Perfect Mindfulness And Perfect Concentration example essay topic

... d live life fully. This state of consciousness is referred to as Nirvana. When one becomes free from all psychological suffering as well; this state is called Final Nirvana. Nirvana cannot be explained because it is a dimension transcending time and space and thus difficult to talk or think of. Thus Nirvana is eternal because it is beyond space, there is no causation or boundary; no concept of self, thus Nirvana is infinite. The Buddha also assures us in The Dhammapada that Nirvana is an experience of great happiness.

He says: "Nirvana is the supreme bliss" (Maitreya 56). In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, the author gives us the lineation of Nirvana, "Nirvana is the extinction of all notions. Birth is a notion. Death is a notion. Being is a notion. Non being is a notion" (Thich Nhat Hanh 127).

The Third Noble Truth offers an exit, a release from the suffering of attachment. It is sometimes referred to as the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering. The Sanskrit term associated with the Third Noble Truth is nirodha, literally cessation, or dissolution, or even 'control'. We control our cravings and are thus liberated from their dependence of us. This cessation of suffering, in turn, is called Nirvana. When one accepts the fact that change is an inherent part of life and when frustration, anger an vengefulness ceases we may attain Nirvana.

The 4th Noble Truth is a package of self-cultivation that enables the practitioner to attain the goal of 'Nirvana'. Mark Epstein in Thoughts Without a Thinker, provides an illustration reinforcing the necessity of a conceptual view when one follows the Buddha's example and tries to deal with one's own emotional life. In this story, Hung-jean, the departing fifth patriarch challenged his pupils and followers of the seventh century A.D. to create a verse suggestive of their comprehension of the Buddha's teachings. The most satisfactory verse would designate his heir. The foremost student, Shen-hsi u offered the following verse: "The body is the Bodhi tree, The mind is like a clear mirror standing Take care to wipe it all the time, Allow no grain of dust to cling".

(90) An uneducated kitchen servant, Hui-n eng presented an alternative to Shen-hsi u's reply as: "The Bodhi is not a tree, The clear mirror is nowhere standing. Fundamentally not one thing exists; Where is a grain of dust to cling" (90) This analysis conveys the major component of the Buddha's teaching, the avoidance of idealization and denial in the perception of the empty and reflecting mind where as in Shen-hsi u's, verse, the clear mirror effortlessly becomes an object of idolization. The Fourth Noble Truth is the Path leading to the overcoming of suffering. This path is called the Noble Eightfold Path and consists of Perfect Understanding, Perfect Thought, Perfect Speech, Perfect Action, Perfect Livelihood, Perfect Effort, Perfect Mindfulness and Perfect Concentration. Buddhist practice consists of practicing these eight things until they become complete. You will notice that the steps on the Noble Eightfold Path cover every aspect of life: the intellectual, the ethical, the social and economic and the psychological and therefore contain everything a person needs to lead a good life and to develop spiritually.

The Eightfold Path includes: 1. Right Understanding, sam yak, by correctly or adequately understanding or integrating the teaching, making the teaching one with us, we become the teaching, the teaching becomes us. This is an intellectual grasp of the teaching of Dharma. 2.

Right Thought, sam yak sam kalpa, involves the elimination of all ambitions, revenge, hatred, greed, lust and violence by cleansing our minds of knowing and ignorance appearing as dukkha, our mind or mental processing becomes uncluttered and focused on our unfolding actuality. 3. Right Speech, sam yak vac a, which means being courteous, considerate, compassionate and full of sympathy, with a heart full of loving humanity and free of secret malice by forgoing judgments, imaginings, and ungrounded assumptions; we are cleansed of falsehoods, scandalous speech, and accusations against others. 4.

Right Action, sam yak karma nta, is the avoidance of destruction of any living being, of stealing, indulging in sensuality, slander and intoxicating liquors, or licentious behavior by taking actions in accord with universal principles of ethical and moral behavior, close to the Ten Commandments of Judaism and Christianity, or Ahimsa. 5. Right Livelihood, sam yak a jiva, by choosing to affirm valuing, moral and ethical behavior in the practices we adopt for earning a living, for pursuing a trade or occupation compatible with "Right Action". 6. Right Effort, sam yak vy ayama, means to prevent new evil from entering one's mind, to remove all evil already there, by examining how we think, how we act, how we are, etc. so that we dwell in positive, valuing thought forms leads away from not knowing and ignorance, we become harmonious in thought and action. 7.

Right Mindfulness, sam yak smriti, by staying within the framework established by the eightfold pathway, we stay aware, conscious of all that we are in which we live, all with whom we live. We maintain ourselves clearly on all planes of existence. 8. Right Concentration, sam yak sa mahdi, by establishing and maintaining our focus of appearance, manifestation and being through appropriate concentration, usually named as meditation, dhyana, we are grounded in our unfolding actuality. This is the threshold of Nirvana, to develop the eye of wisdom.

Anyone and everyone can achieve the highest goal in Buddhism. All one need to do is to make an honest effort to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. It is said that those who have reached enlightenment, like Buddha Sakyamuni and his disciples took much work to attain that state of mind; it was not accidental. The Buddha and his disciples were once ordinary people, afflicted by the impurities of the mind, desire, ill-will and ignorance. It was through contacting the Dharma and purifying their words, thoughts and deeds. These individuals developed their minds and acquired wisdom so they became exalted beings able to teach and help others to realize the truth.

If one applies themselves to the teachings of the Buddha, attainment of the ultimate goal of Buddhism, the goal of liberation, the everlasting bliss of Nirvana can be achieved.