Eightfold path

The noble eightfold path consists of the following steps, divided into three groups ^{[5] [6]} :

The “path” should not be understood linearly, as a simple step from step to step. It is rather a spiral development. All constituent parts are important throughout the entire Path and must be practiced constantly. As development develops, dependencies arise between separate directions of the Path. For example, in accordance with the "right intention", time is allocated in the "right behavior" for the "right concentration" (meditation). With the deepening of meditation (correct concentration), you are convinced of the correctness of the Buddha’s Teaching (correct view) and practice meditation (correct concentration) already in your daily life (correct behavior).

Right View

The correct view first of all includes the comprehension of the four noble truths ^[4] . After this, the Buddhist needs to comprehend other main points of the teachings, which must be “internally experienced” and implemented as the main motivation of their behavior ^[8] .

Right intention

Buddhists need to make a firm decision to follow the Buddhist path leading to liberation and nirvana . He also needs to cultivate metta - loving kindness towards all living beings ^{[4] [9]} .

Right Speech

Right speech includes rejection of lies, indecent and rude words, obscenity, stupidity, slander and divisive rumors ^{[4] [9]} .

According to the Mahasatipatthana Sutra, correct speech means ^[10] :

• refraining from lying: telling the truth, sticking to the truth, being reliable, not deceiving;
• refraining from making discord: not telling something that can embroil people;
• abstaining from harsh words: speak soft words, penetrating the heart, polite;
• refraining from idle talk: speak decent words, at the right moment, sound and explaining, related to Dharma.

In some sutras ^{[11] a} more detailed explanation of these rules is given.

Proper behavior

A Buddhist must renounce murder, theft and misbehavior in general ^[4] . The laity must adhere to the five commandments : abstaining from murder, theft, debauchery, lies and intoxication ^[9] . The observance of these commandments leads to harmony at different levels - social, psychological, karmic and contemplative. Exercises in moral discipline are the basis for the exercises of the next steps, in concentration and wisdom. With further deepening of consciousness, ethical prohibitions that serve to deter immoral actions at the beginning of the path turn into the need to take into account the feelings of other living beings.

This stage is related to the activity of the physical body, but is evaluated from a moral point of view. According to the Mahasatipatthana Sutra, it includes three aspects ^[10] :

• refraining from wanting to kill all other living things,
• abstaining from theft,
• abstention from adultery.

Proper lifestyle

First of all, this concept includes the rejection of professions that cause suffering to living beings ^[4] . Since labor takes most of the time, in order to gain inner peace, one should strive to earn a living in accordance with Buddhist values. It is necessary to refrain from working in the following areas of activity ^[12] :

• related to trafficking in living beings, people or animals: slave trade, prostitution;
• one way or another associated with the manufacture and sale of weapons and tools for the killings. But Buddhism does not prohibit the laity to serve in the army, because the army is seen as a means of protecting sentient beings in the event of aggression (but if this army itself is the aggressor, the Buddhist should not serve in it), while the arms trade provokes conflicts and creates prerequisites for them;
• associated with the production of meat, since the production of meat requires the killing of living beings;
• related to intoxicating substances: production of alcohol and drugs, trade in them;
• any activity related to deception, accumulation of wealth by unrighteous and criminal ways: fortune telling, fraud ^[13] .

Proper lifestyle also includes refusal of excess, wealth and luxury. Only under this condition can you get rid of envy and other passions and related suffering.

The following three stages are usually used by monks in their psycho-practices ^[14] .

Proper effort

The right effort involves striving to concentrate your forces ^[14] and realize the following states that contribute to the awakening: self-awareness, effort, concentration, differentiation of dharmas, joy, peace, peace ^[4] .

In Sachchavibhang and Vibhang ^[15] suttas of the Buddhist Pali canon, it is explained as follows:

And what is, monks, the right effort? Here, monks,

A monk creates a desire for the non-arising of unarisen bad, unwholesome states [of the mind]. He makes an effort, generates diligence, directs the mind to it, tries.
It gives rise to the desire to discard arising bad, unwholesome states. He makes an effort, generates diligence, directs the mind to it, tries.
It creates a desire for the emergence of unarisen good states. He makes an effort, generates diligence, directs the mind to it, tries.

It gives rise to the desire to maintain the emerged good states, to their non-extinction, increase, growth, implementation through development. He makes an effort, generates diligence, directs the mind to it, tries. This is called the right effort.

Proper Remembrance

Proper mindfulness ( smriti ) includes “awareness of one’s own body, sensations, mind, and mental objects” ^[4] in order to achieve “continuous awareness”. The methods used are shamatha (sedation of consciousness and the elimination of affects ) and vipashyana (contemplation aimed at consolidating positive and eliminating negative states of consciousness) ^[16] .

Professor Robert Lester noted that the practice of smrti or sati was that the Buddha did not try to suppress various images, thoughts and sensations, but “just sat watching his feelings and thoughts, how they arise and add up to random patterns” . As a result, he consistently saw himself as "a cluster of physical and mental states," non-permanent and interdependent with each other; I saw that the cause of the physical condition is the action of desire, and desire is the surface layer of the " ego ", which is the "idea of ​​one's own" I. Having considered the “ego” more closely, the Buddha saw it as a consequence of karma , which is the action of the “resultant energy” of the past. Observing the flow of karma coming from the past, the Buddha realized that "one flow of life gives rise to another, and so on without end." Seeing the whole chain of causes through the practice of smrti , the Buddha finally realized that suffering and excitement are the result of desire and the associated “ego” and can be stopped by destroying the illusion of “ego” ^[17] .

Proper Concentration

Proper concentration involves deep meditation or dhyana ^[18] , as well as the development of concentration and leads to the achievement of ultimate contemplation or samadhi , and then to liberation ^{[4] [16]} .

This stage was the basis on which the Zen school was created ^[18] .

The Buddhologist B. I. Kuznetsov, after studying a large number of the most ancient texts, expressed the opinion that the eightfold path and some other basic Buddhist concepts were finally formed only in Sarvastivad , one of the relatively early Buddhist schools. The later nature of the basic Buddhist concepts, as compared with the time of the Buddha’s life, is suggested by some other researchers ^[19] .

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