion to give them apparent relief from mental
anguish. They settle down and wrap themselves in their comfort blankets in the hope that some special
person can be the intermediary between them and a higher power that loves them and will make
everything alright. They negate all individual responsibility for their actions in favour of adhering to
externally imposed rules and regulations in the knowledge that they will be forgiven anything they do if
they continue to have faith and pay financially or otherwise for their sins. In this respect, institutionalised
and culturally biased Buddhists are no different.
If we are to move this initial vision towards the ideal of perfection we need to develop insightful wisdom
into the true nature of existence, the law of conditionality in all its aspects. I would suggest that each and
every one of you have already experienced what I have called the initial vision. Whether you chose to
acknowledge it or not, you wouldn’t be reading this if you hadn’t. You might not have known what it was
you were experiencing when mental anguish raised its ugly head in your life circumstances but you
certainly felt it and you definitely didn’t like it. The big question is has it effected you enough to want to
transform it. All the while you are alive and breathing you will still be experiencing the aging process and
its effects, you will still experience sickness and its effects. Eventually you will die and nobody knows
what, if anything will happen then. But, now you know that you can actually do something to lessen or
even eradicate the other aspects of mental anguish by your own efforts. Right here, right now in the only
moment that you can be certain you have available to you, this one.
Whatever you do just don’t believe that because I say so or even because the Buddha says so. If you
choose to enter the path of transformation it will be your path, not mine. You will be solely responsible
for your own actions, reactions and resultant experience. It will be you who will start to transform that
initial vision into the first spoke of the eightfold path, that of ‘Perfect Vision’ by your own efforts. I will
be there in the background offering support as will others who are walking the same path. It’s crucial to
understand from the start that perfection is always an ideal and something to aim for. Sometimes you will
fall short of the ideal of perfection but that does not mean you have failed. It is your motivation and
striving for perfection that is important. It is not something that happens overnight. It is not something
that will become a burden to do. When the heart of practice is engaged it is something quite joyful. With
transformation comes the gradual release of mental anguish.
We now turn to the path of transformation itself. The first of these seven remaining spokes of the wheel is
the development towards the ideal of “Perfect Emotion”. One of the biggest problems for those who
embark on the Dharma path is to translate what they have read and understood from an intellectual
perspective into action. If we understand the basic premise of Buddhism is to avoid harm, learn to be kind
and to purify the heart and mind we can all see how very simple that sounds, but how difficult is it to
actually do it? Throughout theistic religion and Buddhism we will find people who can recite, line by line,
great texts. They can write about it, give lectures on it, but they seem unable to actually develop that
knowledge into practice. Even the most sincere of scholars would experience a degree of mental anguish
when they own up to the fact that it is so difficult to actually do it. For most there appears to be some
obstruction within us that prevents us breaking through from bare knowledge to a realisation of the
Dharmadatu and this is where we will find the answer to the problem.
As part of our human nature we have varying levels of consciousness. There is the level where we know
something with the conscious mind, the rational part of ourselves, but there is a deeper level made up of
emotion, instinct or willed actions and this is much stronger than our rational mind and it is this part of
our mind that we need to tackle with practice to perfect our emotions. This is our conditioning factors, the
things that drive us forward repeating habitual behaviour patterns. One of the greatest tasks of the Dharma
practitioner is to find an emotional equivalent for our intellectual understanding and until we have done
this very little progress can be made along the path. This is why we find the ideal of perfect emotion as
the second spoke of the Dharma wheel. In many ways the remaining six spokes would be very difficult to
work effectively on until such a time as when we have got our emotions in check, which is why I
emphasise how important this part of our practice is. We only have to look at our own life experience and
we will know that there will have been many times where our emotions have got us into difficult
situations when common sense would have told us to leave the situation well alone.
Throughout the Buddhist world it is widely accepted that the most effective way to begin perfecting our
emotional being is to live as best we can within a framework of ethical principles and to undertake some
form of renunciation. Now that word renunciation can sound a bit scary. It conjures up perhaps an image
of a need to give everything away and going off to live in a cave or monastery or something, but this is
not what it really means. We know within the context of the Primary Teaching that it is attachment that
lies at the root of mental anguish. This is why we need to attempt to loosen our grip on worldly things. If
we have experienced sufficient mental anguish in relation to the unsatisfactory and impermanent nature of
material things it would bring about an automatic urge to let go of stuff. If we are to undertake the
Dharma path there is a necessity to change. Although the law of conditionality shows that change is
inevitable, in relation to human beings our conditioning factors are so powerful that we have to actually
do something to kick start the opportunity to change. We do need to learn to let go. We can’t just continue
along as we did before. If our lives are not changing in this way then we have very little chance to perfect
the ideal of our initial vision.
There is no set pattern to renunciation and within Buddhism there should be no-one telling you what you
should and should not give up. Whatever we choose to do, the resulting experience should lead to living a
much simpler and less cluttered life. If it doesn’t you have either let go too soon or you haven’t let go at
all and are just kidding yourself or going through the motions. I would suggest that most of us have far
too much stuff lying around. A very useful exercise is to go round your home with a pen and paper and
write down everything that you haven’t used for a year. You’d be surprised how much holding on we do.
It’s a bit like having a just-in-case mentality. With renunciation comes a positive opportunity to practice
generosity. Giving what we don’t need to those who may need it more than we do. Generosity is always
seen as the first step on the Dharma path. We might not have got our ethical practice quite there yet. We
might not be able to meditate regularly. But there is nothing stopping us from being generous other than
our unconscious mind that lives in a world that does not fully understand the concept of true ‘Dana’ – the
giving just for the sake of giving without wanting anything in return.
The next spoke of the Dharma wheel is the development towards the ideal of “Perfect Speech”. Speech is
something we engage in all the time. Our work here is to perfect our speech so that it becomes not only
truthful but affectionate and helpful, the kind of speech that leads to harmony and unity. The problem that
we have in doing this is that we tend to pad things out a bit, exaggerate a little or want to bend the facts in
the direction in which we would like them to go. How often have we heard that a little white lie wouldn’t
do any harm? You’d be surprised how difficult it is to be totally truthful, especially when we begin to
combine truthfulness with other ethical principles such as doing no harm. How often do we repeat what
we have read or heard without knowing for ourselves it is the truth. To learn to speak the truth we have to
learn to observe our motivations, what drives us, which means we need to begin by being totally honest
with ourselves.
Perfect speech is not only truthful it is also affectionate and loving. This does not mean just using terms
of endearment. It means talking with complete awareness of the person to whom we are speaking.
Perhaps you might have noticed how rarely we actually look at people when we talk to them. We look
almost anywhere but at the person themselves. We like to think that we are loving, caring people but very
often in our communication with others we are simply relating to others in terms of our own emotional
reactions to them. We react emotionally to others in a certain way and then we attribute that emotional
reaction to them as a quality of them. For instance if people do what we would like them to do, then we
say they are good, kind and helpful and vice versa. If we really understood ourselves and the nature of our
relationships we would find that we hardly know even those who we count as being closest to us. We
might have lived with someone for years but all we have probably been doing is recognising within each
other our emotional reactions. This is why there is so much misunderstanding between people. Because
we really don’t know each other we can’t communicate truthfully and we end up with a kind of pseudocommunication and nothing more. What we end up with is a kind of maze of projections.
According to the Buddha we should speak that which is useful in the sense of speaking in such a way as
to promote harmony and individual growth. In the West in particular we have a serious problem with selfworth. If we are told something good about ourselves we are uncomfortable or may even feel a sense of
guilt about it. We need to learn to accept what others see in us that perhaps we have not recognised
ourselves. We need to be searching for the beauty and good in all things. What distinguishes a flower
from a weed? Both have aspects of beauty within them. There is a time of course for criticism but this is a
very dangerous area because until such time as we are fully aware of our motivations such criticism
would tend to be harmful and not helpful. What we can do is, say or do something that we think would be
helpful but unconsciously what we are doing is projecting our own stuff outwards.
If we can learn to communicate truthfully with a love that has an awareness of the other person’s being; if
we speak in a way as to promote the other’s growth; if we are more concerned with their needs than about
our own; if we are not projecting our own emotional states or using or exploiting them; then the result
will be that in communicating with another person we will forget all about ourselves. To work towards
the ideal of perfecting our speech not only must it be truthful, affectionate and helpful it must also
promote harmony and unity. This doesn’t mean that we have to agree with everything all the time. Within
Buddhist circles we go beyond democracy to a system of decision making based on consensus. If you’ve
ever served on any type of committee you will know how difficult it is for a group of people to make a
decision that they all agree on and how heated things can get. Learning to see the other point of view
without digging your heels in, learning to give way is a great opportunity to practice harmonious speech.
To finish I’ll just mention the kind of speech that the Buddha promoted as perfect speech. It’s referred to
in the Buddhist world as the “Noble Silence”. Generally speaking we get far too little of this in our lives.
If we are honest we’re a bit scared of it. In the West we even add sound into meditation practices to make
them a little more appealing and comfortable and devalue the practice as a result. All the while we are
silent we are not lying, we’re not doing any harm, we’re not wasting time and effort in idol gossip. That’s
not to say that it is perfect because there is still a thought process that lies behind the silence that has to be
silenced as well. Silence of this quality is very rare in the Western world. We talk far too much without
ever really communicating.
Spoke four of the Dharma wheel is the development towards the ideal of “Perfect Action”. This brings us
to the very basics of living a Dharma life. It involves adopting a set of guiding ethical principles for us to
engage with fully. This is what Dharma practitioners do. Whether we like it or not we have to act every
moment of our lives. The only question we have to resolve is how to act in a way that puts loving
kindness above everything else. The modernist view is that there has been a general decline in moral
conduct as man has turned away from mainstream religion. This is too simplistic to accept blindly. When
the institutions of religion did control the behaviour of the populace it was fear of retribution or
punishment that motivated the behaviour rather than the acceptance of personal responsibility. In the
modern New Age philosophy of self-help and positive thinking, there is a mind-set that seems to have
developed that ‘If you do something and it makes you feel good then that thing is right, at least for you’.
Even in an age where governments and lawmakers legislate to keep us in line it is still a fear of
punishment that keeps most in check. Eventually we will have no option but to re-think, re-feel and even
re-imagine our morality to survive because all of the above are gradually losing their hold over us and
anarchy will reign supreme as a result if we don’t.
Over 2,500 years ago the Buddha proposed a set of ethical guidelines that promoted absolute personal
responsibility. These principles are not just a set of rules, although when you first come across them it
may seem like that. You might even think that the Buddha is doing just the same as God by telling us
what we should and shouldn’t do. In reality it is quite the opposite. The words ‘should’ and ‘should not’
need to be eradicated from the Dharma practitioners language. Here we are encouraged to experience for
ourselves the direct correlation between everything we think say and do with what our moment by
moment physical, emotional and psychological experience is. Putting to one side for one moment any
belief in the concept of re-birth and the crippling and neurotic emotion of guilt that is associated with
conditioning factors, it will be clear that this approach to ethics is not based on the reward and
punishment systems of rules and regulations. What it does allow the practitioner to do is, develop a level
of consciousness that will experience directly the results of one’s actions. Our actions, after all, are simply
an expression of our mental states and as our practice develops we notice, on ever more subtle levels, that
there is always more to do to refine those mental states.
On the Dharma path of developing practice we try to let go of terms such as good and bad, right and
wrong. Those words and how we’ve come to associate with them are deeply embedded in our
consciousness through the western conditioning process. For that reason they are replaced with new terms
to describe our conduct as being either helpful or unhelpful towards the realisation of the Dharmadatu,
our primary aim. This is very significant because those terms suggest that morality is very much a matter
of intelligence. You cannot be helpful unless you can understand things, unless you can see possibilities
and explore them. So it is more a matter of intelligence or insight rather than one of just having good
intentions and good feelings. Unhelpful actions are defined as those which are rooted in attachment,
craving or selfish desire, in hatred or aversion and in mental confusion or delusional ignorance. Helpful
actions are those which are free from attachment, craving, free from hatred, free from mental confusion
and delusional ignorance. They are motivated instead by generosity, love and compassion. This very
simple distinction places the whole question of morality in a different light. The moral life becomes a
question of acting from what is best within us, acting from our deepest understanding and insight, our
widest and most comprehensive love and compassion.
One other area to consider is the nature of perfect action itself. It is a total action. It is something we give
full attention to. If we’re honest with ourselves we rarely give full attention to anything. We might think
we do but if we examine our lives more deeply we will find that perhaps we do slack off a bit at work and
not give our best all of the time, we might spend a great deal of time on our hobbies but we tend to take it
or leave it at times, we might attend a Buddhism course but hey it’s wet and cold tonight or it’s a public
holiday so I’ll give it a miss. I’d even suggest that in our domestic lives we are not fully attentive all of
the time. In working to perfect our actions this is what we’re seeking to do, be fully engaged with
whatever it is we’re doing on a moment by moment basis.
The next spoke of the wheel is a bit of a problem for those of us in the West. Our society is based on
materialism and consumerism and therefore we have little option but to enter the world of employment so
we can pay the bills. This is no excuse to let ourselves off though. What we do to make a living has
immense ramifications for us in relation to our well-being. Here we are aiming to develop towards the
ideal of finding and then working within a “Perfect Livelihood”. The occupations set out by the Buddha
as those that can never be reconciled with Dharma practice were stated 2,500 years ago but they still hold
true today. If you were to accept them as an initial guide but seek to add other occupations that relate to
21t century living you would be on the same page as the Buddha. The Buddha’s list consists of the
following:
1. Trafficking in living beings whether human or animals.
2. Dealing in animals for the purpose of slaughter.
3. Butcher or seller of meat products.
4. Seller of poison which includes anything that has a stupefying effect on the mind.
5. Involvement in the selling of weapons of war.
6. Earning from palmistry, fortune-telling, spiritualism, astrology etc
What we need to explore within our practice is what effect our employment is having on us and the wider
world even if we are employed in an occupation that is not included on the list. Accepting that there is a
need to earn money, we always have the opportunity to find meaningful work that helps us to develop on
the path. This will often require a stepping back from the drive for more material wealth, more money, in
exchange for an existence that is much simpler but happier and more personally rewarding and this can be
quite scary for most. Within a Westernised conditioned society that is wholly based on a materialistic
existence and where achievement is measured by financial success and what we physically have, it may
be difficult to even consider making a move that may leave us with less because we will be considered to
be a failure by the rest of society. If we are serious about the Dharma path we really have no option. If we
are not letting go of any concerns about what others think of us we will be getting nowhere. The Dharma
path is about transformation of the whole being and not just the intellect or mind. It is in the realm of
what we do for a living that provides us with an opportunity at least to really make significant progress on
that path.
Within Western Buddhist circles a system of employment has been adopted call ‘team based right
livelihood’, a kind of co-operative business that is not based on profit margins but more aligned to
making our working lives an integral part of our Dharma practice. It involves Buddhists working together.
This has taken on many forms from whole-food shops, vegetarian café’s, book shops and gift shops
selling fair-trade products. There have been building firms, gardening companies almost everything has
been tried but whatever has been undertaken it has been done with a mind-set that is firmly based on
ethical practice thereby transforming not only those employed but providing an opportunity to positively
effect those that the business came into contact with. Nobody ever got rich doing this but individual needs
were always met and substantial amounts of money were raised to further the promotion of the Dharma
by purchasing Buddhist centres and retreat centres. This kind of opportunity to extend our practice has
even resulted in many people who had independent financial means and little need of earning, actually
giving their time and effort for no pay at all as they recognised the benefit of spending their time with
like-minded people in an enterprise that provided such a great opportunity for individual development on
the path.
So what’s stopping us? I would suggest that as always it is fear. Fear based on the idea that we are fixed
ego-identities with a future to protect. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. If you have understood even
the basics of what the Buddha taught you will have already realised that the Dharma life is about stepping
outside of our individual comfort zones. It is about taking chances and what we do to exist financially
possibly provides the greatest opportunity to put all that we have learned to the test. What an opportunity
it would be to create such a livelihood. Will we do it? Probably not and we shouldn’t give ourselves too
much of a hard time about that. Until that time arrives or even if it never arrives look to what you are
doing to earn a living now and see if it can be reconciled with Dharma practice. If it’s not, realistically, if
you are serious about the path you have chosen, you have a big decision to make.
The sixth spoke of the Dharma wheel is the development towards the ideal of “Perfect Effort”. Being a
Dharma practitioner is a thing in action. It is not enough to sit back and read books, attend classes or be
part of a sangha. There is always something for the individual practitioner to be doing to move them in
the direction of reaching their full potential. No matter what stage of the Dharma path you are on there is
always more to be done. Generally speaking people begin with lots of enthusiasm. They want to take in
more knowledge and they really get into meditation. Very often it quickly wears off. This is because our
habitual patterns of behaviour are so strong they overtake our resolution to practice. Even in simple
matters like getting up half an hour earlier to meditate. We might succeed once or twice or maybe even
three times but by the fourth morning the warm cosy bed seems more appealing, especially in the winter
months. The same problem applies to study and ethics. Other things seem to just get in the way and our
Dharma life is put on the back burner for a while until we hit another patch of enthusiasm or more often
than not when something else goes wrong with our lives and mental anguish comes a bit more
uncomfortable than usual.
Like everything else on the Dharma path we have to approach this with absolute honesty and integrity. If
we kid ourselves we will get nowhere. There is really no point in wearing the name badge of being a
Buddhist. It might make us appear cool to others but you need to be constantly aware of the deeper
motivations behind the choices you make. The Buddha sets out four ways in which we need to be
approaching the ideal of perfecting our effort on the path. In the Buddhist world this teaching is known as
the four exertions which will give you an indication as to the level of effort he is referring to in this regard.
The first effort he suggests we should be exploring and developing is the prevention of the arising of
unarisen, unhelpful mental states. We have learned that an unhelpful mental state is one that is
contaminated with attachment, craving, selfish desire, hatred, delusion or mental confusion. In trying to
locate the actual source of these unhelpful mental states we have to examine the senses. If we are walking
through the shopping mall and our attention is drawn to something in a shop window and a thought pops
into our head “Mmmm that’s nice. I’d like to have that” what has happened is that through the physical
organ of the eye, our sight sense, there arises greed or craving within the mind. The same would apply
when you are walking past the curry house and get a whiff of a Madras sauce. Here the physical organ of
the nose, our smell sense, allows the same craving or desire to arise in the mind. Conversely if your not
paying attention to what you’re eating and you just happen to put a brussel sprout in your mouth the
physical organ of the mouth, our taste sense, allows aversion or hatred to arise in the mind. So to prevent
the arising of unhepful mental states we have to develop a greater sense of awareness and do what we can
to guard our senses from opportunities where they can be overcome by unhelpful mind states.
The second effort he suggests we should be exploring and developing is the eradication of unhelpful
mental states that have already arisen. To help us with this he offers guidance based on five things that
will hinder our progress. (1) The hindrance of craving for material things. This is probably the area in
which we most suffer, even if we consider that we are not at all materialistic. If we look deeper enough
we will find that there is an on-going craving for food, clothing and shelter which are our basic human
needs. The problem is that we always seem to want more than what we need. (2) The hindrance of hatred.
This covers all aspects of hatred in all its most gross and subtle forms; antagonism, aggressiveness,
dislike, even righteous indignation which has been a major cause of suffering throughout religious history.
(3) The hindrance of restlessness and anxiety. This is a huge problem in the West. In the Western world
when you observe people you don’t get a sense of peacefulness about them. Their lives seem to be full of
worry and anxiety of some kind. We seem to live very fast paced lives. This doesn’t mean that we need to
slow down because we can do things quite quickly with full awareness. It means that when we find
ourselves turning from one thing to another because ultimately we didn’t find the first thing satisfying we
are in a state of mental turmoil. (4) The hindrance of sloth & torpor. This is when we get a bit stiff and
dry. When the head of steam we’ve built up for the Dharma life is beginning to wane a little. This can
also be found in the mind-sets of many in the modern world who develop an attitude of, why bother
what’s it got to do with me? It can be a difficult thing to spot in ourselves as we may see it as being cool,
calm and collected or laid back but again if we examine ourselves more deeply we might find that we
have just stagnated. (5) The hindrance of doubt & indecision. This is much easier to spot within
ourselves. It is when we are stuck in the middle or sitting on the fence. We can’t make a decision either
way, when we can’t make any kind of commitment. This is very common when you find people on a
continual search for an answer. They try everything from Tarot cards, crystals, tantric sex right through to
colonic irrigation. This type of person will forever be a seeker and never settle down with one thing or
another. They convince themselves that there is a value in keeping ‘an open mind’ - just in case. In many
ways it is less destructive to become a believer and settle down into that comfort zone than forever
wandering with uncertainty. The perpetual seeker has no chance to lessen or eradicate mental anguish. It
takes commitment not faith. All they will be doing is going round in circles of pleasure and pain being
financially drained if nothing else.
The Buddha often compared this thing we call mind to water. In its natural state it is pure, translucent and
sparkling, but it can be contaminated in many ways. In the same way, the mind which is also pure in
nature can be defiled by the five hindrances. Unlike theistic religion, in Buddhism we are born pure
beings and then pursue the purity that conditioning has dirtied. We are not born sinners who then have to
spend their lives feeling guilty and atone for their wrong doing. The mind that is full of craving is like a
glass of clear water that someone has put their paintbrush in and wiggled it around a bit. It gets a bit
cloudy. The mind overcome by hatred is compared with water reaching boiling point, hissing and letting
off steam. The mind that is disturbed by anxiety is like the surface water of a still pond being whipped up
into waves by a strong wind. The mind in the grip of sloth & torpor is like a pond choked with weeds and
the mind that under the influence of doubt and indecision is like water which is full of evil smelling black
mud at the bottom of the same pond.
Purification is a much used Buddhist word that can often be misunderstood. It has nothing to do with the
wearing of hair shirts or beating ourselves with sticks. It refers to the development of a purified mind. The
Buddha provides us with guidance with a set of five things for us to work with. (a) Consider the
consequences of the unhelpful mental state. If we get angry what happens to us, others and the world
around us (b) Cultivating the opposite of the unhelpful mental state. If we have a problem with someone
we need to work on our relationship with them perhaps with the metta bhavana practice (d) Allow the
unhelpful mental state to pass. Remember that nothing is fixed. Everything is in a constant state of change
and our mind is no different. Paying attention and letting go and just watching the change is the key here
without giving in to reaction. (e) Suppression. We grit our teeth and make an effort to push it away from
the mind. This is very different from repression which can lead to all kinds of psychological problems.
Here we are fully aware of the problem and what we are doing.
The third effort he suggests we should be exploring is the development of unarisen hekpful mental states.
This is not just about thinking nice thoughts or positive thinking. It means the development of higher
states of consciousness through meditation. Meditation is more than just about developing a concentrated
mind. Its real aim, in the long term is to transform consciousness. Needless to say that without a regular
meditation practice we will always find ourselves on a merry-go-round of habitual behaviour and thought
patterns, even if we consider ourselves to be a great thinker or contemplative by nature or are capable of
working all these things out with a mind that is not stilled by meditation we will only be deluding
ourselves because without that discipline in our lives all we are doing is coming at things with a distracted
mind.
The fourth effort he suggests we should me making is maintaining arisen helpful mental states. Having
prevented and eradicated negative mental states and developed positive mental states we now have to
maintain the higher states of consciousness we have developed. If we stop our practice for even one
moment we will find ourselves back where we started. Consistency is therefore essential. If we give up
when we reach a kind of plateau where our level of mental anguish is now manageable, all that effort we
have made will be devalued so quickly and you can be assured that mental anguish will arise again with a
vengeance.
The seventh spoke of the Dharma wheel is the development towards the ideal of “Perfect Awareness”.
For most of us our moment by moment lives consists of one distraction after another. We are rarely
present with just one thing at a time. A lack of concentration is the basic problem that lies behind this
activity of the mind. In many ways because our lack of concentration leads to no continuity of purpose we
become a succession of different personalities as we engage with different things. We can’t settle into
becoming a single authentic being with the capacity for growth. Awareness is quite the opposite. In
exploring the subject of awareness it can be helpful to break it down into four categories.
The first category is awareness of things. This relates to the whole of our material environment which is
full of so many different objects. Generally speaking, we only have a vague awareness of what is around
us. We probably don’t even spend a nano-second actually looking at anything specifically. What we tell
ourselves is that we just don’t have the time and this says a great deal about life in the modern Western
world. When I say stop and look I don’t mean just stare at things but actually see them fully for what they
are. If you were to sit in the park and placed your attention in a sufficiently concentrated way on just one
tree it wouldn’t be very long before you actually merged with the tree. In effect there would be no you
and no tree. There would just be oneness. For many of us this is long way off because we haven’t
disciplined the mind in any great way yet. I mention it so that it is something you can begin to try to do as
an exercise in practice.
The second category is awareness of oneself. At any given moment there are three main things that are
going on within us. There is physical experience, a feeling tone and a thought process. To become aware
of our physical experience we actually have to become fully engaged with observing our body
movements and when we do this it will automatically lead to a slowing down. When we are walking note
the sensations of movements and how each body part is connected and has a role to play in even a single
step. When we are sitting become aware of the physical sensation of contact between body and surface.
One common misunderstanding about the slowing down process that arises when awareness is practiced
is that you get less done. It’s actually quite the opposite. You find the person who dashes around like a
mad person trying to get as much done as possible actually achieves very little to any real satisfaction.
The person who practices within awareness, dealing with just one thing at a time, fully engaged,
completes the task with a greater proficiency and in the long run actually gets more done.
When we talk of feelings within Buddhism it is something quite different from emotions. All of our many
and varied emotions can be compiled into three categories. They are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. By
becoming more aware of our emotional life we will find that our unhelpful emotional states, those borne
out of attachment, craving, hatred or fear will be resolved and those borne out of helpful emotional states
such as love, peace compassion and joy will have the opportunity to be refined. If we take anger as
something that most people would rather do without but find themselves engaging with at varying levels
quite often we can perhaps see how it works. If we develop an awareness of feelings we will first notice
that we have been angry. We notice afterwards. With practice we will realise that we are actually angry in
the moment. With further practice we will become aware of anger arising. With more practice the
opportunity for anger to arise will subside or at the very least be brought under control.
When we turn to our thought process I would suggest if I asked any one of you what you were thinking
right now you wouldn’t know. This is because for most of the time we actually don’t think at all.
Thoughts drift in and out without us being aware of them. There is no directed thinking going on for
much of the time. We do not decide to think about something and then actually think about it. With
awareness of thought we have to learn to watch moment by moment to see where the thoughts come from
and where they go. If we do this we will find the flow of thoughts slowing down and that the mental
chatter which for most people is never ending will come to a halt. With sufficient training and practice the
mind will become at certain points completely silent. All discursive thoughts, ideas and concepts will be
wiped out and the mind will be left silent and empty. It is at this stage that real meditation begins.
The third category is awareness of people. Within Western culture in particular we rarely make eye
contact with another human being let alone actually communicate fully with them. You may have heard
of something called ‘Darsan’ this is a very common thing within Eastern culture. People travel long
distances just to be in the physical presence of their teacher. No actual teaching goes on. The teacher just
sits there and the students become fully aware of him/her as a spiritual being or as the living embodiment
of a spiritual ideal. Although nothing is said between them communication is said to be taking place on a
deeper level than using the spoken word. It’s said to be almost telepathic at times. Make of this claim as
you will.
The fourth category is awareness of reality. This does not mean just thinking or contemplating the
concept of reality. Ultimately, awareness of reality as being empty of all conceptual content and beyond
the reach of thought, imagination, aspiration or desire is our final destination. This is the world of the
meditator who has traversed the dhyanic states in mediation and can direct the mind to the world of nonconceptual thinking.
The eight spoke of the Dharma wheel is the development of “Perfect Samadhi”. Sometimes you will find
this described as right concentration or right meditation but the most appropriate translation of Samadhi is
actually the state of being firmly fixed or established in one-pointed awareness. It’s where the mind is
settled on one thing and one thing only. It also has a much richer meaning in the sense of the whole being
engrossed in a higher level of consciousness or awareness. Quite often this second area is overlooked and
the Buddha’s teaching of the eightfold path can become based around the goal of achieving concentrated
states but the culmination of the eightfold path - Perfect Samadhi - represents the fruition of the whole of
the path of transformation on all levels and in every aspect of one’s being. In other words it represents the
transformation from an unenlightened to an enlightened state. It takes us right back to the very start of the
eightfold path where our initial vision has been transformed into Perfect vision.
On this journey towards Perfect Samadhi we experience three individual stages which do not necessarily
go in any particular order. The first of these is Samatha which literally means tranquillity, although it’s
quite often referred to as pacification or calming down. In experiential terms this would be when mental
activity in the sense of discursive thought or the clattering of the mental machinery is either minimal or
entirely absent. The second of the experiences are called Samapatti which literally means attainments or
experiences gained as a result of practising concentration. Everyone who meditates regularly will
experience these to some degree. The most common experience is one of lights of various kinds. These, it
is said, are an indication that the mind has become concentrated to a level of awareness that is raised
slightly and that one has begun to contact something which is just a little bit beyond the ordinary
conscious mind. Within the Samapatti experience there also arise flashes of insight. This is a moment
where things make sense for the very first time. These experiences and others, although very
transformative in themselves are not permanent. Logic, reason, concept and intellect very quickly take
over and you’re almost back to where you started or you’ve made a little forward progress.
Consistent meditation practice will eventually lead to levels of concentration that are experienced by only
the most dedicated and skilful meditators. It takes a lifetime of practice to develop this level of
concentration. This is the world of the imageless samadhi, the directionless Samadhi and Samadhi of
emptiness. So, having told you they exist there is very little else I will say other than these states are
experiential. We have now travelled the length and breadth of the eightfold path. Perhaps we’ve
understood that what we are trying to attain by putting it into practice within our daily lives is a higher
mode of being and consciousness. Remember that although this is a path it doesn’t follow the normal
pattern of a path as in we leave one part of the path behind us as we move forward. This path is a
cumulative process. It’s like rolling a snowball along the ground – it grows and expands all the time.
In modern terms if we think of ourselves as a car that won’t work we have a number of options. We can
take the simple option and that is to find someone else to do the work for us. We pay them. They do the
job and off we go driving along the same old roads again until the next breakdown. The other option and
is to get out the manual, follow the instructions and use the right tools and get the job done ourselves.
Take responsibility for our own car if you like. It’ll save a lot of time, effort and money in the long run.