What should I do if I have too many deviations in life and feel confused and confused? Without the right goal and direction in life, it is difficult to get rid of in the vicious competition, and what should I do in the face of various pains and unsolvable states? Today, let us find the answer from the "Noble Eightfold Path" and use the "right view" as a tip to live happily, wonderfully, and wisely in this materialistic and deceitful world.
What is "Right View"
Right view is one of the "Noble Eightfold Paths" in Buddhism.
The Noble Eightfold Path refers to the eight practice methods of right view, right thinking, right speech, right karma, right life, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. By practicing according to the Noble Eightfold Path of the world, one will be liberated from life; by practicing according to the Noble Eightfold Path of the world, one can become a good man and a gentleman.
The "Noble Eightfold Path" can help everyone find a way to survive in an era of materialistic desires, confusion and chaos, and give appropriate guidance in study, work and life.
With regard to "right view," Master Shengyan taught: Right view is correct knowledge, and by hearing the Four Noble Truths, we can understand that the truth of life in the universe is suffering, emptiness, and impermanence, and that no law can exist independently, and that no law is eternal and unchanging. Therefore, it is clear that this short life should remain pure and good, and we should not indulge in our own service and let the evil flow be polluted; we must correct our paranoid thoughts.
Master Yin Shun's "Introduction to Buddhism" says: "Right view, the first is to hear wisdom, that is, to hear the cause and effect, the four truths, the three seals, etc., from hearing the Right Fa, we can get a correct and deep understanding of the Dharma, understand the Dharma, and take the Dharma as our own perspective." ”
The "Noble Eightfold Path" is headed by "Right View." That is to say, right view is the most important. Because with correct understanding, we can have a correct understanding of things, break through the false and deviant conventional views, and finally realize the right path.
There is right view, and there is freedom from suffering
When Prince Siddhartha was born, there were already many practitioners and thinkers in the world. When Siddhartha became a Buddha under the Bodhi tree, those practitioners were still relying on their own ideas to seek the path to worldly happiness or liberation.
In the process of propagating the Dharma, the Buddha often had to talk to these practitioners and guide them with "right views" so that they could change from the effort of "blind cultivation and blind practice" to the growth of "wisdom".
We can read from the Za'ahan Sutra the Buddha's teachings on "right view":
As I heard: For a time, the Buddha lived in the Weiguo Gion Tree to give the Garden of Solitude.
At that time, His Holiness told the monks, "When the viewer is impermanent, if he is a seer, he is right-sighted; the right-sighted one is disgusted, the one who is disgusted with detachment likes to be greedy, and the one who likes to be greedy says that the mind is liberated." If it is to see, think, act, and realize impermanence, if it is a viewer, it is right view; the right viewer is born of detachment, and the person who is disgusted with it likes to be greedy, and the person who likes to be greedy says that the mind is liberated. Such as bhikkhus! Those who are liberated in their hearts can prove themselves if they want to prove themselves: I have finished my life, I have established Brahmanical deeds, I have done what I have done, and I know that I am not subject to future existence."
It can be seen here that people with "right views" who know the impermanence of various actions can lead all kinds of people to liberate themselves from suffering, and they can also become enlightened and transcend life and death, which is very amazing.
With right view, guide life
For those who live a secular life in all walks of life, how can we use "right views" to guide our practice and life?
Once, when an undeciplined Brahmin saw the Buddha, he asked the question of "right view" very directly.
From time to time, brahmins came to the Buddha's house, examined the feet of the Buddha, asked the worldly dignitaries to comfort him, and sat down. The White Buddha said, "Qu Tan! What is the so-called right viewer? ”
The Buddha told the Brahmins: "There are two kinds of right view: there is right view of the world, there is leakage, there is taking, there is turning to goodness, there is right view is holy, out of the world, there is no leakage, there is no take, there is suffering, and there is turning to the side of suffering."
What is it to see the world, to have leaks, to take, to turn to goodness? It is said that there is righteousness, there is giving, there is talk, there is fasting, and even self-knowledge is not followed. brahman! It is the name of the world, there are leaks, there are gains, and there is good interest.
brahman! What is right view to be holy, to be born out of the world, to be without leakage, not to take, to be suffering, to turn to the side of suffering? It is said that the holy disciples, suffering, bitter thinking, collection, extinction, Tao thinking, non-leakage thinking corresponding, in the Choice of the Dhamma, separation, enlightenment, ingenuity, wisdom, observation, is the right view, is the holy, out of the world, no leakage, no take, is the right side of suffering, turn to the side of suffering. ”
When the Buddha said this, he heard what the Brahmin had said, rejoiced, and rose from his seat.
In answering the Brahmin's question about "right view," the Buddha first told him that there are two kinds of right view: one that can lead the world toward goodness, and one that can seek liberation.
For example, many people believe that giving alms, taking vows, and exhorting kindness can help others very well and avoid making mistakes themselves. But in doing these things, it is according to secular ideas to judge whether they are correct or not. Although this is a practice of good Dharma, it is not the end.
The so-called right view is an insight based on the four noble truths of "suffering, collection, annihilation, and the path", which can be used to judge whether many methods tend to the path of liberation, to "choose the right view" to "choose the law", and to clarify what the ultimate goal of the practice is.
As the Abhidharma Dictionary explains "right view" as:
What is the right view of the cloud? It is called a holy disciple. In bitter thoughts and bitterness. In the collection of thoughts. In the extinction of thoughts. Yu Dao pondered the Tao. No leakage is intended to correspond. All in the law of the simple choice. Minimalist choice. The most minimalist option. Solved and waited close. Machine accessible. Censor Satoshi. Jue Ming Hui Xing. Vishnu. It's a righteous sight.
Therefore, the Buddhist "right view" places special emphasis on the "Four Noble Truths" method of thinking.
Many Buddhist disciples may feel that they are very comfortable with the Four Noble Truths, but when problems arise, they still can't figure it out, and it is difficult to use the teachings of the "Noble Truth" to resolve their troubles.
In fact, in the current situation of difficulties, it is difficult for us to get out at once, and those negative emotions that are not self-controlled will deepen our doubts, which is precisely the time to test and improve our practice. It may not be possible to maintain "correct view" at all times, but when the situation appears, if we can discover the "wrong view" in time, we can avoid being coerced by it and going astray.
Stay away from "wrong views"
There are about five types of "wrong views" that the world often produces.
Sakya view: Also known as "body view", this is a kind of external view, which holds that the five aggregates are real, and clings to this as self, and gives rise to all kinds of false views. The Theory of Enlightenment says: "Sagaya sees, which means that the five yahs hold on to what I am, and all that is seen is based on karma." ”
Side view: With my view, that is, to measure me as a person who lives and does not perish after death, or to measure me as a person who dies and dies, which is the common or broken view that Buddhism opposes.
Evil view: Believing that there is no cause of birth in the world, and there is no result that can be recruited, so evil is not enough to be feared, and good is not enough to the law.
Seeing and taking: Following the clinging to one end of the previous view, thinking that it is the most victorious, that is, stubbornly clinging to what it sees, all struggles arise according to it, so all struggles are based on it.
Abstinence: In ancient India, asceticism was held, believing that by taking the vows of cows, dogs, and chickens, one could attain the fruits of nirvana. This kind of non-causal view, non-Taoist view, is to take views for abstinence.
Buddhism tells us that everything in the world arises from causes. The consequences of our body and mind are revealed in dependent arising, but nothing can trap us, because nothing will remain eternal.
It is we who can change the direction of our lives. Whether in the days of the Buddha's practice or now, there are all kinds of words and ideas spreading in the world. How can a sensitive and studious Buddhist disciple establish "right view" in such an environment?
Article source | Chengdu Wenshu Monastery
Image source | Enlightenment
Photography | Danzhen Wangmu, Zhang Ke