The Eightfold Noble Path: Wise Perspective 

Written by Larissa Link

In our morning meditations, we offer a combination of learning and spacious time to witness yourself. Our learning content over the next several months will be drawn from the Eightfold Noble Path, and we’ll work with practical tools to bring this ancient and wise system of wellbeing into your day to day. 

Part of the first teachings by the Buddha, the Path is meant to move us continuously toward ease, peace, and loving what is, no matter what ‘it’ is.   

The 4 Noble Truths: 

The 4 Noble Truths, which were the first teaching of the Buddha, end with the Eightfold Noble Path. That end, the ease of suffering, is offered by walking The Eightfold Noble Path, which we’ll walk for many months together. 

1. Suffering Exists: dukkha – suffering, dis-ease, unsatisfactoriness 
   • ACTION: Empathize with it.
2. Suffering has a cause: samudaya – “arising”, the cause or root of suffering; suffering arises from craving 
   • ACTION: Become curious about it.
3. Suffering has a resolution/end: nirodha – secession, extinction; ending craving ends suffering 
   • ACTION: Find solutions to end it 
     • Renouncing of cravings and desires 
     • Harnessing the arising energy of suffering in a positive/beneficial way
4. Stopping suffering is developing the Path toward cessation: magga – the path, the middle way 
   • ACTION: Following the broad path is to implement the steps on the Eightfold Noble Path 

The Eightfold Noble Path 

The Path is meant to move us continuously toward ease, peace, and loving what is, no matter what ‘it’ is. This moves us through our own suffering. We’re not avoiding it, stuffing it down, nor running away from it; we are tending to the difficulties we experience as we walk The Path. 

Samma is the word before each step on The Path. It is often translated as “right,” though in English, this connotates that there is also a “wrong” way. More clearly, there is a WISE path, rather than the right and the wrong way. This is why the path is broad, because there are many wise perceptions and wise thoughts; there are so many types of wise effort, including rest and releasing, hard work and discipline. Emotional effort will feel different than physical effort. Because all of this is true, understanding samma to be wise, rather than correct, is an incredibly important part of this Path. 

In Buddhist philosophy, there is an idea that if we end up off the path, we land in either rigidity or chaos. These far ends cause us much more suffering than is necessary. They make dealing with emotions, decision-making, and being human much more difficult. Neither black and white rules nor complete lack of order can offer us the support we need, which is why the Eightfold Noble Path is offered, to navigate us back toward our path.  

Each human has their own path to follow; there is no one “right” path, and no one else knows what’s best for you– just you. When I first realized this, I felt disheartened because I want allllll the self-help authors to give me the 10 steps to happiness/success/fulfillment/any-thing-to-make-me-feel-better. If the “4 Steps to a Happier You” worked every time, we would never need even one additional blog or book about it. This doesn’t mean that you cannot take advice from a trusted source, or that you shouldn’t read/listen to the amazing wealth of knowledge and resources out there; you might just consider these as guides, rather than rules or hard truths.  

Walking this Path is all about getting to know yourself,  

in all of your many iterations, and learning what YOU need,  

moment by moment, season by season. 

The Path is in 3 parts:

• Part 1: Wisdom and Intuition (steps 1-3) 

• Part 2: Wise Living (steps 3-6) 

• Part 3: Wise Development (steps 7-8) 
•  

The 8 Steps: 

1. Sammā-diṭṭhi- -> Wise Perspective/View 
2. Sammā-saṅkappa –> Wise Thought/Aspiration 
3. Sammā-vācā –> Wise Speech 
4. Sammā-kammanta –> Wise Action 
5. Sammā-ājīva –> Wise Livelihood 
6. Sammā-vāyāma –> Wise Effort 
7. Sammā-sati –> Wise Mindfulness 
8. Sammā-samādhi –> Wise Mental Acuity/Bliss 

We’ll spend July working with both the practice of listening to your own wisdom and the first step, Wise Perspective. In August, we’ll continue with Part 1 and add Wise Thought and Speech. 

There are so many nuances, joyful practices, and gentle learnings packed into The Path; as you are walking yours, we invite you to practice with us, so we can share our Paths. We’ll walk through the weeds and the dark nights, and through the sunshine and spring flowers, together.  

I’m looking forward to our continued growth together in our meditation sangha. Reminder, if 7:30am doesn’t work for you, you can always find us on Insight Timer, a free meditation app; join us as it suits your schedule! 

With so much love, 

Larissa