-- BUDISMO PRAGMATICO, HUMOR Y CIENCIA ---------------------------------------------------------- PRAGMATIC BUDDHISM, HUMOR AND SCIENCE

Starting point: Characteristics of existence
Every school of thought, be it a philosophical system, a religious creed or a scientific hypothesis, is almost always based on a few assumptions or definitions on which the theoretical framework is built. The clearer the initial propositions (clear in what they mean, not in the concurrence with or acceptance of what they imply) the easier it is to build on them the body of a doctrine.

    Communism begins in the administration of the material resources of a society by a communitarian organization. Christianity begins in “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen…” Classical mechanics initiates with the three laws of motion of Isaac Newton —inertia, acceleration, reciprocal action. Similarly the starting point of Buddhism lies in the three following statements, known as the three characteristics of existence (or of phenomena) and identified respectively as impermanence, (propensity to) suffering and impersonality:

There are two extremes that cannot be pursued by someone who is in the quest of perfection. The first gives loose rein to the pleasures of the senses and is vulgar, harmful and dissolute. The second is devoted to the severe austerity and it is vulgar, harmful and painful. There is a middle way that I have glimpsed and breaks away from these two extremes, generates knowledge and leads to equanimity, mental emancipation and inner awakening. And what is this middle path? It is the noble path of the eight practices or factors: right opinion, right thought, right speech, right action, a right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right ecstasy.

Later in the same speech, the Sage of Sakya repeats the list of the eight practices when he describes the fourth and last of the noble truths: "And this is the truth of the noble path to the cessation of suffering: the cessation of suffering is the constant march of the noble way of the eight practices."
Like many terms of the Pali language, the word “right” presents some complications.  As the common adjective of all the eight factors, "right" does not refer to an arbitrary standard or a moral judgement imposed by someone—it is not the opposite of wrong or dishonest. The modifier of the eight noble practices is actually an adverb in Pali (not an adjective) that means "properly, the way it should be." This is the sense with which the word “right” is to be interpreted.

    Another wording in the Teachings, where Pali-to-English difficulties are evident and in which accuracy is most critical for understanding, is in the denomination of some of the eight practices. Due to the intrinsic complexity of any language conversion, there are several translation alternatives for some of the eight factors. In the case of the Pali Canon, the problem is significantly aggravated because the required translation is from an eastern language which has been dead for centuries to a western one in permanent evolution.

Nevertheless, leaving aside translation problems, what is really important is not the word that identifies each factor, but the meaning behind such word, as shown in Table 1. The first column of this table lists the eight factors. The second column contains the definitions Siddhattha presents in his discourses and conversations for each of the eight practices, pointing out that in some cases the definitions of the Master place more emphasis on what the practice excludes—what should not be done—than what it recommends. The third column shows the relevant definitions of the words chosen, as they appear in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, choosing for each factor the sense that best reflect the message and the intent of Gotama.