eight virtues

~

~

~

~

to each the term sama is applied

(like right

upright

like one who stands

who holds himself erect as opposed to those who are driven

like in primordial symbolism I belongs to virility and fire

as opposed to the horizontal plane

corresponds to feminine elements or waters)

are the duties to oneself that the reawakened interior sensibility brings to light

rightness as internal mode

a capacity for standing fast at all times without deviating or wavering

by eliminating every trace of tortuousness

the virtues

once put into practice

they encourage

strengthen and establish a state of calm

of transparency of mind and of spirit

of balance and of justice

by which every other discipline or technique is made easier

.

.

.

Y

.

.

.

right vision

=

the four truths

~

dukka

- state of pain

agitation

restlessness

commotion

~

tanha

- deal with samudaya

(origin)

craving

thirst

nourishes and maintains this experience of ours

which manifests itself as dukka

all is in flames

burning with the fire of desire

aversion

delusion

~

nirodha

- the possibility of destruction

of the state generated through the twelve nidana

and marked by dukka

~

magga

- the methods to be followed to achieve the destruction of dukka

and leads up to the achievement of awakening

and illumination

.

III

.

right intention

=

sammasankappo

determination of one who opposes the flux

who proceeds on the upward path

.

III

.

right speech

=

inflexible sincerity

.

III

.

right conduct

=

not taking what is not given

not killing intentionally

abstinence from lust

.

III

.

right life

=

blameless means

sober

and avoids pampering

extravagance

and luxury

.

III

.

right effort

=

four just endeavors

summon the will

arm the spirit

bravely struggle

fight

do battle

to prevent bad

not good things

yet unarisen from arising

to repel them if they have arisen

to encourage the arising of good things as yet unarisen

to make them endure

increase

unfold

develop

and become perfect

when they have arisen

.

III

.

right meditation

=

samasati

- perpetual clear consciousness

continual practice of mindfulness of oneself

(bojianga)

and of self-awareness

(satipattana)

.

III

.

right contemplation

=

samadhi

the four jhana

to the limit of conditioned consciousness

.

.

.

Y

.

.

.

a painful feeling that arises

binds the mind through the impotence of the mind

here one must act directly on the mind

a pleasant feeling that arises in the body

binds the mind through the impotence of the body

here one must intervene and bar the way leading from the body

not in the sense of excluding the pleasant feeling

but of preventing it from binding one

and carrying one away

strengthens interior balance

and this way one begins to gain power

over both the body and the mind

.

.

.

Y

.

.

.

when confidence is tied to vision and vision to confidence

when the will is joined to concentration and concentration to the will

the balance of the forces can be considered as achieved

self-awareness

(sati)

is however essential always

it must always be energetically cultivated

the discipline called satipattanha aims at this in particular

.

.

.

Y

.

.

.

the doctrine of the mantras (1)

&

asanas and mudras (2)

=

part of the spirit of the early Vedic age (3)

remaining alive in the tantras

~

(1) - magical and symbolic worldview

- the supernatural form-giving forces

(2) - postures & gestures with magical

and initiatory overtones

(3) - in that age humans did not

live as ascetics

struggling with the world

and with samsara

but rather as free uninhibited forces

in the company of various gods

& spiritual powers

experiencing forms of enlightment

and supernatural energies

rapt in a state of cosmic

and triumphant bliss

their world had another dimension

they understood the supersensual as a fundamental part of reality

and moreover felt it as a "presence"

.

.

.

Y

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.

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.

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