พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าพระนิพพานคือภาวะไม่โลภไม่โกรธไม่หลง และไขความอริยมรรคมีองค์ 8 ทีละข้อ โดยชี้ว่าสัมมาทิฏฐิเป็นรากฐานที่กำหนดว่าองค์มรรคอื่นจะพัฒนาไปได้ไกลแค่ไหนThe teacher explains that nibbana is the state free of greed, anger, and delusion, and unpacks each factor of the Noble Eightfold Path in turn, showing that right view is the foundation determining how far every other factor can develop.
A lay follower asked: he had heard a passage in which a wandering ascetic (paribbajaka) from another tradition in India once asked the Venerable Sariputta what nibbana was. Sariputta answered that it is freedom from greed, aversion, and delusion. The ascetic then asked how one reaches that state, and Sariputta answered: by developing the Noble Eightfold Path. Could the teacher explain how the Eightfold Path relates to freedom from greed, aversion, and delusion?
When the Wholesome Arises, One Abides Within the Triple Gem and Nibbana
The teacher explained that Sariputta's answer — that nibbana is freedom from greed, aversion, and delusion — reflects what happens the moment wholesome states arise: the mind and s present at that moment are , faith, moral shame and dread, non-greed, non-aversion, along with equanimity and many other wholesome mental factors arising together. When is established, the Triple Gem watches over that system, with nibbana behind it. Whoever abides within the wholesome system shines bright within the Triple Gem, and both that person and the Triple Gem shine bright at the center of nibbana. Sariputta's answer, therefore, accurately reflects the mechanism of the wholesome nature.
Unpacking the Eight Factors of the Path
The Buddha taught that as long as the Noble Path remains, the path and its fruit remain too — nibbana remains attainable. The Noble Eightfold Path is thus the middle way that leads directly to nibbana.
Right View means correct understanding. Someone with perfectly complete right view is an arahant; someone entirely filled with wrong view is a hell-being — two opposite extremes.
Right Intention concerns correct thought, which the teaching narrows to just three essentials: thoughts free of greed, thoughts free of ill-will, and thoughts free of harming. Greed arises from liking, and ill-will arises from disliking — this liking and disliking are exactly what uses as its tool for misdirection. Both greed and ill-will ultimately lead to harming oneself and others.
Right Speech means avoiding lying, harsh speech, divisive speech, and idle chatter. Right Action means avoiding harmful bodily conduct — not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct. Both are necessary because if greed and ill-will form the foundation, speech and action inevitably become dangerous.
Right Livelihood means an honest occupation that causes no harm to others — not trading in poisons, weapons, or human beings.
Right Effort is needed because people tend to exert themselves toward everything indiscriminately, without knowing what's worth pursuing and what isn't, wasting their limited lifetime. Effort should instead be directed toward wholesome states that draw in pure energy to purify im, and toward realizing the truth — since a human life is far too short to spend chasing everything.
Right Mindfulness is perhaps the single most crucial factor in the Eightfold Path. Its essence is: "Monks, you should hold clear awareness of body, feeling, mind, and mental objects, in order to eliminate covetousness and displeasure toward the world." This is the life-changing statement that transforms an ordinary person into a noble one — which is why the teacher repeats it every time he leads a meditation session, until it is committed to memory. To know the Eightfold Path by name but miss the essence of is a great pity.
Right Concentration develops from right mindfulness, producing sustained results that lead to higher states of mind and, ultimately, connection with the inner knower — which in turn shapes right view in the next round of development.
Right View Is the Foundation That Determines How Far Every Other Factor Can Develop
Every factor of the path — right intention, speech, action, livelihood, mindfulness, or concentration — depends fundamentally on right view as its foundation. The more correct and complete right view becomes, the further every other factor can develop. Observing practitioners who reach jhana states easily, this is usually because they rely on the inner knower's guidance during a period when accumulated merit is ripening fully. Right view is thus the very link that connects us with the inner knower — or, put another way, the inner knower is what guides the emergence of right view at each particular level.
What Does a "Round" Mean?
A follow-up question came in via chat: what does the word "round" mean? The teacher explained that a "round" simply means a level. Take right view as an example: each person's outlook differs because each person's foundation differs — the proportions of wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral qualities within each person are never equal. Correct understanding arises from one's underlying disposition and whatever study of the wholesome Dhamma one has done, at whatever level that currently stands. This becomes the frame that determines how far every other factor of the path can develop. As one progresses through the eight factors in sequence, reaching , thin out, and connection with the inner knower is made — which then elevates right view to a higher level, producing a "new round," a new level, and the process continues developing further. How far one progresses each round depends on the right view guided by the inner knower at that time, until one finally reaches the eye of Dhamma and true -, which relies directly on the wisdom of itself.