3) HOW TO GET THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY
Part Three - version 1.0 :
HOW TO GET THINGS RUNNING SMOOTHLY
The 4th noble truth describes the eightfold path as the method for overcoming dukkha, and basicly this text seems in order, i dont want to and dont feel competent to question this.
The eightfold path (which is the entire 4th noble truth) is "Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration".
I find it very interesting that in this eightfold path, Buddha indicates a sort of moral codex and mindfulness as the way of overcoming dukkha,
I have to disagree with a common interpretation, and the implications this has - as Thanissaro Bhikkhu puts it "You identify a problem and look for its cause. You then put an end to the problem by eliminating the cause."
Depending on translation there is no mention or only a small side mention of renunciation. In the 4th noble truth Buddha does NOT ask us to directly to give up our desires or pleasures (neither to nourish them) ... he asks us to practice mindfulness and to nourish a general sense of doing the right thing ... having a right attitude to life ... a sense for rightness.
It seems relevant that "Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration" leave the reader who disregards commentaries, very much to his own feelings on what is right, and thus has great similarities to the Christian idea of conscience,
Its also worth considering that in hinduism renunciation is seen as the way of liberation from the wheel of karma and suffering - and while im sure buddha would have found that mindfulness is also a good solution to suffering; the new idea which he had, seems to have been, (at least partly) that mindfulness is the way and the solution to get life running smoothly ....
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Many people find the two disciplines of psychology and buddhism are very similar. To understand their differences it may be helpful to consider that psychology has been developed on the study of dysfunction and mental illness, and its primary goal is to confirm the insecure suffering self ... whereas religious innovators, seeking the full human potential, often seem to discredit any confirmation of the ego, suggesting selflessness or that the self is illusion ... in its turn, as with psychology, organised religion must relate to and help the needs of the normal person who feels dysfunctional and insecure and so often seems to emphasise the suffering of saints and those who follow the religious way.
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my summary notes :
While ive been writing this ive been thinking surely we need need some sort of preconceptions or at least words and a basic network of ideas to be able to think with, to be able to combine ideas, even the ideas i used in this essay ... but it seems buddha was suggesting something far more spontaneous, and ceative -
and it seems a very important part of this is the eightfold path, it provides a background security or foundation and maybe a direction or guide for this spontaneous creativity.
And if this were so, then it brings it in even closer relation to the Christian idea of conscience : the feeling of God inside of us guiding us - instead of the Jewish God or the Hindu Brama who were outside of us -
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I repeat i am far from finding a conclusion to these thoughts and im sure there are other interpretations, and i would welcome creative and new thought from translators, modern day buddhists and psychologists ... I would please invite you to have a new look at this old text - and please use a complete and modern translation, for example the best i found is by U Jotika & U Dhamminda at www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/mahasati.htm
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END OF TEXT :::::::::::: and i need to check all my references, but U Jotika & U Dhamminda at www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/mahasati.htm give a good translation of the 2nd and 3rd truth - and unfortunately it seems there is no good German translation.
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the Mahasatipatthana Sutta is the 22nd discourse of the Digha Nikaya (DN) often called by "DN 22"
The Foundations of Mindfulness
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/mahasati.htm
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/mahasati.pdf
Mahasatipatthana Sutta
Translated by U Jotika & U Dhamminda
(a good and full translation of 2nd and 3rd truth)
other sources:
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html
translates dukkha as stress which seems populistic otherwise
(a good and full translation of 2nd and 3rd truth)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.bpit.html
Maha-satipatthana Sutta: The Great Frames of Reference
translated from the Pali by
Burma Pitaka Association
(a good and full translation of 2nd and 3rd truth)
my old paperback: Rider Pocket Editions
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
Nyanaponika Thera (1969)
which is very similar to the Satipatthana Sutta by Nyanasatta Thera
(Thera comes from Theravada - many translations are from Thera - its a given name - they arent all related!)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/sati/wheel019.html
there appears to be no complete German translation of the 2nd and 3rd edlen wahrheit
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majjhima-Nikaya
Die einzige Übersetzung des Pali-Urtexts ins Deutsche stammt noch immer von Karl Eugen Neumann und entstand zwischen 1896 und 1902.
(Überarbeitete Übersetzung von K.E.N)
http://www.palikanon.com/buddhbib/08wegerlos/weg_erlos01.htm
wikipedia july 2012 for Buddha Buddhism Dukkha
google for Hinuism suffering karma illusion etc.
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=The_Four_Noble_Truths
http://www.cuke.com/excerpts-articles/Buddha-first-sutra.html
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In the PTS edition of the Canon, the Mahasatipatthana Sutta begins on the 289th page of the second volume of the PTS' three-volume Digha Nikaya (D), and is thus alternately represented as "D ii 289." PTS: D ii 290
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