Welcome, Jigme, to the Fruit of the Contemplative Life forum. It sounds like you might be coming from one of the Tibetan traditions. I happen to subscribe to the Noble Eightfold Path, but I have my own interpretation of it, which has come from leading a daily contemplative life, as well as from leading several forums that are focused upon Buddhist philosophy, religious experiences and the contemplative life. Along the way I have learned from experience on the cushion, as well as from fellow contemplatives with attainment.
Essentially this forum is all about attainment, and not so much about practice, but we discuss practice from the point of view of a practice that leads to attainment. From experience I have found few contemplative traditions value attainment, thus the need for a forum to discuss it.
So, within the context of the Noble Eightfold Path, as it is defined as a methodology that leads to attainment, then the first fold is right understanding, and that is understanding that suffering exists, which is caused by our lust for attachments, and there is a way out of it, which is following the Noble Eightfold Path, and most importantly, one can become enlightened in this very lifetime, if one is willing to make the effort, and that enlightenment is defined in traversing 8 stages of religious experience, which are defined in the suttas as jhana and samadhi.
The next three are all about avoiding harmful behavior, or leading an ethical lifestyle, which is avoiding that lust for attachments. This is basically doing your best to avoid the 7 deadly sins/10 Hindrances/fetters.
The 5th step is right livelihood, which is finding a livelihood that is conducive to upholding all of the 8 fold path. This involves making for
yourself a peaceful and non-stressful lifestyle, that does not take a great amount of effort, so that most of your effort can be directed to leading a contemplative life, as well as a fair amount of study time so that you can unpack your belief systems.
For instance, just because something is written in a highly regarding holy book does not mean that it is not a complete lie. Maybe
it was mistranslated for 2,000 years, or maybe it was a lie written in to the holy book to keep the priesthood fat and sassy.
The 6th step is right effort, which is working diligently on all 8 steps of the N8P.
The 7th step is the practice of meditation and self-awareness. There are countless meditation techniques, so which one should you engage in? It just so happens most people, who have the genuine experience of jhana, practiced anapanasati, not vipassana meditation. Secondly non of the teachers and organizations that aggressively market a meditation technique called vipassana meditation, recognize jhana.
The 8th step of the N8P is the religious experience. The religious experience is not concentration; however, it has been mistranslated as that. It is an altered state of consciousness that arises on its own if you lead the right lifestyle, which is leading a contemplative life. It is characterized by a non-dual experience and intuitive, revelatory insight. One does not develop it after one develops insight, nor does one develop a non-dual experience before or after. Claiming so is an indication of a teacher who has no attainment.
If you are interested in enlightenment in this very lifetime, then you will have to realize all religions are corrupt. Buddhism is no exception. So, most of what is passed off as the teachings of the Buddha is garbage. This is why it is necessary to unpack your belief systems through rigorous study and rigorous daily meditation practice. If this works for you so far, then we can discuss finer details.
May you be successful in attaining enlightenment in this very lifetime,
jhananda
