Elizabeth Clare Prophet talks about The Middle Method of Gautama Buddha.I would state that in the East we have a tendency toward higher self-mortification and in the West we tend toward higher self-indulgence. We do require the Middle Way.
Gautama taught that this Middle Way results in 6 conditions of awareness. They are insight, knowledge, peace, higher understanding, enlightenment and nirvana.
The Four Noble Truths of Gautama Buddha Gautama Buddha proceeded to teach his disciples the Four Noble Truths: First, that life is dukkha, “suffering.” Second, that the cause of this suffering is tanha, “desire” or “craving.” Third, that suffering will cease when the yearning that causes it is abandoned and conquered.
This state of freedom through the cessation of suffering results in nirvana, which indicates actually termination or burning out– the blowing-out of the not self. The Fourth Noble Truth is that the method to this freedom is through living the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Middle Method.
The Eightfold Course of Gautama Buddha
The primary step on the Eightfold Course is to have ideal understanding, or ideal views. The second is right goal, best idea, or right willpower. Third is ideal speech. Fourth is best action, or ideal conduct. Fifth is best livelihood. Sixth is right effort. Seventh is ideal mindfulness, and eighth is right concentration, or best absorption.
These 8 points of self-mastery are the endowment of your Holy Christ Self. Know this Holy Christ Self as your Genuine Self, and know your Genuine Self as possessing all of these characteristics. Know that your Real Self has established them to the full level of Christ-mastery and adeptship and is waiting for you to get them.
As you place on these attributes in day-to-day aiming and attentiveness to the precepts of the Law, you are putting on the robes of righteousness of your True Self. You are placing on your deathless solar body, which Jesus referred to as the wedding event garment. You weave this wedding garment by the practice of these 8 best mindsets.
Eight Points of the Law
These eight points of the Law satisfy the seven rays of the seven chakras and the 8th ray and chakra, which is the secret chamber of the heart.
1– Right Comprehending
The very first is right understanding, right perspective, ideal viewpoint– being focused neither to the left nor the right in relative thinking however being centered in God. This is a quality that is developed through the heart chakra and the 3rd ray, whose color is pink and might intensify to a deep rose. The heart chakra has twelve petals.
We keep in mind the prayer of Solomon: “Give me, O Lord, an understanding heart.” Right understanding, or best views, is referred to as understanding of the 4 Noble Facts; having views devoid of superstition or deception; having permeating insight into truth, or vacuum. Gautama Buddha said to his disciples: “What, now, Brothers, is Right Comprehending?
“When … the disciple understands Evil and understands the Root of Evil; when he comprehends Excellent and comprehends the Root of Good; this is Right Comprehending.
“What now … is Evil? Killing … is wicked. Stealing is wicked. Illegal sexual intercourse is wicked. Lying is wicked. Slandering is evil. Using extreme language is wicked. Vain talk is wicked. Covetousness is wicked. Cruelty is evil. Incorrect views are evil.
“And what, Brothers, is the root of Evil? Greed is the root of Evil; Anger is the root of Evil; Delusion is the root of Evil.
“And what, Brothers, is the root of Good? Freedom from Greed … flexibility from Anger … flexibility from Delusion is the root of Excellent.”
When we think about the conditions of consciousness of greed and anger, we can objectively see them and figure out whether they are in us or not.
However when it concerns misconception, we are self-deluded by our own desires, by our own pride and ego.
We are a lot a part of the ego and its pride and its desires that we do not understand we remain in a state of deception till increment by increment we catch a greater insight and we observe ourselves mounting an inner spiral staircase, if you will, to a point of enlightenment that, if we are observant, we acknowledge we did not have the other day. And if we are wise, we will jot down the experience and the insight and anchor into it and take another action.
Liberty from self-delusion is a great necessity on the Course. We require to pursue it with all intensity in our prayer and our idea and our daily factor to consider of the actions we take and what we do.
2– Right Goal
The 2nd action of the Eightfold Course is best goal, right thought, or ideal willpower. This point represents the six-petaled seat-of-the-soul chakra, which is the abiding place of the soul. This is the chakra of the seventh ray, the violet ray, which has numerous
shades, from violet-pink to purple. This is a best mindset that needs to be had by the soul if the soul is to go back to the Christ Self and
to the I AM Existence. The soul’s goal should be centered in God– in having right thought, ideal consideration upon the law of God and the right willpower to achieve her mission in life.
This resolution is the use of desire constructively– setting one’s desire, setting one’s sail and moving in that instructions regularly, day after day after day.
3– Right Speech
The 3rd action of the Eightfold Course is best speech, which connects to the throat chakra. The action of ideal speech is therefore the right certification of this ray of power, which is the first ray, the ray of the will of God.
The throat chakra has sixteen petals; its color is blue. With ideal speech we for that reason verify best desire. Right speech includes avoiding lying, slandering, severe or abusive language, vain talk or idle chatter. Right speech is speech that is kindly, open and sincere.
Gautama said to his disciples,
“What, Brothers, is Right Speech? A man, Bro, has actually overcome lying and he abstains from informing fallacy. He speaks the truth, he is committed to the truth, he complies with the fact, he deserves confidence, is not a deceiver of males … Thus he combines those that are at difference; develops those that are joined; … he enjoys concord; it is concord that he spreads by his words.
“He has given up harsh language … He speaks words that are devoid of disrespect, relaxing to the ear, caring, going to the heart, courteous, rejoicing numerous, raising many.
“He has conquered vain talk … He speaks at the right time, speaks in accordance with facts, talks to the point. He discusses the Dharma [the law and the teaching] and the Discipline of the Order; his speech is of genuine worth and agrees with its things.
“He bears in mind the injunction which states: ‘In meeting one another, Brothers, there are 2 things that ought to be complied with: either conversation about the Fact or holy silence.’
“This, Brothers, is Right Speech.”
4– Right Action
The 4th action is right action, or right conduct. This is the base-of-the-spine chakra. It is the white ray; the chakra has four petals.
The base-of-the-spine chakra is a physical chakra. Action and ideal conduct are the physical outpicturing of all that we contain in our heart, in our mind, in our soul, in our desires, in our being.
It is the energy by which life is sustained and life is continued.
5– Right Income
The fifth step is ideal livelihood, and it pertains to the solar-plexus chakra, which has 10 petals. It is the sixth ray of purple and gold, the ray of service and ministration.
Right livelihood is living honorably by a profession that does not hurt any living thing and passing by a profession that is not conducive to spiritual progress. It is what we carry out in life, how we give of ourselves to one another, to society, to our countries.
Right income should be based upon right desire, and the solar plexus is the chakra of desire. Wrong desire types incorrect income.
6– Right Effort
Right effort, the sixth action, is developed as right focus through the third-eye chakra, which has ninety-six petals.
It is the fifth ray, the emerald ray. By the All-Seeing Eye of God we focus. And as we focus on what our effort will be every day, the instructions of our serving and our making every effort, we need to have purity of desire in the inner eye. We must not lust after another, be envious of another, want what somebody else has.
Right effort is based upon a direct relationship with God. Right effort requires right exertion in self-training and self-control. Right effort is following what are called the “4 right efforts.”
We must make an effort to “end existing evil.” We must make an effort to “prevent new evil.”
We should make an effort to “trigger brand-new virtue.” We must make an effort to “increase existing virtue.”
7– Right Mindfulness
The seventh step is right mindfulness. It is the characteristic of the thousand-petaled lotus of the crown chakra. This is the second-ray chakra, and its color is yellow.
Right mindfulness is always transferring to develop oneself in the Mind of God that was in Christ Jesus that remained in Gautama Buddha and all those who have attained that oneness.
It is having an active, watchful mind, an alert mind that tends to information and masters them. Right mindfulness is the captain of one’s ship. The crown should be opened, because when one has illumination and after that complete knowledge, one can direct the courses of all of the seven rays.
8– Right Concentration
The eighth step is right concentration, or ideal absorption. This associates with the secret chamber of the heart, an antechamber of the heart chakra. This eight-petaled chakra is the location of the threefold flame.
The secret chamber of the heart is the place where you satisfy the Master, the Expert, the Lord Gautama Buddha.
Right concentration is upon God and upon the Highest Self and upon the point of Light. It is earnest contemplation on the deep secrets of Life.
It is psychological tranquility and the absence of interruption. Right absorption is the absorption of the mind and of the soul in God and in the Teacher. Without right concentration and absorption, we do not achieve the complete bonding of our souls to the Christ.
In Buddhist teachings, this eighth step includes meditation and appropriate breathing, as well as the methods of Hinduism’s raja yoga (known as “the royal roadway to reintegration”).
It is a way of discovering combination in all of the chakras and in the I AM Existence through direct individual experience of God within by the science of the spoken Word.
Courses of East and West
The mentor on the Eightfold Path is typically credited Gautama Buddha. In truth, it is the teaching of all of the Gurus who preceded him in the family tree of Sanat Kumara and all who followed him.
It is likewise the mentor of Jesus Christ. Every one of these actions we can also discover in Christian mentor.
The courses that have been progressed in East and West are for the same difference function of putting the hand of the soul in the hand of the Christ Self.
For just thus can the Way be illumined by right understanding, right aspiration, ideal speech, right behavior, ideal livelihood, ideal effort, right mindfulness and ideal absorption.Excerpt from Course to Attainment, Climb Up the Highest Mountain Series, Volume 9, by Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Source