The Eightfold Path
The Wheel of Dharma
1. Right View –
I view things from what appears to me outwardly.
Man attains this kind of knowledge about the world when he acquires a right view of things, a view that has nothing to do with sympathy or antipathy or preference of any sort. He must strive as best he can to acquire the right view of each thing, purely according to what presents itself to him outwardly. That is the first principle: the Right View of things.
2. Right Intent –
I judge in accordance with my right view.
3. Right Speech –
I give true expression of my right view and judgment.
4. Right Focus –
I let my right view, judgment, and speech become deed.
5. Right Alertness –
I act in my highest and best line of work.
6. Right Purpose –
I work steadily till right action becomes a habit in me.
7. Right Effort –
I link the present with the past and thus account for what I have already learned in previous lives.
8. Right Motivation –
I let the things of the world speak directly to me without partiality to views of other humans or my former incarnations.
Buddha – Mercury
This is the Eightfold Path, of which Buddha said to his disciples that if followed it would gradually lead to the extinction of the thirst for existence with its attendant suffering, and impart to the soul something that brings liberation from elements enslaving it from past lives.
Throat Chakra, the Sixteen Petaled Lotus
The Eightfold Path is connected to the Vishuddha, the throat Chakra or the Sixteen Petaled Lotus as Rudolf Steiner Calls the astral organ.
In “Knowledge of the Higher Worlds And Its Attainment” Rudolf Steiner goes more in depth with the Eightfold Path. The Initial words from the text about the Sixteen Petaled Lotus:
The organ in the vicinity of the larynx has sixteen petals or spokes; the one in the region of the heart twelve, and the one in the pit of the stomach ten.
Now certain activities of the soul are connected with the development of these organs, and anyone devoting himself to them in a certain definite way contributes something to the development of the corresponding organs. In the sixteen-petaled lotus, eight of its sixteen petals were developed in the remote past during an earlier stage of human evolution. Man himself contributed nothing to this development; he received them as a gift from nature, at a time when his consciousness was in a dull, dreamy condition. At that stage of human evolution they were in active use, but the manner of their activity was only compatible with that dull state of consciousness. As consciousness became clearer and brighter, the petals became obscured and ceased their activity. Man himself can now develop the remaining eight petals by means of conscious exercises, and thereby the whole lotus flower becomes luminous and mobile. The acquisition of certain faculties depends on the development of each one of the sixteen petals. Yet, as already shown, only eight can be consciously developed; the remainder then appear of their own accord.
The development proceeds in the following manner. The student must first apply himself with care and attention to certain functions of the soul hitherto exercised by him in a careless and inattentive manner. There are eight such functions …
[In Danish: “Hvordan når man til erkendelse af de højere verdener?” af Rudolf Steiner.]
References
I have made the presentation of Buddhas Eightfold Path from Rudolf Steiners lectures on The Gospel of Luke.
The goal was to make a short and simple description of the path, followed with references for deeper understanding of the why.
Se also the Twelf Petaled Lotus, Ahanhata, The Heart Chakra:
And the Six Petaled Lotus, Svadhistana, The Sacral Chakra:
Kristina Kaine has elaborated over the theme in “Eightfold Path of Buddha in the Gospel of St John“.
A meditation for modern man: Meditation as contemplative inquiry : when knowing becomes love / Arthur Zajonc
See also The Noble Eightfold Path at Wikipedia.
#1 by Ana Jay on November 19, 2009 - 11:41 am
The correct Practical Noble Eight Fold Path is:
Mind observe that detachment leads to supreme bliss
Simple thought to detach your mind from everything
Totally avoiding using words
Letting go of all physical works
Doing nothing for living
Straight consciousness of detached being
Continues practicing of detachment
Experiencing Awareness
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#2 by Kim Graae Munch on November 19, 2009 - 10:03 pm
What you mentions here is more the results than the way.
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#3 by Beema Noel on July 8, 2013 - 3:06 pm
Reblogged this on A Rosemont Way ~ Our Journey of Awakening and commented:
What we do together can transform our world, but what we believe and act upon within us is the foundation for all we do together. Our beliefs are where all choices are made and where our reality is rooted
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#4 by Michael Hall on January 17, 2017 - 4:52 pm
Thank you, Kim. This is helpful.
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#5 by Kim Graae Munch on January 17, 2017 - 4:57 pm
Thank you Michael, it’s a pleasure!
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