The middle path in the A-junction.

In the process of formation and development of society, people always desire to seek happiness, satisfy the material and spiritual needs. Man relentlessly wants to examine himself and the universe around him. That is one of the reasons for religious formation and philosophical doctrine.

Introduction

In the process of social formation and development, people are always longing for happiness, satisfying the material and spiritual needs. Man relentlessly wants to examine himself and the universe around him. That is one of the reasons for religious formation and philosophical doctrine.

In ancient India, around 8,000 BC, there were about 62 different and prominent philosophical schools of thought. The Buddha himself asserted that the thoughts of humanity always discussed the primordial (or cosmic) origins of the universe, or discussing the future, or discussing the past and the future, all of them. There are different misconceptions, but all are in these 62 philosophical schools, so it is impossible to go out, so the Buddha named the Dharma talk that he preached as the Sutra Pit, which means that the net The thought is all over the mind of mankind.

In the 62 schools of philosophy, there are schools that have been formed from spiritual experience to some degree through thought, examination and meditation. However, these doctrines are largely based on sensations, due to the touching of the six countries. And because of the attachment to sensations, craving arises, leading to sorrow, grief, suffering, excitement, and brain. Thus, these philosophical schools, although experienced by the spiritual, do not lead to peacefulness and enlightenment. The Buddha declares that, for those 62 doctrines, He is experienced and affirms that it arises from the experience of feeling and attachment to feeling. The Buddha was dissatisfied with the spiritual experience.1 

Two extremes The

most notable of the 62 schools of philosophical doctrine at the time were the two schools of enjoyment and asceticism.

The school of enjoyment is the founders of materialism, hedonism, founded by Mr. Carvakas. According to him, human death is all, is the end all, no blame, no future, only the present world is practical. Such a policy, therefore, calls for people to  "eat, drink and enjoy all pleasures, because death comes to all."  To the followers of this school,  "morality is an illusion, only pleasure is reality. Death is the last level of life. Religion is a maddening madness, a neurological disease. " 2. This is the school of attachment, destruction, desolation, vulgar, lowly.

Meanwhile, another school is quite the opposite, advocating that only a strict ascetic life can bring people to liberation. It was a purely ethical theory that the ascetics of the time strongly defended and were well-liked by the masses, referring to the ascetics as moral symbols. rescue.

When he was a prince, he was not a follower of the school of material life, but the life of a ruler was nothing short of life, and he felt that life was fruitless. so lowly After passing through six years of practice in accordance with the principles of asceticism in every form, beyond the masters of asceticism, but then he also realized that the ascetic practice is indeed futile. From there, he changed his method of cultivation and practiced the Middle Way. And, of course, by this method, he achieved Supreme Void Chief Justice. 

The middle way

After enlightenment, the Buddha considered whether to declare the doctrine that he realized the world or not, or just keep his own, because the teachings he realized too high, difficult to see, difficult. understand, based on empirical, wonderful, not by reason, subtle, only the new level of understanding. Moreover, beings in this world enjoy the pleasures, but the teaching that Buddha realized enlightenment towards the direction of separation, lust, ignorance. 

As such, the Buddha intended to enter Nirvana. But because compassion, compassion and sentient beings immersed in life and death, he thought again: "There are trees that grow in the water, grow in water, live in the water, and fresh in the water. There are trees that grow in water, grow in water, and appear on the water. There are other trees born in the water, mature in water and out of the water, not entangled mud. Likewise, many lesser beings have dust in their eyes, intelligent people, ignorant people, the nature of this person is good, the other bad, there are easy to teach beings, there are also difficult to teach , and a few others, with the fear, realizing the danger of a future life, certainly hear the teachings. "  With such confidence and hope and with great compassion, the Blessed One on the road of turning the wheel of France.

The Buddha preached the Dharma and the first Dharma talk was lectured at the garden of Isda, Isipatana, near Benares. This first dharma was called the Dhammapada, the beginning of the teaching of the Buddha. The object of this dharma talk is the Ajnata-kaundinya, Bhadra-jit, Mahā-naman, Vaspa and Asvajit, five ascetic friends with the Buddha before. The contents of the Dharma talk show the Middle Way and raise the system of Four Truths. 

The Buddha said, 

"You fellow practitioners, there are two extremes that the monk should not entangle. Which are two extremes? One is immersed in sensuality, inferior, mediocrity, paranoid, unworthy saint, not useful. On the other hand, it is ascetical asceticism, suffering, unworthy of the saint, and no benefit.

"Hey fellow practitioners, the Tathagata has avoided these two extremes, and finding the Middle Way is the way to make us see and know, the path to tranquility, victory, enlightenment, 3.

These are the first dharmas given, but they have wrapped the essence of the enlightened teachings of liberation. The Buddha explained that being immersed in sensual pleasures or enjoying life would delay spiritual progress. Asceticism will decrease intellectually. The Buddha himself experienced these two extremes and experienced that neither of them led to the end. Then he pointed out the path that he had examined quite well, extremely practical and useful. This is the only path leading to complete purity and absolute liberation. It is the Middle Way, spread out by the Eightfold Path. The main path is the Eightfold Path! 

Leaving the wrong view

Back to the context of the Buddha, Indian society has too many schools of philosophy, religion with different policies, even against each other. The 62 theses of the universe and humanity that the Disciples Say are based on two parts of the primordial past, called pubbantakappikā, the origin of the universe, and the future of life. It is called aparantakappikā, the talk about the future, the next life.

In the life of the view, there is the school of advocacy Sassatavada, that the fall and the world is permanent, invariable. There is a school of semi-permanent scholarship (ekaccasassatavada), which states that the ego and the world are part of a permanent and non-permanent part of the world, and that only the Brahman (God) is permanent. Out of the translation. Again, there is the school of antānantavada, which states that the self and the world are boundless, boundless, just and infinite, not boundless, not boundless. There is a very silly school, that is the anarchic argument (anarāvikkhepavada), asked a path to a path. There is a school of Unconditionalism or Random Thoughts (adhicca-samuppannavada), who argues that the world is accidental, not by any cause, arising from nothingness.

In the case of the last life, there is a school of thought (saññīvāda), that the next life is thought to have the same color (tangible), or not sharp (invisible), boundary (finite), or not. there is bound (infinite), pure or pure, partial thought or immeasurable thoughts, etc. ... There are schools of thought Asana (asanunvada), that the next life has identity, no idea, The school of advocates non-ideological non-ideology (nevasaññnāsaññīvāda), the next life is neither ideal nor not ideal, etc. There are schools of advocacy Section ucchedavada, which assume that beings are completely destroyed, impermanent. But there is also the school of attainment of the current Niet-discussed (diṭṭhadhammanibbānavāda), which states that the five desires are Nirvana in the present, or the first is meditation, the fourth is the Nirvana in the present.

In the middle, A-jin called jointly the above guidelines are Nhi border, or as Nagarjuna generalized birth, death, usually, most, heterosexual, hybrid, and method to escape from the forest It is the practice of 12 karmic conditions, or immortal, irretrievable, irregular, irregular, inconsistent, unusual, unreasonable, inexcusable. The scripture states:  "'The body is the body,' or 'another destiny, the other body.' People are seen as the body, the religious do not realize that. People see other destiny, other body, religious do not advocate such behavior. (Practitioner of happiness) escape the second, right middle of the direction. The sage is born right view right, not crazy island, that is ignorance, life . "4. 

Thus, the Middle Way is the Dependent Origination. Dependent Origination is not. Recitations: "I will speak for you, the first, the middle, and the last, all good; good taste, good taste, pure net, pure behavior; That is called the great business law. Monks to listen, thoughtfully. I will speak for you. What is the Great Dhamma? This one should have the other, this one starts the other; That is ignorance should have ignorance, conduct should have Consciousness, ... to congregate a pure mass of suffering "5. 

Epilogue

The middle way is a practice, but we can also understand that it is the living or living art that led the Buddha to enlightenment. According to the Blessed One, the path of the eight paths, the Noble Eightfold Path - right understanding, right thinking, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right concentration, mindfulness and right concentration - The meaning of the beginning of the Dharma The Dharma is the middle way is the method of cultivation or the art of living out or beyond the two extremes of enjoyment and asceticism. The middle path is completely meaningless as the middle path, which is not the path between two extremes or two. The path is beyond the boundary of life, beyond all the limits, the dominion of the five senses, wrong view and ignorance.

In that sense, the most important thing for a monk to cultivate is to remain calm and not be tempted by any tendency. Not only keeping the mind free of the two extremes, but even the pleasant feelings arising from meditation are also not entangled. Therefore, the Middle Way is understood as a method of ripping and keeping the mind normal. That is the meaning that the Patriarch often teach "Normal Mind is the Tao." 

Indeed, at one time, the Buddha dwelt in Sārida, in the Forest of the Forest of Annam.

At this moment, Sa-Sub-Thich Nhat Tho also reside in the country, in the Forest Lam Lam; At night, in the middle of the night and at the end of the night, we learn not to sleep, we need to practice the virtues, but we can not escape the gongs. We continue to specialize in giving gifts, practicing the blessings, because the teachers are very rich.

The Buddha said that he should call the teacher and say the French language "art on the strings", Sa-Sub Nhi Thap Uc when living at home is good at playing. Accordingly, a practitioner if too diligent will cause mental disorder, but not diligent mind will be lazy. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the balance of life, to know the appropriate time for each task, to grasp and let go of the things that are needed and not necessary for the virtuous life, Yes, not too tense nor too slack. It is the art of happy living, peaceful lifestyle, middle way.

After receiving the teachings of the Blessed One, returning to a far away place, the mind does not let go, effort to diligently practice, soon to attain Arahant, find peace in Six cases: peace where unexplainable, peace in the distance, peace where innocence, peace where love, peace at the end, and peace where the mind is not mobile. He presented his witness to the Buddha without contempt for his contempt, should be praised by the Buddha. 

Obviously, the middle way is the way of life, the art of living, living with Dependent Origination, the right path, and through this way of life that escape life and death samsara. END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.THE MIND OF ENLIGHTENMENT.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN LOTUS MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.17/7/2018.