212 Part III: South Asia
After his Enlightenment, the Buddha reunited with his former companions,
who became his first disciples, and taught his first sermon containing these prin-
ciples: the sermon of the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth states simply
that life is full of suffering. Suffering is inescapable; loss, sickness, death haunt us
all. The Second Noble Truth states the condition that gives rise to suffering: not
from fate, not from malevolent spirits or angry gods, but from human desire. We
are in inner bondage to our cravings, we try to hang onto things and people; we
long for wealth, prestige, and love. The Third Noble Truth states that there is a
cure, which is cessation of suffering (nirvana). The Fourth Noble Truth declares
the remedy: the Eightfold Path of wisdom, morality, and meditation.
The Eightfold Path was a middle way between living an unaware life of
pleasure in the world and the path of extreme self-punishing renunciation. The
eight steps of the path lead toward full Awakening; go as far as you can. The
first two are the wisdom (prajna, panna) steps. The first is Right Understanding.
A commitment to follow the Buddha leads to understanding his teachings (the
Dharma). Right Thought is making an effort to cultivate purity and wholesome
states of mind, renouncing unwholesome ones like greed, anger, envy, and spite.
The next three are the “proper conduct” or morality steps. Right Speech is
using your conversation for good ends, avoiding falsehood, slander, and gossip.
Right Action brings us to the deepest prohibitions of Buddhism: refrain from
killing any living being (ahimsa). This did not just apply to other humans but to
all living creatures; rather than taking life, one should act with compassion
toward all living beings. In addition to ahimsa, do not steal, do not commit sex-
ual misconduct, do not lie, and do not take intoxicants. Right Livelihood,
intended for lay Buddhists, urges that your livelihood not be in conflict with
other Buddhist principles. Don’t have a career involving killing animals or
humans. Don’t trade in sales of weapons. Don’t work to become rich to satisfy
cravings and desires that will interfere with achieving Awakening.
The final three steps of the Eightfold Path are the concentration (samadhi)
steps, more advanced stages undertaken by monks and leading to nirvana. Right
Effort is about abandoning unwholesome states of mind and cultivating whole-
some states of mind. Your effort in life, even if you are a layperson, should be
toward creating a mentality that leans toward abandonment of desires. With
Right Mindfulness you live your life in a state of deep and constant awareness of
the conditions of existence and of your own states of mind, temptations, lurking
desires. Be mindful of annata, your lack of a permanent self while still prone to
transient emotional states. Right Concentration refers to the practice of formal
meditation to achieve tranquility, insight, and ultimate awakening.
These are the core teachings of the Buddha. From here, Buddhism devel-
oped ever more complex philosophies, regional variations, practices, texts, and
even additional buddhas and bodhisattvas.
“I Take Refuge in the Sangha.” The sangha, the community of monks,
grew out of that population of wandering ascetics who followed the Buddha by
renouncing society to seek spiritual liberation. The custom grew among Bud-