8 fold Path as the Path to Stream Entry- The Buddha's Path Laid Out to Awakening

Today I wanted to talk about the Eightfold Path, which I consider to be the spine of the entire Dhamma. Without it, you don't have the other aspects of the 37 requisites for awakening. In fact, the rest of the 37 requisites are interspersed one way or the other with the Eightfold Path. And given the fact that the Eightfold Path is the fourth noble truth, it has immediate relevancy to what we're doing here, which is the abandoning of craving and the cessation of suffering.

What are the factors of the Eightfold Path? Right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right collectedness. In order for us to do any kind of practice, we have to understand what is the perspective the practice is taking. And this is where right view comes. This is known as sammaditthi, or Samyak Drishti in Sanskrit.

Samyak. Samyak means proper. That which is proper, that which is in alignment with Samyak. Drishti. When you say Drishti, it means your perspective. Where do you look? Where are your eyes? Where are you looking? What you're looking at, that is what drishti is. Ditti, what is your view, what is your world view? And so samyak drishti, or sammaditthi, is first of all setting the view straight. And so we have mundane and super mundane right view, and the mundane right view is all about having a harmonious, balanced, psychological sense of security.

Why? Because if you look at the factors of mundane right view, it's basically saying this: there is meaning in what is being given, in what is being offered, in what is being sacrificed. When we talk about things like dhana, or generosity, when we talk about things like yajna or homas, as they had it in the time of the Buddha and even pre-Buddhist times.

It was an exchange. There is a meaningful exchange that's going on. This is what karma is. My intention results in something, and in exchange for that there is an effect that arises. A cause and an effect. The way the Buddha set up this whole process with the Sangha, especially the monastic Sangha, is that they are there to train for the ultimate, which is full awakening.

And their lives depend on others, namely ourselves as lay people, for the four requisites. Sometimes it will be cash in place of the four requisites, but it is ultimately the four requisites: food, shelter, clothing, and medicines. Nowadays there is a fifth requisite, Wi-Fi. So this process of offering, it is a merit economy. It's an exchange, because what you're receiving in turn are the teachings and the merit of helping those who depend upon you.

To see the immensity of kindness is to see how you can help those who cannot help you, getting something tangible in return, but what you are getting is a wonderful thing, which is the realization of what it means to let go, the realization of what it means to be kind and giving and generous. And ultimately, the monastics and teachers, they provide the teachings of the Dhamma. They don't do it in exchange for food, they do it when it feels appropriate. In the suttas, the Buddha is invited to a household or to a palace, and he's offered these wonderful foods and things like that, and the monks as well are with him. And it says, after the meal was ended, he sat down and gave a talk, gave a discourse, and he roused up energy, and he fired them up with conviction and inspiration for the Dhamma.

There is meaning in what is offered, in what is sacrificed, in what is let go, in what is given. So right there, what is the Buddha saying? This path is not nihilism. This path is not saying that there is no meaning in anything. This path is not saying that nothing matters. There is psychological safety in seeing that, in seeing that indeed what I do, my words, my thoughts, my actions have some meaning to them.

That there is mother and father. Here, when we say that there is mother and father, we're saying that in order for us to exist as nama-rupa, in order for these five aggregates to be present, the body or form, feeling, perception, intention, and awareness, it required the biological input of mother and father. Without them, my existence is not possible.

And so at the very, very core of it, it's showing biological conditionality. And of course, another aspect of that, culturally, in the time of the Buddha and also in India, is the understanding of filial piety: that there is a sense of gratitude and a sense of deference to one's parents. Now, yes, everywhere around the world, not every parent is going to be perfect, let alone good.

Most people are not equipped to be parents. There is no guidebook that says, now that you have had a child, this is how you become a parent. Yes, we have all these modern-day bestsellers about the theories of parenting, and this is what you do, and this is not what you do, and so on. But at the very, very core of it, what does it mean to be a parent? As a parent. I'm not a parent. Not that I know of.

But really, to be a parent is to make sure that your child is happy. That's successful parenting. That they go out into the world and they're happy. And that their happiness exudes everywhere else. And they have a meaningful contribution to the people in their lives. What people do as parents is to offer them whatever they can, in terms of the best of foods, the best of education, the best of whatever. And if they can't, they do their best. They try their best.

And so the idea is we have a certain acknowledgement of that. We have gratitude for that. We realize that indeed my life also depends on others. My life came into existence because of mother and father. And they came into existence because of their mother and father. And so on and so forth. That there are beings who are reborn spontaneously.

Now this is something that's very interesting, because what does that mean? We've been talking about devas and brahmalokas and things like that. So the idea that the way we are born is through the womb. Other animals too, mammals, marsupials are born a certain way. Reptiles are born sometimes through eggs, fish, birds. So there are different kinds of generation.

And so spontaneous generation happens in certain realms. So that's taking into account that indeed this world is not just this world. There are other beings that we may see or not see, and the form of generation that arises is dependent upon karma. So karma is always there. It is the thread that runs through the entirety of mundane right view.

That there is this world and the other. What does that mean? This world of the five senses. And the other world, on a macro level, is the world of the devas and so on and so forth. But the other world is also the world of jhana. Cultivating the mind to such an extent that your mind is no longer here, free of the five sensual cords of stimulation. And that the mind is gratified by a mental pleasure of piti, or joy, and sukha, or comfort.

And this experience is otherworldly to that extent: people who know the path and have a way of showing you the path. So the monastics, teachers like myself, other practitioners, guides, these are all people who have walked the path to a certain extent and who can show you. And so what that shows is we have a certain level of, we can say, respect or reverence or whatever you want to call it, acknowledgement of, oh, this person knows something, and I'm going to sit down and listen to what they have to say.

The willingness to do that, that's part of right view. It's not about bowing down to someone, because you can bow down to someone and have hatred in your heart for them. Or you can bow down and say, what is this nonsense? It's not about that. It's about the willingness to put aside your ego and say, let me hear this person out and listen to what they have to say. Perhaps they know something that I don't.

Or perhaps they know something I do, and it helps me confirm, helps me to discuss and understand and expound. So when you have this view aligned in this way, of the path, the super mundane path, or I should say the super mundane right view, is the understanding of what suffering is, the abandoning of craving, the realization of nibbana, and the cultivation and perfection of the path.

And so the path, as much as linear and dependent it is, or interdependent it is, it leads back to right view at the super mundane level. Once you have this right view, you have right intention. What is right intention? Right intention is to let go. Nekkhamma means renunciation. Again, renunciation can be of the outer. I will be this kind of person, and I will have this kind of diet, and I won't do this, and I won't do that. All of those wonderful things, that people can make into a rite and ritual and become empty and hollow in the worst ways possible.

The inner renunciation of choosing to let go of my anger, choosing to let go of my pride, choosing to let go of my ego. That's what it is. Letting go of the I. And non-ill will and non-cruelty means don't be a jerk. Simple as that. Don't be a jerk. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. aggravating you, don't make it worse by opening your mouth.

Let it go. So, don't be a jerk means don't cause harm to others and don't cause harm to yourself. That's part of right intention. Right speech and right action are part of keeping the precepts. Right speech is what? To think before you speak. T-H-I-N-K. This is an acronym. T is for timeliness. Is it the right time for me to say what I want to say?

H is for honesty. Do I know what I'm going to say is truthful? Or if I don't know if it's truthful, can I preface it with, this is what I have heard, I can't be sure if it's true or not. I is for intention. What is the intention behind what I want to say? Is it to cause discordance or is it to cause harmony?

Is it to convey information or is it to create peace? What is the intention? N is for necessity: is it necessary, what I have to say? Or can I be silent? And K is, can I do it with some level of kindness? Even when I'm admonishing someone, can I do it with some level of kindness? That doesn't mean you become perfect in your speech and you become completely like an AI model that speaks in complete sentences, all these things. It means that you are mindful of what you say.

You are thoughtful of what you say. That's why noble silence is the best. You don't have to say anything. There's a lot of peace in that. Right action is part of the other precepts: doing no harm, killing no one. Not stealing. We're not taking what is not given. And no sexual misconduct or sensual misconduct.

So not harming or killing another person, another being, basically means that we don't deprive the other being of their right to live, depriving them of fully living out their karma. You are prematurely cutting that asunder, which means they now have to go through another process. And when you kill another being, the level of consciousness that's present in that mind is full of fear and anger and hatred.

And because of that, it leads them to think in that way, in that moment, which leads to a negative rebirth. Unless someone is completely self-perfected in their patience, like Moggallana was when he was killed, or anyone else that we may think of, generally leads to fear and sadness and anger for that person being killed. To take what is not given. What does that mean, to take what is not given? Generally, it means stealing. You don't have a right to that particular thing, and you deprive that person or that being of that particular thing. And it could be anything. It could be possessions. It could be attention. It could be time, it could be money, it could be whatever.

Be mindful of what you use and that you don't step over other people's toes. Sexual misconduct and sensual misconduct. So obviously everyone here is celibate by virtue of the fact that they're taking the eight precepts. As sexual misconduct, which is causing harm, which is depriving a person's consent sexually. That's what it is. And sensual misconduct is you become so enamored by the sense bases and the sensual pleasures that you will do anything at all costs to obtain that, even to the extent of breaking the other precepts. Part of right action. Letting go of that. Not doing that.

Right livelihood. Right livelihood is being in a career, in a trade, in a business that does not deprive people or beings of their life or causing them harm. So this means not being, generally, traditionally in the suttas it says, not indulging or being in any kind of trade that supports the building of weapons, poisons, alcohol, human trafficking, and the killing of other beings.

So this part is all part of morality, all part of Sila: right speech, right action, and right livelihood. These three are part of the umbrella of Sila. Sila is the bedrock, that's literally what it means, the foundation, the stone, the rock. It's the foundation upon which everything else happens. If you don't have strong ethics, then you cannot develop in this practice.

Once you have that, then you're ready to get into practice, which is samadhi. What is samadhi? Sama means same, equal, balanced. Dhi is the short for buddhi. Buddhi comes from awakened. His intellect has been awakened to the nature of reality. Buddhi is the mind. The mind that is balanced. Same, same in everything. So, this umbrella consists of three things.

The first is right effort. The second is right mindfulness. And the third is right collectedness. So right effort is four parts. The first part is the prevention of the arising of unwholesome states that have yet to arise. In other words, recognizing them. First R. Recognizing unwholesome states as they arise. Because when you do that, you stop that flow from continuing.

The second right effort is to abandon already arisen unwholesome states. That is to release the distraction in the mind and to relax or tranquilize the bodily and mental formations. Consciously relax the body and the mind. Bring up a wholesome state of mind with the smile, re-smile, and come back to your object which has no craving it. And so the fourth is to maintain that wholesome state by staying on your object.

And repeat whenever necessary. The six R's are helping you to cultivate right effort. And once you have right effort, then right mindfulness arises. What is mindfulness? Mindfulness comes from the word sati. Sati comes from the Sanskrit word smriti. Smriti means to remember, to recollect. So what are we recollecting? What are we remembering? How mind's attention moves from one object to the other.

Simply put, we are staying present. We are being present. The spiritual cliche of being in the present moment, as much as cliche it is, it is absolutely valuable in this practice. You see, when you talk about the four foundations of mindfulness, they are anchor points to come back to the present. There is a series of suttas known as the One Excellent Night. It talks about one does not go forward into the future where anxieties prevail. One does not go back into the past where regrets and remorse are present. One remains in the present, but remaining in the present, one lets go of all identification with what is happening in the present. That is the perfection of mindfulness, to be available to the present moment in its most raw and naked experience, without adding anything to it, just being available to the present.

Because when you are doing that, you know when your mind is not in the present. And so you're remembering to observe when your mind is moving from one thing to the other. So the mindfulness of loving kindness, the mindfulness of breathing, the mindfulness of whatever your object is, is the process of staying present. As a result of which we now enter into right collectedness.

What is right collectedness? Samyak samadhi, sama samadhi. So if you think about the word right or samyak or sama, it obviously implies that there is a wrong way of doing this. Wrong view. The wrong views would be the views of nihilism, the views of permanency, these kinds of things. The wrong intention would be to hold on to things, to build up the ego, to be reactive to situations.

The wrong speech would be speech that causes discordance, that causes disharmony, that causes harm to oneself and to others. Wrong action, that deprives another of their right to live in the way that they want to live. Wrong livelihood: dealing in trade and business and a career that deprives others of the right to live the way they want to live.

Wrong effort. What would wrong effort be? Wrong effort would be ignoring the unwholesome and just pounding your mind into the so-called wholesome. Buddha has instructed, which is to let go. The whole process of the Eightfold Path is to recondition the mind from the unwholesome to the wholesome. And so what would wrong mindfulness be? Wrong mindfulness here would be not paying attention to when mind's attention moves and trying to be one-pointed, which leads to wrong concentration. Wrong collectedness. Wrong collectedness does not allow you to experience what we may call the noble jhanas, the noble mind.

In other words, it is so constricted in one's concentration beyond just this sliver. You become laser-pointed. And that can lead to a mind that is like stone, brittle, and immalleable. A mind that is not fluid. A mind that becomes disturbed at the immediate sound of something. Let the distractions pass through you, through the mind, rather than you're so concentrated that even the hum of the air conditioning shakes you out of it.

So right collectedness is a mind that has certain factors. The four jhanas. First and foremost, the mind needs to be withdrawn from sensual pleasures. You close your eyes. You collect your mind around an object. You are withdrawing from what's happening in terms of the sensual pleasures. Secluded from unwholesome states, your mind is free of the hindrances. It has no sensual craving.

It has no aversion. It has no doubt. It has no sloth and torpor, and it has no restlessness or remorse. Sensual craving, what is that? It's the desire to pay attention to the world outside through the sense bases. Aversion is the anger that you feel when there's an obstacle in your way of meditation. Doubt is the inability to discern between what is wholesome and unwholesome. Confusion.

Sloth and torpor is where the mind has not enough energy to keep its attention flowing. You may think you're meditating and after a while your mind drifts away and starts to become sleepy, starts to become dull, starts to become heavy. And restlessness and remorse is you're thinking about the future, anxious about what ifs. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if this doesn't happen? What if that happens? You know, all kinds of things about the future. And regret and remorse.

Oh, if I had only done it this way. Maybe if I had done that. Maybe if I had said this. These kinds of thoughts. When your mind is free of those, your mind becomes collected. Your mind becomes in a state of pamojja, gladness and relief. That gladness and relief results in piti born of seclusion, joy born of letting go.

and comfort in the body. So the factors of the first jhana are essentially vitakka and vicara, piti and sukha and ekaggata. So piti and sukha is the natural joy that comes from letting go of the hindrances, the relief that you feel and the joy starts to pervade. The happiness and the comfort starts to pervade. But there's vitakka and vicara. Vitakka is the placing of the mind on an object. And vicara is making the intention to keep the mind's attention on the object.

And ekaggata is not one-pointedness. It is the unification of the mind. There's a certain gravity that happens that you can feel where the mind is magnetized. It is collected around the object of meditation. It stays in orbit. After a while, you don't need to hold on to the object. The object continues. There's a certain level of self-confidence that arises. And this is the second jhana, where now you have piti born of collectedness.

The mind stays with its object, and the sukha is there. So what is let go is the vitakka and vicara. You don't need to keep placing your mind on the object. You don't need to make an effort to keep the object going. Now it happens smoothly and seamlessly, as the third jhana, where the piti fades away. And there is a sense of peace, a sense of contentment, a sense of tranquility through the body. There is sukha. If you recall what Ajahn Puna Dhamma was talking about, where the piti is present in the brahma loka, and it's like a flickering flame.

But as you get to the third jhana, that flame becomes more still because there's deeper tranquility and comfort in the mind and body. Sometimes you may start to lose contact with the body. Maybe the body feels like it's expanding, or the body feels heavy and grounded. And as you're with this jhana after a while, you let go of sukha. And it is in a space of very deep equanimity. And there is what is known as purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. And this is the major factor of the fourth jhana. Here in the fourth jhana, the mind feels so much ease and so much tranquility that

It doesn't really want to do anything. It just wants to rest. It just wants to stay with its object. And oftentimes you will see that when people come to the interviews and you ask them, how are things going? Fine. Just fine. They don't really want to talk a lot. Everything's going great. Just stop bothering me with these questions. Let me go back and sit. is very collected, very content.

And so, in the traditional TWIM setting, because we use the Brahmaviharas, we would use loving-kindness as the object to start off. It's a feeling of happiness. And that feeling of happiness is psychosomatic. We feel it as a warmth in the center of the chest. We feel a certain kind of upliftedness. We keep that going. We bask in that. We six are when the object starts to fade away or our attention goes into the background thoughts.

And we come back. And after a while, we direct it to a kalyanamitta, a spiritual friend, somebody who is alive, somebody who is not a family member, somebody who is of the same sex. And after a while, your mind becomes more collected, and you get into this space of deep equanimity, and your object will change. You will go through different sets of people in your life, other spiritual friends, family members, neutral people, and difficult people.

And that's called breaking down the barriers. And after that's done, then you go into radiating in the sixth direction. So you will radiate in forward, backward, right, left, above, below, in all directions at the same time. And when that happens, then the feeling of loving-kindness becomes more expansive, and you enter into the territory of infinite space.

And that feeling of loving-kindness may change into compassion. It's a softer feeling. It's like cotton candy. And you may stay in this space, this boundless spaciousness, for a while. And then perhaps that compassion changes into altruistic joy, empathetic joy, a very quiet kind of joy. And you enter into boundless awareness, infinite consciousness. signpost. And you may start to see the arising and passing away of individual consciousnesses.

And as you're doing this, your mind starts to become disenchanted with it. It starts to realize, oh, there's no controller here. So you see impermanence. You see the suffering. And you see the anatta, the emptiness. And your mind will then perceive equanimity, the fourth brahmavihara. And you may start to enter into a space of nothingness. You're not aware of anything in particular, but you're radiating gently and softly this feeling of equanimity. And you may be there for a while, and eventually the mind says, that's enough, I don't want to do anything.

And it kind of starts to hone in on itself. And now you are in the luminous mind, in the pabhassara citta. You see, this process of going through practice of meditation is to quiet down the working mind, the thinking mind, the analytical mind, the mind that feels like it knows, so that what is uncovered is the pabhassara citta, the luminous mind.

The mind of intuition. And you remain here for a while. You don't have to do anything. And certain images may come to you. Certain so-called memories may come to you. Patterns, disconnected thoughts. This is all in the territory of neither perception nor non-perception, which means neither recognizing nor non-recognizing. You're not able to fully form the thoughts, yet you know the thoughts are there.

It's like you're asleep but awake at the same time. The mind is very content here. And they may come and go. And there may be tiny vibrations here and there. And after a while, that quietens down as well. And sometimes they may become overwhelming. So if that happens, you may go back to radiating equanimity for a while until you come back to this space.

And then after that, there may come a point where your mind lets go completely. And there's a certain sense of a pure, pervasive awareness, which is known as the signless collectedness of mind. It doesn't take anything as an object, not even itself. It's just pure awareness. And you may remain here for a while until you let go even that. That moment the mind drops and all subjective consciousness stops for that moment. There is a break in the continuity of any kind of experience. And this is what we call cessation of perception and feeling.

And at that point the mind can touch the nibbana dhatu, the nibbana element. And when it has the contact with that, that contact is said to be signless, without any object, undirected, without any intention, and empty, without a sense of self there. And you may feel immense relief and joy as a result of that. The world becomes hyper-vivid around you. And it's like you're floating around. And this is how you enter the stream.