For one determine the right path, to learn the truth and stop themselves from being misled or becoming caught up in the wrong views they must fully understand what it is the Buddha is teaching. According to Buddhism there is a certain method of reaching enlightenment and determining the right path to get there. This method is labeled as, the Noble Eight Fold Path consisting of; the Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.  But before one can reach this path they must accept the 4 noble truths, the first truth is suffering. One must accept that everyone will suffer and is suffering, and once that is accepted one can move forward towards enlightenment. “We have to recognize and acknowledge the presence of this suffering and touch it.” (Hanh 25) We must acknowledge this suffering as present and determine its origin, that is the second noble truth; origin. Once the origin of this suffering is located we can then move towards determining what can be done to prevent such suffering. Bringing us to our next noble truth, cessations of creating suffering by refraining from doing things that make us suffer. This is easy enough to comprehend, once you determine the factors that are causing you suffering you must cut ties with these harmful thoughts and actions. This method of refraining from these actions and thoughts is called, Marga which is the path to enlightenment, or as the Buddha called it, The Noble Eight-fold Path.

Each person has a different truth and path unique to themselves, since no one person suffers the same as another person there is no common factor to lead everyone into enlightenment. One must isolate what their individual suffering is and treat it accordingly. But there are methods for one to steer clear of the wrong views or from being misled. They must have the right view and the right thinking which the Buddha included into his eight-fold path. To negate from the wrong views one must first accept completely that he is suffering and that he has the power to transform this suffering. One must truly have faith in the fact that other people have done this as well, and that it is possible for him to accomplish. Also one must realize what our perceptions of things are, and then become free of them. If we perceive things as how we think they ought to be then we will cause suffering and prevent the right thinking. We must clear our minds of perceptions and clearly see things for how they actually are. To accomplish this one must look deep inside themselves into the roots and origins of these perceptions and distinguish what they are so they can be nullified. It is easy to think then how someone may be misled or become caught up in the wrong views, because they simply did not look deep enough into themselves and they still perceive things as they are not. One must experience this all for themselves though, if they never experience suffering or happiness then they can never rid themselves of it. As Hanh stated, “We cannot explain an orange to someone who has never tasted one. No matter how well we describe it, we cannot give someone else the direct experience. He has to taste it for himself”. (Hanh 48) One must be very mindful of the things they are doing every day; walking, talking, breathing and thinking are just a few examples. As for the right thinking path, one must first establish a solid base of the right view first. Once the right view is instilled then right thinking can be brought on, and as the right thinking develops in turn the right view will improve. Right thinking has to do with the way you speak and how your mind works and develops thoughts. With correct use of this practice one may develop clearer and more beneficial speaking habits. As stated by Hanh, “Mind and body are not unified.” (Hanh 52) meaning that just because we are thinking one thing does not mean that our body is doing the same, often times our mind is doing one thing whiles our body is doing something completely different. One must unify these two, not only to develop right thinking but also to begin the right action. In conclusion, one must find out what their suffering is and what is causing it, and then they must refrain from doing those things.

A few examples in my own life of how I have been misled and caught up in believing the wrong views are things that I do day in and day out, and are in the process of correcting them. For example, I often times believe common stereotypes of people and judge them before I get a chance to meet them, forming an unintentional bias about them. Also, I have a hard time isolating what my suffering in life is. I realize that I do suffer just as everyone else in the world, but it is very difficult for me to isolate the origins of this suffering and what is causing it to occur. I do believe that if I was to fully install the Buddha’s teachings into my life that I would be able to rid myself of these harmful thoughts. I believe I mostly need to focus on the Right Thinking path of the Noble Eight Fold Path. If I could correct my initial way of thought production, I would be able to clear my mind of misleading thoughts and would be able to rid myself of biased opinions and be able to convey myself more respectfully. I would in turn become more mindful of what I say causing me to interact with new people on a more respectful and professional level.

Source: Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. New York: Broadway, 1999. Print.