The Middle Path
Following the middle path,
we have clear view, wholesome intention,
helpful speech, compassionate conduct,
sustainable livelihood, healthy self-discipline,
continual mindfulness,
and boundless meditation.This is the ancient way, the old road.
The Eightfold Path is one path, like an eight-sided crystal.
If we walk, maybe our legs are stretched out, our lower balance is shifting, arms counterbalancing, spine upright, eyes open, ears alert, breath a little fast. Whatever is happening, it’s all one thing intra-happening.
Folks who best sense the path are likely to best follow it. So we read the logbooks. Sometimes their clear trail is blocked by treefall. Sometimes their downed bridge has been rebuilt. Things change. The basics tend to change slowly. (Be careful when they don’t!)
Every facet shows the whole jewel. When the fog lifts, we can see where we aren’t in every direction. When we understand that the Buddha’s true body is our own true body — as weird as that sounds — then we begin to recognize the blazes on the trees.
Maybe we find that we’re walking because of the hill and the bridge and hunger and debt and love and habit and the weather and so on and so forth.
When it all makes sense as one path, there it is. We’re on it!
So what is it that perceives, that intends, that speaks, acts, survives, chooses, knows, and is?
It’s the same stuff that’s doing everything else. There’s no other thing for it to be.
Image: Creative Commons license via Pixabay