Basics Of Buddhism: Foundations Of The Path

Many of us have been introduced to mindfulness meditation, but don’t necessarily have a framework to understand why we’re practicing and where the practice is designed to lead us. This can lead to low motivation and a lack of progress.

To start this conversation, join Karen for 12 talks and meditations on the first teachings of the Buddha, known as the 4 noble truths and the eightfold path. These foundational teachings are a framework from which we can transform our lives in a practical and holistic way. Our focus will be on applying the practice of mindfulness to daily life, rather than taking on a belief system.

Lección 1: Embracing All Of Life

The goal of mindfulness practice is to be able to stay engaged with our lives as they unfold so that we can speak and act in ways that promote harmony and well-being for ourselves and others. The first teaching of the Buddha is the task of embracing all of life, to fully know it. This is easy enough when things are going well, but takes some effort when we face the inevitable emotional or physical pain that arises. In getting to know the difficult corners of our lives, we start the process of ending our reactivity and our unnecessary suffering. We will still have difficulty because that’s normal. It’s what we do with it that will either alleviate or compound our suffering for ourselves and for those around us.

Lección 2: Loosening The Grip Of Reactivity

The Buddha explained that the 3 kinds of reactivity that cause suffering are greed (craving), hatred (craving that something goes away), and delusion (biases, prejudices, and distortion). These responses are built into the system of beings, but it’s what we do with them that determines our experience. Our second task is to loosen the hold that our reactivity has on us, by softening, accepting, and not identifying with it. If we don’t take our reactivity to be us, if we don’t fixate on it or believe it, then it won’t affect our actions and drive our experience. Mindfulness practice trains us to foster this process.

Lección 3: Experiencing Freedom

When we don’t identify with and act upon our reactivity, it passes on its own. Then we are left with peace and spaciousness. The Buddha’s third task is that we dwell here in the space of nirvana. Often nirvana is thought of as a blissful space experienced by a special few. But the Buddha explains that this space is experienced by all of us when reactivity passes, and by immersing ourselves in this experience we can experience freedom directly. This is not esoteric or unattainable, but rather the visible and immediate freedom that the Buddha referenced.

Lección 4: Cultivating A Way Of Life

The fourth task that the Buddha laid out was to cultivate a way of life, to follow a path. He outlined 8 elements of the path that we will explore over the next 8 sessions. The path has 3 themes: attitude, ethics, and meditation, which provide context for our mindfulness practice. In developing our skills in this well-rounded way, we create the conditions for a meaningful and productive life lived according to our deepest values. This avoids the common mistake of using mindfulness to detach from our experience, thus checking out and avoiding activism.

Lección 5: Holistic View

The first element of the eightfold path addresses how we see the world and ourselves. We want to look closely at what we value in life so that we can orient toward it. We also want to look at what the world needs, so that we can be of service. We need to examine how we relate to the world and adjust our perception when it’s distorted, in order to be skillful and effective. Also included here is the wisdom we develop as we travel the path of the dharma.

Lección 6: Holistic Intention

The second element of the eightfold path explores our intention, which is the driving force behind our karma. Our intentions drive our speech and actions, which will elicit different responses from the world depending on what we actually want underneath. Wholesome intentions create a harmonious world, and reactivity can take us away from these intentions. Mindfulness is the key to staying true to our good intentions and gaining the benefits of the resulting actions.

Lección 7: Holistic Speech

The third element of the eightfold path is our speech and communication. In order to be skillful and create harmony in the world, we need to be both non-harming and truthful. Non-harming speech isn’t necessarily nice but rather designed to promote what’s beneficial. True speech brings us in line with reality and avoids the reactivity pitfalls of giving in to jealousy, comparison, fear, and aversion. The holistic speech also includes saying that which needs to be said and hasn’t been, both in expressions of love and dealing with conflict.

Lección 8: Holistic Action

The fourth element of the eightfold path is holistic action. Our actions need to align with our deepest values, or else we will suffer from internal conflict, regret, and disappointment. Also, our actions reinforce any of the beliefs, views, and intentions that underlie them, and so strongly affect our minds. Buddhism presents basic rules about what not to do, to keep us on track. But then we need to choose wholesome actions that feel right to us when we are seeing clearly having let go of our reactivity.

Lección 9: Holistic Livelihood

The fifth element of the eightfold path is a holistic livelihood. Because we spend so much time and energy on whatever we do for work, this is a powerful aspect of our ethical actions. There are a few prohibited professions in Buddhism, but even more interesting is how we go about our work. We can work toward the good of society, become mindful as we go about our tasks, and grow as a person. Also, we can give back to our workplace and create harmony in the community. It’s not about having the perfect job, but rather how we spend our time.

Lección 10: Holistic Effort

The sixth element of the eightfold path is about effort and energy. We need to train to apply steady, relaxed, sustainable effort so that we can do what needs to be done, in whatever arena. This helps us to avoid unnecessary reactivity. In order to stay motivated, we need to be confident in the direction that we’re moving. If we relax our expectations and release our judgments of ourself, we have the possibility of enjoying the process. Ultimately, it's only our own efforts that will improve our own lives and the lives of those around us.

Lección 11: Holistic Mindfulness

The seventh element of the eightfold path is holistic mindfulness. Mindfulness is knowing what is happening at the moment without judgment. It also implies awareness of our own mental process. This prevents becoming overly identified with our thoughts and our reactivity. Mindfulness is characterized by clarity, attention, and emotional balance. Mindfulness meditation trains us to have these qualities in our lives off the cushion to respond appropriately to what life brings.

Lección 12: Holistic Concentration

The final element of the eightfold path is holistic concentration. Anything we experience comes in through our attention, and how we pay attention determines how we experience the world. Lack of concentration has been shown to lead to unhappiness, in addition to the obvious difficulty in getting things done. As recent times have shown a reduction in the human attention span, it’s a great time for concentration practice. Plus, concentration practice reveals beneficial qualities of the mind that are usually hidden from sight. All of the elements of the path come together to give us the skill to live well according to our own values, which is the ultimate freedom.

Reviews

Really enjoyed this series. Thinking I will move on to the next series but also feel like a review of this would be beneficial. Thanks to teacher.

So great. I’ll listen again. And you deliver it so well <3. Thank you!

This is a very helpful take on the eight fold path. Thank you

My soul thanks you for putting this course together. The journey begins!

Karen, thank you so much. This was one of the best foundational courses on Buddhism I’ve ever done! Lots of love your way.

Brilliantly researched, executed and structured.... Worth repeating
Thank you

This was a great course. Thank you. I will listen again, this time taking notes. Thank you Karen.

Loved it. I listen to this every couple of months. 🙏🏼

Thank you for such an inspiring and informative course. I can’t wait to do it again so I can absorb even more of your teaching. 🙏🏼

Thank you for this excellent course. I particularly liked how each session had a meditation/contemplation designed to integrate the particular stage or limb...
The quotes were also thoughtful, stimulating and helpful. All in all, well thought out, well planned and superbly delivered course. Thank you so much. 🙏🪷🌞

Thank you Karen! This course made the essentials of Buddhism easy to incorporate into daily practice. At a time when there are so many stressors in life(hurricane season, financial stress, political turmoil), it is such a blessing to find that calm and peaceful center that these practices provide. I hope to repeat these lessons from time to time. Highly recommend this course to anyone interested in finding peace.🙏🏻🪷

This was a phenomenal class for me. I have repeated some of the lessons already… And I am grateful that I can repeat the twelve sessions again because each one is filled with richness and learnings.

This is a great introduction to return to over and over.

I loved this course. It was a great refresher for me, and it also taught me so much. Thank you. Highly recommend!

Thank you...there were many times when I laughed at the simple but powerful truths whilst meditating.

Succinct and clear. Yet filled with appropriate metaphors and quotes. Liked the meditation practice too. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to get a brief intro into Buddhist values and practices.

Truly one of the best courses I’ve taken. Thank you so much. Wishing you peace and love

A meaningful and useful introduction to the 8 fold path. I enjoyed this course very much.

Thank you. I take many courses through Insight Timer, and I can say that this is one of the best I’ve taken. The pacing, tone, balance of theory and practice, as well as the content, were all ideal. May you have a blessed day and thank you for offering this course to those on the path.

Really interesting and educational. Love your voice. Thank you!