The Noble Eightfold Path
Welcome to my monthly newsletter, Attunement!
Each month we “tune into” a theme related to mindfulness and
explore a creative practice and tune based on this theme!
This month of September we’re TUNING INTO the frequency of:
THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH
Wherever the Noble Eightfold Path is practiced, joy, peace, and insight are there.
-The Buddha
The Buddha's teaching of the Noble Eightfold Path outlines the attitudes and actions that, through his experiences and wisdom, he found lead to well-being (a.k.a. the cessation of suffering).
These 8 attitudes/practices are:
🌱 Right* View — seeing clearly, without the weight of old stories and assumptions
🌱 Right Intention — examining what actually motivates us beneath the surface
🌱 Right Speech — the practice of honest, kind, and timely communication
🌱 Right Action — bringing our behavior into alignment with values
🌱 Right Livelihood — the work we do and the contribution only we can make
🌱 Right Effort — the "middle way" of energy, neither forcing nor giving up
🌱 Right Mindfulness — paying attention, on purpose, with compassion
🌱 Right Concentration — deepening clarity of mind through focused practice
*The word "Right" can be thought of as "appropriate" or "skillful".
These 8 path factors form a map of what "well-being" looks like. Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal says: "When we practice the factors well, they transform us. They have the ability to reduce and even end our clinging, attachment, fear, hatred, and delusion."
These factors aren't necessarily meant to be practiced in succession, one after the other, in the order above. Rather, as Sri Lankan monk Walpola Sri Rahula says, "they are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others." This is why the path is often depicted as a wheel with eight connecting spokes, instead of linearly.
You don't have to be a Buddhist to utilize and benefit from the Eightfold Path. Anyone, regardless of belief system (or lack thereof) might find its wisdom and guidance helpful to support them in cultivating the "insights, emotions, and attitudes which promote human flourishing", which Author Mike Slott of the Secular Buddhist Network says "is the basis for 'true' or 'real' happiness, the kind of happiness one has when one lives life in an ethical and meaningful way."
This is certainly what I have found from working with the path factors in my own life. For example, working with the factor of RIGHT ACTION has prompted me to deepen my commitment to living in greater alignment with my values, so that my behaviors better reflect what I say is important to me. This isn't always easy, it's almost always humbling, and it's definitely worth it in terms of what I gain (peace and contentment) and what I lose (shame and regret) when I walk the Path.
Creative Mindfulness Practice:
Eightfold Path Scavenger Hunt
What you'll need: A journal (optional)
Instructions: For one day, be on the lookout for examples of the Eightfold Path in your life, either in your own actions or in your observations of others' behavior. When you notice one, jot it down in a journal or on your Notes app in your phone.
For example, you might notice:
A thoughtful, respectful conversation → Right Speech
Someone helping another person → Right Action
Someone persevering without forcing → Right Effort
Consider further reflecting on your observations in your journal at the end of the day. What surprised/delighted you?
SEPTEMBER Events:
This Month’s Tune 🎵:
Each month I share a tune that resonates with the newsletter theme.
For this month's theme of THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH, I've chosen the 1994 hit song "You Gotta Be" by Des'Ree, because I hear some echoes of the Path's attitudes and practices in her lyrics; what do you think?!
