Factors of the Eightfold Path

Questioner: It is important to cultivate wholesomeness, not only in our actions and speech but in our thinking as well. It is, however, impossible to think wholesome thoughts all the time because we have accumulated many defilements. When we think of the virtues of the Buddha there are at those moments wholesome thoughts, but we cannot continually think of wholesome things; we cannot help it that unwholesome thoughts arise many times during the day. How can we stop unwholesome thinking?

Nina: When we recollect the Buddha’s virtues and when we are grateful for the Dhamma he taught out of compassion for the world, it is a condition for wholesome thinking. We could visit the four holy places: the place of the Buddha’s birth, of his enlightenment, of his first sermon and of his final passing away. In visiting those holy places we give expression to our deep confidence in his teachings and our gratefulness for the Dhamma which even after 2500 years can still help us now, at this very moment. The holy places remind us not to be neglectful of mindfulness; they are conditions for many kusala cittas.

When there are kusala cittas there are at those moments no conditions for unwholesome thinking, but it is not eradicated. Only by the cultivation of the eightfold Path, which is the development of insight, will unwholesome thinking eventually be eradicated. In the development of vipassanā there can also be mindfulness of thinking which is unwholesome. We may not like to be mindful of unwholesome thinking, but it is a reality, it arises, and thus its characteristic can be investigated. The Four Applications of Mindfulness or satipaṭṭhāna include all realities. If we understand that there isn’t anything which cannot be object of mindfulness, we will gradually realize that all phenomena are only nāma and rūpa. Thus, when unwholesome thinking appears why can it not be known as only a type of nāma? When paññā knows the characteristic of this reality more clearly, there will be less inclination to take it for self. So long as we are not yet arahats unwholesomeness is bound to arise. It can only be completely eradicated when one has attained arahatship.

Question: I learned that “right thinking” or “sammā-saṇkappa” is one of the factors of the eightfold Path. Is sammā-saṇkappa thinking of nāma and rūpa?

Nina: Sammā-saṇkappa is the cetasika, mental factor, which is “vitakka” or “thinking”. Vitakka is usually translated into English as “applied thought”. The characteristic of vitakka is different from what we mean by the word “thinking” as we use it in conventional language. Vitakka performs a specific function when it accompanies the citta. The Visuddhimagga (IV, 88) states about vitakka:

…It has the characteristic of directing the mind onto an object (mounting the mind on its object). Its function is to strike and thresh…It is manifested as the leading of the mind onto an object.

Vitakka accompanies many cittas but not every citta. It arises together with the citta and falls away with the citta. When vitakka accompanies akusala citta it is also akusala, and when it accompanies kusala citta it is also kusala. When vitakka accompanies the citta with right understanding (sammā-diṭṭhi) and right mindfulness (sammā-sati) of the eightfold Path it is called sammā-saṇkappa, right thinking, of the eightfold Path. When there is right mindfulness of a nāma or rūpa which appears through one of the six doors, sammā-saṇkappa hits or “touches” the nāma or rūpa which is the object of mindfulness so that sammā-diṭṭhi can investigate that object in order to know it as it is. When right understanding has not been developed yet, we may doubt whether the reality which appears is nāma or rūpa. When there is seeing which is nāma there is also visible object which is rūpa, but only one reality at a time can be object of mindfulness. It is the function of sammā-saṇkappa to “touch” the reality appearing at the present moment so that right understanding can investigate its characteristic. Right understanding needs right thinking in order to investigate the characteristics of nāma and rūpa and to see realities as they are. Thus, sammā-saṇkappa is indispensable for the development of right understanding. If we understand the function of sammā-saṇkappa, it is clear that sammā-saṇkappa is not thinking about nāma or rūpa.

Question: Can sammā-saṇkappa destroy wrong thinking?

Nina: Sammā-saṇkappa arises together with the citta which is accompanied by right mindfulness and right understanding. It directs the citta in the right way towards the object of mindfulness and at that moment there cannot be wrong thinking. After the moment of mindfulness, however, wrong thinking or thinking which is akusala can arise again, but if one continues developing the eightfold Path it will eventually be destroyed.

Question: I heard someone say that in order to develop mindfulness one should stop thinking. Is this a right method?

Nina: How could we prevent ourselves from thinking? Throughout our life objects are presenting themselves through the senses and through the mind-door. Cittas which think of these objects are real. Why can there not be mindfulness of thinking? Otherwise we will not see that it is anattā, not self. The moment we try to control thinking it has fallen away, it already belongs to the past. When there is awareness of a characteristic of nāma or rūpa, there is at that moment no clinging to a concept of self who tries to stop thinking or to control sati in other ways. Awareness of whatever reality appears, that is the development of the eightfold Path.

Question: We have spoken already about sammā-diṭṭhi, sammā-saṇkappa and sammā-sati, but there are eight factors of the eightfold Path. Could you tell me which are the factors of the eightfold Path?

Nina: The eight factors are:

• Right understanding, sammā-diṭṭhi

• Right thinking, sammā-saṇkappa

• Right speech, sammā-vācā

• Right bodily action, sammā-kammanta

• Right livelihood, sammā-ājīva

• Right effort, sammā-vāyāma

• Right mindfulness, sammā-sati

• Right concentration, sammā-samādhi

Question: What are the functions of right speech, right bodily action and right livelihood?

Nina: They are three sobhana cetasikas, beautiful mental factors, which abstain from wrong speech, wrong bodily action and wrong livelihood. They are the factors which are sīla or morality. Right speech is abstaining from wrong speech, which is lying, slandering, rude speech and idle talk. Right action is abstaining from wrong bodily action, which is killing, stealing and sexual misbehaviour. Right livelihood is abstaining from wrong livelihood, which is wrong bodily action and wrong speech committed for the sake of earning a living.

Question: How can I abstain from wrong speech? I find that when I am with other people who speak in an unwholesome way I am inclined to do the same.

Nina: So long as we are not yet arahats we will still speak in an unwholesome way. But the Buddha’s teachings can be the condition for us to have less akusala in our life. When people speak in an unpleasant way about others or when they complain about disagreeable things which happen in life we may be inclined to follow their example. But through the study of the teachings and the development of satipaṭṭhāna we will realize more often when there are akusala cittas. Gradually we can learn to abstain from wrong speech. We may have compassion for those who speak in the wrong way, we may try to help them to have kusala cittas instead of akusala cittas.

Question: We may know this in theory, but I find the practice of the teachings very difficult. I have spoken the wrong words already before I realize it.

Nina: Through the development of right understanding habits and accumulations can gradually be changed. But there is no self who could change habits and accumulations. The right understanding of the Dhamma and the application of the Dhamma in one’s life are conditions for change. Then we can prove to ourselves that the Buddha’s teachings are the truth; and our confidence in the teachings will be deeper.

Question: Can you give an example of right action?

Nina: When we are inclined to kill an insect which is stinging us, but then, instead of having aversion, we abstain from killing, we are observing sīla. It is not self who abstains, but the cetasika which is right action performs its function.

Question: I know of someone who says that he cannot help killing. When an insect bites him it is his reflex to kill it. Is the development of right understanding a condition for abstaining from wrong action?

Nina: Right understanding of nāma and rūpa conditions us to realize more often the danger of akusala and the benefit of kusala. At the moment of mindfulness of a reality which appears through one of the six doors there is kusala citta. Kusala citta cannot be accompanied by dosa, it is accompanied by adosa. Adosa is non-aversion or loving-kindness. Right understanding can gradually be the condition that kindness and compassion arise more often. We will be more inclined to think of the happiness of other beings. Should we cause insects to have pain, should we destroy their lives?

Question: When one develops right understanding of the eightfold Path do the sobhana cetasikas of right action, right speech and right livelihood destroy wrong action, wrong speech and wrong livelihood?

Nina: The development of right understanding is a condition for more wholesomeness in our life, but akusala cannot be eradicated immediately. There are at times conditions for abstaining from unwholesome actions and unwholesome speech, but, when enlightenment has not been attained sīla is not enduring. When we are in difficult situations we may kill and we may lie. The sotāpanna, the person who has attained the first stage of enlightenment has no more conditions for committing akusala kamma which can cause an unhappy rebirth. He has no more conditions to transgress the five precepts. However, he has not eradicated all kinds of unwholesomeness. He has eradicated wrong bodily action, and as regards wrong speech, he has eradicated lying, but he has not eradicated the other kinds of wrong speech. He has eradicated wrong livelihood, he cannot commit wrong action or wrong speech for the sake of earning a living. Thus we see that the development of right understanding will bear directly on our action and speech in daily life.

When the citta is not lokuttara citta, supramundane citta which experiences nibbāna, the three factors of right speech, right action and right livelihood arise one at a time, depending on the given situation. When we abstain from wrong action, we do not abstain at the same time from wrong speech. At the attainment of enlightenment, however, all three factors arise together while they accompany the lokuttara citta which experiences nibbāna. They perform at that moment their functions as Path factors which is the eradication of the causes of misconduct as to speech, action and livelihood. Latent tendencies to defilements are eradicated so that they do not arise anymore. Defilements are progressively eradicated at the different stages of enlightenment and it is only at the final stage, the stage of the arahat, that all kinds of akusala are completely eradicated.

Question: Can there be awareness of nāma and rūpa while we abstain from unwholesomeness?

Nina: There can be the development of right understanding in any situation, no matter whether we have akusala cittas or whether we abstain from akusala. We gradually learn that there is no self who has kusala citta or akusala citta, but that these types of citta arise because of their own conditions. Through the development of right understanding sīla will become purer because one will realize that it is not self who observes sīla.

Question: So long as one has not become a sotāpanna the observing of the five precepts which include abstaining from wrong bodily action and from lying cannot be enduring. There will be situations that one will transgress them. As regards wrong livelihood, for some people it is very difficult to abstain from it. I heard of someone who has no choice but to kill chickens in order to earn a living for his family. Every day he has to kill, but he says that he performs dāna, generosity, in order to compensate for his killing. Can he compensate in that way?

Nina: We cannot compensate for bad actions by good actions, because every deed brings about its appropriate result. The killing, which is akusala kamma, may cause an unhappy rebirth, even if we perform good deeds as well.

Question: But this person cannot earn a living in any other way. He used to have another kind of business but he could not earn enough money to take care of his family. Some people have no choice; they have to do wrong actions for their livelihood.

Nina: Nothing in life happens without conditions. One’s accumulated defilements cause one to have a profession by which one is involved in killing animals or trading in arms or alcoholic drinks. These professions are wrong livelihood; they are conditions for akusala kamma. It is sati which could, one day, make a person change his profession which is wrong livelihood. People may think that it is impossible to change their profession, but if there is the development of right understanding of realities there will be conditions for earning one’s living without having to perform akusala kamma. As we have seen, the sotāpanna has completely eradicated the tendency to wrong livelihood.

Question: What about people who are not trading in the things you just mentioned, but who are what we call “in business”? I would think that if one is to make a profit one cannot always be telling the truth. Should business-men change their profession in order to be pure in their livelihood? I know someone who was formerly in business but changed his profession. He now works for a newspaper because he sees this profession as an opportunity to serve other people better.

Nina: We cannot say that someone should or should not do particular things, because whatever we do in life is dependent on conditions. There is no self who makes a choice, there are cittas arising because of their own conditions. People who are in business may perform akusala kamma, as for instance, when they are dishonest and harm other people in the way they make their profit. But they can have kusala cittas too. They may abstain from telling lies even though they know that this will cause them to have less profit. Thus, at different moments there are different conditions for akusala cittas and for kusala cittas which arise.

Question: What about a professional soldier? Can he ever have right livelihood?

Nina: He can have akusala cittas and kusala cittas at different moments. When he kills others he performs akusala kamma, but he may also perform wholesome deeds.

In the Sutta of the Highest Blessings (Mahā-Maṅgala Sutta, Sutta-Nipāta, Khuddaka Nikāya) we read among others about the following blessing: “Supporting mother and father, cherishing wife and children, and peaceful occupations this is the highest blessing.”

Soldiers, however, can and should cultivate kusala kamma too. We read in the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Eights, Ch II, par 2, Sīha, the general)) that Sīha the general visited the Buddha and gained confidence in him. We read:

Then the Exalted One preached a graduated discourse to Sīha, the general, that is to say: on alms-giving, the precepts and on heaven. He set forth the peril, the folly and the depravity of lusts and the blessedness of renunciation.

And when the Exalted One knew that the heart of Sīha, the general, was clear, malleable, free from hindrance, uplifted and lucid, then he revealed that teaching of Dhamma which Buddhas alone have won, that is to say: Dukkha, its coming-to-be, its ending and the Way. Just as a clean cloth, free of all stain, will take dye perfectly; even so in Sīha, the general, seated there, there arose the spotless, stainless vision of Dhamma: that whatsoever be conditioned by coming-to-be all that is subject to ending...

The commentary to this sutta, the “Manorathapāraṇi”, explains that Sīha became a sotāpanna.

Question: I think that those whose profession is government service have more conditions for pure livelihood. They do not have to think about making a profit for themselves.

Nina: They may have many akusala cittas; they may have conceit, or they may think of their own success. It all depends on the individual. When we have chosen a profession, it shows that we have accumulations for that profession. That profession is part of our daily life. During our work we can develop mindfulness and right understanding of nāma and rūpa. When we have more understanding of the Dhamma we can help other people to understand it as well, and thus we serve society in the best way, we contribute to peace in the world.

Question: But can someone who has to think of money all day be aware of nāma and rūpa?

Nina: Do you handle money during the day?

Question: Yes, it is part of our normal way of life.

Nina: Should you not be aware of realities when looking at money? Do you think that there is anything which is not included in satipaṭṭhāna?

Question: When I look at money visible object appears through the eyes. When I touch it hardness or softness may appear through the bodysense. But if I were aware only of those realities and did not know the value of the banknote I would be poor very soon. Even though I believe that awareness is very useful, yet I consider it to be a different section of life. I lead two kinds of lives: my life of awareness which I lead mostly at home, when I am alone, and my business life in which I have to be practical.

Nina: Do you think that the Buddha said that there are times one should not be mindful? He exhorted people to be aware, no matter what they were doing.

Question: But awareness is not always practical. For instance, when I am opening the safe in my office I have to remember the numbers of the combination-lock. If I were aware only of hardness, motion or visible object, I could not open the safe. I thought that only absolute realities, nāmas and rūpas which appear one at a time through the six doors are objects of mindfulness. I thought that there cannot be mindfulness while one is thinking of concepts.

Nina: Why can there not be awareness when you know the value of a banknote or when you remember the numbers of the combination-lock on the safe? At such moments there is thinking of concepts, but is thinking not a reality? Are there moments that there are not nāma and rūpa? I agree that you have to be practical, but does that mean that there cannot be awareness at the same time?

The Buddha’s teachings are very practical. The Buddha gave many practical guidelines for laypeople so that they could lead a life of goodwill and benevolence in their social relations. He advised them on the means for both their material welfare and their spiritual welfare. We read in the Gradual Sayings (Book of the Eights, Ch VI, par 4, Longknee, the Koliyan) that, while the Buddha was staying among the Koliyans, at Kakkarapatta, Longknee (also named “Tigerfoot”) visited the Buddha. He asked the Buddha whether he would teach Dhamma to people like him, who are householders indulging in sense pleasures. He would like the Buddha to teach him what would lead to happiness here on earth and to happiness in the world to come. The Buddha said that four conditions would lead to advantage and happiness here on earth, namely, alertness, achievement in watchfulness, good company and the “even life”. As to alertness, he should be deft and tireless in his work, he should have an enquiring turn of mind into ways and means, and be able to carry out his job. As to “accomplishment of watchfulness”(47), we read:

What is the accomplishment of watchfulness? Herein, Tigerfoot (Vyagghapajja), whatsoever wealth a householder is in possession of, obtained by dint of effort, collected by strength of arm, by the sweat of his brow, justly acquired by right means -such he looks after well by guarding and watching so that kings would not seize it, thieves would not steal it, fire would not burn it, water would not carry it away, nor ill-disposed heirs would remove it. This is the accomplishment of watchfulness...

As to good company, the Buddha said that he should consort with those who are full of faith, virtue, charity and wisdom, and try to be likewise. As to the “even life”, we read:

…Herein a clansman while experiencing both gain and loss in wealth, continues his business serenely, not unduly elated or depressed. He thinks: “Thus my income, after deducting loss, will stand (at so much) and my outgoings will not exceed my income”...

We read that there are four channels for the flowing away of amassed wealth: “looseness with women, debauchery in drinking, knavery in dice-play and friendship, companionship and intimacy with evil doers.” The Buddha explained that there are four conditions for happiness in the world to come: achievement in faith, namely, confidence in the Buddha, achievement in virtue, that is, abstaining from ill deeds, achievement in generosity and achievement in wisdom.

The Buddha would not teach anything which is not practical and beneficial. There should be awareness not only of realities which appear through the five sense-doors, but also of realities which appear through the mind-door. When we are thinking of concepts, there can be awareness of thinking. Can you help knowing the value of a banknote? Is knowing this a reality?

Question: Yes, it is a reality.

Nina: Anything which is real can be object of mindfulness. Some people think that there should be awareness only of some particular kinds of nāma and rūpa, such as seeing and visible object. They think that knowing what something is, as for instance, knowing the value of a banknote or knowing whether the traffic light is green or red, is not included in satipaṭṭhāna. Don’t you think that unnatural? I have heard of someone who, while he is developing insight, believes that he cannot recognize his friends or his parents. If one cannot recognize anything while one is “mindful” it means that one could not be aware during one’s daily activities. It means that if one were to drive a car and be “mindful” at the same time, one would not know when the traffic light is green and when it is red. That is not the right path. Recognising something is a reality as well, it is a type of nāma which recognizes something, it is not self who recognizes. The development of the eightfold Path is the development of right understanding of all realities of our daily life.

Question: I still do not see how one can lead one’s daily life while one develops vipassanā. I have heard that it is forbidden to take alcoholic drinks while one develops vipassanā.

Nina: No one can force another person to abstain from drinking, nor can one force oneself, since it is not self who indulges in drinking or abstains from it, but nāma, arising because of conditions. It is not self but sati which keeps someone from drinking. When sati has been accumulated more it is a condition for gradually becoming less attached to drinking. However, only the ariyan can observe the five precepts perfectly. Since at the attainment of enlightenment all tendencies to wrong bodily action and to the wrong speech which is lying were eradicated, it has become his nature to observe the five precepts. People who are not ariyans may transgress them. For example, when there are conditions it could happen that we kill in order to protect our lives. However, if one learns to develop satipaṭṭhāna, it will gradually lead to changing one’s way of life and to refraining from akusala kamma.

Question: Thus, mindfulness can bring about what I would consider a miracle, a transformation in character, is that right?

Nina: People would like to change their characters but they do not know how to do it. Would you like to see a change in your character for the better? Is there a way? Everything occurs because of conditions. The condition for a change in one’s life is vipassanā, the right understanding of realities. However, a sudden transformation of character cannot be expected. People can see for themselves that while they develop the eightfold Path they come to know more and more their defilements, also the subtle ones. When there is less ignorance of the realities of one’s life it means that there is already a gradual change in one’s character, even though enlightenment has not been attained.