Completion of
7
Things initiates The Noble
8-fold Way!
Human beings are special
as they can train, learn, and educate themselves to elevating progress!
The Blessed
Buddha once explained:
Completion of 7 things is the seed, initiator,
and precursor for developing the
Noble 8-fold Way!
What are these
7 things?
1. Having a
Good and Beautiful Friend (Kalyāna-mitta):
Such
friend
has a pure and beautiful mind, which by simply being a good
example will influence and
encourage all other beings to
improve their mentality, behaviour and understanding.
Such good friend
encourages one to learn, train, and develop one self towards individual, and social
harmony.
2. Completion
of Pure Morality (Sīla-sampadā):
Having a minimum of
5-precept
moral
discipline
is the indispensable foundation of
any
right life..
This means living harmlessly
and helpfully, and not exploitatively, both within the
material and
social environment, by using the four necessities of food, clothing, shelter and
medicine as
well as any technology, so they enhance a true quality of one's own
and others
beings life, by
promoting education, constructive action, merit-making, and the state of balance in
nature.
3. Consummation of Motivation
(Chanda-sampadā):
Having a mind
that is well motivated by withdrawal and good-will, which aims at learning and
doing good. Not obsessed by only wanting
ever more, getting new, and low consumer
pleasure...
Instead, one uses all one's abilities in joyous learning of how
to do only advantageous
things,
avoid
all evil and detrimental things, and purify one's mind into a subtle radiant excellence..
4:
Perfection
of One-self
(Atta-sampadā):
By dedicating oneself to the
realization of one's full human potential through daily
meditation.
One views all difficulties, hardships, obstacles, and problems as good training
grounds to test
and improve one's mind, intelligence, and abilities toward the realization of one's
full potential,
through a comprehensive refinement, that encompasses mentality, behaviour,
and understanding.
5. Clarification of View
(Ditthi-sampadā):
Seeing
that all phenomena has a
cause,
and an effect, is adhering to the principle of
conditionality.
This comprehension of the vast mutual dependency of all mental
and material states
in the universe
comes from repeated reasoning, thorough examination, and an
excellence in rational
analysis. This
enables a mental clarity and intellectual independence of neither being impulsive,
nor over-reactive,
by
not allowing oneself to drift along the stream of public hysteria, and banal common-day priorities.
6.
Achievement of Alertness (Appamada-sampadā):
To be acutely and constantly aware of the inevitable
impermanence, inherent instability, transience,
fleeting evanescence, and
irreversible insubstantiality of all life, all things, and all
phenomena, which
are constantly changing according to their causes and conditions, both internally
and externally, will
establish oneself in alertness. One realizes, that one cannot afford to be
complacent. One sees the
preciousness of time, and strives to learn about, prevent, and rectify the causes
of decline and bring
about the causes of growth and prosperity, using all one's time, night
and day to
the greatest advantage!
7. Fulfillment
of Rational Attention
(Yoniso-manasikara-sampadā):
Attending wisely so as to what is the cause of any phenomena or state, will make
one advantageously
realize the real truth. To investigate, by
intelligently examining,
investigating, tracing, analyzing and
researching into the very proximate cause of any given situation, will make one
able to solve problems
and do things successfully through intelligent
methods, that allows one to be independent, self-reliant,
and by that cement-solid self-sufficiency become a helping refuge to many
other people and beings.
As dawn is the forerunner for the rising of the sun, even and exactly so do these
7 things
seed, initiate, and begin the development, and completion of the
Noble 8-Fold Way..
The Noble 8-fold Way
culminates in Nibbāna
- the Deathless State - !
These 7 things are therefore indeed
Noble Goals!
Source: Samyutta Nikāya V 29-31 and the classical commentary on that, which
inspired:
A constitution for Living.
Buddhist Principles for a Fruitful and Harmonious Life.
Ven. P.A. Payutto. Thailand. Buddhist
Publication Society 2007: BP 620S
https://www.bps.lk
