In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the first
teaching that the Buddha delivered after his awakening, he describes the
concept of The Middle Way, or the practice of avoiding extremes.
The extremes are the path of self-indulgence at one end of the
spectrum, and the path of self-mortification at the other end. Self-indulgence includes the addiction to
sense-pleasures. Self-mortification includes addiction to feelings of pain and
unworthiness. Also known as The Noble
Eightfold path, The Middle Way countenances right understanding, right thought,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness,
and right concentration.
It has become difficult in our modern, fast-paced world, with
instant communication, media sensationalism, and social pressures urging us to
the extremes, to find and maintain a path of balance. Cultural pressures impel us toward extreme
archetypes of human beauty and success: the thin but busty woman, the man with
six-pack abs, the ever advancing and upwardly mobile career, and endlessly
increasing earning power, to name just a few.
How then can we find The Middle Way in the midst of these societal
demands?
First, we must slow down and become aware of the forces driving
us to these extremes. We must learn to recognize when these forces play to our
lower ignoble impulses rather that to our higher noble values. Cultivating the skill to do this in the
present moment allows us to make different decisions, to make choices that will
manifest our higher self. And then we
must nurture the habit of being proactive in creating opportunities for
expressing our higher self rather than doing so only in reaction to what
happens. In these ways, we can take
control of balancing our lives along The Middle Way.
