Following the Right Path with Buddha

Humanity as a whole is imperfect, and our thoughts, actions, and sentiments are not always as pure as we might hope for them to be. The teachings of Buddha discuss many ways with which we can adjust our feelings, thoughts, or actions that are wrong, and cleanse ourselves. Before we can become free from this sort of suffering, it is important to practice the Four Noble Truths: recognition of suffering, identification of the cause of suffering, ending suffering, and developing a path to lead to the ultimate elimination of suffering (Hanh, 35-46).

Happiness is not an individual matter. Buddha said that if you are unhappy, those around you will also become unhappy. The concept of Selective Watering presents a mechanism for alleviating wrong behavior, mentality, and feelings. Supposedly, our consciousness is made up of all kinds of seeds. There are seeds of compassion, awakening, and understanding, as well as seeds of confusion and prejudices. If we focus on the good things within ourselves, and those around us, we will be able to transform our situation with ease. By watering and nurturing all of the good seeds that lie within us and our friends, we will see a dramatic increase in our degree of happiness, and as a result, their degree of happiness (Hanh, 1997). If we ignore the negative seeds, and water the positive seeds, they will multiply and flourish.

Another mechanism for removing wrong thoughts is presented in the concept of Changing the Peg. The Buddha explained this idea by describing a carpenter who has two blocks of wood, connected by an old rotted peg. By removing the old peg, and replacing it with a new one, the apparatus is good again. In other words, if we have bad thoughts, feelings, or otherwise, we can simply remove ourselves from them, and replace them with a new one. If you are stuck in a state of being that you don't like, you can simply change the peg--this is called mental formation (Hanh, 1998). By changing all of the rotten pegs in your life, you will be able to discover the wonderful things that being alive has to offer.

As with anyone, I am guilty of impure habits. From a very young age I have been biting my nails. My parents and grandparents have always yelled at me and reminded me of how bad this was, and urged me to stop. Eventually, I realized that it was no good and decided to make a change. I started painting my nails so that I would quit biting them, and after some time, it worked! I still have been known to bite my nails, but it is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I simply decided that I no longer wanted to do it, and I stopped. Another instance in which I changed a thought that was wrong, is from middle school. As I'm sure everyone can agree, girls often talk about each other behind their backs. I started to see this within my own group of friends in middle school. I didn't like talking about other people, and I didn't like hearing my friends say mean things about people they pretended to like. I thought it was wrong, and it made me feel like a bad person, yet after being around this for so long, I sometimes found myself chiming in. I immediately decided that I would not continue talking about other people, and that I would never say something about someone that I would not say directly to their face. When my other friends would talk about other girls in front of me, I would remind them that it was wrong and I asked them to consider how they would feel if their "friends" all talked about them behind their back. I eventually found friends who felt the same way as I did, and chose to spend more time with people who had the same sort of values as myself. A last example, wherein I had feelings that were not right is when I younger and I was afraid of heights. I found it hard to enjoy things like roller coasters, and rock climbing, because I was so afraid. One day I asked myself why…and I came up with nothing to defend this fear that made sense. So I just decided that I wasn't going to be afraid anymore. Obviously this was not immediate, but it didn't take long. Once I decided that I was no longer afraid, I was able to enjoy heights. Today, I love roller coasters and being up high on mountain tops and zip lines.