The Eightfold Path for Radicals
The following is an archive of a mastodon thread I made at the end of 2020 (I will not link to it) for posterity. – Butingtaon, 2022-07-15
The Eightfold Path is divided into three sections:
Social/behavioral:
- Right Speech
- Right Conduct
- Right Livelihood
Mental development:
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration
- Right Focus
Wisdom:
- Right Understanding
- Right Resolve/Intention
This, to me looks like a holistic program for internal work as well as social struggle.
Right speech would involve interpersonal communication that does not cause harm nor reimpose exploitative relations.
Right action/conduct then are actions on the personal level, that liberate people from coercive and harmful relations, while taking care not to reimpose them.
Right livelihood is then our relationship to the wider world, about ensuring that we are not causing harm or reinforcing oppressive social structures while fulfilling our needs as human beings.
Right mindfulness refers to both the moment-to-moment awareness of one’s conduct and how they affect others, as well as regularly reflecting on the effects of the major decisions one has taken in their life.
Right effort is pivoting the mind away from thought patterns that are harmful to oneself, others and society at large, eg. “Kill the cop in your head”, and towards more beneficial thought patterns.
Right concentration/meditation is the practice of regularly engaging in mental training exercises (otherwise known as meditation) that allow the mind to be more mindful and give one better control over it.
Right Understanding/View refers to the awareness of social and historical processes at work in one’s daily life. This is where abstract Theory becomes a fact of life. This is the internalization of one’s learning.
Right Resolve/Intention is one deciding, in light of what they know to be true, to take on the social struggle and work to overturn the oppressive structures in society and oneself.