Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path (Sanskrit: आर्याष्टाङ्गमार्ग, romanized: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1][2] or Eight Right Paths (Sanskrit: अष्टसम्यङ्मार्ग, romanized: aṣṭasamyaṅmārga)[3] is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth,[4][5] in the form of nirvana.[6][7]
"Eightfold Path" redirects here. For other uses, see Eightfold Path (disambiguation).
Translations of
The Noble Eightfold Path
आर्याष्टाङ्गमार्ग
(IAST: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)
अरिय अट्ठङ्गिक मग्ग
(ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga)
অষ্টাঙ্গিক আর্য মার্গ
(Astangik ārya mārga
Oșŧangik Azzo Maggo
Oșŧangik Arzo Margo)
မဂ္ဂင်ရှစ်ပါး
(MLCTS: mɛʔɡɪ̀ɰ̃ ʃɪʔ pá)
អរិយដ្ឋង្គិកមគ្គ
(UNGEGN: areyadthangkikameak)
ᠣᠦᠲᠦᠶᠲᠠᠨᠦ
ᠨᠠᠢᠮᠠᠨ
ᠭᠡᠰᠢᠭᠦᠨᠦ
ᠮᠥᠷ
Найман гишүүт хутагт мөр
(qutuγtan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör)
உன்னத எட்டு மடங்கு பாதை
Waluhang Mahal na Landas
ᜏᜀᜎᜓᜑᜀᜈᜄ ᜋᜀᜑᜀᜎ ᜈᜀ ᜎᜀᜈᜇᜀᜐ
อริยมรรคมีองค์แปด
(RTGS: Ariya Mak Mi Ong Paet)
The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union'; alternatively, equanimous meditative awareness).[8]
In early Buddhism, these practices started with understanding that the body-mind works in a corrupted way (right view), followed by entering the Buddhist path of self-observance, self-restraint, and cultivating kindness and compassion; and culminating in dhyana or samadhi, which reinforces these practices for the development of the body-mind.[9] In later Buddhism, insight (prajñā) became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the path,[9][10] in which the "goal" of the Buddhist path came to be specified as ending ignorance and rebirth.[11][12][13][5][14]
The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal summaries of the Buddhist teachings, taught to lead to Arhatship.[15] In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila (morality), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (insight). In Mahayana Buddhism, this path is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which is believed to go beyond Arhatship to full Buddhahood.[15]
In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), in which its eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.
Etymology and nomenclature[edit]
The Pali term ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga (Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga) is typically translated in English as "Noble Eightfold Path". This translation is a convention started by the early translators of Buddhist texts into English, just like ariya sacca is translated as Four Noble Truths.[16][17] However, the phrase does not mean the path is noble, rather that the path is of the noble people (Pali: ariya meaning 'enlightened, noble, precious people').[18] The term magga (Sanskrit: mārga) means "path", while aṭṭhaṅgika (Sanskrit: aṣṭāṅga) means "eightfold". Thus, an alternate rendering of ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga is "eightfold path of the noble ones",[5][19][20] or Eightfold Ariya Path".[21][22][23]
All eight elements of the Path begin with the word samyañc (in Sanskrit) or sammā (in Pāli) which means "right, proper, as it ought to be, best".[21] The Buddhist texts contrast samma with its opposite miccha.[21]
The Noble Eightfold Path, in the Buddhist traditions, is the direct means to nirvana and brings a release from the cycle of life and death in the realms of samsara.[24][25]
Practice[edit]
Order of practice[edit]
Vetter notes that originally the path culminated in the practice of dhyana/samadhi as the core soteriological practice.[9] According to the Pali and Chinese canon, the samadhi state (right concentration) is dependent on the development of preceding path factors:[29][106][107]
Schools of Buddhism and their views of the Eightfold Path[edit]
Theravada presentations of the path[edit]
Theravada Buddhism is a diverse tradition and thus includes different explanations of the path to awakening. However, the teachings of the Buddha are often encapsulated by Theravadins in the basic framework of the Four Noble Truths and the Eighthfold Path.[118][119]
Some Theravada Buddhists also follow the presentation of the path laid out in Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga. This presentation is known as the "Seven Purifications" (satta-visuddhi).[120] This schema and its accompanying outline of "insight knowledges" (vipassanā-ñāṇa) is used by modern influential Theravadin scholars, such Mahasi Sayadaw (in his "The Progress of Insight") and Nyanatiloka Thera (in "The Buddha's Path to Deliverance").[121][122]
Mahayana presentations of the path[edit]
Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a Bodhisattva.[123] A Bodhisattva refers to one who is on the path to buddhahood.[124] The term Mahāyāna was originally a synonym for Bodhisattvayāna or "Bodhisattva Vehicle".[125][126][127]
In the earliest texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the path of a bodhisattva was to awaken the bodhicitta.[128] Between the 1st and 3rd century CE, this tradition introduced the Ten Bhumi doctrine, which means ten levels or stages of awakening.[128] This development was followed by the acceptance that it is impossible to achieve Buddhahood in one (current) lifetime, and the best goal is not nirvana for oneself, but Buddhahood after climbing through the ten levels during multiple rebirths.[129] Mahāyāna scholars then outlined an elaborate path, for monks and laypeople, and the path includes the vow to help teach Buddhist knowledge to other beings, so as to help them cross samsara and liberate themselves, once one reaches the Buddhahood in a future rebirth.[123] One part of this path are the pāramitā (perfections, to cross over), derived from the Jatakas tales of Buddha's numerous rebirths.[130][131]
The doctrine of the bodhisattva bhūmis was also eventually merged with the Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika schema of the "five paths" by the Yogacara school.[132] This Mahāyāna "five paths" presentation can be seen in Asanga's Mahāyānasaṃgraha.[132]
The Mahāyāna texts are inconsistent in their discussion of the pāramitās, and some texts include lists of two, others four, six, ten and fifty-two.[133][134][135] The six paramitas have been most studied, and these are:[130][135][136]
Cognitive psychology[edit]
The noble eightfold path has been compared to cognitive psychology; Gil Fronsdal says the right view factor can be interpreted to mean how one's mind views the world, and how that leads to patterns of thought, intention and actions.[145] In contrast, Peter Randall states that it is the seventh factor or right mindfulness that may be thought in terms of cognitive psychology, wherein the change in thought and behavior are linked.[146]