I recently had a entry on Cold callers where I put together a list of phone numbers which people believe to be spam. There have been quite a few comments lately and it really start me thinking more and trying to see if I should close that entry. I realised that another person who had a post on this had decided to close the topic due to the comments and I agree with his decision, please visit his blog for details. So I have decided to write a entry on Right Intention & Right Action.

This is not a easy topic because we can go into defining what right means and is there a absolute right and wrong. It might be easier to look at it in the way of cause and effect, what we have done will result in its consequences. Are these consequences good or bad depends on you. Let me start by defining what I meant by Right Intention & Right Action on the Buddhist view and from there talk about my intention of the cold callers entry and you can decide for yourself what you want to believe.

In Buddhism there is The Noble Eightfold Path which describes the way to the end of suffering Siddhartha Gautama. These are:

1. Right Understanding (View)
2. Right Intention (Thought)
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

A good source of finding out more details of Noble Eightfold Path is the Wiki, I won't go into details here for each one but will include some quotes for Right Intention and Right Action.

2. Right Intention

And what is right thought? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called right though.

4. Right Action

And what, monks, is right action? Abstaining from taking life, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from unchastity: This, monks, is called right action.

~ Magga-vibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Path

Another resources for the Noble Eightfold Path can be found on this page. At this moment I would just like to state my intention and let you decide if it's right or wrong. Please treat the entry "Cold Callers" as a source of information and the numbers stated there might not be spam. It's spam or not depends on you, some of us might find them useful, some of us might not. It's all up to you to decide. My intention was just to let you know and aware of it, how you want to react is up to you but I do suggest that you kindly tell these people you don't need an upgrade and both side won't get hard feelings over it. Just let it come and go, don't grad on to it as that will only hurt ourselves. We must learn to let go to find true happiness. I will now share one of my favorite quote from the Buddha.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. ~ Buddha

It's now for you to judge what's right for yourself. We shall now end with:

May everyone be happy,
may everyone be free from misery,
may no one ever be separated from their happiness,
may everyone have equanimity,
free from hatred and attachment.

Categories: Weblog, Buddhism