Hi everyone,
It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 505.
So here we are,
We've explored the first,
Second and third noble truth and we're looking down the path at the fourth noble truth.
So the fourth noble truth is the truth of the path to the end of suffering or that there's a path to the end of suffering or you can say a path to freedom or a path to liberation.
And for me those are those are kind of big words but I also feel like they don't have to be.
So I like to think of the path as the path that I want to be walking every day,
Every each moment.
Not that I do,
Not that I can,
Maybe yet,
Maybe I can say yet,
But that's the aspiration,
That's the plan,
Right?
And at the end of the path,
At the end of this life,
Who knows?
So what's the path?
Before we jump in,
The first noble truth again is the truth that this being human is a bumpy ride and that that's just the reality of it.
Second noble truth is that we feel the stress,
We feel the strain,
The suffering,
Whether we realize it or not,
Right?
When we push back against that reality,
When we try to cling to the good things,
The past in an imaginary,
I'm sorry,
When we try to cling to the good things or cling to the past or cling to some imaginary future,
When we turn away from the difficulties as if we push hard enough,
They'll go away.
And when we get into a space where we feel like or we believe we're entitled to or at least should be able to figure out a way to have a different or a better incarnation.
So then the third noble truth,
The truth that when we can remember to let go of all the clinging and pushing and magical thinking,
We're okay.
There's still pain,
But there's not so much suffering or there's none.
I have a friend in my office right now,
A fly.
And instead there's ease,
There's peace,
There's,
It's right there.
It's just waiting for us to let go into,
Is a way of thinking about it.
Even in the midst of whatever storms we're weathering right now.
And so it follows that the path or the eightfold path,
As it's called,
Which is,
I don't know,
I kind of like to think of it as the substance of the fourth noble truth,
Right?
It's the eightfold path,
Is a roadmap of how to do the third noble truth,
How to live a life that isn't without the storms,
Same difficulties we're already encountering,
But isn't so,
Isn't so hard.
Or best case scenario,
Most dedicated practice scenario isn't,
Isn't difficult at all.
So in a way I see the first,
Second and third noble truths as kind of deep personal development.
And the fourth noble truth,
The path and how to walk it is also hugely personal.
I mean,
In my experience,
There's something to learn in each moment on the path.
And if I'm learning it,
Or even if I'm learning some of it,
I'm learning about myself.
But in a frame where there's the personal,
The interpersonal and the systemic,
Then the fourth noble truth,
The truth of the path to liberation from suffering is also about working at interpersonal and systemic levels.
And I'll say more about that as we dive deeper into the path,
Which will be over the course of a few weeks of wake up calls,
Or maybe through the end of the year.
So what's the path,
This eightfold path,
Which,
Which by the way,
It's actually called the noble eightfold path.
And I think that's because it's so ennobling to walk it.
Meaning it just feels like,
Yes,
Finally,
A set of instructions,
Which when I follow them,
I feel aligned.
You know,
I feel connected.
And I don't have to wonder if I'm doing the right thing.
Because I can,
I can feel it in my body.
So I feel ennobled,
Not as in like a noble person set apart from others,
But as someone who is walking alongside everyone,
Alongside all beings,
Which feels like,
To me like the noblest path of all.
So the noble eightfold path,
The path has eight steps,
Hence its name.
But they're grouped together.
So today,
I just want to name the groups.
And one group,
Which we could call the first group,
Is the group of steps that's all about settling down and training the mind.
So it's about being able to find stillness and focus,
And then choose skillful states of mind.
Aka love,
Right?
No matter the circumstances or what's happening internally.
This,
This group of steps is called the steps of Samadhi,
Which literally means intense concentration.
But for our purposes,
Let's call it the steps on the path of stillness,
Focus and love.
So,
And then these eight steps aren't sequential.
So,
For example,
No matter how interested I am in,
Or how diligently I'm practicing with one step or another,
I'm also practicing.
I'm trying to,
There,
Okay,
I was trying to stop what was in my ear.
Oh,
I don't know.
It's always bad.
Weather is bad for,
You know,
Goldsboro.
But right now,
It's really nice.
You know,
How about you folks?
Hey,
Whoever is here.
Everybody.
Okay,
There we go.
Not sure who that was.
But now everybody's muted.
Okay,
Back to where were we?
Where were we?
I'm looking on my notes.
Okay,
So not sequential,
Right.
So there's eight steps,
And they're not sequential.
I would still say that I feel like the Samadhi steps are in some way necessary or foundational to the rest of the steps on the path.
And I think that's because within the Samadhi steps,
In my way of sort of conceptualizing all this,
Lie the trainings of mindfulness,
Of concentration,
Of loving kindness,
Of compassion,
Of patience,
Of generosity,
Of peace.
And all of those are part of the other steps too.
But in the Samadhi steps,
We are training in these qualities,
Right,
Which makes them available to us and we need them as we walk the rest of the steps.
So that's how I'm thinking about it right now.
Okay,
Second set of steps is the Wisdom or Panya group of steps.
And these are the steps where we first,
For me,
Tentatively,
And then kind of more robustly,
Develop these understandings in our bodies,
In our bones,
Around interconnection,
And around emptiness,
And intention,
And impact,
And suffering,
And the changing nature of all phenomena,
Right.
So if you've done some of this work,
You know how good it feels to begin to understand these things as it's kind of unfathomable and also immutable laws of existence,
Right,
Kind of a both and,
And how good it feels.
And for me anyway,
How much of a relief it is to understand and continue to develop my understanding so that it's more natural to stand with and stand beside all of the other beings on our small blue planet.
So that's the Panya group.
And then the third group is the Ethical Steps or the Steps of Sila,
Right.
And these steps are personal,
But also by definition,
They're interpersonal,
In that they come into play whenever we're in relationship with anyone,
Or any being in any moment,
Right.
And so in some ways,
In fact,
It feels like it's only in relationship to others,
And to our communities,
And to the world,
That we can explore and truly develop Sila on the path.
Okay,
So that's an outline,
That's a frame for the Noble Eightfold Path.
And then we'll just keep unpacking it.
So this is nice.
I'm usually talking over time,
But now I'm going to stop talking a few seconds before the 10 minutes,
And let's say.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Okay,
Everybody.
So finding stillness,
Coming to stillness,
Whatever stillness is available to you.
And just letting the body settle in,
Settle in,
Drop in to this moment,
This present moment.
And begin to notice the breath as it's flowing in and out of the body.
And let it be,
Let that sensation be a kind of a home base or refuge.
Or if the breath in the body doesn't feel like a refuge,
Then turn the attention to the sound in your environment.
And just notice as the sounds arise and pass away.
And let that be your refuge.
And just in this brief mindfulness training,
This few moments of grace that you're giving yourself to be still,
Be in stillness.
When the attention wanders,
The most important quality is kindness,
Love.
So even if today or this sit or this moment is one in which there is no stillness,
Can there be kindness towards the wandering attention,
The wandering mind,
Towards yourself?
Can there be love?
And as we start to make our way down the path,
There was really only one snippet to read.
Two paths diverged in a wood and I,
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.
That's Robert Frost,
I'm sure everybody knows.
Thank you everyone for being here today.
It's wonderful to sit with you.
