THE EIGHTFOLD PATH. The Eightfold Path consists in right view (sho-ken), right thought (sho-shi), right speech (sho-go), right action (sho-gyo), right livelihood (sho-myo), right effort (sho-shojin), right mindfulness (sho-nen), and right concentration (sho-jo). Many precepts and teachings containing numbers--such as the Eightfold Path--appear in Buddhist scriptures. This is because people could not record the teachings in writing at the time that Shakyamuni Buddha was preaching the Dharma but were obliged to memorize what they heard. Therefore Shakyamuni Buddha used numbers in preaching various doctrines so that people might easily remember them. However, it is not necessary for us to be too literal about such numbers.

Those who find it difficult to remember the doctrine of the Eightfold Path because of its eight divisions may find it easier to understand it by dividing it into four parts. The first is its fundamental purpose, to establish correct faith in a religion based on the wisdom of the Buddha. The second is to have a right attitude in our daily lives; the third, to have right daily conduct; and the fourth, to follow the right way of practicing the Buddha's teachings.

"Right view" means to abandon a self-centered way of looking at things and to have a right view of the Buddha. In other words, it is to take refuge in the Buddha.

"Right thought" means not to incline toward a self-centered attitude toward things but to think of things rightly, from a higher standpoint. This teaches us to abandon the "three evils of the mind," covetousness, resentment, and evil-mindedness, and to think of things rightly, with as generous a mind as the Buddha. More precisely, these three evils are the greedy mind (covetousness) that thinks only of one's own gain; the angry mind (resentment) that does not like it when things do not turn out as one wishes; and the evil mind (evil-mindedness) that wants to have its own way in everything.

"Right speech" teaches us to use right words in our daily lives and to avoid the "four evils of the mouth": lying (false language), a double tongue, ill speaking (slander), and improper language (careless language).

"Right action" means daily conduct in accordance with the precepts of the Buddha. For this purpose it is important to refrain from the "three evils of the body" that hinder right actions: needless killing, stealing, and committing adultery or other sexual misconduct.

"Right livelihood" means to gain food, clothing, shelter, and the other necessities of life in a right way. This teaches us not to earn our livelihood through work that makes trouble for others or through a vocation useless to society but to live on a justifiable income that we can obtain through right work, a vocation useful to others.

"Right effort" means to engage constantly in right conduct without being idle or deviating from the right way, avoiding such wrongs as the three evils of the mind, the four evils of the mouth, and the three evils of the body mentioned above.

"Right mindfulness" means to practice with a right mind as the Buddha did. It cannot be truly said that we have the same mind as the Buddha unless we have a right mind not only toward ourselves but also toward others, and still further, toward all things. If we hope that only we ourselves may be right, we will become stubborn and self-satisfied people who are alienated from the world. We cannot say we have the same mind as the Buddha unless we address ourselves to all things in the universe with a fair and right mind.

"Right concentration" means always to determine to believe in the teachings of the Buddha and not to be agitated by any change of circumstances. This teaches us to practice consistently the right teaching of the Buddha.

Taken altogether, the doctrine of the Eightfold Path is the teaching that shows us the right way to live our daily lives.

THE SIX PERFECTIONS. This doctrine teaches us the six kinds of practice that bodhisattvas should follow to attain enlightenment. The Six Perfections are donation (fuse), morality (jikai), forbearance (ninniku), effort (shojin), meditation (zenjo), and wisdom (chie).

A bodhisattva is a person who, unlike the sravaka and pratyekabuddha, wishes not only to extinguish his or her own illusions but to save others, as well. Therefore, the doctrine of the Six Perfections has the salvation of all living beings as its aim.

The practice of donation comes first in this doctrine. There are three kinds of donation: donating material goods, donating the Dharma, and donating fearlessness (the body). The first means to give others money or goods. The second refers to teaching others rightly. And the third means to remove the anxieties or sufferings of others through one's own effort. There is no one who is unable to perform some form of donation. No matter how impoverished one is, one should be able to give alms to those who are worse off or to support a public work with however small a donation, if one has the will to do so. Even if there are those who absolutely cannot afford to do so, they can be useful to others and to society by offering his services. A person who has knowledge or wisdom in some field should be able to teach others or guide them even if they have no money or are physically handicapped. Even a person of humble circumstances can perform donation of the Law. To speak of one's own experiences to others can be one's donation of the Dharma. Even to teach others a recipe or how to knit, for example, can be a way to donate the Dharma.

It is essential that we be useful to others by practicing these three kinds of donation within the limits of our ability. Needless to say, nothing can be better for us than to practice all three. The fact that donation is the first of the practices of the bodhisattva is highly significant.

The practice of morality is the second of the Six Perfections. This teaches us that we cannot truly save others unless we remove our own illusions through the precepts given by the Buddha, and that we should perfect ourselves by living an upright life. However, we must not think that we cannot guide others just because we are not perfect ourselves. We cannot improve ourselves if we shut ourselves off from others in our efforts to live correctly. A major point of morality is to render service to others. The more we do for others, the more we can elevate ourselves, and the more we elevate ourselves, the more we can render service to others. Each reinforces the other.

The third of the Six Perfections is forbearance, a quality that is especially important for people today. Shakyamuni Buddha was endowed with all the virtues and became the Buddha through his constant practice. Although it is a sin against him to emphasize only one of his virtues, the greatest virtue of the Buddha as a man seems to have been his generosity. No matter what biography of Shakyamuni Buddha we read or which of the sutras, we find that nowhere is it recorded that the Buddha ever became angry. However severely he was persecuted and however coldly his disciples turned against him and departed from him, he was always sympathetic and compassionate.

If I were asked to explain with a single phrase the character of Shakyamuni Buddha as a man, I would answer without hesitation, "A person of perfect generosity." Therefore, I think that there is no action that makes Shakyamuni Buddha more sorrowful than when we become angry about something and reproach others or when we blame others for our own wrongs. Above all else, we should refrain from such actions toward each other. Forbearance is, in short, generosity. As we persevere in the practice of the bodhisattvas, we cease to become angry or reproachful toward others, or toward anything in the universe. We are apt to complain about the weather when it rains and to grumble about the dust when we have a spell of fine weather. However, when through forbearance we attain a calm and untroubled mind, we become thankful for both the rain and the sun. Then our minds become free from changes in our circumstances.

When we advance further, we come not only to have no feeling of anger and hatred toward those who hurt, insult, or betray us but even to wish actively to help them. On the other hand, we should not be swayed by flattery or praise of the good we may do but should quietly reflect on our conduct. We should not feel superior to others but should maintain a modest attitude when everything goes smoothly. All these attitudes come from forbearance. This mental state is the highest point of the practice of forbearance. Even though we cannot attain such a state of mind immediately, we can attain an attitude of compassion toward those who cause difficulties for us sooner than we expect. We ought to advance at least to this level. If this kind of forbearance were practiced by people throughout the world, this alone would establish peace and make humankind immeasurably happier.

The fourth of the Six Perfections is effort. This means to proceed straight toward an important target without being distracted by trivial things. We cannot say we are assiduous when our ideas and conduct are impure, even if we devote ourselves to the study and practice of the Buddha's teachings. Even when we devote ourselves to study and practice, we sometimes do not meet with good results or may even obtain adverse effects, or we may be hindered in our religious practice by others. But such matters are like waves rippling on the surface of the ocean; they are only phantoms, which will disappear when the wind dies down. Therefore, once we have determined to practice the bodhisattva way, we should advance single-mindedly toward our destination without turning aside. This is effort.

The fifth of the Six Perfections is meditation, dhyana in Sanskrit and zenjo in Japanese. Zen means "a quiet mind" or "an unbending spirit," and jo indicates the state of having a calm, unagitated mind. It is important for us not only to devote ourselves to the practice of the Buddha's teachings, but also to view things thoroughly with a calm mind and to think them over well. Then we can see the true aspect of all things and discover the right way to cope with them.

The right way of seeing things and the power of discerning the true aspect of all things is wisdom--the last of the Six Perfections. Wisdom is the ability both to discern the differences among all things and to see the truth common to them. In short, wisdom is the ability to realize that anybody can become a buddha. The Buddha's teachings stress that we cannot discern all things in the world correctly until we are completely endowed with the ability to know both distinction and equality.

We cannot save others without having wisdom. Let us suppose that there is an impoverished young man lying by the road. And suppose that we feel pity for him and give him some money without reflecting on the consequences. What if he is mildly addicted to some drug? He will grab the money given to him and use it to buy drugs. In this way he may become seriously, even hopelessly, addicted. If we had handed him over to the police instead of giving him money, he would have been sent to a hospital and could start life over again. This is the kind of error we may commit in performing donation without wisdom. Though this is an extreme case, similar cases on a smaller scale occur all the time. Thus, even though we may do something useful for others or practice good conduct in order to save them, none of our mercy or kindness is effective unless we have true wisdom. Far from being effective, our mercy may have a harmful effect. Therefore wisdom is an absolutely indispensable condition in practicing the bodhisattva way.

Excerpted from Buddhism for Today, published by Kosei Publishing Co.