Neecha's Blog

View and thought are given separate distinctions in the The Noble Eightfold Path:

1. Right View
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Focus
8. Right Concentration

That is because the Noble Eightfold Path isn’t just a numbered list, it is a path where the ordering actually matters. The first step on the path is Right View. With right view in place, right thought will follow. With right thought, right speech will follow, and so on and so forth.

Often people will ask about the difference between right view and right thought. It almost appears they are the same, right? Well, they aren’t. A view or perception is a general notion about something that isn’t situation specific. Examples of views are:

1. What is given must be returned
2. Appearances matter
3. Being rich is preferable
4. Animals are the food of humans
5. Beauty is desirable

Thoughts are concepts formed from views, brought out by different circumstances. Examples of thoughts that can follow from just the first view listed above are:

1. Sue has been borrowing my things since we were kids. I can’t believe she’s such a bad friend that she wouldn’t even loan me her handbag. I was going to return it. What’s the big deal?
2. My old classmate took me out to dinner the last time I visited them. His family is in town for a week. No matter how much they protest, I am taking them out and paying for dinner.
3. Marvin insulted me in front of our boss to make himself look good. Just wait. When I have solid proof of what a fake he is, I’m going to make sure everyone in the office knows.

From just one single view that what is given must be returned, countless thoughts can follow. Those thoughts then generate a chain of speech, actions,  livelihood, effort, focus, and concentration. That is why it is so important that the view that starts off the path is a right view.

This is where it is important to distinguish views from thoughts. When you apply impermanence only to the thought that relates to the issue in front of you, you’re only breaking off a tiny twig on a giant redwood. More twigs will sprout for every one twig you manage to eliminate.

But when you apply impermanence to the view (by digging up enough personal examples of both when the permanent view is true and when the view is false, and then establishing what the right view is), you are cutting off a major branch on the huge tree. In doing so, you effectively cut off those small twigs and leaves, too.