It’s much like a recipe, with the right ingredients you get the desired result, but when the mix is wrong or misses out important parts it never really makes the mark. Many of the ingredients both support and interact with other parts supporting each other to make the completed goal. Another important point to consider is simply that there is right effort, by flipping it over implies that there is a wrong effort. This means simply that effort, mindfulness, concentration (etc) on their own are not enough. The Buddha’s biography showed that he practice the 8 components in different forms, combinations and styles over time, but only when the application was right did they work together to give a solution.
Right understanding also understands the importance of being a virtuous person, practicing mental development and developing wisdom as these three aspects not only make up the 8 fold path, but also build and support each other.
In a practical sense the four “divine abodes” of goodwill, compassion, appreciation and equanimity (or acceptance) are good for balancing the mind. The knowledge of the four noble truths may seem to make life dry, sterile and unhappy, where virtue as a support and applying the divine abodes will not only counter unhappy feelings, but create happiness and well-being. In practice when you feel cravings, consider appreciation of what you already have, when feeling unhappy, look at compassion. Its the use of opposites that make it so effective. Consider this basic analogy: in mathematics, (-1) + (1) = 0, in this sense a negative emotion can be balanced with a positive to balance the other out in order to regain well-being when it is practiced with sincerity.
In a practical sense, it also includes times when it may be inappropriate to discuss certain issues, so right speech takes this into account as well as being virtuous speech.
The interesting thing to notice is that right action is also letting go of things that cause stress in the mind. Right action builds and supports right thoughts and also right speech, because it is not enough to just think about abandoning something harmful or practicing something beneficial, you need to actually step in and do it. This is another key way that the path components engage and build other parts of the same path.
In a practical sense, right effort applies to all the other path components. Without effort there is no inclination to do skillful actions as its much easier to do nothing and let the mind run wild. But effort needs right understanding as its so easily misapplied and unbalanced.
In a practical sense, right livelihood is not a livelihood that “owns” you or that you claim to own. If you have a good job, then right thought comes into play with valuing what you have when you bear in mind that there is still slave labor in parts of the world. When you are in a job that is less than desirable, if at the end of the day you can leave your work & troubles at the door of the office and let goof the stress it may cause you, then that is the minimum to work for. Right effort and right action is also relevant as right livelihood is being a virtuous employee who earns their wage and doesn’t involve themselves in office politics or shirking their duties.
If you cannot be aware of what’s going on, then it is almost impossible to apply right action in abandoning stressful thoughts and harsh intentions. With mindfulness you can also recognize and learn to distinguish stress (which is developing insight) as well as potentially harmful thoughts and intentions. But mindfulness needs understanding and effort to do, so it also dependent on the practice of these components.
In certain contexts, concentration is directly linked or limited to meditative absorption known as Jhana or Dhyana. Absorption is an excellent skill to develop but it must be remembered that in isolation it doesn’t do the job. It can also cause many more complications such as addiction to that peaceful state, more delusions and even panic or despair that the peaceful state doesn’t last, or that absorption is never attained even with much practice. It is the majority of people who will never experience it. Jhana can be used like a magnifying glass to see into the mind and is highly effective however this insight can also be done in non-absorption meditation, but only with lots of time and dedication observing the mind day in, day out. Its other key virtues are that it deeply calms the mind for extended periods that are not developed in non-absorption meditations as deeply or lasting as long, which is why insight meditation is often called dry, as it doesn’t give deep lasting peace. It can also lead to higher mental developments which is another benefit, depending on right understanding. It should therefore be remembered that there are many who have attained the absorptions but still were not free of their problems, so it is a skill to develop but still a component. It needs right effort, right understanding and right mindfulness to develop. Interestingly, Buddha taught those who can do Jhana to praise and respect those who can’t do Jhana as they need strength, diligence, commitment and very deep understanding to be able to put down the burden. Those who can’t do Jhana were taught to respect and praise those who can because it is a very difficult skill and is not something everyone can do.
Also take special care to note that there is no “right culture” or “right traditions, rites and rituals” in this group as they are really the “wallpaper” of life. It adds color and interest, but while its not only non-essential it can be a major disadvantage if handled unwisely. The main reason so many miss the mark is that they are still attached to culture and identity, teachers, lineage and interpretations of things without either being willing to let them go or actually examining if these attachments or things would ever have led to mental freedom in the first place. The Buddha put this in a simple analogy, after people have crossed the river, they don’t carry the boat on their heads. Ultimately if you have crossed the river but are attached to staying in the boat on the other side, you haven’t ever stepped off to continue your life’s journey. These things can take you a long way, but you are standing still and going nowhere if you stay in the boat that has landed on the beach. By using mindfulness to recognize and understand things so you are no longer hoodwinked by our experiences and letting go of the ones of no value, you have set your mind free.
