Buddha’s solution is the eightfold path to liberation from miserable states of being, The first point is called right view -- the right way to view the world. The right view is to see things simply, as they are. It is an open-minded and accommodating attitude.
The second step in the path is right intention. It proceeds from right view. If we are able to abandon our expectations, our hopes and fears, we no longer need to be manipulative. We don't have to try to con situations into our preconceived notions of how they should be. We work with what is. Our intentions are pure.
The third step is right speech. Once our intentions are pure, we no longer have to be embarrassed about our speech. Since we aren't trying to manipulate people, we don't have to be hesitant about what we say. We say what needs to be said in a simple, genuine way.
The fourth step on the eightfold path, right discipline, involves renunciation. We need to give up our tendency to complicate issues and practice simplicity. We give up all the unnecessary and frivolous complications of our usual lives.
Right livelihood is the fifth step. It is only natural and right that we should earn our living. Most of us grudge work and count the hours to get home and enjoy the evening. The Buddha teaches that we should be glad of our job, whatever it is. We should form a simple relationship with it. We need to perform it properly, with attention to detail.
The sixth step of the path is right effort. Unless it is in the right direction, effort becomes painful struggle. Right effort doesn't involve struggle at all. When we see things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind of aggression.
Right mindfulness, the seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are mindful of the tiniest details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way we perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and family, every detail.
Right concentration, or absorption is the eighth step of the path. Usually we are absorbed in absentmindedness. Our minds are usually distracted and cluttered. Right concentration means that we are completely absorbed in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some sort of discipline, such as sitting meditation. This is why the Buddha spent most of his life in meditation.
The goal of this eightfold path is nirvana. It has become a corrupted but popular concept through rock bands and pop philosophy! Actually, nirvana means cessation. It is the end of passion, aggression and ignorance; the cessation of the struggle to prove our existence to the world, to survive. It is the goal of Buddhism.
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