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　　All of the Buddha”s teachings and their practice can be summed up in a mere eight factors —

　　I. Right View: seeing in line with the truth.

　　II. Right Resolve: thinking in ways that will lead to well-being.

　　III. Right Speech: speaking in line with the truth.

　　IV. Right Action: being correct and upright in one”s activities.

　　V. Right Livelihood: maintaining oneself in ways that are honest and proper.

　　VI. Right Effort: exerting oneself in line with all that is good.

　　VII. Right Mindfulness: always being mindful of the person or topic that forms one”s point of reference.

　　VIII. Right Concentration: keeping the mind correctly centered in line with the principles of the truth, not letting it fall into the ways of Wrong Concentration.

　　Discussion:

　　I. Right View: "Seeing in line with the truth" means seeing the four Noble Truths —

　　A. Dukkha: physical and mental stress and discomfort.

　　B. Samudaya: the origin of physical and mental stress, i.e., ignorance and such forms of craving as sensual desire. Right View sees that these are the causes of all stress.

　　C. Nirodha: the ending and disbanding of the causes of stress, causing stress to disband as well, leaving only the unequaled ease of nibbana.

　　D. Magga: the practices that form a path leading to the end of the causes of stress, i.e., ignorance (avijja) — false knowledge, partial and superficial; and craving (tanha) — struggling that goes out of proportion to the way things are. Both of these factors can be abandoned through the power of the Path, the practices we need to bring to maturity within ourselves through circumspect discernment. Discernment can be either mundane or transcendent, but only through the development of concentration can transcendent discernment or insight arise, seeing profoundly into the underlying truth of all things in the world.

　　In short, there are two sides to Right View:

　　— knowing that shoddy thoughts, words, and deeds lead to stress and suffering for ourselves and others;

　　— and that good knowing, properly giving rise to good in our thoughts, words, and deeds, leads to ease of body and mind for ourselves and others. In other words, Right View sees that shoddiness is something that good people don”t like, and that shoddy people don”t like it either. This is what is meant by seeing in line with the truth. For this reason, people of discernment should always act in ways that are good and true if they are to qualify as having Right View.

　　II. Right Resolve: There are three ways of thinking that will lead to well-being —

　　A. Nekkhamma-sankappa: resolving to shed the pleasures of the senses — which lie at the essence of the mental Hindrances — from the heart and mind.

　　B. Abyapada-sankappa: resolving to weaken, dismantle, and destroy any evil in our thoughts; in other words, trying to shed from the heart and mind any thoughts of ill will we may have toward people who displease us.

　　C. Avihinsa-sankappa: resolving not to think in ways that aim at punishing or doing violence to others, or in ways that would lead to harm for other people or living beings. No matter how good or evil other people may be, we don”t give rein to thoughts of envy, jealousy or competitiveness. We can shed these things from the heart because they are harmful to us — and when we can do ourselves harm, there is nothing to keep us from harming others.

　　In short, there are two sides to Right Resolve:

　　— the intention at all times to abandon any shoddy or distressing traits that defile the mind and cause it to suffer; the intention to remove ourselves from this suffering, because traits of this sort are a form of self-punishment in which we do ourselves harm;

　　— the intention to develop within ourse…

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