#The Eightfold Path

[yoga-onion]

The Quest for Buddhism (105)

Buddhist cosmology

Panchangika – Mastery of the 5 mental factors to resist the 5 hindrances(Ref)

Mental factors (Skt: caitasika, Pali: cetasika), is a component and function of the mind and spirit in Buddhism.

In the Southern Tradition of Theravada Buddhism, in accordance with the Abhidhammattha Sangaha, there are a total of 52 mental factors. The Abhidhamma (Buddhist psychology) states that the practice of the 5 mental factors in that list in opposition to the five hindrances is the practice of the Rupa Jhanas (Ref1). The general term for each of these stages in Sanskrit is ‘Panchangika’ (lit. five branches), and the types are as follows :

Vitakka - Application of thought

Vicāra – Examining (Subtle thought)

Pīti – Rapture

Sukha – Ease, Happiness, or Bliss

Ekaggatā - One-pointedness (tranquility of mind), but also "unification of mind."

The Ekaggatā (one-pointedness) within the Panchangika (mastery of 5 mental factors) is the main body of samadhi as a state of deepened concentration in jhanas. The process of removing the other 4  panchangika step by step, while guarding against from the five hindrances and other vexations, and finally bringing it to the strengthened state of Ekaggatā, 'one-pointedness (tranquility of mind)' alone, is the Rupa Jhanas.

The eighth, the right path (Pali: sammā-samādhi, Skt: samyak-samādhi), which the Buddha teaches in the Eightfold Path (Ref2), is the attainment of this Rupa Jhanas.

仏教の探求 (105)

仏教の宇宙論

五禅支(ごぜんし) 〜五蓋(ごがい参照)に反発するための五心所(ごしんじょ)の修得

心所 (しんじょ、梵: ﾁｬｲﾀｼｶ、巴: ﾁｪｰﾀｼｶ) とは、仏教における心・精神の構成要素・機能、すなわち心的要因のこと。

南伝の上座部仏教では、『摂阿毘達磨義論(しょうあびだつまぎろん、巴: ｱﾋﾞﾀﾞﾝﾏｯﾀ･ｻﾝｶﾞﾊ)　』に従い、全52種の心所があるとされてる。その中の5つの心所 (心的要因) を五心所といい、五蓋にに対抗してこの五心所の修習が、四禅 (しぜん、梵: ﾙｰﾊﾟﾃﾞｲﾔｰﾅ参照１)の修習であると、阿毘達磨 (あびだつま、梵: ｱﾋﾞﾀﾞﾙﾏ、巴: ｱﾋﾞﾀﾞﾝﾏ、仏教心理学) では記載されている。この各段階の総称を五禅支(ごぜんし、梵: ﾊﾟﾝﾁｬﾝｷﾞｶﾞ) といい、種類は以下の通り:

尋（じん、梵: ヴィタッカ）思考 (認識対象把握)

伺（し、梵: ヴィチャーラ）微細な思考 (認識対象維持)

喜（き、梵: ピーティ）喜悦

楽（らく、梵: スカ）安楽

一境性（いっきょうしょう、梵: エーカッガター）一点集中 (心の静寂)、心の統一

五禅支の内の「一境性」が、禅定 (梵: ﾃﾞｲﾔｰﾅ、巴: ｼﾞｬｰﾅ)における集中が深まった状態としての三昧 (さんまい、梵: ｻﾏｰﾃﾞｨ)の本体となるものである。五蓋や煩悩から護りながら、他の五禅支(1～4)を段階的に除去していき、最終的に「一点集中 (心の静けさ) 」のみの強化された「一境性」を単独状態にしていく過程が、四禅 (しぜん、梵: ﾙｰﾊﾟﾃﾞｲﾔｰﾅ)である。

釈迦が八正道（参照2）で説く第８番、正定（しょうじょう、巴: ｻﾏ･ｻﾏｰﾃﾞｨ、梵: ｻﾑﾔｯｸ･ｻﾏｰﾃﾞｨ）は、この四禅の達成のことである。

[lady-phasma]

Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others

(The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18 – 6th cen. BCE)

The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi (meditation).

Buddhism is often called a "practice" and not a religion because we are imperfect and fail at these goals consistently. The hope is that we remind ourselves that we can try again when we stumble.

[xboxissues]

New Xbox Games for August 19 to 23 2024

[thund3r0us-b4nd1t]

The Eightfold Path - Dead Shrine

[renegade-hierophant]

The First Noble Truth that the Buddha taught is often mistranslated into modern languages.

It is not that life is suffering, but that life is unsatisfactory. Nothing you ever do will ever be satisfying. Suffering is just a consequence of that.

The Second Noble Truth is the cause of unsatisfactoriness, and that is desire. Because you desire to be happy, you will inevitably end up unsatisfied. No matter what you achieve, it won’t be enough. Might be for a while, but it won’t be for way longer afterwards.

The Buddha taught the Third Noble Truth, and that is that there is a way out of unsatisfactoriness.

Which is the Fourth Noble Truth, the Eightfold Noble Path, hence the symbol of Buddhism: ☸.

The eight folds are: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

All lead down to one outcome: compassion, which brings end to all unsatisfactoriness.

[mayasaura]

do you think tamsyn is intentionally drawing a connection between the Buddhist eightfold path and the eightfold word?

the eightfold path is supposed to lead to liberation from the cycle of rebirth (I’m drawing a parallel to lyctoral immortality) and the last element is right samadhi which is often described as “meditative absorption or union” (a parallel to the consumption of the cavalier and absorption of the soul)

idk just food for thought i’ve been mulling over

I've been pondering this for a while myself. I've never heard the word "eightfold" used in any other context. Like, it could very much be a coincidence because #-fold is a Portentous Word Form, and eight Houses contributed to the theorum, but let's assume for now there is a connection.

I would say it's less of a parallel and more of a reflection. This framing of the Eightfold Word would make it kind of a warped mirror of the Eightfold Path.

Following the Eightfold Path delivers you from samsara, right? The ultimate purpose is to break the cycle of reincarnation that binds a person to the worlds of mundane suffering. That last element, right samadhi, it's about the illusion of existence being transcended in meditation to see the true nature of being. The Path leads to understanding of the self as transient—an illusion created by a much larger whole. Or something like that. I'm not a priest or bodhisattva, or even a scholar dedicated to understanding these things.

Speaking the Eightfold Word is entirely the opposite. The lyctors have subsumed the other into the self, making the self the center of their being. They haven't been freed from the cycle so much as they've jammed the wheel, leaving themselves trapped in the suffering of their existence for, theoretically, eternity.

I don't know if it's an intentional reference or not, but I do enjoy considering the implications of lyctorhood from that perspective. John and the lyctors have become so consumed by their obsession with the self and ensuring its continuance, it's broken all the bonds that would make them part of a larger whole in this life and left them each alone together in their own private hells. Speaking the Eightfold Word means that they'll never reach the other shore.

[brettesims]

The Eightfold Fence

“From the time we are small it is something we are taught to build within ourselves; an impenetrable wall, which we can retreat whenever we need. You must train yourself to listen without hearing; for instance you can listen to the sound of a blossom falling, the rocks growing…

If you really listen your present circumstance vanishes. Do not be fooled by our politeness, our bows, our maze of rituals… beneath it all we could be a great distance away. Safe. And alone.”

~ Show: Shogun, (Hulu)

[eyeoftheheart]

“Prince Siddhattha stated that he himself had attained knowledge through his own efforts, without a master to show him the way; so, in the original Doctrine of Awakening, each individual has to rely on himself, and on his own exertions, just as a soldier who is lost must rely on himself alone to rejoin the marching army. Thus Buddhism, if a comparison of various traditions were being made, could legitimately take its place with the race that elsewhere we have called heroic, in the sense of the Hesiodic teaching on the "Four Ages." We mean a type of man in which the spirituality belonging to the primordial state is no longer taken for granted as something natural, for this tradition is no longer itself an adequate foundation. Spirituality has become an aim to him, the object of a reconquest, the final limit of a reintegration to be carried out by one's own virile efforts.

(...)

We already know that the title Buddha, given to Prince Siddhattha and then extended to all those who have followed his path, means "awakened." It takes us to the same point, to the same criterion of certainty. The doctrine of the Ariya is called "beyond imagination" and not susceptible of assimilation by any process of ratiocination. The term atakkāvacara often recurs, a term that means just that which cannot be apprehended by logic. Instead the doctrine is presented in an "awakening" and as an "awakening." One can see at once the correspondence between this mode of knowing and Plato's view of anamnesis, "reminiscence" or "recollection" overcoming the state of oblivion; exactly as Buddhism aims to overcome the state produced by the āsava, by the "intoxicants," by the manias, by the fever. These terms, "reminiscence" and "awakening," however, should not represent more than the manner in which knowledge appears, than recognition and appraisal of something as directly evident, like a man who remembers or who wakes and sees something. This is the reason for the recurrence in later Buddhist literature of the term sphoṭa, which has a similar meaning: it is knowledge manifested as in an unveiling—as if an eye, after undergoing an operation, were to reopen and see. Dhamma-Cakkhu, the "eye of truth" or of "reality," cakkhumant, "to be gifted with the eye" are normal Buddhist expressions, just as the technical term for "conversion" is: "his eye of truth opened."”

― Julius Evola, The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts

[raffaellopalandri]

Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path

I am often asked what principles I follow and mention in my posts. The answer lies in the profound wisdom of Buddhism, particularly the आर्याष्टाङ्गमार्ग – āryāṣṭāṅgamārga or the Noble Eightfold Path. This path presents both a set of rules and a framework for living a more mindful and compassionate life. It’s an eight-limbed approach, whose pillars I divided into three categories for a quicker…

[yoga-onion]

The Quest for Buddhism (112)

Buddhist cosmology

Brahmaviharas – From the teachings preached by the Buddha to his son Rahula (Ref)

“O Rahula, deepen your meditation on loving-kindness. Because if you deepen your meditation on loving-kindness, any resentment, hatred will disappear.

O Rahula, deepen your meditation on compassion. Because if you deepen your meditation on compassion, all harmful intentions will disappear.

O Rahula, deepen your meditation on sympathetic joy. Because if you deepen your meditation on sympathetic joy, any dissatisfaction will disappear.

O Rahula, deepen your meditation of equanimity. Because if you deepen your meditation on equanimity, any anger will disappear.”

Excerpt from Maha-rahulovada-sutta in Majjhima Nikaya (MN)]

仏教の探求 (112)

仏教の宇宙論

四無量心 (しむりょうしん) 〜ブッダが息子のラーフラ (羅睺羅:らごら参照)に説いた教法より

”ラーフラよ、慈の瞑想を深めなさい。なぜなら、慈の瞑想を深めれば、どんな瞋恚 (しんに: 憎悪)も消えてしまうからである。

ラーフラよ、悲の瞑想を深めなさい。なぜなら、悲の瞑想を深めれば、どんな害意も消えてしまうからである。

ラーフラよ、喜の瞑想を深めなさい。なぜなら、喜の瞑想を深めれば、どんな不満も消えてしまうからである。

ラーフラよ、捨の瞑想を深めなさい。なぜなら、捨の瞑想を深めれば、どんな怒りも消えてしまうからである。”

中部 (ちゅうぶ、巴: ﾏｯｼﾞﾏ･ﾆｶｰﾔ) の大ラーフラ教誡経 (だいラーフラきょうかいきょう、巴:ﾏﾊｰﾗｰﾌﾛｰｳﾞｧｰﾀﾞ･ｽｯﾀ) からの抜粋

[despair-tea]

i just need to do good awareness of the situation

i just need to do good mindfulness

i just need to do good action

i just need to do good effort

i just need to

[beeden96]

Coraline as a Buddhist parable

Last night while I was writing down the Four Noble Truths with a brush pen in my sketchbook (I do stuff like that sometimes), my roommate put on the movie Coraline. This was entirely coincidental but I was struck by how much the themes of the movie relate to everything I've been learning recently about the core teachings of Buddhism.

There is a concept in Buddhism called "right view." It is the first practice in the Eightfold Path. I think of this as referring to a person's understanding and perception of reality. When a person does not see the true nature of reality, they are vulnerable to illusions and delusions, which cause cravings and excessive attachments.

The Other Mother in Coraline has buttons for eyes, and she sews buttons into the eyes of other people who she lures into her illusory reality. She literally lacks "right view," and she tries to force other people to share her distorted view. She craves, and clings, and she wants other people to cling to her, so she offers them the things they crave. She controls others because she is so attached to them.

The moment when all of this hit me was at the end of the movie, when the Other Mother screams, "Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I'll die without you!"

The reason it hit me is because I suddenly saw myself in her. I think a lot of people live like this without realizing it. I am one of those people, or at least I have been. This "I'll die without you!" sentiment can be applied to any kind of addiction. The "You" could be food, it could be alcohol, it could be sex, it could be attention from others, etc. The sentiment behind the Other Mother's words can be related to any pattern of compulsive thought or behavior. But in this movie, and in my own life, that theme most often plays out in relationships with other people. Codependence is a key word to describe the pattern, at least the way I understand it.

I'm trying to develop the inner strength and acceptance of reality, to move beyond that way of existing. It is really painful to live like that. And I found myself feeling sad for the Other Mother, who is trapped in a world (resulting at least in part from her lack of "right view") where she never has enough, is never satisfied, and is never happy. Things change, and everything is impermanent, so clinging and controlling is only ever going to end in heartbreak.

There is a concept in Buddhism of the hungry ghost. They are ghosts who are stuck in a state of constant craving and dissatisfaction, and they can be extremely destructive as a result. I think that the Other Mother is a perfect, almost textbook example of a hungry ghost. I mean, she would literally consume children because she was craving their love so much.

The word "love" here is interesting to me. The cat in Coraline says that the Other Mother loves Coraline and wants to be loved in return. But the word love in this context indicates an unhealthy, all-consuming obsession, rather than mutual respect and care. A really helpful and succinct explanation is actually right in the book (which the movie is based on). Neil Gaiman writes: "It was true. The other mother loved her. But she loved Coraline as a miser loves money, or a dragon loves its gold."

Now, turning my attention to Coraline herself: I see this movie as a story about how Coraline developed "right view" after undergoing a process of reckoning with her previous approach to life. She was unable to accept reality as it was. She was unhappy, and craved a different life with different parents and different friends and different material possessions. She wanted more. And in this way, she was very like the Other Mother.

As a storytelling device, the Other Mother is useful. Characters are useful for illustrating dynamics of growth and change over the course of a narrative. But I think that ultimately, the Other Mother was inside of Coraline, and a part of her. Just as she had been a part of all the other people living in that house who were dissatisfied with their lives. She is a symbol of the attachments and cravings that all people have, taken to their extreme but logical conclusion.

In the first part of the movie, Coraline resists change. She has just moved to a new place, and she has not accepted her new reality. She has trouble connecting with the people around her, who are either overworked and exhausted (her parents), or who she barely knows at all. Because her material and social conditions are not acceptable to her, and she does not yet have "right view," she develops cravings. She lives out those cravings in the fantasy world inhabited by the Other Mother.

Sometime in the early to middle part of the movie, Coraline goes to a shop with her Mom and asks for some colorful knitted gloves. She wants them because nobody else will have them and she thinks they look pretty and interesting. Her Mom says no. This makes Coraline angry, and causes her to go even deeper into the world inhabited by the Other Mother, because that is a world in which she believes her desires can be fulfilled.

Over time, she begins to understand that the Other Mother (this dissatisfied aspect of herself) is not a good person to hang around, and that her perspective on life is warped. She begins to see the dangers of living in delusion, and clinging to sense pleasures. She becomes a firsthand witness to the instability and violence this way of living can create.

So she lets go. She lets go of her expectations, she lets go of her cravings, and instead she decides to honor her love for her parents, which is based in mutual care, rather than obsession and excessive catering to desires. It is only once she lets go of any attachment to an outcome, that she begins to receive the things she originally wanted. Love, care, attention, and even some nice physical items. Her Mom gives her the gloves she wanted as a surprise gift. But now, she is wise enough to appreciate these things for what they are. She can be happy and present in the moment, appreciating the little things while they last.

[hawnks]

getou-core

[nevernoneart]

DAY 3: PATH - the purple lotus is a rare colour way sacred to the Buddhism. It represents the Noble Eightfold Path of Mysticism. This special lotus changes colour according to the light and temperature, so it represents transformation. When the bud is closed, it represents the path to enlightenment, before opening to show the treasure in the centre.

I was planning to attempt to do these figures in a more Feefal style, based on her plant work. However, thanks to doing Mochipanko’s Domestika course, I’m a bit too fond of drawing clothes and shoes. Expect more of this.