Basics Of Buddhism: Foundations Of The Path

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.