Eightfold Path, 1 and 2.

Panna: Discernment, wisdom:

• 1) Samma ditthi Right Understanding or view
  
• 2) Samma sankappa: Right thinking or intention
  

These are the first of the Eightfold Path. The core of Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths, and the eightfold path is the core of the Truths. These are the keys to stop suffering. Although I have been trying my hardest to understanding the Four Noble Truths, I am not sure that I have done so to a degree that says I am on the right path. I believe to understand the Four Noble Truths, you must first understand that there is suffering in the world, and therefor you have to suffer yourself. Now I haven't suffered nearly as much as the next person in this world, I would however, say that I have suffered a bit through my relationship with family, getting in trouble, feeling like being at the very bottom of my existence one year ago, and the weeks after my last relationship. Especially the last of the aforementioned experiences. I was jealous, blind with rage, and lost faith in my friends and subsequently it severely hurt my faith in humanity.

Why, why do you suffer? Why have you suffered? Why will you suffer? You and I, we must understand why we suffer.

For one to know sin, one must him or herself sinned, however this is no excuse for that person to sin.

I believe that in order to know hate you must have hated, to know envy, you must experience envy, etc. Now on the other hand its foolish for me to seek these negative emotions in order to stop suffering. So my strongest option is to continue to follow this path with the knowledge and experience I currently have. The second best thing, without completely destroying your life to understand this, is to volunteer at homeless shelters and such, which I plan on doing. See the suffering in this world, and learn from your experiences.

I think, you have to totally surrender yourself to the fact that ending suffering is possible and that this WILL work. You have to embrace the end of suffering and that it is not an easy path.

Secondly this also means you must see things in the world for how they are, and that is hard to due because people are raised biased towards almost everything. I am, you are. We must try to view the world not through our eyes, but through a higher outside onlookers eyes, if we do this, I believe the two views will eventually become one.

I have also began attempting the second of the eightfold path. Right thought. This has been extremely hard for me. My mind often wonders into the negative, rather than the positive. We should always have the right intention, which relates to this. Once we see things for how they actually are, than you can have real, good intention. If you cannot see things how they actually are, than you will not have good intention, it will be tainted by selfishness. We have beautiful and powerful minds, we need to use that to make educated decisions to do the right things. You can't use the excuse of the using the right intentions to make selfish choices. People may see through it, or maybe they won't. More importantly you will see through them and YOU will continue to suffer.