The Noble Eightfold Path as Expressed by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Youtube link in the public domain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toVNeTrwbtc&list=PLV7Diz4DTv4nv-RTpS-0QuDNHUh0b1OLP&index=23

This is a continuation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s teaching on the Four Noble Truths. The fourth truth is described there as “the path to well-being.” This teaching below is an elaboration of that path that leads to well-being. Similar to what I said about TNH’s teaching on the Four Noble Truths, now I also affirm that this simple teaching of Master TNH on the Noble Eightfold Path is one of the best I’ve encountered because it is very deep yet easy to understand. TNH, one can see, is really a master teacher. May this transcription help us all to let this teaching permeate our inner beings and lead to effective practice! (thanks to my Research Assistant Aimee Paradis for help in the transcription!) -jkk

Right View

(00:01) The Noble Eightfold Path comprises eight elements. The first element we spoke of this morning is Right View. Right View is the kind of view that is free from all wrong views, born from notions like being/non-being, birth and death, coming/going, sameness and otherness, and so on. Right View is a kind of insight that helps us to be liberated from all kinds of discrimination, dualism. You are no longer caught between left and right, above and below, white and black, inside and outside, creator and creature, and so on. We remove all pairs of opposites. This is the ultimate truth. And sometimes it's called Nirvana, sometimes it's called Maha Prajnaparamita, the great insight that has the power to transport us to the other shore, the shore of freedom.

(1:48) Based on Right View -- non-discrimination, non-separation, non-dualism, then we can practice Right Thinking. Right Thinking is the kind of thinking that goes along the line of Right View. No discrimination, no separation. You are in me; I am in you. There is no discrimination whatsoever. And all of us know [that] a lot of suffering has been created on the basis of discrimination. Religious discrimination, racial discrimination and all kinds of discrimination. We have to practice in order to help remove discrimination in the mind of people. Right Thinking is the kind of thinking that produces understanding and compassion. We can, at any time, produce a thought in the line of Right Thinking. A thought free from discrimination, a thought full of understanding and compassion. As a practitioner, we can produce a thought like that several times a day. As soon as you are able to produce a thought of reconciliation, of compassion, of understanding, that thought begins to heal us and heal the world. Right Thinking can heal the world, can save the world. And wrong thinking can destroy the world. Wrong thinking can lead to suicide, can lead to terrorism, and so on. If we cultivate the Right View, then our thinking will be Right Thinking.

Right Thinking

(4:19) Suppose we produce a thought of anger, of fear, of hate, of despair. That's not good for our health. If we keep producing thoughts of hate, fear, despair, we'll destroy our body and mind, and destroy the world. That is why, as a good practitioner, we have to cultivate the practice of Right Thinking. Our thoughts should be characterized by non-discrimination, mutual understanding and compassion. We understand the suffering inside and the suffering of the other people of the world. From there, compassion arises. And thinking like that is very healing. And we need a teacher, and need fellow practitioners in order to support us, to guide us in the practice of Right Thinking. Right Thinking can change the world and save the world.

Right Speech

(5:43) With the foundation of Right View, we can practice Right Speech. Anything we say has the power to inspire people, to restore faith, to restore communication, to reconcile, to help people feel better, to show the way. That is the right kind of speech that we practice. Right Speech, or loving speech, goes along with compassionate listening. That is the objective of the Fourth Mindfulness Training. Many of us have received The Five Trainings this morning, and the Fourth is about the practice of Right Speech and Deep Listening. The practice of Right Speech and Deep Listening helps us restore communication and reconcile. A few days of practice can already help. When you are able to see the suffering in the other person, when we have the intention to help him or her suffer less, then we are already ready to practice Deep Listening and Loving Speech in order to restore communication and to reconcile. The miracle of reconciliation always takes place in our retreats.

(7:37) When we write a letter, when we send an email, or use our mobile phone, we can very well practice Right Speech. It can restore communication. It can inspire people. It can make a person happy right away. "Darling, I'm here for you." "Darling, I know you are there. That makes me very happy." "Darling, I know that you have difficulties. I'm here for you." All these kinds of practices can help bring relief and healing. As a good practitioner, we are able to practice loving speech several times a day. It does not cost anything. It can restore communication. It can make a person happy right away. Be generous because the other person has good seeds in him or her. If you recognize the good seeds in him or her, they will become a happy person, and you will profit from his or her happiness. Effects come very quickly.

The Four Noble Truths as expressed by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Youtube Link in the public domain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy-RI3FrdGA&list=PLV7Diz4DTv4nv-RTpS-0QuDNHUh0b1OLP&index=22

[jkk] I’ve come across many different ways to express the core Buddhist teaching of the Four Noble Truths but this iteration by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (TNH), hands down, is by far my favourite. It makes the four noble truths really easy to understand and directly leads to practice. Here is a transcription of TNH’s online teaching for those who would like to follow it more closely as a text. Special thanks to Aimee Paradis for this transcription!

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… because if there is no suffering, there is no happiness. If there is no left, there is no right. If there is no above, there will be no below. That is the teaching of Interbeing in Buddhism. This is because that is. The teaching of the Four Noble Truths should be understood in that light.

The First Noble Truth: Suffering (1:27)

Suffering, ill-being, is a noble truth. You will ask the question, "What is so noble about suffering?" (Laughter). But suffering, ill-being, is also as noble as the path. The First Noble Truth is ill-being, Dukkha. [苦]. It is the mud; it is the garbage; it is the suffering. You know that if suffering is there, something is there also at the same time. Like the left and the right. If you confirm the existence of the left, you have to confirm the existence of the right because the left can never be without the right. If politically you are on the left, don't wish for the right to disappear entirely. (Laughter). Because if the right disappears entirely, you will disappear also. That is the teaching of Interbeing (sahabhū 俱生).

(3:16) Cùng (Vietnamese) means “being.” You are together. "Being together" means you cannot be by yourself alone. You have to inter-be with all of us. If the right is not there, the left cannot be there either. So, when God said, "Let the light be," the light said, "My Lord, I shall have to wait." And God said, "What do you have to wait for?" "I wait for the darkness, so that we can manifest together." And God said, "But the darkness is already there." And the light said, "In that case, I'm already there." (Laughter). Because the right and the left, they can only inter-are. They cannot be by themselves alone. The above and the below is the same. The subject and the object. The creator and the creature, the created. All pairs of opposites are like that.

The Third Noble Truth (4:35)

That is why, when the Buddha confirms the existence of ill-being, he confirms at the same time the existence of well-being. If well-being is not there, ill-being cannot be there either. Well-being is the Third Noble Truth. That is the cessation of ill-being. Well-being means the cessation of ill-being. The same thing. It is like light. Light is the absence of darkness. If darkness is not there, light should be there. That is why when we confirm the truth of ill-being, we confirm naturally the existence of well-being. The left and the right. Suffering cannot be by herself alone. Suffering has to inter-be with happiness. They are a pair of opposites among many pairs of opposites. Like birth and death, beginning and ending, being, non-being.

(6:25) Later on, in this retreat, we will learn how to transcend pairs of opposites in order to touch the ultimate, Nirvana (our nature of no-birth and no-death) and transcend all kinds of fears and discrimination. So, confirming ill-being, you confirm, at the same time, well-being as something that is possible. Then if there is ill-being, there must be a way of life that leads to ill-being. A path leading to ill-being. Your way of life. You have lived in such a way that has made ill-being possible. So looking into the First Noble Truth, you can see the Second Noble Truth, which is the making of ill-being, Samudaya (2. the making of ill-being "集). You don't have to look for the Second Noble Truth elsewhere. Just look into the First Noble Truth and you find the second.

(8:05) Suppose you have a depression. Your depression represents ill-being. If you look deeply into your depression, you will find out where it has come from. You have lived in such a way in the last six months that it has made your depression possible. So looking in the First Noble Truth, we can see the Second Noble Truth. You have consumed in such a way that makes ill-being possible. In Buddhism, we speak of the making of ill-being also as a path. The path leading to ill-being. The Fourth Noble Truth is also a path, but a path leading to well-being. The path of well-being.