The third principle or training in the Noble Eight-Fold Path is Samadhi: concentration, reflection, inquiry, mindfulness, meditation. This training includes the final three steps of Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness, and Wise Concentration. These are the Buddha’s instructions that help us cultivate the energy and courage to engage our thoughts, emotions, and bodies in a way that is open, compassionate and non-judgmental.

The journey of the spiritual seeker in meditation is compelling and challenging. As we sit, we begin to notice our thinking, actually hear what we tell ourselves moment to moment, and discover that these thoughts guide our lives. We begin to have a deep experience of the suffering we create for ourselves. We experience the noble truths of suffering and the causes of suffering. Because of this experience in meditation, we are able to let go of our habitual ways of thinking. Consequently, the wisdom and ethics trainings of the noble eight-fold path become more natural. We cause less harm to ourselves in the ways we speak and act.

Sharon Salzberg, wrote in her book Faith, “It is a great turning point in our spiritual lives when we go from an intellectual appreciation of a path to the heartfelt confidence that says, “Yes, it is possible to awaken. I can, too.” A tremendous joy accompanies this confidence. When we place our hearts upon the practice, the teachings come alive.”

This is the power of meditation. We begin to embody the Dharma and live from it’s truth. Our mistakes become teaching tools rather than weapons we use against ourselves. Our skillfulness, an indication that we are living from our innate wisdom. The inevitable ups and downs of life are more easily met. Our experiences help us awaken to our own Buddha-Nature.

The Burmese lay teacher Satya Narayan Goenka, said: “This is the Teaching of the Buddha as it affects the lay-person’s life. It is at once an ideal and a method. As an ideal, it aims at the evolution of a person toward the attainment of Nirvana — in this very life itself, by one’s own efforts. As a method, it teaches us that the ideal can become real by the practice and development of the Noble Eightfold Path. Each of us develops according to our own ability; according to our needs, using our own minds, by our own efforts come to know ourselves, train ourselves, and free ourselves from craving and attachment, aversion, and most of all — from ignorance.” The great thing about the Buddha-Dharma is that it is a teaching for everyone. The Buddha’s teaching opened the doors of social freedom to all, regardless of caste, color, sex, or class. In his teachings all people unite “even as do the waters of the rivers that flow into the sea.” Our religion or our parentage or social class doesn’t really matter, what does matter is the skillfulness of our actions.  In many, many of his talks, the Buddha gave practical guidance for the lay life and sound advice to cope with life’s difficulties.

Knowing that the economic aspect of a community profoundly affects its other aspects, he once said, “The layperson’s objective [is to] live a long and dignified life with the wealth obtained through rightful means.” He said that society, as with all conditioned phenomena, “has no finality of form and therefore changes with the passage of time.” People are driven to action by beliefs and desires; so social change is created by ideology and economics… And aren’t we seeing that now… how quickly our ideas and behaviors change… we all have the right to work, to feed and house our families.  A hungry person is an angry person. When we’re restless, irritable, and discontented we can hardly be in a condition to develop our spiritual or our ethical life. Economic insecurity leads to all kinds of problems not just tension and irritability, but loss of self-respect…isolation…

So, the Buddha taught that there are Five Aspects of Right Livelihood. These are:

• One should have “a peaceful occupation” and should not gain from harming living beings or violating their rights.
• Growth and awareness – We can use our livelihood to grow in consciousness
• Simplicity – To have spiritual aspirations and build on those in our work without complicating either
• Service – To help others, to serve with love and compassion no matter what livelihood we have chosen; and
• One should have an appropriate happiness. There are five aspects considered conducive to an appropriate happiness:
• To have work and to be skilled, efficient, energetic, earnest, and learned in whatever profession on chooses;
• To earn a living wage;
• To be content and live within one’s means; to conscientiously protect one’s income and family’s means of support;
• To have good work that is honest and contributes to the well-being of all
• To make a steady effort and work well to make a useful contribution to society

I read this, by Krishnan Venkatesh, today as I was preparing for this talk: “Many of us crave careers about which we can be wholeheartedly enthusiastic, but it can be a good thing to be in two minds about our jobs and to not identify with them too strongly. In Pali, the prefix samma means “complete, perfected,” rather than simply “right,” with its connotations of orthodox correctness. Thus, samma-ajiva may mean something more like “livelihood fully understood and rightly conducted, with all its tensions.” This would involve a saner relation to our work lives, in which we strive to be the best we can, and yet do not expect our jobs to give us the impossible, namely complete happiness and fulfillment.”

Then the Buddha taught that there are Three Positive Aspects of Right Livelihood:

• Rightness regarding actions: as workers we should fulfill our duties diligently and conscientiously, not wasting time, claiming to have worked longer hours, padding the expense account or pilfering from the company’s goods.
• Rightness regarding persons: due respect and consideration should be shown to employers, employees, colleagues, and customers. An employer, for example, should assign his workers positions according to their ability, pay them adequately, promote them when they deserve a promotion and give them occasional vacations and bonuses. Colleagues should try to cooperate rather than compete, while one should be equitable in one’s dealings with customers.
• Rightness regarding objects: business transactions should be presented truthfully, without misrepresentations of the work to be provided, the quality or quantity of work, deceptive advertising, or subterfuge. Even when we present ourselves, we should be honest about what we can do, how we’ll do it, and when we’ll have it done.

And finally The Four Standards for Gaining Wealth:

• One should acquire wealth only be legal means;
• One should acquire wealth peacefully, without coercion or violence;
• One should acquire wealth honestly – not by trickery or deceit, and
• One should acquire wealth in ways which do not entail harm and suffering for others.

Thich Nhat Hanh taught that Right Livelihood is not just a personal matter…but that it is our collective karma.  We humans have created an elaborate civilization in which we depend on each other for everything. Our work provides goods or services to others, and we get paid to support ourselves and our families. Maybe your work brings you great joy and fulfillment; maybe it’s just a way to pay the bills, either way we can appreciate the value of our work.

Jack Kornfield wrote, “You know, you can work and treat each person you meet as somebody else to deal with in your work, or you could treat each person you meet as your brother or your sister, or you could do what Mother Teresa did in her work and treat each person you meet as Jesus, and care for them, and wash their feet, or love them, or do whatever you do in the same way you might love Jesus or the Buddha. You can work on one day and just get through the day or the night. And you can work on another day and have each person that comes to you, and each person you meet, be a place where your heart really opens, and where you share a love and a caring and a tenderness.”

We have come to Right Action in the Ethics Training, or sila, in the Noble Eight-fold Path. Sila, which means a state of normalcy. So when we practice sila, we return to our own basic goodness, our Buddha-nature. We train in preserving our true nature, not allowing it to be modified or overpowered by negative forces.  These precepts are a means to an end, they’re observed for a specific objective.  On the personal level, they serve as the foundation for the spiritual path. Without ethics or morality, we can’t attain our highest spiritual goals, and they are the foundation for a peaceful and secure society.  Most of the problems in society today are connected, directly or indirectly, with a lack of good ethical conduct.

For our lives to be meaningful these issues must not remain theory, they have to be translated into practice. We are asked to give up those things that will harm others and be of benefit to others. It’s not enough to know what’s good or what’s not, we also need to take action around them. We need concrete guidelines to follow. Every spiritual practice has them and the Buddha-Dharma is not different. These are provided by the Five Lay Precepts. The precepts help us to live our ideals; they teach us to do the beneficial things and to avoid the harmful.  The basis of the Five Lay Precepts is mindfulness.  They teach us to have reverence for life, demonstrate generosity, practice sexual responsibility, practice Right Speech and deep listening, and practice mindful consumption.  They are formally explained as:

1. I undertake the precept to refrain from destroying living beings.
2. I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not offered.
3. … to refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. … to refrain from incorrect speech.
5. … to refrain from the use of intoxicating drinks and drugs which lead to heedlessness.

The Buddha gave these Precepts to laypeople as recommendations, that are voluntarily observed, by those who want to lead a peaceful life while contributing to the happiness of family and society. They aren’t commandments that are about sinning or punishment. Breaking a precept is seen as an “unskillful act” due to the lack of Wisdom. AND we’re never encouraged to disregard circumstances and follow them blindly without wisdom and understanding; there are times when upholding them might create more suffering for others. At these times, a precept might have to be bent. (For instance, we might have to lie to protect someone in danger – this is “bending” the Fourth Precept which is against lying. Think of the four people who helped the Frank family and all they had to do to protect those lives.) But we need to remember that whenever any of the Five Precepts is not upheld, it should only be for the welfare of others and not for selfish gain.

We have come to Right Action in the Ethics Training, or sila, in the Noble Eight-fold Path. Sila, which means a state of normalcy. So when we practice sila, we return to our own basic goodness, our Buddha-nature. We train in preserving our true nature, not allowing it to be modified or overpowered by negative forces.  These precepts are a means to an end, they’re observed for a specific objective.  On the personal level, they serve as the foundation for the spiritual path. Without ethics or morality, we can’t attain our highest spiritual goals, and they are the foundation for a peaceful and secure society.  Most of the problems in society today are connected, directly or indirectly, with a lack of good ethical conduct.

The first of the three ethics trainings is Right Speech.  The point of Right Speech is to continually bring ourselves back to the present moment, for ourselves and for others.  Right Speech helps us realize what leads us out of confusion and bondage.  It helps us see what’s really going on; see what will lead us and others into hatred, confusion, difficulty and suffering; and, see what words and actions will lead us into peace, harmony, understanding, and compassion. 

Our intention and the speech or actions that arise from that intention is the bottom line. The intent is that we all become free of our confusion and suffering so right speech includes everything – the whole picture.  Then we can speak and act in a way that’s conducive to awakening.  We must observe our own intentions, so that we know when we’re speaking out of a desire to bring about a certain end or if we’re speaking the truth. 

Another thing about Right Speech to remember is that when Buddhism was established, communication was almost exclusively through the spoken word. But, in our culture Right Speech really means “Right Communication” and it includes all forms of communication such as television, movies, radio, newspapers, magazines, advertising and, of course, the internet. So, Right Speech means using communication as a way to further our understanding of ourselves and others and as a way to develop insight.

The Buddha gave us five keys to Right Speech:

“Monks, a statement endowed with five factors is well-spoken, not ill-spoken. It is blameless & unfaulted by knowledgeable people. Which five?  It is spoken at the right time. It is spoken in truth. It is spoken affectionately. It is spoken beneficially. It is spoken with a mind of good-will.”— AN V.198

1. Frivolous Talk.  The Buddha recognized the importance of speaking in a wholesome and productive way. What we say should benefit ourselves and others: He said, “He speaks at the right time, in accordance with facts, speaks what is useful.” Speech,should be “like a treasure, uttered at the right moment…moderate and full of sense.”
2. Speak the Truth.  Tell no lies.  We are told it is best to tell the truth, to avoid deceiving another with our speech, and to be trustworthy. He said, “called upon and asked as a witness to tell what he knows, he answers if he knows nothing: ‘I know nothing’, and if he knows, he answers ‘I know’.” The Buddha also said, “For the person who transgresses in one thing, I tell you, there is no evil deed that is not to be done. Which one thing? This: telling a deliberate lie.”
3. Avoid harsh abusive language; speak kindly.  This is speech that is designed to hurt others. In stead he said we are to be gentle and polite in our speech, “friendly and full of sympathy…with heart full of love, and free from any hidden malice.” Jesus said that it isn’t what we put into our mouths that defiles us, but rather what comes out.
4. Use words to help, not harm.  Right Speech reminds us to refrain from using speech that is decisive or disruptive, judgmental or self-righteous.
5. Don’t gossip or tell tales.  Telling tales creates distrust. The Buddha’s teaching is: “What he has heard here, he does not repeat there, so as to cause dissension there; and what he has heard there, he does not repeat here, so as to cause dissension here.”

Cynthia Kane wrote, “gossip creates a sense that you are either “better than” or “worse than” those you gossip about (typically the former). I believe that most gossip stems from envy, as at some point in the past we have been envious of the person we are now gossiping about. This is fairly obvious when it comes to celebrity gossip, as when famous people are shown to have normal human issues and shortcomings, we rejoice in the fact that they aren’t so “special” after all. When we see our gossiping as a product of envy, we can instead challenge ourselves to replace it with one or two of the other four immeasurables… sympathetic joy and compassion.”