Buddhism: The Eightfold Path

I participated in a discussion recently about this topic. It became obvious pretty soon that the topic was too broad to really cover in an hour. Many of the comments and mini-discussions referenced parts of more general Buddhist principles rather than the Eightfold Path directly. Even so, many of the insights and perspectives were stimulating and thought-provoking. The main points of the discussion centered around:

• Inheritance and re-packaging of many Buddhist or Eightfold principles into many other philosophical, theological and psychological frameworks including Christianity
• Tendency of organized religion toward complicating and splintering principles from the founders
• What did the notion of suffering mean in the original context of the time period when Buddhist concepts came of age? What, if anything, does it mean for us in today's global and/or American culture
• Do desires really cause suffering, or is it the way we view and manage our desires that are the problem?
• Relationship of Buddhism to Stoicism

Buddhism and Stoicism were created during very similar times in history in very different parts of the world: India and Greece. Originally, Buddhism was a non-theistic philosophy. Later on as it splintered and became adopted by the masses, it morphed into more theistic clothing. As with other religions, the splintering, adopting and changing created the usual monster of organized religion, which has a tendency to distort or pervert the meaning of the ideas of the early founders and disciples into a complex, confusing and stifling expression.

Do we really suffer in our modern affluent American society? Certainly there are many people who suffer economically, physically and emotionally. However, what most of us consider suffering is hardly worth mentioning in the same breath as real suffering. Most of our suffering is caused by inadequate thinking. We think ourselves into a problem too quickly. We do not take the higher consciousness perspective regarding situations in our lives. Our perspective is too limited and focused. We are in the trees, not the forest.

Is suffering, whatever the manifestation, really caused by desire? Desire is fundamentally a very healthy force in our lives. Of course, unexamined desires can always be a problem, but at its root, desire is an expression of an important internal disturbance that may be a connection with a deeper spiritual purpose. Expressing that desire in positive ways through creativity and action is critical for healthy mental states. The separation between our desires and current reality can cause suffering. In this case we either need to 1) change our desire, 2) change our reality or 3) break our desires up into mini-desires that can be accomplished at a steady pace.

Analyzing the cause of the "suffering" and the relationship of our desires to it is a fundamental life skill that we must develop in order to move toward self-actualization. Otherwise we waste hours, days, weeks, months, even years in dysfunctional thought patterns that limit our development. The first tenet of the Eightfold Path is "Right View". This references clarity of thought as the first step toward the "good life", which has been called varous things throughout history including self-actualization, following your bliss, the middle way and more by such luminaries as Abraham Maslow, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, Aristotle and Confucius.

Maynard Ferguson Tribute

I made a last minute decision Thursday (10/15/2009) to attend a UNT 1:00 Lab Band concert at McDavid Studio in Ft. Worth. The concert was a tribute to Maynard Ferguson, a legendary jazz trumpeter and band leader active for several decades from the 1950s on. I always enjoy live big band concerts and this one had a few other reinforcing motivators to spur my attendance.

First, I am a graduate of the UNT jazz studies program (MM 1983) with a concentration in Jazz Piano and Education. So, I always enjoy hearing any of the various excellent musical groups every year when the opportunity arises. Especially the 1:00 Lab Band. The variety of musical color, energy levels and melodic variety that comes from a highly skilled big band with top notch arrangements can be an exhilarating experience.

Second, an old college musical cohort is now Director of the 1:00, Lab Band, Steve Wiest. Steve and I knew each other back in USM (University of Southern Mississippi) days where we played together in such infamous groups as "The Essence of Jazz" and sometimes in USM's Lab Band. Steve went on to become an outstanding composer/arranger and trombonist for the Maynard Ferguson Band very soon after graduating from USM in the late 1970s. I usually run into him once or twice a year around the area at 1:00 concerts or other performances in which he participates.

Third, relatively recently, the Maynard Ferguson Library of Charts was donated to the UNT Jazz program. This is in addition to the donation of the Stan Kenton library a couple of decades ago. The group is currently cultivating music from the Maynard library that dates from the late 1950s to early 1960s. Another unexpected surprise for the evening was a guest saxophonist from the Ferguson band, also a friend/colleague of Steve's, who contributed lively solo performances throughout the evening.

The concert was very enjoyable, especially the second half where the group performed more contemporary arrangements than in the first half. The pianist was especially notable and there were several outstanding solos from members of the saxophone, trombone and trumpet sections as well. Steve broke out his trombone and played on one of the numbers with the guest saxophonist.

McDavid Studio is a good medium-sized venue for enjoying live music. It was spacious and accomodative for the volume and power of a modern Big Band. Even though I had almost an hour drive from Plano to Ft. Worth at the end of the workday, it was well worth the effort for 2 hours or more of delicious and inspirational music provided by various Maynard Ferguson Band composers and excellent UNT jazz musicians.

Knowing before Doing

When we are planning toward a goal, it is important to visualize the goal and create the steps it takes to get there. The smaller the granularity of the steps toward reaching a goal, the better. This allows us to get continuous positive feedback as we accomplish each step, no matter how small. It keeps us moving forward. A lot can be accomplished by having a goal broken down into daily increments so that we move forward at a steady pace. 365 steps toward a goal in a year will get us much farther than just vaguely lurching in the general direction of a myst on the horizon.

So, action is extremely important. But the mental component of achieving a goal is even more important. First, we do need to crisply and precisely define the objective. Then we should divide the acheivement of the goal into as many parts as possible, or into a daily repetitive practice that leads to the accomplishment. But, perhaps the most important part is that we know that the outcome will happen.

Knowing that an outcome will happen is an extreme form of belief. Not hoping, not beseeching, not wanting, not guessing, not doubting, but knowing. How do we know that it will happen? We believe and behave as if the result is already happened. We continue doing and feeling the result of the outcome through our daily steps or practices, but we know that it has happened. In fact, we are very thankful that is has occurred. This is our mental state. Any compromise less than that allows doubt and fear to sew the roots of failure.

This is not easy. It requires focused attention to the objective in the face of discouraging input along the way. We won't always feel like taking the next step. Some days we will be bored with repeating a particular practice. In these moments it is extremely important that we stop, take a breath and internalize the feeling that we have what we are shooting for already in hand. This will give us the faith, strength and motivation to do the minimally small step that is needed for that particular day.

Know, Do, Have. Repeat until done.

History of Unity

As I have mentioned before in this blog, I have been exploring New Thought quite a bit over the last several months in particular. Lately I have been focusing on the Unity part of that movement that also includes Religious Science (Science of Mind) and Divine Science. I was fortunate several evenings ago to hear a presentation of the history of the Unity movement in particular.

The roots of Unity extend most recently back into the New Thought movements of the 19th century. Unity was eventually created out of the life and writings of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. One strand of that line of thought comes from the background of Christian Science through Emma Curtis Hopkins and Mary Baker Eddy. Another strand comes from the American Transcendentalist philosophers including Emerson and Thoreau. A third strand comes out of a more Gnostic or "secret" strand of thought.

Unity itself is enclosed in the larger New Thought container. New Thought includes Unity as well as Religious Science and Divine Science. Religious Science (originally Science of Mind) was founded and inspired primarily by the writings of Ernest Holmes, who was a very active metaphysical writer and teacher in the early 20th century. The metaphysical underpinnings of New Thought go back to Hinduism through Plato, Neo-Platonism and many other steps up through the 19th century philosophies mentioned above.

All New Thought supports all paths to spirituality and accepts all religious orientations. I don't know much about Divine Science, but I can compare Religious Science to Unity to some degree. Where Religious Science appears to be more focused on the metaphysical, Unity includes that focus but also includes a relatively strong component of spiritual and physical healing, perhaps due to the influence of Christian Science. Unity also provides a clear articulation of Five Principles in order to give some abstract support to a common body of belief. These are not dogmatic commandments, but instead have much more breathing room for incorporation into a variety of lifestyles and situations.