The Buddha's Advice to Laypeople

The Buddha’s eightfold path is a complete set of instructions for learning to cling less and as a result, suffer less, which was the Buddha’s whole teaching mission. (Summary here: https://buddhasadvice.wordpress.com/the-eightfold-path/) But the path is more of a ...

In the mental training section of the path (Right Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration) Wise Mindfulness is the main practice for moving along the Buddha’s eightfold path.

There are four traditional foundations or frameworks for contemplation that develop mindfulness for us or anyone. They are:

We’ve been thinking about different parts of the Buddha’s eightfold path and have come to the “last” third. Traditionally it’s sīla-samādhi-paññā, i.e., ethical training, mental training, and living with wisdom. But it’s not a linear path; each element strengthens all the other parts. When we look with Wise View at any situation, we are exercising wisdom and creating...

We’ve stepped through the first two elements of the Buddha’s eightfold path, Right View and Right Intention, and we have recently reflected on most of the middle section of the path which deals with speech and actions (the 5 precepts). Each path factor supports all the others, but all are deemed necessary to develop for progress towards awakening.

The third element...

If we have right view, that is, if we understand that our actions have consequences, for better or for worse, then we will try to match our actions with that understanding. The connection is made by Right Intention, the second factor in the Buddha’s Eightfold Path.

Traditionally, Right Intention has three parts: