Skip to main content

The Fourth Truth that Transforms Us

So now we move from theory to practice. In order to achieve peace of mind we have to manage and control our automatic mind. That's the medium through which our wants and desires emerge.

This fourth truth was originally made up of eight areas of our life that we have to develop and improve. It states that, if we develop these eight areas we will become the master of our wants and desires, start to see ourselves as part of the wider forms of life around us, and through these two developments, become happy and content instead of dissatisfied.

The eight areas are arranged around three wider themes: Life philosophy, Management of the Mind, Work, and Self-Discipline.

Philosophy

The first area we have to develop is how we see life. The right way to see life is what was explained in the first three truths, namely that we are programmed to be dissatisfied, that the dissatisfaction emerges from our constant wants not being met and our narrow view of our self, but that we can overcome these issues in life. This is called Right Understanding of Life.

Management of the Mind

We have to change everything we think or feel into positive, constructive, and helpful. This is Right Thinking

As part of this we have to ensure that what we say or write is also positive, constructive, and helpful to others, including ourselves. This is Right Communication.

Similarly, we have to make all of our activities and decisions positive, constructive, and helpful to others, including ourselves. This is Right Action.

Work

We should review our working life and career with a view to assessing whether it too is positive, constructive, and helpful to others, including ourselves. If it is not, we should either try to change it for the better, or leave for another job which is more in line with these ideals. This is Right Livelihood.

Discipline to Accomplish the Tasks

We need to apply effort every day to manage our mind and deepen our true understanding about ourselves and life. This is Right Effort.

In order to do this we need to develop our ability to notice our mind at all times, so that we can intervene when the mind becomes unhelpful and negative. This is Right Mindfulness.

Finally we need to be able to keep our mind on the positive, constructive, and helpful thoughts, communications, and actions we aim to do. This requires developing the ability to sustain attention, and is called Right Concentration.

Summary

So in order to transform our lives we need to understand what we are really like, believe that we can change for the better, implement self-disciplines to help us embed our new philosophy, manage our mind, align our working life with our new way of seeing and doing life, and commit the self-discipline that is required to achieve true happiness and peace of mind.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons from The Book of Chuang Tzu - Part 5

The wise person does not hold onto life, nor do they fear death. They arrive without expectation and leave without resistance. They came calmly, went calmly, and that was that. They are not interested in what becomes of them. Their kindness enriches generations yet they have no great love for people. They do what they want. They are not judgemental. Cheerfully smiling, they are content. When calm, they appear to be one with the world. Their inner nature seems unknowable. They get on well with society. They follow the natural course of events. Death and birth are fixed. They are beyond the control of humanity. This is just how things are. People praise and criticise leaders and thinkers but it would be so much better if they just follow the Tao. To have a human form is a joyful thing but in a universe full of possible forms there are others just as good. The sage rests contented with all things. They take pleasure in early death, old age, in the origin and in the end, and sees them all ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lessons from The Book of Chuang Tzu - Part 3

This temporary thing called human life is a gift. Accept what is given by the flow of the universe, including loss and death. Don't react against it. Death is as much part of life as life itself. Sickness is as much part of life and being well. If you accept and go with the flow of the universe then sorrow will not touch you. Don't get involved with the junk of this world, or the transient issues that seem so pressing in the moment. Try to stay on the true, simple, narrow path. With many paths comes confusion. Struggling for fame people destroy each other. They also destroy themselves. Have nothing to do with it. Knowledge is used for argument. Have nothing to do with using it for selfish or evil ends. Keep your advice for yourself and for those who want to learn. The powerful already assume they are right and won't listen to you. The wisest cannot manage these people. Don't try. Shun them. The Way is found in emptiness, in simplicity, in the mundane. Learn to bear what...
Post a Comment
Read more

On The Bible Part 1

Introduction So the chances are high that this won't last; a commentary of The Bible as I read it page by page. My ideas usually fizzle out pretty damn quickly, but I'm hoping The bible is sufficiently important to sustain my attention and stimulate my intellect and emotiojnal intelligence and mindfulness to keep me commenting on it until I've done the whole lot... and educated myself enormously in the process. Why do such a thing? Well, it is probably the most important book in human history as it has been the most influential, at least until thesecond half of the twentieth century. Even now, if you consider the influence of evangelical Christians in the USA, and the State of Israel, you can still see how strong an influence The Bible has in today's world. Yet most people, myself included, have probably only heard children's versions of some of the Bible stories, or those carefully chosen extracts read in church or school in our childhood. The vast majority of The ...
Post a Comment
Read more