When we speak of action we always mean doing Our conduct, our behaviour, our deeds, everything that we do, must be such that we can properly call each act “Right Action”. There is an ancient proverb that says: “Actions speak louder than words”. Good words ought to be coupled with good deeds. No matter how cleverly we may try always to speak in a good way, we shall fail to disguise our true nature unless our acts are the same as our words.

It is not always easy to understand the Eightfold Path when we take the points one by one. Speech and action often go together. They show to all who know us what is going on in our minds. For this lesson, however, we shall consider only speech, and leave action in its usual fourth place. But as we go on with trying to understand the meaning of Right Speech, we ought to take note of the fact that Right Action follows immediately after Right Speech. There is a close connection between the two.

As we learned in the preceding lesson, good understanding and good thinking go together like twins that are never separated. But, to Buddhists, the use of the word thought in connection with our religion has a very special meaning. We are all familiar with what is meant when someone says “I have made up my mind.” We know he has decided what he wants to do and is determined to do it. We can not gain Right Understanding without thinking what is resolute, that has Right Aim. Buddhists who wish to get the most out of the Dharma of the Blessed One must have their minds made up to get Right Understanding and to use that understanding in their daily lives.

We can not fully understand this point of the Noble Eightfold Path unless we realize how closely Right thought and Right Action go together, because earning or living requires both thought and action. Every boy and girl ought to give serious thought to selecting the way they plan to earn their livelihood when they grow up. There are many important points to think about.

Now that we have memorised the eight points of the Buddha’s Noble Path, let us try to gain a good clear idea of what each of these points mean. First of all, we ought to find out what is meant by “Right”. In the case of the first point, Right Understanding, we can say Right Understanding means correct understanding, the best understanding, understanding that is true, understanding that is not half-true, half-false, but is the very best and most complete understanding we can get. If it is less than our best, then it is not Right Understanding. This means that each one of us must try hard to get a really good understanding of the Buddha’s Path. If we fail to make a good start, then we are like the man lost in the desert.

All our Buddhist religion is based on what we call “The Four Noble Truths.” In plain language they are: All life knows sorrow (unhappiness). This sorrow has a cause. Sorrow can be brought to an end. The way to bring sorrow to an end.

As a rule, these five rules are recited after the Three Refuges and are usually considered as a necessary part of the ceremony of becoming a Buddhist. Every one who understands these rules knows it is good and wise to follow them all, but many persons have weak characters and do not make a real attempt to be guided by these Five Rules that all Buddhists must follow. They are: The rule against killing. The rule against stealing. The rule against impurity. The rule against untruthfulness. The rule against intoxicating liquors and drugs.

In order to become a Buddhist it is not necessary to go through any set ceremony or any form of “baptism” or to shave one’s head or adopt any special type of clothing. The followers of some religions require the male members to wear beards and dress their hair in a certain style. Still other religions require their followers to wear coloured marks on their foreheads and dress in a distinctive way. We have none of this in Buddhism. The only real way to be a Buddhist is to know Lord Buddha’s teaching and to follow it. But, as a rule, most people who decide to follow the Buddha’s teaching like to have some sort of simple ceremony to indicate that they have made this important decision. The ceremony we usually employ is known as “taking the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts.” This lesson will be about the Three Refuges and what they mean to us. It is not important whether the little ceremony is all in Pali, or Sanskrit or Chinese or English. What is in the heart is the important thing.

The Lord Buddha had told us he had only one main teaching and all of it concerns the cause of unhappiness and how to think and act in ways that will bring us freedom from unhappiness. All living things want to be free from pain and other forms of unhappiness. Even little worms on the footpath feel pain and thus are unhappy if we step on them. There are many forms of life, some low, others high, but even the least developed living things seek happiness in their own ways. If we go to a river or a brook, we see that some fishes like to be close to the top of the water, near the sunlight. If something frightens them away from the surface and they have to go deeply into the darkness of the cold water, then they are unhappy and return to the upper, sunlit, warm water as soon as they feel it is safe. If the fishes that like the deep, dark, cold waters are frightened into the warm, upper waters, then they are unhappy because each of the many, many forms of life is seeking happiness in i

One fine day about twenty-six centuries ago, a son was born to King Suddhodhana and Queen Mahamaya of the country of the Sakyas in northern India. The child was named Siddhartha, Queen Mahamaya died. A hermit was called to the palace to predict the prince’s future. This sage foretold that Prince Siddhartha would become either a Buddha or else a ruler of the world. The hermit foretold that if the prince saw four certain sights he would renounce the world and become a Buddha. These four sights were declared to be an old man bent with age, a sick man in great pain, a dead man and a wandering beggar. The king desired his son to grow up to be a ruler of the world and decided to keep all knowledge of pain and sorrow from him. The Gautama family, into which Siddhartha was born, was very ambitious for the young prince.