The Noble Eightfold Path Flashcards
What is Sila?
Right livelihood, right speech, right action
What is wisdom?
Right thought and right view
What is mental discipline?
Right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration
What is right livelihood?
Earning our living, and spending our money in a way that does not cause suffering
What is right speech?
Means which is motivated not by hatred or greed, but by a pure mind, and compassion
What is right action?
Our actions should not be motivated not by greed or hatred, but by compassion
What is right effort?
Avoid evil things
What is right mindfulness?
Always being fully aware of our immediate state of consciousness
What is right concentration?
Samatha = meditation to clear the mind and to train your mind to focus and concentrate Vipassana = meditation with the aim of gaining insight and understanding of the truth
What is right view?
Seeing the world as it really is
What is right thought?
Avoiding thoughts based on hatred or greed
What is a quotation for wisdom?
“It is intention, oh Bhikkus that I call Karma” - Sutta Pitaka
What is a story for wisdom?
The mustard seed story where a woman’s baby died and she wanted him back so she went round every house and asked them for a mustard seed if they had never had suffering. No one could give her a seed as everyone has experienced suffering and it is a part of human life
What is a story for right livelihood?
The Buddha taught his followers to earn their living like a bee collects pollen from the flower. Doesn’t hurt it in any way, it helps to flourish
What is the monastic life for theravada Buddhists?
Monastic life is designed to achieve victory over craving and the best way to begin with the lifestyle that encourages want to be content with extreme little things. E.g. chastity.
Chastity includes total separation from family and dedication to an independent life. This is to help the practitioner to become detached from worldly attachmentnents and commitments
Buddhists ask themselves five questions when thinking about doing an action (RIGHT ACTION). What are the five questions?
Is it right? Is it the right time? Is it beneficial? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
What is an example for right action?
Avoiding taking a life.
An example of right action is a Jakarta tale about the hungry tigress. This is a story about how a prince saw some starving tigers and he fed himself to the hungry tigers so that they could carry on living. This action is motivated by compassion
