Balico, Viencedel Navarro BA – Communication 4

THE EIGHT BEATITUDES & THEIR MEANINGS

#1 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Be satisfied with
what you have. Share the good things we have with others because God wants us to.)
#2 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Comfort those who are
suffering. Help others feel better about themselves after a loss.)
#3 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. (Humility-a true sense of who you
are. Get the ego out of the way.)
#4 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. (
Do what is fair for everyone. Think WWJD)
#5 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (We forgive those who are
unkind to us. Look for ways to show kindness to others.)
#6 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. (We do what is right just
because we know it is the right thing to do.)
#7 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (We try to bring
God’s peace to the world. We control our behavior so people can see Jesus in us.)
#8 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. (We are willing to stand up for God’s laws even if we are teased or
insulted.)

8 LIMBS OF RAJAH YOGA

1. Yama (attitudes toward our environment)
2. Niyama (attitudes toward ourselves)
3. Asana (physical postures),
4. Pranayama (restraint or expansion of the breath),
5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses),
6. Dharana (concentration),
7. Dhyana (meditation) and
8. Samadhi (complete integration). At 8 Limbs Yoga Centers our drop-in classes
focus on asana and pranayama. We also offer classes on other aspects to guide
practitioners on their path, sometimes under the heading “Beyond Asana.”
 10 COMMANDMENTS

The ten commandments, in order, are:

1. “I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt not have any strange gods before Me.”
This commandment forbids idolatry, the worship of false gods and goddesses, and it
excludes polytheism, the belief in many gods, insisting instead on monotheism, the
belief in one God. This commandment forbids making golden calves, building temples to
Isis, and worshipping statues of Caesar, for example.
2. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
The faithful are required to honor the name of God. It makes sense that if you’re to love
God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then you’re naturally to respect the
name of God with equal passion and vigor.
3. “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.”
The Jewish celebration of Sabbath (Shabbat) begins at sundown on Friday evening and
lasts until sundown on Saturday. Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians go to
church on Sunday, treating it as the Lord’s Day instead of Saturday to honor the day
Christ rose from the dead.
4. “Honor thy father and mother.”
This commandment obliges the faithful to show respect for their parents — as
children and adults. Children must obey their parents, and adults must respect and see
to the care of their parents, when they become old and infirm.
5. “Thou shalt not kill.”
The better translation from the Hebrew would be “Thou shalt not murder” — a subtle
distinction but an important one to the Church. Killing an innocent person is considered
murder. Killing an unjust aggressor to preserve your own life is still killing, but it isn’t
considered murder or immoral.
6. “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
The sixth and ninth commandments honor human sexuality. This commandment forbids
the actual, physical act of having immoral sexual activity, specifically adultery, which is
sex with someone else’s spouse or a spouse cheating on their partner. This
commandment also includes fornication, which is sex between unmarried people,
 prostitution, pornography, homosexual activity, masturbation, group sex, rape, incest,
pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia.
7. “Thou shalt not steal.”
The seventh and tenth commandments focus on respecting and honoring the
possessions of others. This commandment forbids the act of taking someone else’s
property. The Catholic Church believes that this commandment also denounces
cheating people of their money or property, depriving workers of their just wage, or not
giving employers a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. Embezzlement, fraud, tax
evasion, and vandalism are all considered extensions of violations of the Seventh
Commandment.
8. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
The Eighth Commandment condemns lying. Because God is regarded as the author of
all truth, the Church believes that humans are obligated to honor the truth. The most
obvious way to fulfill this commandment is not to lie — intentionally deceive another by
speaking a falsehood. So a good Catholic is who you want to buy a used car from.
9. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”
The Ninth Commandment forbids the intentional desire and longing for immoral
sexuality. To sin in the heart, Jesus says, is to lust after a woman or a man in your heart
with the desire and will to have immoral sex with them. Just as human life is a gift from
God and needs to be respected, defended, and protected, so, too, is human sexuality.
Catholicism regards human sexuality as a divine gift, so it’s considered sacred in the
proper context — marriage.
10. “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”
The Tenth Commandment forbids the wanting to or taking someone else’s property.
Along with the Seventh Commandment, this commandment condemns theft and the
feelings of envy, greed, and jealousy in reaction to what other people have.
8 FOLD PATHS OF BUDDHISM

1. Right View: our actions have consequences, death is not the end, and our
actions and beliefs have consequences after death. The Buddha followed and
taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and
underworld/hell). Later on, right view came to explicitly
include karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when
"insight" became central to Buddhist soteriology.
2. Right Resolve or Intention: the giving up home and adopting the life of a religious
mendicant in order to follow the path; this concept aims at peaceful renunciation,
into an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to loving kindness), away from
cruelty (to compassion). Such an environment aids contemplation
of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self.
3. Right Speech: no lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says
about him.
4. Right Conduct or Action: no killing or injuring, no taking what is not given, no
sexual acts, no material desires.
5. Right Livelihood: beg to feed, only possessing what is essential to sustain life;
6. Right Effort: preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and
generating wholesome states, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). This
includes indriya-samvara, "guarding the sense-doors," restraint of the sense
faculties.
7. Right Mindfulness (sati; Satipatthana; Sampajañña): "retention," being mindful of
the dhammas ("teachings," "elements") that are beneficial to the Buddhist
path. In the vipassana movement, sati is interpreted as "bare attention": never be
absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing; this encourages the
awareness of the impermanence of body, feeling and mind, as well as to
experience the five aggregates (skandhas), the five hindrances, the four True
Realities and seven factors of awakening.
8. Right samadhi (Passaddhi; Ekaggata; sampasadana): practicing four stages
of dhyāna ("meditation"), which includes samadhi proper in the second stage,
and reinforces the development of the bojjhagā, culminating
into upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness. In the Theravada tradition and the
Vipassana movement, this is interpreted as ekaggata, concentration or one-
pointedness of the mind, and supplemented with Vipassana-meditation, which
aims at insight.

6 PARAMITAS

The Six Perfections in Practice

Each of the Six Perfections supports the other five, but the order of the perfections is
significant also. For example, the first three perfections--generosity, morality, and
patience--are virtuous practices for anyone. The remaining three--energy or zeal,
meditation, and wisdom--are more specifically about spiritual practice.
1. Dana Paramita: Perfection of Generosity

In many commentaries on the Six Perfections, generosity is said to be an entry way to

the dharma. Generosity is the beginning of bodhicitta, the aspiration to realize
enlightenment for all beings, which is critically important in Mahayana.

Dana paramita is a true generosity of spirit. It is giving from sincere desire to benefit
others, without expectation of reward or recognition. There must be no selfishness
attached. Charity work done to "feel good about myself" is not true dana paramita.

2. Sila Paramita: Perfection of Morality

Buddhist morality is not about unquestioning obedience to a list of rules. Yes, there
are precepts, but the precepts are something like training wheels. They guide us until
we find our own balance. An enlightened being is said to respond correctly to all
situations without having to consult a list of rules.

In the practice of sila paramita, we develop selfless compassion. Along the way, we
practice renunciation and gain an appreciation for karma.

3. Ksanti Paramita: Perfection of Patience

Ksanti is patience, tolerance, forbearance, endurance, or composure. It literally means

"able to withstand." It is said there are three dimensions to ksanti: the ability to endure
personal hardship; patience with others; and acceptance of truth.

The perfection of ksanti begins with acceptance of the Four Noble Truths, including the
truth of suffering (dukkha). Through practice, our attention turns away from our own
suffering and toward the suffering of others.

Accepting truth refers to accepting difficult truths about ourselves--that we are greedy,
that we are mortal--and also accepting the truth of the illusory nature of our existence.

4. Virya Paramita: Perfection of Energy

Virya is energy or zeal. It comes from an ancient Indian-Iranian word that means "hero,"
and it is also the root of the English word "virile." So virya paramita is about making a
courageous, heroic effort to realize enlightenment.

To practice virya paramita, we first develop our own character and courage. We engage
in spiritual training, and then we dedicate our fearless efforts to the benefit of others.
5. Dhyana Paramita: Perfection of Meditation

Dhyana, Buddhist meditation is a discipline intended to cultivate the mind. Dhyana also
means "concentration," and in this case, great concentration is applied to achieve clarity
and insight.

A word closely related to dhyana is samadhi, which also means "concentration."

Samadhi refers to a single-pointed concentration in which all sense of self falls away.
Dhyana and samadhi are said to be the foundations of wisdom, which is the next
perfection.

6. Prajna Paramta: Perfection of Wisdom

In Mahayana Buddhism, wisdom is the direct and intimate realization of sunyata, or

emptiness. Very simply, this is the teaching that all phenomena are without self-essence
or independent existence.

Prajna is the ultimate perfection that includes all other perfections. The late Robert
Aitken Roshi wrote:

"The Sixth Paramita is Prajna, the raison d'être of the Buddha Way. If Dana is the entry
to the Dharma, then Prajna is its realization and the other Paramitas are Prajna in
alternate form." (The Practice of Perfection, p. 107)

That all phenomena are without self-essence may not strike you as especially wise, but
as you work with prajna teachings the significance of sunyata becomes more and more
evident, and the importance of sunyata to Mahayana Buddhism cannot be overstated.
The sixth paramata represents transcendent knowledge, in which there is no subject-
object, self-other dualism at all.

However, this wisdom cannot be understood by intellect alone. So how do we

understand it? Through the practice of the other perfections--generosity, morality,
patience, energy. and meditation.