The Buddha's first sutra: Wheel of Dharma

THE BUDDHA'S FIRST SUTRA (56.11) Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma

Turning in the dreaded Wheel of Samsara

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Awakened One was dwelling at Baraṇasi (Varanasi) in the Deer Park at Isipatana (the Resort of Seers). There he addressed the Group of Five [wandering ascetics, his former companions in the spiritual life]:

“Meditators, these two extremes should be abandoned by one who has gone forth from the homelife to the left-home life. What are the two? The pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, ignoble, unbeneficial on the one hand and the pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial on the other.

“Without veering off towards either of these extremes, the Tathagata (the Wayfarer, the Buddha) has awakened to the Middle Way, which gives rise to knowledge, which gives rise to vision, which leads to peace, to direct experience, to enlightenment, to nirvana.

“What, meditators, is that Middle Way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to knowledge and vision…and which leads to nirvana? It is this Ennobling Eightfold Path:

1. right view,
2. right intention,
3. right speech,
4. right action,
5. right livelihood,
6. right effort,
7. right mindfulness,
8. right stillness.

“This, meditators, is that Middle Way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to knowledge and vision, which leads to peace, to direct experience, to enlightenment, to nirvana.

“Now this, meditators, is the ennobling truth of disappointment (suffering, pain, misery, dukkha): rebirth is disappointing, aging is disappointing, illness is disappointing, death is disappointing; union with what is displeasing is disappointing; separation from what is pleasing is disappointing; not to get what one wants is disappointing; in brief, the Five Aggregates clung to as self are disappointing.

“Now this, meditators, is the ennobling truth of the origin of disappointment: It is this craving that leads to renewed becoming (rebirth), accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasure, craving for eternal existence, craving for annihilation.

“Now this, meditators, is the ennobling truth of the cessation of disappointment: It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that craving, the letting go and abandoning of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.

“Now this, meditators, is the ennobling truth of the way leading to the cessation of disappointment: It is this Ennobling Eightfold Path; that is (1-8), right view…right stillness.

“‘This is the ennobling truth of disappointment’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience (true knowledge), and light.

What does it take to be a "wise man"?

“‘This ennobling truth of disappointment is to be fully understood’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of disappointment has been fully understood’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This is the ennobling truth of the origin of disappointment’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the origin of disappointment is to be abandoned’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the origin of disappointment has been abandoned’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This is the ennobling truth of the cessation of disappointment’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the cessation of disappointment is to be realized’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the cessation of disappointment has been realized’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This is the ennobling truth of the way leading to the cessation of disappointment’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the way leading to the cessation of disappointment is to be developed’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct epxerience, and light.

“‘This ennobling truth of the way leading to the cessation of disappointment has been developed’: Meditators, in regard to things unheard before, there arose in me knowledge, vision, wisdom, direct experience, and light.

“So long, meditators, as my knowledge-and-vision of these Four Ennobling Truths as they really are in their three phases and 12 aspects was not thoroughly purified in this way, I did not claim to have awakened to the unsurpassed supreme enlightenment in this world with its devas, maras, and brahmas (deities, demons, and divines), in this generation with its wandering ascetics and temple priests, its beings of light (devas) and humans.

I can get off this interminable wheel now.

“But when my knowledge-and-vision of these Four Ennobling Truths as they really are in their three phases and 12 aspects was thoroughly purified in this way, then I claimed to have awakened to the unsurpassed supreme enlightenment in this world with its devas, maras, and brahmas, in this generation with its wandering ascetics and temple priests, its beings of light and humans.

“Knowledge-and-vision arose in me: ‘Unshakable is my liberation of heart/mind. This is my final rebirth. Now there is no more again becoming.’”

This is what the Blessed One said. Elated, the Group of Five delighted in the Awakened One’s words.

The first hearer to awaken

And while this discourse (sutra) was being spoken, there arose in Venerable Kondañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the Dhamma: “Whatsoever originates also ceases.”

And when the Wheel of the Dhamma (Doctrine) had been set in motion by the Awakened One, the earth-dwelling beings of light (bhumi-devas) raised a cry:

• 

  The 31 Planes of Existence

  “At Baraṇasi, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, this unsurpassed Wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Awakened One, which cannot be stopped by any wandering ascetic or temple priest (shramana or brahmana) or deva or Mara or Brahma or by anyone in the world.”
• Having heard the cry of the earth-dwelling beings of light, the beings of light in the realm of the Four Great Kings raised [the same] cry: “At Baraṇasi…this unsurpassed Wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Awakened One.”
• Having heard the cry of the devas of the realm of the Four Great Kings, the Tavatiṁsa devas (the light beings of the World of the Thirty-Three)…
• the Yama devas…
• the Tusita devas…
• the Nimmanarati devas…
• the Paranimmitavasavatti devas…
• the devas of Brahma’s retinue raised [the same] cry: “At Baraṇasi, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, this unsurpassed Wheel of the Dhamma has been set in motion by the Awakened One, which cannot be stopped by any wandering ascetic or temple priest or deva or Mara or Brahma or by anyone in the world.”

Then at that moment, at that instant, at that very second, this cry spread as far as the brahma world, and this 10,000-fold world system shook, quaked, and trembled, and an immeasurable glory and radiance appeared in the world surpassing the divine majesty of the devas.

Then the Awakened One spoke this inspired utterance:

“Koṇḍañña, indeed, understood! Koṇḍañña, indeed, has understood!” In this way Venerable Koṇḍañña acquired the name “Añña Koṇḍañña—Koṇḍañña Who Has Understood.”

• SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta—Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), suttacentral.net, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist "EMPTINESS" explained (video)

Buddhist emptiness explained

(SEEKER TO SEEKER) July 22, 2023: The Buddhist teaching of "emptiness" (śūnyatā, that all things are empty or devoid of an abiding "self") can completely transform how we view life and ourselves.

Here we trace this life-changing INSIGHT (vipassana) from its original exposition by the historical Buddha, through the Mahāyāna teachings of Ven. Nāgārjuna, the Yogācāra scholar-monks, all the way to the doctrine of the Tathāgatagarbha ("Buddha Nature").

• ⌛ TIMESTAMPS ⌛
• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:47 1. No subject
• 06:06 2. No object
• 12:37 3. No subject or object
• 20:27 4. Buddha Nature
• 25:00 Screen metaphor
• 26:35 Qualities of conscious awareness
• 35:59 5. No views
• 45:38 Conclusion

As we explore the many twists and turns of śūnyavāda (the "teaching of emptiness"), we find a rich diversity that nonetheless keeps returning us to one and the same profound insight about the nature of "things" and "selves."

We cover much ground here, including the no-self (anatta) teaching, whether Buddhism is a form of nihilism, the union of opposites, the interdependence of all things, and the nature of conscious awareness...

#buddhism #philosophy #wisdom #consciousness #psychology #emptiness #mahayana #buddha ⭐ Support this channel: patreon.com/seeker2seeker 💰PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... 📨 Subscribe with email: https://www.seekertoseeker.com/esoter...

(Let's Talk Religion) Are all things empty? Nagarjuna and the Middle Way

📚 Recommended Reading ▶ A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (Steven M. Emmanuel) ▶ An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy (Stephen J. Laumakis) ▶ What the Buddha Taught (Walpola Rahula Thero) ▶ The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching (Thich Nhat Hanh) ▶ Foundations of Buddhism (Rupert Gethin)

• Free access to Early Buddhist scripture: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit...

Learn more about the Tathāgata-garbha: https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index... https://plumvillage.org/library/sutra...

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Ajahn Chah Dharma Talk (Ajahn Amaro)

Ajahn Amaro; Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ajahn Chah: Part 1, Chapter 1, The Middle Way Within

(Gradientsea, 11/16/13) These are recordings of the complete collection of all the talks by Ajahn Chah of the Thai Forest Tradition that have been translated into English and are published in The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, 2011. These Dhamma talks were read and recorded by Ajahn Amaro during the winter of 2012.

Ajahn Chah on the Buddha's Middle Way

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ven. Sujato Bhikkhu, Western Buddhist monk

Walking the Middle Path of the Buddha is arduous and challenging. But reaching its ultimate goal is joyous and satisfying.

There are the extremes of skillful and unskillful (good and bad, profitable and unprofitable). If we are confident, we follow the Buddha's wise guidance.

If we become enraged at someone, we immediately go searching for a stick to attack that person. We have no patient endurance.

If we love someone, we want to caress them from head to toe. Am I right?

These two sidetracks completely miss the middle. This is hardly what the Buddha advised. The Buddha's Teaching, the Dharma, is to gradually put these things down and abandon them.

Samsara (the Wheel of Life and Death) is full of delusion and pain.

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His path-of-practice is a Middle Way that leads out of continued becoming, toward freedom from rebirth: It is a path free of samsaric duality, birth/death, happiness/unhappiness, good/evil.

Those people who crave continued becoming are blind to what’s in the middle. They fall off the Path on the side of craving happiness then completely pass over the middle on their way to the flip side of disappointment and frustration.

They continually skip over the center. This sacred place is invisible to them as they rush back and forth. They don’t stay in that place where there is no more becoming and no rebirth.

They don’t like it, so they don’t stay. Either they go down out of their home and get bitten by a dog or fly up to get pecked by a vulture. This is existence in samsara [always beset by disappointing, impermanent, and impersonal experiences].

RAW: WHAT AJAHN SAID (translated from Thai) Walking down the Middle Path of the Buddha is arduous and challenging. There are just these two extremes of good and bad. If we believe what they tell us, we have to follow their orders. If we become enraged at someone, we immediately go searching for a stick to attack them. We have no patient endurance. If we love someone we want to caress them from head to toe. Am I right? These two sidetracks completely miss the middle. This is not what the Buddha recommended. His teaching was to gradually put these things down. His practice was a path leading out of existence, away from rebirth -- a path free of becoming, birth, happiness,unhappiness, good, and evil. Those people who crave existence are blind to what’s in the middle.They fall off the Path on the side of happiness and then completely pass over the middle on their way to the other side of dissatisfaction and irritation. They continually skip over the centre. This sacred place is invisible to them as they rush back and forth. They don’t stay in that place where there is no existence and no birth. They don’t like it, so they don’t stay. Either they go down out of their home and get bitten by a dog or fly up to get pecked by a vulture. This is existence.

The Buddha's FIRST SUTRA

Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly based on peculiar Peter Harvey translation of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra (SN 56.11) accesstoinsight.org

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE: The setting IS seven weeks after the Buddha's enlightenment/awakening. He has traveled to his five former companions with whom he had previously practiced extreme asceticism (Vin i 8-10).

After trying extreme asceticism as a path to enlightenment, he found that it does not lead to awakening. So he abandoned the two extremes of indulgence (as a royal) and mortification (as an ascetic) for a moderate approach, a Middle Way, based on a healthy body and meditative absorptions (jhānas, calm and joyful altered states of consciousness based on samādhi or "mental unification").

The following is the first teaching he gave to anyone. In other contexts, the Buddha taught the Four True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled Ones to people after first giving them a preparatory gradual discourse to ensure that they were in the right frame of mind/heart be able to fully benefit from the teaching, for example:

"Then the Blessed One gave the householder Upāli a step-by-step discourse, that is, a talk on giving, virtue, the heavenly worlds; he made known the danger, the inferior nature and tendency to defilement in sense-pleasures, and the advantage of letting them go. When the Blessed One knew that the householder Upāli's mind/heart was ready, open, without hindrances, inspired, and confident, then he expounded to him the elevated Dharma-teaching of the buddhas: pain/disappointment (dukkha), its origination, its cessation, and the path" (M i 379-80).

The Four True Realities taught by the Buddha are not things to "believe" as such but verifiable and liberating facts to be open to, see, contemplate, and respond to appropriately: by fully understanding dukkha/pain/the painful, abandoning what originates it, personally experiencing its complete cessation, and developing the path that leads to its cessation.

These Four True Realities are the fundamental dimensions of experience, as seen by a spiritually ennobled person with deep wisdom: the conditioned world, what originates it, the cessation/transcending of it (the unconditioned element nirvana), and the path. Indeed, it is by insight into these that a person becomes spiritually ennobled.

 

SUTRA: Turning the Wheel of the Dharma

The Buddha teaches the Five Wandering Ascetics until they gain enlightenment (Nomu420).

Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra: "The Discourse on the Setting in Motion of the Wheel (or Vision) of the Basic Pattern: The Four True Realities of the Spiritually Ennobled Ones"

.

Mara: Don't bother teaching. They'll never understand.

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at Bārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five ascetics: "Ascetics, these two extremes should not be followed by one who has gone forth (from the home-life into the left-home life).

"What two? They are the pursuit of sensual happiness in sense pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of ordinary folk, ignoble, not connected to the goal [of enlightenment and complete liberation, bodhi and nirvana] or the pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, [the way of many struggling ascetics,] not connected to the goal.

"Ascetics, without veering toward either of these two extremes, the Awakened One has awakened to the Middle Way, which gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to higher-knowledge, to complete awakening, to nirvana.

 

"And what, ascetics, is that Middle Way awakened to by the Awakened One which gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to higher-knowledge, to complete awakening, to nirvana?

"It is this Noble Eight-Factored Path, that is:

1. right view
2. right intention
3. right speech
4. right action
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right mindfulness
8. right mental unification.

"...Ascetics, this for noble ones (spiritually enlightened/ennobled ones) is the reality of what pain (dukkha) is:

• Birth is painful,
• aging is painful,
• illness is painful,
• death is painful;
• sorrow,
• lamentation,
• physical pain,
• unhappiness and distress are painful;
• union with the disliked is painful;
• separation from the liked is painful;
• not getting what one wants is painful;
• in brief, the Five Bundles of Grasping-Fuel are painful.

What rises is of a nature to fall away.

"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the origin-of-pain. It is craving (thirst, tanha) that leads to renewed becoming (incessant rebirth), accompanied by delight and clinging that seeks more delight now here now there, namely:

• craving for sense-pleasures
• craving for rebirth
• craving for annihilation (of what is disliked).

"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the end-of-pain. It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of craving [as brought about by liberating-insight], letting go, and relinquishing it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it.

 

"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the way leading to the complete cessation of pain. It is the Noble Eight-Factored Path, which is, right view...and right mental unification.

 

"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.

 

"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain, this is to be fully understood' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.

 

"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain, this has been fully understood' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.

 

The oldest artifacts representing the Buddha in human form are from his native Afghanistan.

.

I get it! He didn't claim to be awake till he was sure.

"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light with regard to:

"'This for noble ones is the reality of the origin-of-pain, this is to be abandoned.' 'This for noble ones is the reality of the origin-of-pain -- this has been abandoned.'

 

"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light with regard to:

"'This for noble ones is the  reality of the ceasing-of-pain,' this is to be personally experienced.' 'This for noble ones is the reality of the ceasing-of-pain -- this has been personally experienced.'

 

"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light, with regard to:

"'This for noble ones is the reality that is the way leading to the cessation of pain,' this is to be developed. 'This for noble ones is the reality that is the way leading to the cessation of pain,' this has been developed.

In the Buddha's Words (Bhikkhu Bodhi)

"Ascetics, as long as my knowledge and vision of these four realities for noble ones, as they truly are in their three phases [each] with 12 modes [altogether], was not thoroughly purified in this way, then for so long -- in this world with its devas, māras, and brahmās, in this generation with its wandering ascetics (renunciants) and Brahmins (temple priests), its devas and humans -- I did not claim to be fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.

"But when, ascetics, my knowledge and vision of these four realities for noble ones, as they truly are in their three phases and 12 modes was thoroughly purified in this way, then -- in this world with its devas, māras, and brahmās, in this generation with its wandering ascetics and Brahmins, its devas and humans -- I did claim to be fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.

"Indeed, knowledge and vision arose in me: 'Unshakeable is the liberation of my mind/heart; this is my last rebirth: now there is no more renewed becoming (continued rebirth).'"

  

Reaction

This is what the Blessed One said and, elated, the group of five ascetics delighted in the Blessed One's words. And while this explanation was being spoken, there arose in Venerable Koṇḍañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the basic pattern: "Whatever is originated, all of that comes [by its intrinsic nature] to cessation."

Let the other devas know that finally a fully-enlightened teacher has awakened on earth!

 
And when the Wheel [of Vision] of the basic pattern [of things] had been set in motion by the Blessed One, the earth-dwelling devas raised a cry:

"At Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the unsurpassed Wheel [of Vision] of the Basic Pattern [of things] has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped by any renunciant or Brahmin or māra or brahmā or by anyone in the world!"

The devas cried out. And a great arose.

Having heard the cry of the earth-dwelling devas, the devas of the Realm of the Four Great Kings raised the same cry. Having heard it, the Thirty-Three devas took it up, then the Yāma devas, then the Contented devas, then the devas Who Delight in Creating, then the devas with Mastery over the Creations of Others, and then the devas of the brahmā group.

Thus at that second, at that moment, at that instant the cry spread as far as the brahmā world, and this ten-thousandfold world-system shook, quaked, and trembled, and an immeasurably glorious radiance appeared in the world, surpassing the shining majesty of the devas.

 

The Buddha and Añña Koṇḍañña

Then the Blessed One voiced this inspired utterance: "Indeed, the honorable Koṇḍañña has understood! Indeed, the honorable Koṇḍañña has understood! In this way, Venerable Koṇḍañña acquired the name Koṇḍañña [the first disciple to become enlightened], which means "Who Understood."

• The first arhat and first monk, Añña Koṇḍañña
• Alternate translation by Ven. Ñanamoli 
• Alternate translation by Ven. Piyadassi
• Wiki quick version: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra

What is the Buddha's "Path"? (Dhammapada)

Acharya Buddharakkhita, Dhp XX, Maggavagga: The Path, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Noble Eightfold Path

273. Of all the paths the Noble Eightfold Path is the best; of all the truths the Four Noble Truths are the best; of all things passionlessness is the best: of humans the Seeing One (the Buddha) is the best.

 

274. This is the only path; no other results in the purification of insight. Tread this path, and you will bewilder Mara [Death].

 

275. Walking upon this path one will make an end of all suffering. Having discovered how to pull out the thorn of lust/craving, I make known the path.

 

Buddhas point the way to freedom.

276. You yourselves must strive; the buddhas [supremely enlightened teachers] only point the way. Those meditative ones who tread the path are released from the bonds of Mara.

 

277. "All conditioned things are impermanent" -- when one sees this with wisdom (insight), one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

 

278. "All conditioned things are unsatisfactory" -- when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

 

279. "All things are impersonal (not-self)" -- when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. This is the path to purification.

• These are the Three Marks, which are also called the Three Characteristics of All Conditioned Existence. They are true of all phenomena, which arise, turn, and fall away and so are radically impermanent at every moment. They are utterly incapable for providing lasting satisfaction. And, most difficult to comprehend, they are utterly impersonal, without self, neither the parts or property or constituents of a self.

The Path of Purification (Buddhaghosa)

280. Idlers who do not exert themselves when they should, who though young and strong are full of sloth, with a mind full of vain thoughts -- such indolent one do not find the path to wisdom.

 

281. Let one be watchful of speech, well controlled in mind, and not commit unskillful deeds in bodily actions. Let one purify these three courses of action [body, speech, mind] and win the path made known by the Great Sage.

 

282. Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes. Having known these two paths of progress and decline, let one so conduct oneself that one's wisdom may increase.

 

283. Cut down the forest (lust), but not the tree; from the forest springs fear. Having cut down the forest and the underbrush (desire), be passionless, O meditators!

• (V. 283) Meaning: "Cut down the forest of lust, but do not mortify the body."

284. For so long as the underbrush of desire, even the most subtle, of one partner towards another is not cut down, one's mind is in bondage, like the sucking calf to its mother.

 

285. Cut off your attachment in the manner of one who plucks with hand an autumn lotus. Cultivate only the path to peace, nirvana, as made known by the Exalted One.

 

286. "Here shall I live during the rains, there in winter and summer" -- thus thinks the fool. One does not realize the danger (that death will eventually intervene).

 

287. As a great flood carries away a sleeping village, so death seizes and carries away the person with mind/heart clinging, doting on children and wealth.

 

288. For one who is assailed by death there is no protection by kin. No one there are to save such a person -- neither children, nor parent, nor relatives.

 

289. Realizing this fact, let the wise person, restrained by virtue, hasten to clear the path leading to nirvana.

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4th of July: Independence of Mind

Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, The Path to Peace and Freedom for the Mind, translated from Thai by Ven. Thanissaro (Geoffrey DeGraff) edited by Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Seafair Summer Fourth of July in Seattle, Washington, an iconic event held at Gas Works Park overlooking Lake Union and the Seattle skyline preceded by skydivers (iheart.com).

Shock and awe: 20 most epic war-simulating fireworks shows across USA (iheart.com)

THE PATH: the Wheel of Eight Spokes on a Buddhist flag of all color combined

Weaving meaning from the Buddhist String Ceremony, Thailand (Rising Damp/flickr.com)

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The Path to Peace and Freedom for the Mind

If we are all one, what the H is Rage doing?

This analysis of the Buddhist Path is intended as a guide to lead practitioners to peace and well being in terms both of the world and of the Dharma.

Well being in terms of the world includes fortune, status, praise, and pleasure. These four things depend on our conducting ourselves properly along the right path.

Rage Against the Machine fights hypocrisy

For if we follow the wrong path, we are bound to meet with loss of fortune, loss of status, censure and criticism, pain and suffering.

The fact that we experience these things may well be due to deficiencies in our conduct. So if our practice of the right path -- the Noble Eightfold Path -- is to lead us to peace in the world and the Dharma, we will first have to study it so that we understand it rightly then conduct ourselves in line with its factors.

Thereafter, if we have aims in the world, we will get good results. Our fortune, status, good name, and pleasure will be solid and lasting. Even after we pass away, they will continue to appear in the world.

A banner of truth flies high in all worlds.

However, if we see that fortune, status, praise, and pleasure are inconstant, undependable, and subject to change, we should immediately study and develop qualities that will lead our hearts in the direction of peace.

We are then sure to meet with results that parallel those of the world. For example, four supermundane paths of can be won for status:

1. stream-entry
2. once-returning
3. non-returning
4. full-enlightenment.

Fortune is the gaining of the fruition of these four. (See magga-phala, the paths-and-fruits for the distinction).

(School Freeware) 4th of July 2014 Fireworks Show Grand Finale - an U.S. passtime of war reenactment for kids...And the rockets' red flare the bombs bursting in air gave truth to the lie that our flag still stood for what it stood when it was first there, O, say can you see... (and so on, everyone makes up his or her lyrics).
  

These kinds of status and fortune are free of deterioration; they stay always. At the same time, we will receive praise and pleasure in full measure, inasmuch as Buddhists chant in praise virtually every night and day because "The followers of the Blessed One conduct themselves well, conduct themselves rightly, conduct themselves for the sake of wisdom, conduct themselves masterfully."
 

We are a JudeoChristian people. Yeah, right.

Similarly, our pleasure will be solid and lasting, steeping and refreshing the heart in the cool waters of the Dharma, no longer subject to death and decay. This is called niramisa sukha, "pleasure free from the baits of the world." It is pleasure that is quiet and cool, genuine and unchanging, the pleasure for which people who practice the Buddha's teachings aspire.

It is like gold: No matter where, every land and nation, it may fall, it remains gold by its intrinsic nature and is bound to be desired by people at large.

In the same way, the mental traits of people who follow the right path in terms of the Dharma are bound to give rise to genuine pleasure and ease, peace of mind and pleasure in the heart. Even when one passes from this world, fortune, status, good name, and pleasure in terms of the Dharma remains a constant companion.

So Buddhist practitioners who aim at progress and happiness wisely and compassionately study, ponder, and above all put into practice -- as far as they can -- all eight factors of the Noble Eight-limbed Path set out here as a guide to practice.

There is a Path to Freedom!

NOTE: There may be some mistakes in what is written here, because [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo has] aimed more at the meaning and practice than at the letter of the sacred scriptures. So wherever there may be any deficiencies, offer forbearance. It is certain that whoever practices in line with guidelines given here is sure to meet to some extent with ease of body and mind in the world and the Dharma, in accordance with his or her own personal practice and ongoing conduct. May each and every one meet with progress and happiness.

Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
Wat Boromnivas, Bangkok
August, 1955

The Path
All of the Buddha's teachings and the way to practice them can be summed up in a mere eight factors:

• I. Right View: seeing in line with the truth.
• II. Right Intention: thinking in ways that will lead to well-being. 
• III. Right Speech: speaking in line with the truth. 
• IV. Right Action: being upright in one's activities. 
• V. Right Livelihood: maintaining oneself in ways that are honest and proper. 
• VI. Right Effort: exerting oneself in line with what is good. 
• VII. Right Mindfulness: being constantly mindful (vigilant, awake, aware) of one's subject of concentration, reflection/contemplation, or meditation.
• VIII. Right Concentration: keeping the mind balanced and centered in line with the principles of the truth, not letting it fall into the ways of Wrong Concentration. More
  

"Way Beyond the West" (Alan Watts audio)

Alan Watts ("Way Beyond the West," pacificaradioarchives.org, BB0527.01), Roy Tuckman (SomethingsHappening.org/KPFK.org); Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

The "Way" (Tao) of the Dharma runs counter to the Way of the World (Danielina-79)

What is the Tao, Zen Master? "Zen Cartoons" by Satajan (via voiceofhappiness)

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Alan Watts, the British-born teacher, philosopher, and Zen Buddhist who came to California and joined Pacifica Radio in Berkeley to make history also had a TV show, "Way Beyond the West." Pacifica Los Angeles (KPFK 90.7 FM) is now the only station that regularly carries him. Alan Watts did more than any other Westerner of his day to present authentic Eastern Philosophy to a Western audience.

Alan Watts (ianmack.com)

Watts is an inspiration to Wisdom Quarterly because few others understand that it is not only the Buddha's Dharma that gets imported when Westerners try to learn about "Buddhism." A great deal of Hinduism (particularly as it serves as the framework of populist Mahayana Buddhism), Brahmanism, Taoism, animism, shamanism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Jainism, martial arts, ancestor worship, kami- and hungry ghost-lore does, too.

• AUDIO: KPFK Intro Program "Way Beyond the West" Episode 1 by Alan Watts (pacificaradioarchives.org)
• "Humor in Religion" (Alan Watts), Sunday Nov. 15, 2015 (alanwattsrecordings.com)
• "Time"  (Alan Watts) Sunday Nov. 8, 3025 (alanwatts.org)
• Something's Happening - A: Alan Watts on the Future of Communication Part 1 along with enlightened Buddhist teacher Shinzen Young  on "What to Expect After  a Retreat"); Caroline Casey, "Visionary Activist Show:" Caroline hosts Osprey Orielle Lake, author of Uprising for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with the Earth on her way to Paris Talks. Friday (Thursday midnight), Nov. 13, 2015 (somethingshappening.com)



1.suffering 2.craving 3.freedom

• Something's Happening - B: Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015 - Continuing David Talbot Special – The Devil's Chessboard: Alan Dulles, The CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government// The Ralph Nader Radio Hour with Historian Arno J. Mayer, author of The Furies: Violence and Terror in the French and Russian Revolutions and Plowshares Into Swords: From Zionism to Israel. Plus ocean conservationist David Helvarg of Blue Frontier on the latest bipartisan campaign to end offshore oil drilling called The Sea Party Coalition // The Thom Hartmann Program // KPFK Community Calendar (KPFK.org).
• Something's Happening A: Alan Watts "The Future of Communication" Part 4 // Shinzen Young "Nausea, Health, Magic, Boredom, Death, etc. // Caroline Casey, "Visionary Activist Show:" Guest: Deborah Felmeth unfurling her book Syria – Remember Me 

See more by searching Watts at ARCHIVE.kpfk.org. Listen live to "Buddhist Radio" on Pacifica Los Angeles (90.7 FM) or streaming worldwide online, Sunday mornings at 8:00 am and Thursday nights 11:59 pm to 5:00 am. Roy of Hollywood's show "Something's Happening" on weeknights at 12:00 am is always good. Watts called Pacifica (now a network of stations across the country) "the only truly free radio station in America." Like the night Roy featured Dave Emory, "For the Record #863 - The Muslim Brotherhood and the Earth Island Boogie Part 2"// David Talbot Special – The Devil's Chessboard: Alan Dulles, The CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government... More

Alan Watts (Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015 8:00 am)

2-Hour Fundraising Extravaganza featuring the only existing Alan Watts recording when he is interviewed, Lex Hixon's "In The Spirit" on WBAI, 1972 (Pacifica Archives program #IZ0342a).