SELF-GUIDED STUDY
A Zen Approach to the Noble Eightfold Path
Introduction and Course Materials
The path of practice is both a gift and a challenge. Though it unfolds uniquely for each practitioner, there are features of the path that are common to us all as we engage the aspects of who we are…
Class 1 - Right View
The first step on the Eightfold Path is Right View; the practice of being attentive to whatever we’re experiencing and the impact of that experience. Reflecting on both the experience and the impact helps to realize the samma of our practice.
Class 2 - Right Intention
Our intention can also be stimulated by contemplation on a wide variety of Dharma teachings. As we find the relevance of those teachings in our own experience, intention ripens into motivation and resolve to act in accordance with the Dharma. As we see what’s happening from the perspective of the Buddha-dharma, the request of practice stimulates Right Intention.
Class 3 - Right Speech
Right Speech can include both our internal narrative and our interaction with others. It can shape both the content of what’s communicated and the impact of the communication.
Class 4 - Right Action and Right Livelihood
The Bodhisattva vows to practice for the benefit of all beings, acknowledging that this is an endless undertaking beyond the agency of any single individual to resolve. Yet through our collective commitment, the teachings of the Buddha Way will present themselves in the midst of the challenges and will facilitate Awakening in the midst of the challenges.
Class 5 - Right Speech, Action and Livelihood
Right Speech recommends attending to the characteristics of both inner and interpersonal speech. Right Action recommends three modes of abstaining from harmful actions. Right Way of Living recommends that we express the principles of Sila within the context of our lives and act accordingly.
Class 6 - Sila on the Eightfold Path
Right Effort, Mindfulness and Concentration are the final three steps of the Eightfold Path, and can be thought of as collectively addressing the cultivation of consciousness. They can be considered sequentially or as a symbiotic interplay.
The arc of the sequence of the eight steps is to establish and initiate the request of practice. Each step offers a particular expression of experiential learning.