Avoid All Evil
‘Avoid all evil’ refers to the mindfulness of one’s physical, verbal and mental action within the frame of morality, which will affect the person and society as a whole. The mindfulness of one’s conduct is to be observed under the principle of Self-Training. The first principle is Training in Higher Morality which comprises Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood.
Right Speech refers to good conduct in words, that is, abstaining from using false speech, tale bearing or malicious speech, harsh speech, and vain talk or gossip.
Right Action refers to wholesome courses of actions. Those are: abstaining from killing, abstaining from taking what is not given or stealing, and abstaining from sexual misconduct.
Right Livelihood refers to avoiding dishonest or cheating occupation, sycophancy, and a hidden motive in a proposal, a threat or any undue enrichment. Briefly, one should not deal with five kinds of trade; trades in weapons, human beings, flesh or animals for meat, spirituals, and poisons.
The one who practices or follows these principles is called ‘avoiding all evil’.
Do All Good
‘Do all good’ refers to an intention to do all kinds of good things or goodness with all one’s might, by training his own mind to be strong, stable, firm, peaceful, fresh and purified, without any disturbances or any causes of gloominess. This principle of practice is adjusted to the mode of Self-Training. The second principle is Training for Higher Mentality which comprises the performances of Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Right Effort refers to the effort to prevent or avoid evil or unwholesome states from happening, the effort to abandon and overcome existing unwholesomeness that has already happened, the effort to develop wholesomeness that has not yet happened, and the effort to maintain existing wholesomeness and also make it flourish.
Right Mindfulness refers to contemplation or mindfulness as regards the body, feelings, the mind and the mind-object or as regards ideas. Never be forgetful or careless or muddled or absent-minded. Be always careful and alert for becoming and realize how to react properly.
Right Concentration refers to one-pointedness of the mind on any object, not fanciful or swaying. The main point is about the proper mind concentration towards the destination of the complete deliverance from suffering, towards the wisdom to know things in their natural becoming, not as what one wants things to be.
Purify the Mind
‘Purify the mind’ refers to the creating of one’s Right Understanding and Right Thought. It means knowledge of the truths or the facts, or the understanding of the law of cause and effect and the thoughts that free one from selfishness, hatred or cruelty, retaining only non-violent ideas. This principle of practice is observed under the mode of Self-training, as Training for Higher Wisdom , and comprises Right Understanding and Right Thought.
Right Understanding refers to wholesome thought that is free from selfish-desire, or hatred, cruelty or violent ideas, retaining only the understanding or the belief of morality. The supramundane understanding is the one beyond the world or the transcendental, which refers to the knowledge of life as it is or at its real nature.
Right Thought refers to rightful thought with consciousness that makes one control oneself, never being led by feelings or reasons based on satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
The persons with these two Right Understanding and Right Thought will understand everything correctly and think correctly too. Right Understanding and Right Thought are classified as wisdom, or the use of one’s wisdom in his living. Right knowledge and belief will be transformed into the realization and the knowledge of the truths or enlightenment.
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