Buddhism And 12 Steps: Right View And Right Intention (Episode 10)

Today, we study the first two suggestions of Buddha's Fourth Noble Truth, The Middle Way. Right View and Right Intention help us cultivate wisdom, so to respond to every situation with love and kindness.

Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome to today's discussion on spiritual sobriety.

I'm your host,

Chris McDuffie.

Today we will look more closely at the first two of Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.

I highly suggest that you read Sylvia Boorstein's article entitled,

The First Teachings,

Found in Tricycle,

The Buddhist Review,

And the article entitled,

What is the Eightfold Path?

By the editorial board of Lion's Roar to help learn more about today's discussion.

And for the most complete and dynamic understanding of each of the Eightfold Path,

Be sure to listen to each of Joseph Goldstein's podcasts found on the Heart Mind app.

My previous introductory discussion gave you a general overview of all eight suggestions that the Buddha provided to help end our suffering and the suffering that we cause others.

You were introduced to the images of the ox cart and the ship's helm as iconography to help explain his teachings.

As a reminder,

I will read all of the Eightfold Path or the Middle Way points right now.

1.

Right View 2.

Right Intention 3.

Right Speech 4.

Right Action 5.

Right Livelihood 6.

Right Effort 7.

Right Mindfulness 8.

Right Concentration Specifically,

Right View may be defined as quote,

A true understanding of how reality and suffering are intertwined.

And Right Intention is the aspiration to act with correct intention,

Doing no harm.

Notice the term Right that precedes each suggestion of the Eightfold Path and the Middle Way.

You will see synonyms other than the term Right in Buddhist scholarly work as you study the Noble Eightfold Path.

You may also see each suggestion beginning with the following,

Wise,

Skillful,

Or correct.

To be clear,

These eight objectives are suggestions to work toward and are not intended to be seen as laws,

Rules,

Or regulations,

Just like we see in the 12-step program.

Quote,

Here are the steps that we took which are suggested as a program of recovery.

Similar to Buddhism,

There are no rules or mandates to follow.

Buddha essentially said,

This is what worked for me,

See if these suggestions worked for you.

Buddha suggests that we attempt each suggestion the same way that we would approach the 12 steps,

Through progress not perfection.

Remember too that in our previous podcast,

The three aims of the Eightfold Path are to 1.

Develop wisdom.

2.

Practice ethical conduct.

And 3.

Practice meditation,

All in an effort to end our suffering.

For today's lesson,

Please find a piece of paper and a pen.

Please draw an equilateral triangle on a piece of paper.

Above the top point,

Please write the terms wisdom.

And next to the bottom right corner of the triangle,

Write the terms ethical conduct.

And on the left corner,

Write the term meditation.

Here you have the three themes to cultivate embedded in the Eightfold Path.

Again,

Today we will discuss the first two suggestions,

Right view and right intention,

Which comprise the cultivation of wisdom.

Please now write the terms right view and right intention on the top where you wrote the words wisdom.

Now,

Next to where you wrote the words ethical conduct,

Please write the following.

Write speech,

Write action,

Write livelihood,

And write effort.

And lastly,

Next to where you wrote the word meditation,

Please add the words right mindfulness and right concentrations.

As you step back and observe your triangle,

You now have a model for Buddha's suggestions and their corresponding objectives for the middle way,

The Eightfold Path,

Again found in the fourth,

Noble Truth.

Buddha teaches us the importance of the first two suggestions,

Right view and right intention,

To help manifest wisdom.

He asks us to consider the healthiest perspective possible for which to begin looking at and acting from as we respond to each situation we meet throughout the day.

These two suggestions,

Right view and right intention,

Help us practice and cultivate non-egoic perspective as we consider our response.

Notice that these first two suggestions are technically non-behavioral,

Non-action,

Or we could label them as pre-action classifications.

Were one to practice the Eightfold Path from a one through eight sequence,

These first two suggestions highlight the essential and critical importance of our observing,

Our perspectives and our values.

It has been said that our perceptions create our reality.

Ram Dass shares,

A pickpocket meets a saint,

And all that he sees are pockets.

Buddhism asks that we clean our lenses and sharpen our perspective from a non-egoic state of loving awareness.

Remember that the center of the ox cart's hole represents the Buddhist's concept of the void.

Consider the void as the zone of non-ego.

It is our fear-based ego that jerks our ox cart wagon wheel into the rut of suffering,

And it is our wise views and wise intentions that steer us into awakening and out of the rut of samsara.

Buddhism uses several stories to represent the degrees of clarity of right view.

One series is that of a person standing above a koi pond looking down upon the orange koi.

In the first degree of clear vision,

One may see the koi perfectly,

Clearly,

And vividly.

In the second scenario,

The frozen slush obscures the clarity of the koi and most of the fish is unrecognizable.

And in the last scenario,

The frozen thick ice allows only a small orange dot to be observed.

Rather,

We see clarity and wisdom.

If we were to pause for a moment and reflect on how very clouded our perception of how we saw ourselves and others when we were in our addictive and trauma states,

And we consider for a moment the suffering that we caused ourselves and others when we were in the throes of active addiction or are suffering from our attachments to trauma,

Alcohol,

Drugs,

Resentment,

Codependency,

And trauma,

We see the chilling effects like that of trying to see the world through mud or frozen water.

From the Alcoholics Anonymous perspective,

You may find Chuck See's book,

A New Pair of Glasses,

Yet another fitting similarity between Buddhism and the 12 Steps.

As his book title suggests,

We will see life from a new,

Healthy,

Clear perspective in sobriety.

And when we practice the principles of 12 steps in all our affairs,

We have even greater clarity and greater wisdom.

We see each situation from a non-judging,

Non-fear-based,

Non-egoic view when we cultivate spiritual sobriety.

I hope that you found today's lesson on cultivating wisdom helpful.

Please be sure to follow the Spiritual Sobriety Podcast and send along your thoughts and comments on today's lesson.

It is a real pleasure connecting with you each week.

Take care.

Reviews

Wisdom that cuts thru the jargon is so helpful. I’ll be checking out all this individuals teachings!

Always grateful for your guidance.

Very clear good lessons. Non-judgemental approach.
enjoyed listening.
Thank you.