Modern Koans — Why Right Action?
The Challenges of the Eightfold Path
Right action…
is usually described in three parts.
- Abstaining from the taking of life
- Abstaining from taking what is not given
- Abstaining from sexual misconduct
Action — it is the most visible part of our Buddhist persona. It’s how we judge and are judged on our Buddhists-ness. Are we vegetarians? Can we support the death penalty? What happens if, as a child, we stole a chocolate treat at the drug store? Will we burn in Buddhist hell? Will we need to wait another 10 kalpas to drink the nectar of liberation, because of a one night stand we had in our twenties?
We’ll be challenged by others and we will challenge ourselves on how well we emulate the model. But really, can we possibly live true to Lord Buddha’s rule book?
What do these rules of conduct offer us? If we are to live in the present moment, is judgement of our past actions productive? Should we dispose of these prudish dictums and find freedom in simply being awake?
In my experience, everything that’s challenging, confusing, and impossible about the Eightfold Path is also rewarding and fulfilling. Its like a deep Mandelbrot set zoom, these lessons forever unfold in new, but familiar ways. As instructive as they are to young people as healthy moral boundaries, they also serve as a subject of meditation and a source of deep insight for long time yogis. Whatever our particular Buddhist tradition, be it Vajryana, Theravada, Pure Land, or Zen, our conduct in this world is the light that spreads from one candle to the next.
How do you approach Right Action? Are you vegetarian? Do you choose a life of poverty or minimalism? Is abstinence impossible or counter productive? What lessons have you taken away from living on the straight and narrow? What challenges do you have as a new practitioner? As a long time Buddhist, what problems do you have with you have with the rules? If Buddhism is your birth religion, how were you taught the path, and how do you approach it?
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH SERIES
This is the one of several posts I will be offering titled the Eightfold Path Series. As I’ve reflected on my experience, I’ve come to see the Path as both the practice and the fruition. As we inch closer to realization of our true nature, we discover that the wisdom, ethics, and concentration prescribed in the Buddha are the most natural expression of our being.
John Daido Loori Roshi’s book Invoking Reality was transformational for me. In it Roshi turns the path on it’s head in a way that uncovers it’s challenge to us. The path and the precepts are not rules and regulations that lead to punishment by the karmic cosmos, but a way for us to see our true selves by looking through the prism of these personal dimensions. I see the path and the precepts as questions, not rules. Let’s explore them.
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Andrew Furst is and author, meditation teacher, buddhist blogger, poet, @ellozen curator, photographer, artist, & technologist.
He writes daily on www.andrewfurst.net
Originally published at www.andrewfurst.net on May 29, 2015.
