The first rung on the ladder of the Buddhist eightfold path is Right Understanding, or Right View. This one has to do with the importance of a spiritual practice at the centre of your life which is a way of contemplating what really matters and seeing things for how they truly are. Having the right view is never about being dogmatic or having a rigid belief system. This type of understanding is open minded and it sets the stage for the approach or direction we want to take in our lives. This is also an understanding that our choices and our intentions shape who we are and how we live.

Right understanding is knowing what causes suffering and what ends suffering, which pathways leads to good outcomes and which create a mess. Also understanding the law of karma, that every action causes a reaction and being able to see how your thoughts and actions lead to wholesome or unwholesome states.

For an example, generosity is an act of kindness because the intention behind giving is to offer some of yourself while you also are letting go of something (what you are giving). You can also give in a way that you desire to receive something back for your act of giving. Knowing your intention behind an act or a thought is clear seeing. This kind of clarity comes when you can drop the grasp on thinking about the story you are creating and being open to what's really happening. Can you notice the difference between being lost in thought and being mindful of thought?

Wisdom illuminates what is arising, like light shining onto darkness. Feeling into the rawness of this moment with presence of being is to allow the spiritual side of you to come forth and view what is happening from the inside out. Right understanding is about taking in the sensory input and then interpreting how our perception influences how we feel. How we feel is what our mind state becomes. Our mind state produces our thoughts which lead to action or inaction.

So how do we get to have right understanding? It is by practicing intentional thoughts of gratitude, loving kindness, good will, and letting go of having things your own way. So then we can strengthen our ability to soften. We become less reactive to what arises, and calmness can replace any fear response, or sense of lacking. This in turn makes us see clearly and be level-headed. When we are clear, we can be open and then also make good decisions... so its all an upward spiral.

Reflect: Which views of yours cause good and which cause harm? See how alluring unwholesome thoughts are in your mind, and if you can be calm in your body, can you refrain from that which causes you to seek out that which leads to any degree of harm.