Right View is No View

The first of the Buddha’s Eightfold Path is clear view, or right view. Right view means clarity. Right view means letting go of "my" view to be able to perceive the moment. We all know what this is like. There are times we are involved in an argument, and in the middle of it we start laughing because we realize how stupid it is. In that moment we can see clearly.

To see clearly, we have to let go of our own perspective, our own opinion of right and wrong, what I should do and what you should do. If we can let go of that, then it’s possible to have what the Buddha called Right View. Sometimes it is said, Right View is the complete Eightfold Path. If we can keep Right View which is No View, not my personal view but before my view, then it’s all taken care of. It is easy to say, hard to do.

By Zen Master Bon Soeng