The Right Meaning of “Right”
This blog post comes from a comment made by Luke Chambers on the Origins | Becoming Buddha - His Life Story course, lecture 7. Eightfold Path of the Noble. The Eightfold Path encompasses right views, right thoughts, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation. However, the word "right" isn't always defined. It is often taken, as Luke describes below, “in terms of right and wrong.” We greatly appreciate Luke’s insights so much that we felt compelled to share them with the broader Everyday Buddhist community. We are delighted that the course offered clarity and value and hope everyone has a chance to watch this lecture.
All of your content is deeply insightful, but this was particularly so. Thank you.
One part you clarified for me was 'Right', as I had been thinking of it more in terms of Right/Wrong than in terms of intent and context. This has caused me a lot of hand-wringing.
Each of the parts of the path are heavily contextual, but one that is most so I think is 'Right Livelihood'. This is partly because it has changed the most in the last few thousand years, in that 'work' today bears almost no resemblance to what that meant in Buddha's era, or indeed most eras up until the industrial revolution. Especially in the post-digital age where almost every technology is 'dual use'. If you work in a factory making machine parts, will that part end up in a machine keeping a child alive? Or as part of a machine in an abattoir? Is your aircraft part going into a medical transport or a bomber? Who knows? Certainly not us. We're more separated from the end-consequences of our work than we have ever been - for better or worse.
I think this is particularly the case in military, criminal justice, healthcare, veterinary care, or similar areas where this can conflict with other areas. Your advice was particularly insightful in that we are the best placed to decide if deep down we can 'own' the work we do. I read a Buddhist's work once where he was a police officer and lamented the occasional necessity for physical violence and had thought of quitting, but mentioned his Buddhist study means that he undertakes this in a restrained way with the right mindset, only when truly necessary, and that his replacement if he quit may not do so. Of course everyone will have views on that example, but the core message of heavy context and intent is one you explored here which was very useful.
That said, all areas of the path are this contextual when you take a deep dive. It's enough to keep scholars busy for centuries. And I imagine it has! Though it's something I don't think we can ever truly 'answer', I feel this exploration has brought me closer than I was - so thank you!
— Luke Chambers
Member of Everyday Buddhist
