What the Buddha Taught

This section is Some One’s summary of what the Buddha taught about how to live life.  This section is based on the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh (The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, and many of his other books) and Walpola Rahula’s, What the Buddha Taught.  Some One wrote this introductory poem.

The Buddha sat under a bodhi tree,
An ordinary man like you and me.
And through meditation he began to see
A path to end suffering, a way to be.

For the next forty years he was content
To teach his disciples Enlightenment.
They learned from him the Middle Way,
A way to live out every day.

His teachings are called the Dharma.
His followers form the Sangha.
In these we find the refuge we've sought
And this is what the Buddha taught....

What the Buddha Taught

THREE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS
     -  Nothing is lost in the universe.
     -  Everything changes
     -  The law of cause and effect (karma)

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
     -  Suffering (disappointment) is common to all.
     -  We are the cause of suffering
              (desire, greed, anger, suspicion, ignorance and other
              afflictions)
              (The IGnoble eightfold path of wrong practices leads
              to suffering)
     -  To end suffering stop doing what causes suffering
              (The end of suffering is well-being, not just lack of
              suffering)
     -  Follow the noble eightfold path of right practices to
              achieve well-being.  (Replace suffering with well-being)

THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH (THE MIDDLE WAY)
     -  Right View
               (See the world through the wisdom and compassion
               of the Buddha)
     -  Right Thought
               (You are what you think!)
     -  Right Speech
               (Speak kind and helpful words)
     -  Right Conduct
               (Our actions truly define us no matter what we say)
     -  Right Livelihood
               (A job we like that does not harm or make others
               unhappy )
     -  Right Effort
               (Do your best at all times and bring goodwill to others)
     -  Right Mindfulness
               (Be awakened to your present moment)
     -  Right Concentration
               (Focus on one thought or object at a time)

THE THREE ESSENTIALS OF BUDDHIST TRAINING
      -  Ethical Conduct (based on universal love and
              compassion for all living things)
      -  Mental Discipline
      -  Wisdom

THE TRIPLE JEWEL (THREE REFUGES)
     -  The Buddha is the guide
     -  The Dharma is the path
     -  The Sangha is the spiritual community

THE FIVE PRECEPTS
     -  No Killing (Respect for all life)
     -  No Stealing (Respect for others property)
     -  No Sexual Misconduct (Respect for our pure nature)
     -  No Lying (Respect for honesty)
     -  No intoxicants (Respect for a clear mind)

THE FIVE MINDFULNESS TRAININGS
     The Five Mindfulness Trainings focus on the full meaning
          of the Five Precepts.
      Regular practice of these trainings will reinforce the precepts
          of ethical conduct and help develop an understanding of
          The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

UNDERSTANDING THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
     These four truths are interconnected and interrelated.
     Mindfulness is our method for understanding these truths
          in our own lives.
     Although suffering is common to all, everything is not suffering.
          We must be able to know what is good in our lives as well
          as those specific afflictions that we suffer from.
     Stopping, calming, resting, healing will prepare us to deal with
          both the good and suffering in our lives.
     Looking deeply into our afflictions can be accomplished through
          mindfulness in these stages:  (using anger as an example)
          - Recognition (yes, anger is in me)
          - Acceptance (don't deny it, I accept the present state)
          - Embracing (hold the anger in my arms like a mother
               holds a baby)
          - Looking Deeply (when calm, I can look deeply for the
               source of anger)
          - Insight (knowing the true source of this anger, I can
               discover how to prevent it in the future)
     The Buddha said there are four types of nutrients that feed our
          happiness or our suffering: 
          - edible food, 
          - sense impressions, 
          - intention, and
          - consciousness.
     When we identify the nutrients that are doing us harm, we can
          eliminate them.
     We must be able to distinguish the healthful from the harmful
          in what we take into our bodies.  In making that judgment
          we must mindfully consider not just our own physical bodies
          but also the impact on our natural world.  When we
          drink, smoke, or consume toxins we are destroying our
          livers, lungs and heart!
     Our six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind)
          provide sense impressions to our consciousness.   Sense
          inputs from advertisements, TV, movies, video games, news
          stories and conversations can expose us to harmful
          impressions that will feed our afflictions.
     Intentions drive actions and actions lead to consequences. 
          (This is karma!)  Bad intentions (e.g. revenge) lead to harmful
          consequences.  But even apparently good intentions (a high
          position, wealth, possessions) often have bad consequences.
     'Our consciousness is eating all the time....and what it becomes
          is the substance of our life.'  'We can nourish our
          consciousness by practicing...love, compassion, joy, and
          equanimity, or we can feed our consciousness with greed,
          hatred, ignorance, suspicion and pride.' (TNH)
     Ask yourself what nourishes joy in yourself and others.  Find
          the nutriments for happiness that you already enjoy.
     Embrace your suffering and discover the nutriments that
          are feeding it.  Then stop ingesting the bad nutriments and
          ingest only good nutriments!
     Both joy and suffering are impermanent!  Learn the art of
          cultivating joy and banishing suffering.
     Embrace the eightfold path.

UNDERSTANDING THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
The elements of the eightfold path are interconnected and
      pursued simultaneously.
The aim of the eightfold path is to achieve well-being by
      practicing the three essentials of Buddhist training.
            - Ethical Conduct is supported by:
                 Right Speech,
                 Right Action,
                 Right Livelihood
            - Mental Discipline is supported by:
                 Right Effort,
                 Right Mindfulness,
                 Right Concentration
           - Wisdom is supported by:
                 Right Thought,
                 Right View (understanding).
Our goal is to live a life of joy and happiness by achieving a
     balance between compassion and wisdom.  Imbalance
     leads to the good-hearted-fool or the hard-hearted-intellect!

What is the RIGHT VIEW?
     Like the taste of an orange, 'right view cannot be described;
          we can only point in the right direction.'(TNH)
     The Right View must be based on correct perceptions,
          but many perceptions are wrong.
     It includes a deep understanding of the four noble truths.
     It is the ability to distinguish wholesome roots from
          unwholesome roots in ourselves.
     It is the insight we have into the reality of life, a living insight
          that fills us with understanding, peace, and love.' (TNH)
     We learn the Right View through experience and the practice
          of mindfulness.
     'Right View is both the cause and effect of all the other
          elements of the (eightfold) path.' (TNH)

What is RIGHT THINKING?
     If you have the Right View you have Right Thinking. 
     Improving Right Thinking will improve Right View.
     Right Thinking leads to Right Speech and Right Action.
     There are four practices that lead to Right Thinking:
          - Are you sure?
                 (Wrong perception causes wrong thinking!)
          - What am I doing?
                 (Think about what you are doing right now!)
          - Hello habit energy.
                 (Recognize and embrace bad habit energy
                 with mindfulness so it will not cause you problems.)
          - Buddhichitta is our mind of love.
                 (Make Buddhichitta the foundation of your thinking.)
     'Think non-thinking.' Is a Zen saying that means that you
          should fully dwell in the present to touch the seeds of joy,
          peace, and liberation.

What is RIGHT MINDFULNESS?
     Right mindfulness is the heart of the eightfold path.  If you
          have right mindfulness, you have everything.
     Thich Nhat Hanh describes the seven miracles of
         mindfulness:
         - The FIRST miracle 'is to be present and able to touch
                deeply the blue sky, the flower, and the smile of the
                child.'
         - The SECOND 'is to make the other - the sky, the flower,
                our child present, also.'
         - The THIRD 'is to nourish the object of your attention.'
                Giving attention to your loved one is like watering a
                flower so it doesn't wilt.
         - The FOURTH miracle is to relieve the suffering of others.
         - The FIFTH miracle is looking deeply.  In meditation you
                shine the light of mindfulness on the object of your
               attention and yourself.  You can see the interbeing
               of all things.
         - The SIXTH miracle is understanding.  'Understanding is
               the foundation of love.'
         - The SEVENTH is transformation.  'When we practice
               Right Mindfulness we touch the healing and refreshing
               elements of life and begin to transform our own
               suffering and the suffering of the world.  (By mindfully
               focusing on a bad habit we can transform ourselves to
               drop that bad habit.)
     The Buddha offered four objects for our mindfulness practice:
          - Our body
          - Our feelings
          - Our mind
          - The objects of our mind

What is RIGHT SPEECH?
     Right Speech is based on Right Thinking.
     Words can create happiness or suffering.
     Commit to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in
          order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve
          others of suffering.
     'Speak truthfully, with words that inspire self-confidence,
          joy, and hope.'
     If you are not certain, do not spread news or criticize or
          condemn things.
     Refrain from uttering words that cause division or discord.
     Do not speak cruelly.  Don't shout, slander, curse,
          encourage suffering or create hatred.
     Do not embellish or exaggerate to make things seem better
          or worse than they are.

What is RIGHT ACTION?
     Right Action of the body directly depends on Right Thinking.
     The goal of right action is touching love, preventing harm, and
          practicing non-violence toward ourselves and others.
     Right Action is accomplished through the mindful
          implementation of the four action related commands of
          the Five Precepts.
     Commit to cultivating compassion and learning ways to
          protect the lives of people, animals, plants and minerals.
     Do not kill or allow others to kill and do not support
          any act of killing in the world.
     Commit to cultivating loving kindness and learning ways
          to work for the well-being of people, animals, plants,
          and minerals. 
     Practice generosity by sharing your time, energy, and
          material resources with those who are in need. 
     Do not steal or possess anything that should belong to
          others.  Respect the property of others.
     Do not engage in sexual relations without love and long-term
          commitment.  
     Do everything in your power to protect children from sexual
          abuse and to prevent couples and families from being
          broken by sexual misconduct.
     Commit to cultivating good health, both physical and mental,
          for yourself, your family and your community by practicing
          mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. 
     Do not ingest alcohol or any other intoxicant or ingest foods
          or other items that contain toxins to the body or mind.

What is RIGHT EFFORT?
     Right Effort is the diligence that is needed to carry through
          with all of the elements of the Eightfold Path.
     Putting a lot of effort into the wrong things is not what is
          needed, so other elements of the path must be present
          for diligence to be effective.
     Four practices associated with Right Effort are:
          - preventing unwholesome seeds from arising in our minds
          - suppressing unwholesome seeds that have arisen.
          - watering wholesome seeds dormant in our minds
          - nourishing wholesome seeds that have arisen.
     The right amount of effort is that which brings interest and joy;
          too much effort can be counterproductive; too little effort
          will not get the job done.

What is RIGHT CONCENTRATION?
     The practice of Right Concentration is to cultivate a mind that
          is one-pointed and neither too excited nor too dull.
     Mindfulness brings about concentration.
     Right Concentration leads to happiness and to Right Action.
     There are two kinds of concentration:
          Active concentration dwells on the present moment and
               when that moment passes moves on to the next
               moment.
          Selective concentration focuses on a selected object
               (physical or mental) and holds on to that object.
     When practicing selective concentration we must be free from
          distractions.  We cannot concentrate while talking on the
          phone or watching TV.  Focus only on our chosen object.
     You cannot live your life in distraction and inattention.  Each
          moment will be gone before you even notice it has arrived.
     If you use concentration to run away from something this is
          wrong concentration.  In Buddhism you must embrace
          you suffering in order to eliminate it.
     The Buddha taught nine levels of meditative concentration
          that concentrate on both the form and formless realms.
     The Buddha also taught many concentration practices
          including  the Concentration on Impermanence and the
          Concentration on Non-self.

What is RIGHT LIVELIHOOD?
     Right Livelihood is earning a living without transgressing on
          any of the Five Precepts.
     We should be aware of the broad consequences of any
          livelihood that we consider by realizing the inter-being
          of all things.
     We must support our families with health care, food, clothing,
          and lodging; however, we should find a livelihood that
          does not erode our practice of the Five Precepts as
          understood in the Five Mindfulness Trainings.

 NIRVANA
Nirvana is the cooling of the flames of our suffering. 
Nirvana is letting go of all ideas and notions, including the ideas:
Of self,
Of human being,
Of living being,
Of birth and death,
Of good and evil,
Of suffering and happiness. 
Nirvana Is the ultimate dimension.
Nirvana is the true reality.
Nirvana is found by concentrating on:
Inter-being,
Emptiness ( no self),
Signlessness,
Aimlessness,
Impermanence,
Non-craving,
Letting go.
Nirvana is only found here and now in life.