The Four Noble Truths constitute the essence of Buddhism and offer a plan for dealing with all the suffering that human beings can experience. Based on these truths, it is argued that life is steeped in pain, suffering has a cause and an end, there is Nirvana once suffering is over. The Noble Eightfold Path indicates the steps to follow in order to reach Nirvana during life. The Four Noble Truths describe sickness in human experience and the Eightfold Path is the cure that leads to healing. Knowing the truths and following this path, it is possible to find peace and happiness in the journey of one's existence.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Follow the Noble Eightfold Path
Step 1. Meditate regularly
Meditation is the key to changing the way the mind works and allows you to walk the path to Nirvana. Therefore, it should be part of your daily life. While you can learn to meditate on your own, a master can guide you and teach you how to apply the best techniques. Try it on your own, but know that it is best to meditate with other people and under the guidance of an instructor.
You cannot walk the path without meditating. Meditation helps you understand yourself and the world better
Step 2. Get the right view (Right View)
The Buddhist precepts (or the Four Noble Truths) represent the lenses through which to see the world. If you cannot accept them, you will not be able to follow the other steps of the path. Right view and right understanding are the basic elements of this path. See the world as it truly is and not as you want it to be. Try to understand reality in its entirety through a lens that allows you to be objective. In other words, you have to analyze, study and learn.
- The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of right understanding. You have to think that they describe things as they really are.
- Nothing is perfect or immutable. Reflect critically on situations instead of making a judgment that is tainted by personal feelings, desires and concerns.
Step 3. Have good intentions (Right Intention)
Try to develop an attitude that aligns with your value system. Act believing that all life forms are the same as all others and deserve to be treated with love and understanding. This applies to you and everyone else. Reject selfishness, violence and hatred. Love and non-violence should be the principles to start with.
Show respect for all living things (plants, animals and people), regardless of their condition. For example, treat rich and poor people with the same respect. Everyone must be treated impartially, regardless of origin, age, ethnicity and social background
Step 4. Choose the right words (Right Word)
The third element is right speech. Speaking correctly means not lying, slandering, gossiping or expressing yourself aggressively, but communicating in a kind and sincere way. Words should support and encourage others. It is also important to know when to be silent and avoid intervening.
It is necessary to speak correctly every day
Step 5. Behave Right (Right Action)
Actions spring from what lies in the heart and mind. Treat yourself and others well. Don't destroy your life and don't steal. Lead a life of peace and help people live the same way. Be honest when interacting with people, for example, don't cheat or lie to make a career or get what you want.
Your presence and actions should be positive and improve the lives of others and the world around you
Step 6. Live in a balanced way (Right Subsistence)
Choose a profession that aligns with your values, that doesn't harm people, kill animals, or scam others. Selling weapons, dealing drugs or working in a slaughterhouse are not acceptable jobs. Whatever your profession, you must practice it with integrity.
For example, if you work in the trade, do not use deceit or lies to persuade people to buy a product
Step 7. Maintain a balanced commitment in the effort (Right Effort)
By applying the right efforts in everything you do, you will achieve success. Clear your mind of negative thoughts and focus on the positive ones. Put enthusiasm in everything you do (be it school, work, friendships, passions, and so on). Get used to thinking positively, because it won't always be natural. By doing so, you will mentally prepare yourself to practice full awareness. The four principles of right effort are:
- Nip in the bud the perverse and harmful states (sexual desire, wickedness, worry, doubt, agitation) in the bud.
- Get rid of the already manifested perverse and harmful states, countering them with positive thoughts, shifting attention to other things or analyzing the origin of thoughts.
- Producing good and wholesome states.
- Preserving and perfecting good and wholesome states.
Step 8. Practice full awareness (Right Mindfulness)
Full awareness (or mindfulness) allows you to see reality and the world as they truly are. The four pillars of awareness are contemplation of the body, feelings, states of mind and phenomena. When you are aware, you live in the present and are open to each experience in its entirety. You are focused on the current situation, not the future or the past. You pay attention to your body, what you are feeling, your thoughts, your ideas and everything around you.
- By living in the present, you free your desires from the parameters of judgment of the past or the future.
- Full awareness also means paying attention to the feelings, emotions and body size of others.
Step 9. Focus your mind (Right Concentration)
Right concentration is the ability to direct thought to a single object and not be distracted by external influences. Overcoming the various stages of the journey, you will get used to acquiring it. The mind will be more focused and free from stress and anxiety. You will build a better relationship with yourself and the world. The right concentration allows you to clearly see situations as they really are.
Concentration is similar to full awareness. However, it doesn't lead you to be aware of the various emotions you may feel. For example, if you are focused on an exam, you only think about passing it. If in this circumstance you practiced full awareness, you would become aware of all the sensations you might feel during this experience, of how the people around you behave or the posture you assume while sitting during the exam
Part 2 of 3: Achieving Nirvana in Daily Life
Step 1. Practice loving-kindness (metta bhavana)
Metta means benevolence, kindness and friendliness. It is a feeling that comes from the heart and must be cultivated and demonstrated. Usually, it is practiced in five stages. If you are a beginner, try to make each phase last 5 minutes.
- Step 1: test metta against yourself. Focus on the sense of peace, tranquility, strength and trust. You can repeat the phrase to yourself: "I wish I was well and happy".
- Step 2: Think about a friend and all the things you like about him. Repeat the sentence: "I hope he is well and happy".
- Step 3: Think of someone who is indifferent to you, neither likeable nor unpleasant. Just consider him as a human being and project your metta feeling onto him.
- Step 4: Think of someone you hate. Instead of pondering why you can't stand him and harbor hateful thoughts about him, send him your metta feeling.
- Stage 5: During this stage, think about every single person, including yourself. Project your metta on each of them, on your city, on your neighborhood, on your country and on the whole world.
Step 2. Practice Mindfulness of Breath
This type of mediation will teach you to focus your thoughts. In this way, you can learn to practice full awareness, relax and get rid of anxiety. Sit in a comfortable position. The spine should be straight and relaxed, with the shoulders straight and slightly back. Place your hands on a pillow or on your lap. Once you have assumed this posture, start going through the different stages. Each should last at least 5 minutes.
- Phase 1: count in mind (inhale, exhale: 1; inhale, exhale: 2, and so on) until you reach 10. Then you leave. Focus on the sensation of the air entering and exiting your body. The mind will begin to wander. Just bring your attention back to the breath.
- Phase 2: Continue to breathe in cycles of 10, but this time count before inhaling (e.g. 1: inhale and exhale; 2: inhale and exhale, and so on). Focus on how you feel when you introduce air into your lungs.
- Step 3: inhale and exhale without counting. Try to see the breath as a continuous process rather than a two-step process.
- Step 4: At this point you need to focus on the sensations provided by the air entering and exiting the body, for example as it passes through the nostrils or the upper lip.
Step 3. Support and encourage others
The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to achieve inner peace and, therefore, share what you experience with other people. Achieving Nirvana not only serves one's personal well-being, but is beneficial to the whole world. It is important to become a source of encouragement and support for others, for example by embracing those who are feeling low. If you love someone or receive a kind gesture, clearly express your mood. Let people know how grateful you are and appreciate them. If someone has had a bad day, don't hesitate to listen to them.
Step 4. Be understanding with people
Your happiness is closely linked to that of others. An attitude of understanding can bring joy to anyone. You can mature it in various ways:
- Turn off your cell phone when you are in the company of friends and family.
- Look your interlocutor in the eye and listen to him without interrupting.
- Volunteer in your community.
- Open the door for people.
- Put yourself in others' shoes. For example, if someone is upset, take note and try to understand why. Ask him what you can do to help him. Listen and show concern about what he is going through.
Step 5. Be aware
When you practice full awareness, you pay attention to what you think and feel in every single moment. It is not just a meditative technique, but it is an approach to be adopted also in daily life. For example, you can be conscious while eating, showering, or getting dressed in the morning. Start by choosing an activity, then focus on physical sensations and breathing.
- If you want to become more aware while eating, focus on the taste, texture and smell of what you bring to your mouth.
- When washing the dishes, pay attention to the temperature of the water, the sensations you feel in your hands when cleaning the dishes and rinsing them.
- When you get dressed in the morning, instead of listening to music or watching television, get ready in silence. Notice every sensation. Did you get up tired or rested? What physical perceptions do you feel when wearing clothes or taking a shower?
Part 3 of 3: Knowing the Four Truths
Step 1. Identify the suffering
Buddha describes suffering differently than one might commonly think. It is inevitable and part of life. Dukkha indicates this condition of suffering, used to represent illness, aging, accidents and physical and emotional pain. However, Buddha also considers desires (especially unsatisfied ones) and unstoppable desires to be suffering. These two elements are believed to be the source of suffering, because human beings are rarely happy or satisfied. Once one desire is satisfied, another one immediately emerges. It is a vicious cycle.
Dukkha etymologically means "that which is difficult to bear". Suffering is a broad-spectrum category that encompasses larger and smaller aspects
Step 2. Determine the cause of suffering
Desire and ignorance are at the root of suffering. Unfulfilled desires are the worst afflictions. For example, if you are sick, you suffer and want to be well. The unsatisfied desire to be well is a greater form of suffering than that of being sick. Whenever you want something, an opportunity, a person or a success that you cannot achieve, you are bound to suffer.
- The only certain things in life are aging, illness and death.
- Realize that your wishes will never be fulfilled. Once you have achieved or achieved something, you begin to desire something else. The incessant and irrepressible desire prevents you from achieving true happiness.
Step 3. Stop suffering in life
Each of the four truths is a milestone. If all is suffering and suffering comes from desires, then the only way to counter pain is to cease desiring. You must care not to suffer and believe in the power to stem the suffering in life. To end afflictions, you must change your perception and learn to control your desires.
You will be able to live free and satisfied if you control your desires and the most irrepressible cravings
Step 4. Stop suffering in life
By walking the Noble Eightfold Path, it is possible to reach the end of suffering. The path to Nirvana can be summarized in three concepts. First, you need to have good intentions and have a correct view. Second, you need to base your daily life on good intentions. Finally, you need to understand reality as it really is and have correct opinions on all things.
- The Noble Eightfold Path can be divided into three categories: wisdom (right view, right intention), ethical conduct (right speech, right action, right subsistence) and mental preparation (right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration).
- This path offers guidance on how to live daily life.
Advice
- It is certainly not easy to reach Nirvana. It can take a long time. Even if it seems impossible to you, keep trying.
- You can profess Buddhism on your own, but it is preferable to attend a temple and follow a teacher. Do not be in a hurry on the choice of the group or the teacher. Always follow your instincts and take your time. There are good and bad teachers. Search online about the temple, the group, and the teacher by entering words such as "controversy" and "worship". Get to work.
- The Noble Eightfold Path is not a linear path. It's a journey you take every day.
- As each snowflake follows a unique path when it falls from the sky, so your path to enlightenment will be different from everyone else's. Commit to everything that makes you feel good, you find it natural, and you feel capable of doing.
- Try different meditation techniques. They are just tools and methods to use along the way. Each will be useful, at a certain time.
- Nirvana is reached when the erroneous concept according to which we persist in living (and considering the world) definitively ceases. You have many ways to do this. No one is right or wrong, better or worse. Sometimes Nirvana comes spontaneously, other times it takes a lot of time and effort.
- Sooner or later those looking for Nirvana must let go.
- No one can tell you what your path is (see the snowflake analogy), but rarely will a teacher advise you to target a group other than his own. Most masters, traditions or sects are very fond of the path they follow to enlightenment, but one of the main obstacles to enlightenment is attachment to personal views and views. Don't lose the irony on your way.
- To achieve Nirvana it is essential to practice independently. The role of the teacher is to help you grow and become spiritually autonomous. Its task is not to create a relationship of dependence and a regression to the infantile state, even if this risk exists.
- Find out what you like and practice it more frequently.
- Go ahead, reflect on the benefits you are getting, even the smallest ones, and don't forget them. They will help you stay motivated.
- Embrace doubt along the way.
- Awakening may vanish, but you will not lose awareness.
- The awakenings can remain and increase with the passage of time.
- Awakening often occurs during a severe personal crisis.
- Focus on the practice and you will reach the goal. Conversely, if you focus on the goal, the practice will lose value.
- Use the Internet to find groups of awakened meditators. They can put their resources at your disposal and help you.
- You can reach Nirvana by following a spiritual path regardless of the religion you profess, even if this doctrine is not contemplated in the precepts of your faith. There are many examples of Christians who gained a particular insight into God's nature through revival.
- Visit the Buddha At The Gas Pump site for awakening stories and experiences told by awakened masters.
