BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism The Eightfold Path

Right Business, or livelihood, as it is more usually known, (I changed it to give a more pronounceable Acronym!) is the fifth step on the path. It is only natural and right that we should earn our living. Often, many of us don't particularly enjoy our jobs. We can't wait to get home from work and begrudge the amount of time that our job takes away from our enjoyment of the good life. Perhaps, we might wish we had a more glamorous job. We don't feel that our job in a factory or office is in keeping with the image we want to project.
We also have to consider whether the �End Result� is skilful�
To give an extreme example, a technical designer, gifted in the craft of creating on paper, and expert in the field of mechanics and engineering, would not be using his abilities skilfully, if he was responsible for the design of weapons�Those horrendous machines purely and simply designed to hurt or maim and even kill another sentient Being.
From a purely personal point of view, I don�t find this a �Right Business� decision.
The means by which we earn money should be honourable. We should be providing a service that will put a smile on peoples� faces, somewhere along the line. And no matter how tedious, how monotonous, how structured and mundane, it gives us the perfect opportunity to observe Things Exactly As They Are, and to make a difference. Even if it�s just amongst the colleagues with whom you interact. Make it a pleasure for them to come to work each day, because of the impression you make on them�.
The truth is, that we should be glad of our job, whatever it is. We should form a simple relationship with it. We need to perform it properly, with attention to detail.

The sixth aspect of the path is Right Effort. ''Wrong' Effort is struggle. We often approach a spiritual discipline as though we need to conquer our evil side and promote our good side. We are locked in combat with ourselves and try to obliterate the tiniest negative tendency. Right effort doesn't involve struggle at all. When we see things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind of aggression whatsoever.
There are a couple of films which spring to mind, which have strong leanings towards Buddhist Discipline and philosophy�One, is �The Matrix� (particularly episode, or film One) the second is �Star Wars�� and Yoda is based on the likeness of a Tibetan Buddhist Lama�.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/bioghaphies/portrait_serkong_rinpoche.html

(Scroll down to �Rinpoche�s Life and Personality".)
There are many quotations I could give you, but one in particular is spoken by Yoda, in response to somebody�s assurances of Effort� "I�ll try�"
Yoda replies:
� �Do� or �Do Not��There is NO �Try�. �
In other words, Right Effort sometimes means that Trying is futile�let me give you an example.
Take a book.
Put it on a table.
Now try to pick it up.
Don�t ACTUALLY pick it up.
Just �Try� to pick it up.
You see?
It�s impossible.
There are some situations where �Trying� isn�t productive, because we don�t need to try. We just need to �Do�.
To �Try� to do something is to actually not want to do it at all�.
Let us say that you arranged to meet a neighbour for lunch, in town.
She cancels at the last moment. Now, for whatever reason, you were really counting on her turning up�you�d really been looking forward to this, and you feel really let down. But she�s very apologetic� you�re still mad, but you try to forgive her�
In this case, you might as well not bother.
What�s the point in trying to forgive her?
You either do, or you don�t.
If you do, you feel lighter, quite ok about it all, and joyfully make new plans, and arrange to meet another time.
If you �try�� well�what you�re actually doing is holding on to a bit of resentment� Why? Because it feels good, to justify your righteous anger�.you still feel mad, even though outwardly, you�ve said it�s ok, and it�s not a problem, and it�s no big deal� but in your heart, inwardly, you�re still harbouring Anger and Resentment. Well, in that case, you might as well not forgive her at all. You can�t forgive and still stay mad. You either forgive, or you don�t.
Don�t �try� not to swear at people � �Do not� swear at people.
Don�t �Try� to drive more slowly through town � just �Do� drive more slowly.
�Do or Do Not � There IS no Try�.
Or as Oprah Winfrey once famously put it, " 'Trying', isn't 'Doing' ".
Right Effort is powerfully fuelled by Right View and Right Intention� it is accompanied by Right Speech and Right Action�. So Right Effort means putting everything into practise by Skilful means and Mindfulness.
And Right Mindfulness, (or as I call it, �Awareness�,) is the next �Signpost� on the Eightfold Path�.

Right Awareness, or Mindfulness, the seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are mindful of the tiniest details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way we perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and family, every detail.
Thich Nhat Hanh, that wonderful, wise, enlightened (my assessment....) Vietnamese Monk has written several books on this subject alone�(Peace is Every Step�, �The Miracle of Mindfulness�, �Present Moment, Wonderful Moment!�). He emphasises the importance of living purely and simply, in the Now� of being aware of every single nuance and nanosecond of the Present Instance�. Of simply being one with your breath, and of stilling the Mind of its constant babble, chatter and interference�.
He gives an example of being able to do this during an every-day, mundane, boring task, like washing up� a time when, because of the automatic nature of this task, our mind is apt to wander and run all over the place�.
He encourages just watching the water flow out of the tap�. Watching the soap bubbles rise, gleaming, sparkling and white�of wiping each plate�feeling the warmth of the water on your hands, rinsing the plate, seeing how clean it is�.placing it to dry in the rack� But with no appropriate commentary�
WITHOUT thinking�.
�I am watching the water flow out of the tap� I am watching the soap Bubbles rise, gleaming, sparkling and white�. I am wiping each plate�.� Do all of the above, but without any commentary, and without letting your mind wander elsewhere� If it does, just gently bring it back to you, with a deep breath� Smile�. and start again�..
That�s another of his pet loves� �Watching the Breath��. Simply feeling the gladness of your body expanding with the in-breath.. The coolness of the air in your nostrils�. The momentary �emptiness� as we hold the breath for one, two, three, maybe four seconds, and then the deflation of the body, the feeling of our garments against our skin, and the warm air as it leaves our nostrils�. The pleasurable aspect of just �sinking� into a relaxed state as your body rests, lungs empty of breath for one, two, three, maybe four seconds�..and again�..
Watching the Breath, and being absolutely connected to everything we are doing, and that is happening, keeps us Aware, and Mindful� If we are �Here��How on earth can we be �Miles away��?

Right Meditation , or concentration, (absorption) is the eighth point of the path, and leads on seamlessly from point Seven�..
Usually we are absorbed in absent-mindedness. Our minds are completely captivated by all sorts of entertainment and speculations. Right absorption means that we are completely absorbed in �Now-ness�, in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some sort of discipline, such as sitting meditation. We might even say that without the discipline of sitting meditation, we can't walk the Eightfold Path at all. Sitting meditation cuts through our absentmindedness. It provides a space or gap in our preoccupation with ourselves.
Our Minds are never still. There is a constant burble and chattering going on, and one thought runs seamlessly into another, so that there is no interruption from the moment we awake, to the moment we sleep�.
No�That�s not quite right�There are instances when there is a pause � a second of emptiness that signifies the end of one thought, and the beginning of the next�.
The secret is to notice these gaps and to make them longer�..
In Buddhism, a frenetic mental activity is known as �Monkey Mind��.
Your Monkey frenetically leaps from branch to branch, jumping up and down, screeching, whooping leaping, never still, always engaged in frenzied activity, so that watching him and noting everything he goes through can make us dizzy! The only time he is still, is when he�s asleep, or when he�s eating�. And while he eats, he is alert, aware, but at least, calm, collected and controlled, for once�
So, (because we can�t sleep every time we want to calm this Monkey Mind) what shall we feed him?
We �feed� him our breath.
As detailed above, we sit and we �watch� the breath�.. Or we can recite a Mantra�or a simple, single word�.
As we breathe in, we focus on the word �Peace��� as we breathe out, we focus on the word, �Calm���
Or we could listen to some meditative Music, but focus intensely on each and every single note...listen singularly to every instrument being played, simultaneously�. Or we could simply gaze peacefully at a scene (in a painting, outside our window) and take in every single detail, without commentary�Just look�. Just see�.
And if a thought starts leaping across your consciousness, smile�.Take a deep breath, and release �let go of the thought as you exhale, and let it drift off, thus emptying your mental plane and calming the Monkey Mind again�..
You don't have to do this for hours on end....give yourself time to learn this skill... Start with just a couple of minutes, or even just one.... meditation is about quality, not quantity. And sit, kneel, lie or stand in any way you like.... the full-lotus position is all very well, but only a comparative few can hold it for more than a minute!! You can 'Meditate' any and everywhere you feel like; in bed, on a park bench, in the bath.... and of course, at the kitchen sink....
Meditation has often been misinterpreted by many, as having to cease all thought altogether�. This is not so�. The brain is made to think. What we are doing, is training it � as one would any muscle � through discipline and perseverance, to behave in the way WE want it to behave, rather than permitting it to have free uncontrolled reign�.We want it to work FOR us, not against us.
It�s like taking an active puppy in, and training it to be a guide dog for the blind�. It never stops being a dog�it always knows how to play, run, bark, leap and be happy�But it is disciplined, and knows it has a job to do, and does it according to the training.
So Meditation is an essential component to the Eightfold path, because through training the Mind, and through discipline, we can then use Right View with more clarity and clear, sharp precision�.
And so the Wheel has turned full circle�..