The eight great ways to enlightenment
One day, while Annurudha was meditating in a village, he deliberated:" The Way is not to be obtained through craving but contentment. Nor is it to be found in noisy but quiet places. It requires diligence, right mindfulness, knowledge and wisdom to attain the Way."
Although the Buddha was somewhere else at the time, he knew what Annurudha was thinking, and especially came to the village to extol his right-minded thinking. Hoping that the Buddha would endorse what he had been deliberating on, he asked the Buddha:" Buddha! I know that in a Sangha that practises the Six Rules of Harmony and Respect, the bikshus can become more selfless. However, there are many lay devotees and still other renounced ones who need to be in touch with society in order to propagate Dharma. Buddha! Kindly tell me how these people should practise to find enlightenment and enter into Nirvana."The Buddha was happy to elucidate on this, and said:" Annurudha! You have asked well. Your concern is one that pertains to the learning of the Bodhisattva way. I will now discourse for you on the Eight Great Ways To Enlightenment. All of you should be mindful of this night and day:
- On life and the worldly, you should practise the contemplation of impermanence, afflictions, emptiness, selflessness and the defiled to reach enlightenment and be delivered.
- You must realise that the source of suffering originates from craving and attachment, which are obstacles to liberation and nirvana.
- You should reflect on your insatiable greed which is driving you to sins. Only in being contented and making the quest for wisdom your main goal can a stable and peaceful living be entailed.
- You should beware not to slacken in the practice of good. Actions that are beneficial to others should be carried out with conviction. Subduing defilements and Mara will prevent the fall into the three unwholesome paths.
- You should realise the danger of ignorance and delusion. Be conscientious in your studies, and thereafter dedicate yourselves to helping others to attain happiness.
- You should know that the poverty stricken usually have most resentment. The Bodhisattva way is to give them financial aid and moral support to relieve them from their bitterness.
- Do not succumb to the five sensual desires. For both the lay and the renounced, live the pure and transcendental way.
- Do not be only self-liberating. Resolve to deliver all sentient beings, and put the liberation of others before your own."
Annurudha's question had brought about this discourse of the Buddha on the eight ways to Bodhisattvahood. Many who listened changed their way of living and attained peaceful and happy lives.
