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Elaboration of The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right Understanding (samma ditthi): Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths:
a) the Noble Truth of Suffering;
b) the Noble Truth of Cause of Suffering;
c) the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering;
d) the Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.2. Right Thoughts (samma sankappa): Thoughts free from:
a) lust, free from attachment;
b) free from ill-will; and
c) free from cruelty.3. Right Speech (samma vaca): Refrain from:
a) falsehood;
b) slander;
c) harsh words; and
d) frivolous speech.4. Right Action (samma kammanta): Abstain from:
a) killing;
b) stealing; and
c) sexual misconduct.5. Right Livelihood (samma ajiva): Abstain from trading in:
a) arms;
b) human beings (slavery, prostitution, etc.);
c) flesh (breeding animals for slaughter);
d) intoxicants; and
e) poison.6. Right Effort (samma vayama):
a) to discard evil that has already arisen;
b) to prevent the arising of unarisen evil;
c) to develop unarisen good; and
d) to promote the good that has already arisen.7. Right Mindfulness (samma sati): Mindfulness with regard to:
a) body;
b) feelings;
c) mental formations; and
d) ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things (dhammas).8. Right Concentration (samma samadhi): One-pointedness of mind.
Glossary of Pali Terms
Anapanasati: mindfulness of breathing; a form of meditation
Anicca: impermanence, flux, change
Avijja: ignorance of the Four Noble Truths
Brahma vihara: sublime dwelling in universal love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity
Bojjhanga: seven factors of enlightenment, of which mindfulness is the first
Citta-nupassana: contemplation of the mind
Dhamma: truth, teaching, righteousness, doctrine, nature, all things and states, conditioned and unconditioned
Dhamma-nupassana: contemplation on mental/intellectual objects
Dukkha: suffering, conflict, unsatisfactoriness
Jhanic samadhi: trance state in which the mind is absorbed in one mental object
Karuna: compassion
Kaya-nupassana: contemplation of the body
Khanika samadhi: split-second collectedness of the mind
Magga: path or way
Maya: illusions
Metta: universal love
Moha: ignorance
Mudita: sympathetic joy
Nibbana: Ultimate Reality, Absolute Truth, The Unconditioned
Nirodha: cessation of dukkha
Panna: insight, wisdom
Samadhi: concentration attained in higher meditation
Samatha: concentration meditation
Samma kammanta: right action
Samudaya: arising, origin of dukkha
Satipatthana: setting up of mindfulness
Tadanga nirodha: momentary cessation of suffering
Theravada: literally, "the School of Elders," the orthodox, original form of Buddhism followed in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Upekkha: equanimity
Vipassana: insight meditation
The author may be contacted at the following address:
Dr. Thynn Thynn
4 Swarthmore Rd.
Scarsdale, NY 10583. USAe-mail: <puma7988@ix.netcom.com>
[0. Contents] [1. Introduction] [2. Freedom to begin]
[3. Living Meditation] [4. Reflection on Meditation] [5. Creative Living]
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