Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Preface

Introduction to the Eightfold Path

• Wisdom Teachings •

1 - RIGHT UNDERSTANDING

TEACHINGS

The Four Noble Truths

Impermanence, Emptiness, and Nonself

Karma

IN PRACTICE

Dukkha: Pain Is Inevitable, but Suffering Is Optional

Impermanence: Aging, Illness, and Death

Karma: Living Between Generations

2 - RIGHT THOUGHT

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE

Renunciation or Sacrifice?

Thoughts Are Not Facts

Feelings Are Not Facts Either

• Morality Teachings •

3 - RIGHT SPEECH

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE

Dishonesty Is the Worst Policy

Slander: Building Ourselves Up by Putting Others Down

Gossip: The Less Said, the Better

Harsh Language: Whom Does It Hurt?

Listening as Right Speech

Silence May Be Golden— or Silence May Be Yellow

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Walking the Walk by Talking the Talk

4 - RIGHT ACTION

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE

To Refrain from Killing or Harming Living Beings

To Refrain from Taking What Is Not Given Freely

To Refrain from Sexual Misconduct

To Refrain from Misusing Intoxicants That Dull Mindfulness

5 - RIGHT LIVELIHOOD

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE Work: “I Am What I Do” vs. “I Do What I Do”

Work: “What Do I Do?”

Wealth: “I Am Not What I Have Either”

“Spending” Time

Giving Time

• Mental Discipline Teachings •

6 - RIGHT EFFORT

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE

Restraint and Abandoning of the Unwholesome

Development and Preservation of the Wholesome

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

7 - RIGHT MINDFULNESS

TEACHINGS

Contemplation of the Body

Contemplation of Feelings

Contemplation of Mind

Contemplation of Mind-Objects

IN PRACTICE

Contemplation of the Body

Contemplation of Feelings

Contemplation of Mind

Contemplation of Mind-Objects

8 - RIGHT CONCENTRATION

TEACHINGS

IN PRACTICE

Insight Meditation Techniques

Zen Buddhist Meditation Techniques

Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Techniques

Meditation on the Brahma-viharas

Hindrances to Meditation

THE WHOLE PICTURE

Glossary of Selected Terms in Buddhism

Works Cited and Suggested Readings

INSIGHT MEDITATION/ VIPASSANA PRACTICE AND TEACHINGS

TIBETAN BUDDHISM TEACHINGS AND PRACTICE

ZEN BUDDHISM TEACHINGS AND PRACTICE

About the Author

ALSO BY JEAN SMITH

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