Noble Eightfold Path | Buddhism

Noble Eightfold Path

It is the Noble Eightfold Path, the way that leads to the cessation of suffering, namely: (a) Right View Samma-diṭṭhi - Wisdom (b) Right Thought Samma-sankappa - Wisdom (c) Right Speech Samma-vaca - Morality (d) Right Action Samma-kammanta - Morality (e) Right Livelihood Samma-ajiva - Morality (f) Right Effort Samma-vayama - Concentration (g) Right Mindfulness Samma-sati - Concentration (h) Right Concentration Samma-samādhi - Concentration

1. Right Understanding (Sammā-diṭṭhi) D.24 What, now, is Right Understanding? Understanding the Four Truths 1. To understand suffering; 2. to understand the origin of suffering; 3. to understand the extinction of suffering; 4. to understand the path that leads to the extinction of suffering. This is called Right Understanding. Understanding Merit and Demerit M. 9 Again, when the noble disciple understands what is karmically wholesome,

2. Right Thought (Sammā-sankappa) D. 22 What, now, is Right Thought? 1. Thought free from lust (nekkhamma-sankappa). 2. Thought free from ill-will (avyāpāda-sankappa). 3. Thought free from cruelty (avihimsā--sankappa). This is called Right Thought. Mundane and Super-mundane Thought M. 117 Now, Right Thought, I tell you, is of two kinds: 1. Thought free from lust, from ill-will, and from cruelty—this is called ‘ Mundane Right

3. Right Speech (Sammā-vācā) What now, is Right Speech? Abstaining From Lying A. X. 176 1. Herein someone avoids lying and abstains from it: He speaks the truth, is devoted to the truth, reliable, worthy of confidence, not a deceiver of men. Being at a meeting, or amongst people, or in the midst of his relatives, or in a society, or in the king’s court,

4. Right Action (Sammā-kammanta) A. X. 176 What, now, is Right Action? Abstaining From Killing 1. Herein someone avoids the killing of living beings, and abstains from it. Without stick or sword, conscientious, full of sympathy, he is desirous of the welfare of all living beings. Abstaining From Stealing 2. He avoids stealing, and abstains from it; what another person possesses of goods and chattels

5. Right Livelihood (Sammā-ājiva) What, now, is Right Livelihood? D. 22 1. When the noble disciple, avoiding a wrong way of living, gets his livelihood by a right way of living, this is called Right Livelihood . In the Majjhima-Nikāya, No. 117, it is said: ‘To practise deceit, treachery, soothsaying, trickery, usury: this is wrong livelihood.’ And in the Aṅguttara-Nikāya, V. 1 77, it is

6. Right Effort (Sammā-vāyāma) A. IV. 13, 14 What now is Right Effort? There are Four Great Efforts ; the effort to avoid, the effort to overcome, the effort to develop, and the effort to maintain. I. The Effort to Avoid (Saṁvara-apadhāna) What, now is the effort to Avoid ? Herein the disciple rouses his will to avoid the arising of evil, unwholesome things that

7. Right Mindfulness (Sammā-sati) What, now, is Right Mindfulness? The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna) D. 22 The only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, to the end of pain and grief, to the entering upon the right path and the realization of Nibbāna, is by the ‘ Four Foundations of Mindfulness ’. And which are

8. Right Concentration (Sammā-samādhi) M. 44 What, now, is Right Concentration? It’s Definition Having the mind fixed to a single object (cittekeggatā, lit. ‘ One-pointedness of mind ’): this is concentration. ‘ Right Concentration ’ (sammā-samādhi), in its widest sense, is the kind of mental concentration which is present in every wholesome state of consciousness (kusala-citta), and hence is accompanied by at least Right Thought