Looking at The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism: Right Understanding and Right Effort

In the practice of Buddhism, many writers, monks and

lay teachers will tell us that what we are trying to

do through its study and practice is purify and

enlighten the consciousness.

This enlightening process is a slow and gradual one in

which those states of consciousness, known in Buddhism

as the factors of enlightenment are strengthened while

those states of consciousness which are rooted in the defilements of the mind and known as the hindrances are weakened.

This process is brought about by understanding and

applying each step of The Noble Eightfold Path.

These various steps can be learned and applied one at

a time or learned and applied simultaneously.

How they are learned and applied will be determined by

various things, such as the state of consciousness of

the person who is bringing Buddhism into their life,

how much time they have available for its study, how

much time and effort they put into study and

meditation practice, what kind of conditioning they

have experienced in their life, their current life

situation and circumstances and how they perceive

their environment.

Many times intelligence is not a factor in learning

these things.

It is more a matter of mental balance and focus.

Right Understanding is the first step in The Noble

Eightfold Path and provides us with the philosophical

basis for the whole path and practice of Buddhism.

To comprehend this step of The Noble Eightfold Path

clearly helps us understand why we practice.

The next four steps of The Noble Eightfold Path give

us guidelines about how to think, speak and act, plus

help us understand that our livelihood may be one that

is in some way abusive to ourselves or others and is a

cause of both internal and external suffering.

They are ways of thinking, speaking and acting that we

live by in our daily activities and actions, so that

we are always practicing Buddhism.

In living in this manner, we do things that help

alleviate suffering within ourselves and suffering in

others.

Though those of us who may be familiar with Buddhism

are quite familiar with this and those of us who are

new to Buddhism may be captivated by the simple wisdom

in it, we sometimes tend to forget what a sublime set

of teachings these are.

That through our thoughts, words and actions we can

make our lives and the lives of others better.

Right effort, known in Pali as samma vayama is the

sixth step of The Nobel Eightfold Path of Buddhism and

its importance to our practice can not be overstated.

It is more of a personal practice and effort, one that

we apply when we are sitting for meditation and one

that we can be mindful about and act on in our daily

lives.

It certainly is more fruitful for us to watch our

consciousness in terms of right effort in life when we

are free or not involved in some task or activity then

to get caught up in regrets, recriminations and

negative thinking about the past, others and the life environment and situation that we find ourselves in in the present.

Right effort consists of four steps which can be

summarized as restraining and abandoning unwholesome

states (steps one and two) and cultivating and

maintaining wholesome states (steps three and four).

The unwholesome states are those states of

consciousness rooted in the defilements known as the

hindrances and the wholesome states are those states

of consciousness that are rooted in the factors of enlightenment.

As mentioned above, all of the steps of The Noble

Eightfold Path are working on bringing about this kind

of evolution of the consciousness, but in the

understanding and practice of right effort, we are

making a particularly focused effort in this endeavor.

This is an effort that we put forth while we are

engaged in a daily practice of sitting meditation or

while we are going about our daily endeavors and

involving ourselves in our daily tasks, needs and

desires.

It does and can involve changes in what we do with our

time.

It may mean less time watching television and more

time reading, studying and reflection on, and

discussion or note-taking about what right effort is

and consists of.

It may involve understanding that another drink or hit

will do little to bring about any kind of lasting

feeling of joy or happiness and using that energy that

is used in such a way in a different manner.

It may involve something that some of us are not

capable of, that being, seeing, understanding and

accepting that our views of others and the world are

not the reality, and at times, nothing more then a

result of our own conditioning, ignorance, fear,

selfishness, greed and anger.

It may involve opening ourselves up to something that

seems strange, alien and at times as countering those

things that we have been unconsciously taught and lead

to believe as being the way life is.

If we investigate right effort we see that its axioms, teachings and advice as to how to use our energy are very wise and helpful

 and that all mankind would benefit from them.

It is easy to see that if we have less ill – will and

are more mindful, things would be better for us and

the world. We would get along better with others and

not be so quick to see them in terns of being a threat

to us or someone we need to dislike or hate.

It is easy to see that if we have less doubt and more

energy and applied effort things would be better for

us and the world. We would be more enthusiastic about

and see the benefits in making changes in our lives

and how these things could be of benefit to others

also.

It is easy to see that if we were less restless and

more tranquil things would be better for us and the

world. We would be more content, appreciative and

satisfied with what we have instead of blindly seeking

out new ways to excite, stimulate or calm ourselves

and as a result be less aggressive and more mindful

about what others think or feel.

A thorough and ongoing investigation of what right

effort is and consists of is of benefit to all mankind

whether they feel that they want to embrace and

practice The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism or not.

©2004 John C. Kimbrough

(John lives and teaches in Bangkok, Thailand. He can

be reached at johnckimbrough@yahoo.com)