The body and mind are not separate, thus our thoughts and perception physically affect our bodies and brain. Western approaches are being blended with knowledge from eastern approaches to increase our understanding of how health is impacted through consciousness, providing a scientific, yet esoteric approach to understanding what makes us tick.  Spiritual traditions have advocated roadmaps for living such as the

Four Noble Truths:

• Life is suffering;
• Suffering is due to attachment;
• Attachment can be overcome; and,
• There is a path for accomplishing this. This path is called The Eightfold Path.

If we can accept these four truths about life as a human being, we are provided with a roadmap that can lead us to a more peaceful and serene way of being in the world. These truths remind us to follow the Eightfold Path that describes the “how” of this form of guidance. We may not like that ‘Life is suffering” but if we can acknowledge this truth, we can let go of the thought that it is only happening to us.

The second Noble Truth tells us that this suffering and pain is due to our own making. We are attached to things, outcomes, people, behaviors and how things ought to be. We formulate our own plans for how we can change what we are not happy with but our method may be the cause of our suffering. When we can guide our thinking and behaviors based upon the tenets of the Eightfold Path, we learn new ways to live in the world that can ease our suffering.

The Eightfold Path consists of:

• Right View – Understanding the wisdom of the Four Noble Truths and seeing ourselves and the world without greed, delusion, hatred, etc.
• Right Intention – What are our intentions with others and ourselves?
• Right Action – Do our actions bring suffering or harm to ourselves or others?
• Right Speech – Being mindful that what we say matches Right Intention. Our words should not harm.
• Right Livelihood – What we do in the world for our livelihood does not cause suffering or bring harm to others.
• Right Effort – Our efforts have the motivation of lessening suffering.
• Right Mindfulness – To be present in all that we do, being in the moment and open to seeing things in new ways.
• Right Concentration – Quieting the mind through focused concentration, such as meditation. Training “to empty our natures of attachments, avoidances, and ignorance, so that we may accept the imperfection, impermanence, and insubstantiality of life” (Boeree, n.d.).

The first two segments of the Eightfold Path refer to wisdom or prajña, seeing the world as it is without attachment or clinging to desires or materialism.

The next three segments guide us regarding our words and efforts in the world and relate to moral precepts called silas. These help us align our acts and intentions, guiding us towards choices that lead to a happier life.

The last three segments relate to meditation or Samadhi. With this ancient knowledge we are able to form lives that serve us on many levels and provides a practice that helps us to develop a more calm awareness and keeps us aimed toward our own “true north.”

Jack Kornfield states that right intention is intention which it engages the world wisely in three ways.

1. We cultivate a mind free from unhealthy desire by developing a sense of inner contentment.

2. We free ourselves from the will and resentment by cultivating thoughts of compassion and gentleness.

3. We develop a mind that is free from cruelty by nursing the forces of kindness and love within us. With right intention, we can engage all of life and the different situations we face as stepping stones for awakening.

Namaste my friends…