MORALITY

　　Last week we completed our survey of the Four Noble Truths and in so doing the last topic that we dealt with was the Noble Eightfold Path to the end of suffering. We used the analogy of mountain climbing when we talked about treading the Eightfold Path to the end of suffering. We have said that just as when one climbs a mountain the first step depends on the last, the last depends on the first because we have to have our eyes firmly fixed on the summit of the mountain and yet we also have to be careful not to stumble while taking the first few steps up to the mountain path. So here in climbing a mountain, each portion of the path depends on the other portions. In this sense, regarding the Noble Eightfold Path, all the steps of the path are interrelated, are dependent on one another. We cannot do away with any one step. Nonetheless, for practical purposes the eight steps of the path have been pided into three ways of practice, or three pisions of training. These three pisions are good conduct or morality (Shila), mental development or meditation (Samadhi) and finally wisdom or insight (Prajna). Although conceptually and structurally, the first step depends upon the last and the last depends upon the first; although they are dependent on one another, still in practical terms when one climbs a mountain one has to climb the lowest slope first. One may be attracted to the summit, but in order to get there one has to cover the lower slope first. It is for this very practical reason that we find the eight steps of the Eightfold Path grouped into these three ways of practice.

　　The first of these three ways is good conduct. Good conduct forms a foundation for further progress on the path, for further personal development. It is said that just as the earth is the base of all animate and inanimate things, so is morality the foundation of all qualities. When we look around us we can see that everything rests upon the earth, whether it be the building, whether it be the tree and bush, or whether it be the animal. The earth is the foundation, and in the same manner morality is the foundation of all qualities, all virtues, all attainments ranging from the mundane to the supra-mundane, ranging from success, good fortune all the way up to skill in meditation, wisdom and enlightenment. Through this metaphor, we can under-stand the importance of good conduct as a foundation for following the path, as a basis for achieving results on the path.

　　Why do we take time to stress the importance of good conduct as a foundation for progress on the path

　　 The reason is that there is a tendency to think of good conduct as rather boring, rather dull. Meditation sounds more exciting and interesting. Philosophy has a kind of fascination about it. There is a dangerous tendency to neglect the importance of good conduct and to go to the more exciting parts of the path. But if we do not create this foundation of good conduct, we will not succeed in treading the other parts of the path.

　　We have to understand the way in which the precepts or the rules of good conduct are established within Buddhism because there are various ways in which moral or ethical codes are established. If you look at the moral codes of the major religions, you will find that there is a surprising correspondence. If you look at the moral teachings of Confucius, of Lao Tzu, of the Buddha, of Hindu teachers, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, you will find that regarding the basic rules of morality, there is a large degree of correspondence. But while the rules in many cases correspond, the attitude, the ways in which the rules are presented, understood and interpreted differ considerably from religion to religion. Essentially, to generalize, there are two ways in which moral codes can be e…

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