Perennial Lives | Stoics, Saints, and Sages
The Perennial Lives series explores the life and philosophy of 12 figures (one per week), from Socrates (470—399 BC) to St. Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274). To assist us in our journey, we’ll turn to resources like Lives of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius, along with more recent works like Examined Lives by James Miller, Socrates’ Children by Peter Kreeft, and Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman, and many others.
Today’s meditation is Part V of the Perennial Lives series — The Art of Living: From Socrates to Aquinas. Previously, we discussed The Art of Living: From Socrates to Aquinas (Part I), How to Live — Like Socrates (Part II), The Life and Philosophy of Confucius (Part III), and The Wisdom of Jesus (Part IV).
The Teachings of the Buddha
A theme throughout our series on the art of living is the timeless nature of the teachings. The Buddha is no exception. His insights into the mind are as helpful today as they were twenty-five hundred years ago. Buddhism offers a systematic way to see clearly and live wisely in modern life.
In his short book Teachings of the Buddha, Jack Kornfield explains that it is said that soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the Buddha’s extraordinary radiance and peaceful presence.
The man stopped and asked,
“My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?”
“No,” said the Buddha. “Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?”
Again the Buddha answered, “No.”
“Are you a man?”
“No.”
“Well, my friend, then what are you?”
The Buddha replied, “I am awake.”
The word buddha means “one who is awake.” The Buddha’s real name is actually Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha was born a prince in an ancient kingdom of northern India. Although, as a youth, he was protected by his father in beautiful palaces, as he grew older, the Buddha encountered what we must all face: “the inevitable sorrows of life.”
The writer and modern-day philosopher Peter Kreeft describes the story of the Buddha this way in his four-volume series Socrates’ Children,
The story of Gautama’s own enlightenment is dramatic. His father was a king in India some twenty-six centuries ago. A prophecy at Gautama’s birth said that this child would be either the greatest world-conquering king or the greatest world-renouncing ascetic and mystic. In order to make the first half of the prophecy come true, Gautama’s father tried to make kingship totally attractive to his son by surrounding him with palace luxury, allowing nothing bad to enter and not allowing Gautama to leave. But the curious youth escaped four times and saw “the Four Distressing Sights”: a sick man, an old man, a dead man, and a begging man.
No one could tell him why anyone got sick, old, or dead. Gautama eventually left the palace, joined the ascetics (sannyasis), and practiced the severest self-denial for years, but he came no closer to solving the great riddle.
Finally, he took a decent meal for the first time in years. This was his first discovery: the middle way between self-indulgence and self-mortification, neither of which had produced enlightenment. He then sat down under the Bodhi tree and resolved not to rise until he had read the riddle of pain.
What is the Middle Way?
According to the Buddha, the awakened one (or Tathāgata) has realized the middle way, which gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and wisdom (or Nibbāna).
As described, In the Words of the Buddha, addressing a group of monks, the Buddha said,
It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, monks, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathāgata (or enlightened one), which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, and leads to peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and wisdom.
Buddhist psychology is neither a path of denial nor of affirmation, observes Kornfield. It shows us the paradox of the universe, within and beyond the opposites. It teaches us to be in the world but not of the world.
This realization is called the middle way. The teaching of the middle way applies to all aspects of our lives.
The Buddha explained, “There is a middle way between the extremes of indulgence and self-denial, free from sorrow and suffering. This is the way to peace and liberation in this very life.”
In his book The Wise Heart, Kornfield calls the middle way the middle ground between attachment and aversion, between being and non-being, form and emptiness, free will, and determinism. The more we delve into the middle way, the more deeply we come to rest between the play of opposites.
Buddhist wisdom tells us there is a middle way that enables us to see reality — to embrace the tension, paradox, and uncertainty of life.
Training the Mind
My conversation with longtime meditation teacher Shaila Catherine (author of Beyond Distraction) revealed that “whether you are an experienced meditator or a beginner trying to develop mindfulness, you probably know the pain of wrestling with an unruly, distracted mind.” Before we can experience the extraordinary joy of a settled and concentrated mind — we must learn how to dispel distractions.
Distraction is universal, stressed Catherine. Even the Buddha tells us that before enlightenment, he sometimes found his mind preoccupied with thoughts connected with sensual desire, ill will, and harm.
The Dhammapada (Buddhist scripture) explains,
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Speak or act with an impure mind, and trouble will follow you as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart. …
Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakable. How can a troubled mind understand the way?
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
Buddhist scripture advises that one develop a state of mind like the earth. People throw clean and unclean things on the earth, and the world is not troubled.
To the question, “Where does one begin to train the mind?” Catherine observes that the first significant step forward in this process is to be mindful of a thought as a thought. And the thought is not a static thing. It’s a process, a dynamic process of thinking. It’s a mental activity. So instead of getting lost in the content or the story — we focus on being mindful of the activity that is occurring.
This changes the entire framework of how we work with the mind. If we’re looking at the story, suggests Catherine, there’s much we can learn and grow from by unpacking some of the assumptions and biases around the content. We are clarifying some things that are maybe memories that may or may not be accurate because they’re constantly changing over time.
Final Thoughts
If you’re interested in learning more about Buddhist teachings, consider exploring the archive and previous episodes of In Search of Wisdom. You might also consider observing your own mind and any suffering that arises as you navigate life. Buddhist teaching does not necessarily require faith. The Buddha consistently stressed not to take his word for anything but to observe his teachings firsthand. To quote the Buddha a final time, “The wise person delights in the truth and follows the law of the awakened. The farmer channels water to his land. … The carpenter turns his wood. So the wise direct their mind.”
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or make suggestions!
Fabulous essay! I really enjoyed reading this as it was so informative. And logically laid out. The Question I have is: what is the paradox of the universe? Thank you.