I found the site while searching for information on Buddahism, so I am assuming that the those who answer will do so from a Buddhist perspective.

I have read through the 8 fold path "Right mindfulness, right actions, right conduct etc" (not in that order of course) My question is, how do you know that these teachings will lead to less suffering? Will thinking the right way, stop my son from developing cancer and causing pain to our whole family? Will being aware of how my actions affect others stop me from getting into a very painful car accident? I don't think it will, so how much suffering will actually be lessened by the 8 fold path?

Thank you JaiLee

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Originally Posted by JaiLee

how much suffering will actually be lessened by the 8 fold path?

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Most of our suffering is not caused by what happens to us, but by our mistaken interpretation of what happens to us. The 8-fold path can alleviate the part of our suffering that is caused by such misinterpretation.

But then, I'm not a practicing Buddhist, just an ordinary non-religious re-interpreter, so I could be wrong about that. My own path has fewer than 8 folds.

As ordinaryguy said it is all in the way we deal with things. Bad things happen to good people but you have to learn a positive perspective on handling it.

Joni Erackson Tada was a high dive swimmer and now she is a quadriplegic. Instead of pitying herself she taught herself how to draw using her mouth instead of her hand. Then she started an organization to help others overcome their problems and they give away wheel chairs and so forth.

Joni and Friends

So it is about how you turn a problems and tragedies into the positive. Many organizations were started that way. Look at John Walsh from American's Most Wanted' we may never have had this organization if his son never died. It is really sad, but true.

Christians are to do the same thing -- reframe the bad and figure out what good can come from it. Don't let Evil win.

As I understand Buddhism, the key to understanding the eightfold path is the four noble truths:

1. The world is full of suffering
2. Desire (attachment) is the real cause of suffering
3. Conquering desire is the only way to happiness
4. Conquering desire must be done the right way (which is the 8fold path)

I suspect that over the past 2500 years Buddhists have found that following the 8fold path helps them conquer attachment. If one is not attached to outcomes, positive or negative, one can take them all as equal - hence no suffering. How well does this work in practice? Ask the Buddha. :)

I'm an Eastern Orthodox Christian, and in my tradition we pray that we may be able to be free from passions. Passions are the addiction to outcomes and in general to behaviors and things that distract us from true spiritual growth - as far as I can tell, this is identical to the Buddhist "doctrine" of detachment. As St John Climacus wrote, whether others speak ill of us or good of us should be the same to us. If we are attached to being spoken of well, we will suffer if we are not spoken of well. BTW, there's a tradition of this in Western Christianity too - see "Abandonment to Divine Providence" by Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

Interestingly, the tools used by an Orthodox Christian to attain passionlessness are not all that different from those used by the Buddhist to attain detachment - askesis (renouncing pleasures of the flesh), mindfulness, stillness, almsgiving, the Jesus Prayer (meditation), guarding the tongue, etc.

Vasily

I do not have an organized religion, but I do believe in spirituality. There is nothing more that I can add to the answers you already have posted. You should have your answer already. If you do not, then you did not ask the question you really wanted to ask. Let go and gain control!