?If you?re anything like me, you have a hard time remembering what the Buddha?s Eight-fold path consists of. So here?s a helpful mnemonic device I found.
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Until????????????????
Thoughts???????Thoughts
Stop????????????????Speech
Acting?????????????Actions
Like?????????????????
Excited???????????Effort
Monkeys ? ???Mindfulness
Confusion!???Concentration
Thoughts???????Thoughts
Stop????????????????Speech
Acting?????????????Actions
Like?????????????????
Excited???????????Effort
Monkeys ? ???Mindfulness
Confusion!???Concentration
?
Normally, these are listed as ?Right Understanding? etc. but I always had trouble with that as ?right? implies there must be a ?wrong? understanding, and Taoism tries hard to avoid those moral dualities. So I always thought of the Eight-fold path as prescriptive and judgmental.??
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But as Gayle pointed out in one of our discussions, perhaps a better translation would be ?complete? understanding, etc. I like that better. Less judgmental, and more Tao like.
Steve Hagen commented on the translation of “Right” in his meditation books. He described “Right” as “What works”. Not as right versus wrong.
Hey I made one that also might help and it starts with the first word to help people remember!
Understand That She Also Loves Early Morning Coffee
Thank you! I’ve been trying to come up with exactly this so of course it’s another uu’er to the rescue! Thank you!