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In his many teachings, the Buddha was very clear about his view of the world, which he liked to call “this saha world.” Saha is a Sanskrit word meaning impossible to grasp, or insubstantial. It’s sometimes translated as this floating world, this vaporous or dew-drop world. Literally saha means “rosebush-like”—beautifully replete with flowers, but thorny to those who choose to try to grab it too tightly. This presents another vivid view of samsara, or conditioned existence.

Right View is the reliable touchstone that reminds us to look at the world without any delusions or distortions about reality, or ourselves; to see roses where there are roses, thorns where there are thorns. Right View emphasizes the development of wisdom or prajna, which at its essence means knowing what is, knowing how things work, and knowing oneself and others.

Long before psychologists were talking about “reality testing,” “delusional systems,” or “denial,” Buddha Dharma was exhorting spiritual seekers to know and understand themselves; it was telling them to look at the world realistically and see the truth of exactly what is taking place in the here and now at any given moment in time. When we open our wisdom eyes, we don’t necessarily get to choose what we see. It’s just what is. This can be challenging, yet when we move away from fantasy and see how things actually are, we are freed from illusion and can begin to live more fully in accord with reality.

GETTING REAL, BECOMING CLUED IN

Can you see the world as it really is; are you ready to see yourself as you really are? We’re on the cutting edge of the new millennium, and we have new terms to describe human behavior that the Buddha first talked about centuries ago. “Clueless” is a workable, colorful word that on some level can be applied to most of us, for at least part of our lives. “Without a clue,” “out of it,” “in a fog,” “not in touch with the real world,” “can’t see the forest for the trees,” “controlled by fantasies,” “spaced out.” We could go on at some length, but all these words and terms reach the same conclusions.

Aren’t we all somewhat unrealistic and even fantasy driven? Don’t we all spend too much time in foggy mental states? Don’t we mess up our lives because we don’t process reality as it’s objectively taking place? We tell ourselves stories about our lives; we tell ourselves what we want to hear, and in so doing we create and perpetuate fantasies. This first step on the Noble Eight-Fold Path tells seekers to wipe the dust from their eyes, open their inner wisdom eyes, and discover clear vision. It tells us all that the time has come to “get real.” Or at least as real as we get in this saha world.

Right View brings us in touch with some of the most important concepts in Buddhist philosophy. How do you perceive life, death, impermanence, suffering, dissatisfaction, and cause and effect? Do we really believe, and know, that we reap what we sow, or do we regard that as just another cliché? In the West, we are typically conditioned to push these serious matters aside, telling ourselves that we will deal with them later. Buddhism says deal with them now, and you will transform your life.

THE DYSFUNCTIONAL MYTHS

WE LIVE BY

Self-knowledge is in our own higher self-interest. Wisdom works for us. During his lifetime, the Buddha was asked a great many questions by his followers and others. Some of these dealt with large matters such as the origin of the universe; where we come from and where we are going; and what happens beyond death. But many other questions examined the specific issues of daily reality and everyday life. People faced the same kinds of issues we face now, but with different window dressing. In the time of the Buddha, men and women were arguing, gossiping, judging others, losing their perspective, overreacting, sexualizing their experiences, chasing after greener pastures, obsessing about nonessentials, feeling lonely, and creating too many pipe dreams. Nothing has fundamentally altered.