On Following the Dharma

I’ll share my take on this:

• Don’t turn any part of the Noble Eightfold Path or Five Precepts into dogma and you will be okay. What do I mean by this is that the N8P emphasises “right view/thought/speech/etc…” the “right” part of it is the important thing to remember. That is all about context. Context matters, how we relate to ourselves and reality is important. Rebuking someone in one context may be necessary and correct, in another, it is not. The “right” part is all about emphasising mindfulness. How’s your mindfulness? If you’re just a beginner, then maybe you make mistakes. That’s okay, it’s to be expected. We either learn or are doomed to repeat the mistakes. But we turn the mistake into something worse when we mistreat ourselves for making the mistake.
• Same with the 5Ps, don’t turn these rules into another source of guilt and shame to beat yourself up with. Ease into it slowly. Hopefully, you’re not killing anything. Lying/hurtful speech is easy enough to avoid. Sexual misconduct is very easy to avoid (respect consent). Stealing is very easy to avoid too. The intoxicants are probably the hardest thing in a western context; adopt a harm minimisation approach here. Is your current drinking or drug-taking problematic? If not, do you want to reduce it further? If yes, go gently. If no, be mindful of not increasing it to problematic levels. But, please, for the love of all things in this universe, do not use the 5Ps to make yourself feel guilty or ashamed of yourself. We all make mistakes. Be a friend to yourself and others, and everything will fall into place.
• Morality is very important to the path. Will it materially reduce suffering and make the actual meditation easier? Yes and no. Yes, because there’s just less conflict in your life. Generating goodwill for and from others is rewarding in and of itself. But also no, because there’s still a lot of your own conditioning and junk to purify. You could be a saint, and the Dark Night will still reveal some things about you.

The 4 Noble Truths are simply the outline of the Buddha’s teachings. If you’re committed to liberation, then you’re following it regardless. You’re on the path. You’ll find the noble truths for yourself when you’re ready. The Buddha simply outlined their existence.

It doesn’t seem that one can expect to live a normal life and meditate effectively, at least normal in as far the western culture is would define it.

You definitely can. I’m not sure what a “normal life” is to you, but it can be done very easily.

Are you comparing yourself to monastics? Only about 10% of Buddhist monastics actually meditate, and only a fraction of those actually do it with the sole intention of awakening. Meditation, in particular, Vipashyana, was mostly dead from the 10th century in the Buddhist world and only came back in the 19th century and early 20th centuries when it was revived in Burma by monastics who decided to think outside the box. The prevailing Buddhist thought was that attaining liberation was impossible and that it would remain impossible until a new Buddha incarnation happened. Kinda nuts, if you think about it. And these guys had what some would think as “perfect conditions” for meditation, yet they explicitly chose not to because of their religious dogma and ideals. Burmese monastics in the 18th century revived Vipashyana and began to realise the fruits of awakening were available now, by questioning the status quo. These old status-quo monks basically wasted good opportunities to meditate, instead, they fixated on some future condition that would save them. So, really, the lesson here is that your attitude determines your altitude. Monastics aren’t special and are prone to silliness just like us mere mortals; they wasted nearly 800 years not meditating believing it was not worthwhile! Don’t take anything for granted, discard unproductive assumptions, and ditch expectations! The path is meant to be travelled.

Now with all that being said, if you want to meditate, find some time and protect it at all costs. Don’t let some idealised “perfect conditions” in the future hold you back. You’ll go to a retreat centre and quickly realise that it stinks, the hall is too cold, the food is average, the chanting is annoying, there are loud dogs nearby howling all day, the other retreatants are coughing and sneezing all the time, you only get about 6 hours of sleep per night if you’re lucky! And just to top it all off, the beds are crap! Find the time today and really have at it. Nothing will save you apart from doing the work. Think outside the box and find some time.

Hope this helps!