Week 5 Essay
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pick a step on the noble 8-fold path and share your understanding and/or challenge.
please share your responses to 1-3 fellow classmate’s essays.
this week’s reading: https://www.lionsroar.com/buddhas-four-noble-truths/
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My initial response to Right Livelihood was, “Pff, no brainer.” I’m a retired social worker, worked in the field of mental health for children, active duty military and veterans. Surely that punched my ticket. And yet. What about right now? My income is from the federal government retirement system and social security, with some investment returns as well. I was looking at one of the investment accounts as I worked on taxes, and paid attention (for the first time, I admit) to the dozen or so funds that were selected by some AI algorithm based on my “moderately risk averse” profile. Where was my money going? Off of whose activity am I profiting? Most of them are alphabet soup, but there are some that raised my eyebrows – Goldman Sachs!? Really? Are my modest investments supporting activities that harm other people, directly or indirectly? How do I tell, and what do I do about it?
I know that there are “green funds” where investments are vetted, but this is a trust that I had no say over since my late mother established it. Of course, there are also funds in the local credit union that they use for investments, from which I get a very modest interest. This tracing the money can become a rabbit hole in no time.
Perhaps the better question is how I spend the money from these resources. Buying goods and services is necessary and desirable for daily life. If I choose to buy locally or not to patronize companies whose policies I feel are harmful or dishonest, perhaps that counts in some way. That way, my money goes toward someone else’s livelihood in a way that is less harmful than the alternatives. But even that is not always possible. I live in Alaska, and we simply do not have many retail outlets that are available elsewhere. We have to ship in most of our food and dry goods – there’s just no way around that. But what I can do is to be aware – of my spending patterns, where my money goes, and my life choices based on Right Livelihood.
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Dear Sue Ellen,
Yes…tax time. So complicated! I appreciate how much you delved into where are your investments? And, where and how you spend your money. I know nothing about living in Alaska but it seems that there is an added challenge there.
Best to you as you sort through all this. And, I hope you’ll be gentle with yourself and see so much of this is a life long process. -
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I just shared these two examples with my Study group so its feeling fresh…
First, after viewing what feels like a masterclass on Wrong Speech that took place in the Oval Office, I have been reflecting on Right Speech. Earlier in the day yesterday, I was invited by a friend/co-worker to coffee and the first thing she said to me when I saw her was, “I see you are wearing your gym pants.” That didn’t land with me for some reason but because it wasn’t overtly mean, or even a question, I just let it go. Or at least I thought I let it go. (Lieing to myself 😉 I realized in hindsight, that because of that comment (or maybe more importantly because of my interpretation of that comment, or my lack of clarity around it), I never really felt connected to her for the rest of the hour that we spent together. I mean we had a “lovely” conversation and laughed and I felt generally that she wanted to be there. She even treated me for my birthday (which was a month earlier) but because I’m on sabbatical, we hadn’t seen one another. Pam (from our study group) so wisely observed that using the Enneagram lens might reveal that my friend’s opening comment WAS a way of connecting. And knowing my friend/co-worker, that makes a lot of sense. But I realize that I might need more clarification in the future to be able to connect in return. So I’ve been considering responses I might the next time I feel caught off guard, like, “What do you mean by that?” These kind of seemingly “neutral” comments can trip me up a lot and I end up overcompensating in conversations/relationships, under committing, or finding myself talking about things that don’t feel like Right Speech at all (like somehow we end up being critical of someone else, because it gives us a shared point of agreement or something?) Yuck! That feels like Wrong Speech. I plan to sit with this more, because issues of my upbringing, or conflict avoidance (or the perception of potential conflict), and being white and being “nice” are definitely resonating.
The second example is also related to the Guardians and Protectors episode of The Emerald. (Side note just for the record, I am really enjoying The Emerald podcasts and have listened to others including a very thought provoking episode called, “Trickster Jumps Sides” that offers a lot of context to what is happening politically right now…right down to identifying the guy who broke into the capital on Jan 6 (wearing the dear skin hat) as a modern day trickster. But I digress…)
Anyway, last week my wife and I traveled to Puerto Rico and spent one day hiking in the rain forest. But the drive up was provoking a lot of negative feelings in me about being a tourist (there are signs on trees to zip-line and other tours), colonialism (which needs no explanation but let’s just say it was first Spanish and then American Colonization), and my privilege at being able to book a flight to an island and just assume its okay to walk up a sacred mountain. So we stopped the car and I asked my wife if we could perform a little ritual. I have been trying out some of the ideas from the Guardians and Protectors episode including asking for permission. So I asked permission to the Guardians (I even looked up the ancient dieties of the original people from the island) if we could walk along the pathways and spend time giving gratitude in the forest. And then waited to feel that it was okay. Just the simple act of pausing and asking and being open to a possible “no.”, felt like it put me in relationship with the mountain, the land, the forest and the ancestors of this place. Reflecting on that now, I feel that asking permission is another kind of use of Right Speech. It’s connecting language that connected me more to myself, to my wife (and her to me, as she told me later how much she liked the little ritual before walking) and to the forest, mountain, ancestors.-
Dear Jeffrey,
thank you for offering these two very interesting examples, like I also heard you describe them in our study group. They provide a lot to think about!
I really like your ritual on the mountain (I once climbed a hill in Botswana and the guy I was with suggested we greet the ancestors there and ask their permission to visit, which added so much value and depth to the experience (and connected the two of us more, too), so I think I understand what you mean). With this example and other instances of trying to be more attentive – to how we speak, communicate, perceive, behave, etc., I just feel that it would require SO much more time for everything than I usually give to my daily activities. In theory, there’d be so much all the time to which I would like to pay more attention and give more thought, but I feel that this is not really feasible in the lives we that we, and I, lead. … maybe a challenge related to the “householder path” outside a monastery. 🙂 -
Wow, Jeffrey. These are both such powerful examples – thank you so much for sharing them. (And I got to read your insights since I missed our weekly Zoom meeting!)
I can so relate to the simple comment throwing you off your connection with someone. I’ve had similar experiences and also don’t tend to ask for clarification in those situations, but I wonder how something small like asking what she meant might send you down a different road with how you felt in the interaction.
I loved your description of asking permission from the guardians of the forest you visited. In addition to showing respect for the land and its beings, it seems like just a beautiful way to commune with what’s there in so much of a deeper sense – like that first Emerald podcast we listened to. Beautiful!
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Susan taught us that the first item on the Eightfold Path, Right View, is the big one.
Right View is seeing the true nature of existence. Right Intention is consonant with right view, and the others on the list of Eight arise organically from these two. Those are the words, yes?
I don’t quite get this Right View business, and I’m going to wrestle with it a bit here. Thanks for your patience.
Is Right View remembering the 4 Reminders – that our lives are precious and extremely hard to find; whatever is born is impermanent and will die; Karma is real; the 3 realms of Samsara, past present, future, are an ocean of suffering.
Or, is Right View the first 3 Noble Truths: Life is unsatisfying; the cause of suffering is grasping; the cessation of suffering is accomplished by not grasping.
Accept that everything is impermanent. Change happens; no surprise.
There are some elements in there about all phenomena being interdependent. We all, all shape each other.
I notice in and around me (thank you Sangha) the growing Intention to be aware of all these things. There are opportunities to practice all day long.
Is this Right View? How might I and we better understand it? -
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May we please discuss this in class?
From this week’s reading, The Buddha’s Noble First Teaching, by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche“In tantric, or Vajrayana, Buddhism the followers do not avoid or subdue emotional afflictions or negative energies and situations. Instead the emphasis is on accepting and transforming them as the fuel of the wisdom energy. These followers are like those who skillfully transform the poisonous tree into medicinal substances, which they use for good health and energy.”
How is this transformation accomplished? Through not resisting the emotional afflictions or negative energies and situations? Through acceptance does the transformation happen by itself, or are there skills needed to make this happen?
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I am contemplating right view and the four noble truths, specifically struggling with the reality of impermanence and death. It’s something I feel I can look at head on and accept in concept. And yet I experience moments of sheer panic. I am currently experiencing COVID, which is not particularly serious, but it’s activating my deep primal fear of not being able to breathe. I am also currently experiencing a loved one having been diagnosed with advanced cancer in multiple organs, who spent last week in the hospital and can’t keep food down, who has meanwhile been deteriorating from dementia. And sometimes, especially in the middle of the night when I feel like I can’t swallow, I can’t breathe, I can’t die and leave my child, I can’t let go, what will happen if I can’t control, if I can’t protect… Oh god, it’s terrifying. And it’s not new, it comes around every once and a while despite how balanced I might be feeling in my day to day life. But last night, I was able, just a little bit, to stay with the feelings of terror and just merge with it… and found peace through it. I don’t know if that makes sense, it’s hard to put into words. It almost feels counterintuitive that the way out is not to fight or fix or resist, but I think those impulses are the delusion.
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Tracy, what you are experiencing sounds overwhelming, and your feeling of terror seem like a natural reaction. You are spot on in embracing the counterintuitive wisdom that the only way to get past is to go through without resistance. Whew! Easier said than done sometimes. It reminds me of the Biblical 23rd psalm, walking through the valley of death. We’re all walking there, and knowing that we’re not alone on that path makes all the difference. Sending metta to you and all those who are being tossed in life storms.
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Tracy, thank you for telling us about your suffering, and your surprising experience of peace arising from staying with your feelings of terror. It appears that the 90 seconds that an emotion lasts — so we’re told — will need to be stayed-with, over and over and over again.
Yes, like Sue Ellen said, we’re all walking this valley. Your stories will help me in this very elusive, counter-intuitive effort to stay put, stop with the stories, feel it . . . Just merge. -
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For me, “right intention” is a big challenge. However, it’s hard to separate it from “right view”. Somehow “right intention” seems endless given that it aligns with “right view”. Do I really behave in a way that deeply appreciates the ever-changing, fragility of life? When I interact with others, do I have that intention to appreciate who they are and that our lives together are fleeting? I don’t think I do. I assume that I will see my loved ones tomorrow (they’ll be here forever and so will I.)
I think in order to grasp the fleeting nature of life, I’d be much more appreciative of the little things in life and less focused to getting what I want.
As a grandmother who LOVES dearly my 3 grandsons, do my intentions with them reflect the preciousness of their human birth? I think so. However, I can also be “assuming” that our relationships will be forever.
Thank you for reading this.
Betsy -
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The step on the Eight-Fold Path, within the Four Noble Truths, that I have chosen to contemplate is the “Right View”. All of the steps are essential on the ultimate path of enlightenment and all the steps are also so intertwined that it is difficult to separate them and discuss them by themselves. I will do my best to give my understanding of “Right View”. To me, this step is the most important because without seeing, understanding, and actually gaining Right View all of the other steps seem to go astray in some sense. If you don’t have the Right View how can you have the Right Intention, the Right Speech, Right Action, and so on through all the other four? To me, Right View is seeing clearly the Truth of Ultimate Reality. That what we think is reality is actually an illusion and this causes so much suffering. The illusion is the perception of duality and of the separateness of people an really everything. We are not separate from one another, we aren’t separate from nature, and we aren’t separate from the past or the future. We did not arrive here out of thin air, we are completely interconnected with everything and all of life. We believe in the duality and that causes suffering, then we try to not believe that life is suffering. That the illusion is always changing and we can’t hold on to anything in the illusion.
There are times when I completely get/understand this “Right View” and there are times that I lose the understanding of “Right View” in my life. There are times when it makes total sense and there are times when it makes no sense at all. There are times when I really feel the total interconnectedness and there are times when I feel completely separate (suffering).
An example of this, that I can share is, with my girlfriend (for context my girlfriend and I have been in a long-distance relationship for almost 3 years). There are plenty of times when we are talking and sharing our day that I and we feel completely connected and in sync like there is no separation between us, though there is 6000 km between us physically, but energetically there is no space between us. Then there are times when we happen to have an argument, and neither of us can see the point of view of the other, then there is the feeling of separateness and the distance seems more real to us. But then we resolve the issues and the feeling of interconnectedness comes back. This is the nature of impermanence. I want it to be the connected way, but it comes and goes. I guess one has to ride the waves of suffering and joy up and down until one can transcend. I haven’t yet at all.
I also feel Right View when I am outside on a clear night and look at the stars. I lose track of time or lose time altogether and feel the interconnectedness of myself with everything. I sense Right View when I take action in the world and consider the effects of the actions I am taking. I think of how what I am doing will affect others, especially people close to me. Then there are times when my actions are based wholly on self-interest and later on I can notice the lack of Right View in my actions.
I try to act with Right View in my mind at all times, but I certainly am not successful plenty of times. That is the Path though. Suffering is true, we cause a lot of our suffering by grasping to the hope that this is not true and the illusion of duality that we grasp at that as well. Having the Right View is the first and most important step in letting go of the tight grip we have on the illusion.
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