THE 3 TRAININGS

THE 3 TRAININGS

―If, by giving up a lesser happiness, One could experience greater happiness, A wise person would renounce the lesser To behold the greater.‖

- Dhp. 290

The Buddha did not teach meditation in isolation. He taught the development of meditation as one aspect of developing the mind and body. In many of the discourses (Pali suttas) he stated the goal of his teaching to be the understanding of and elimination of stress and suffering in our lives. That meant, and he stated explicitly, that he did not teach a metaphysical belief system, palliative rituals, magic tricks, theology, or a world philosophy. His teachings were pragmatic and aimed directly toward the goal of eliminating stress and suffering. To achieve this goal the Buddha taught 3 trainings that are to be practiced simultaneously: ethical conduct (sila), concentration/meditation (samadhi), and wisdom (panna). These 3 trainings are further divided into 8 specific areas of practice: The Noble Eightfold Path describes the complete Buddhist path of practice. He called it the Middle Way between indulgence in sensual desire and self-neglect. Each of the factors of the noble eightfold path is called skillful. This word comes from the Pali term “ samma.” Samma can be translated as skillful, wholesome, wise, healthy, or right. While practicing the 3 trainings it is important always to balance our effort so that it is neither too slack nor too stern.

Over the centuries since the time of the Buddha, many people have tried to develop meditation without the aid of the other two trainings (sila and panna). This greatly reduces the efficacy of meditation. At SIM, meditation is taught as one important component of the 3 trainings. The 8 factors of the 3 trainings are listed in Table 1.