EIGHTFOLD PATH

Pali atthangika-magga, Sanskrit astangika-marga doctrine taught by Gautama Buddha in his first sermon at the deer park near Benares (Varanasi), in India. Together with the Four Noble Truths, of which it forms a part, it sums up the whole of Buddhist teaching. It is also called the Middle Path, as it steers a course between the sensual pleasures of the materialists and the self-mortification of the ascetics. Those who follow the noble Eightfold Path are freed from the suffering that is an essential part of human existence and are led ultimately to Nirvana, or Enlightenment. Some Buddhist teachings have held that to enter this path in itself implies an experience of Nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of: (1) right understandingfaith in the Buddhist view of the nature of existence in terms of the Four Noble Truths; (2) right thoughtthe resolve to practice the faith; (3) right speechavoidance of falsehoods, slander, or abusive speech; (4) right actionabstention from taking life, stealing, and improper sexual behaviour; (5) right livelihoodrejection of occupations not in keeping with Buddhist principles; (6) right effortavoidance of bad and development of good mental states; (7) right mindfulnessawareness of the body, feelings, and thought; and (8) right concentrationmeditation.