Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga;

Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1] is an early summary of the
path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara,
the painful cycle of rebirth.[2][3]

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').[4] 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, The eight spoke Dharma wheel
which re-inforces these practices for the development of the symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path
body-mind. [5][6][7][8] In later Buddhism, insight (Prajñā)
became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a
different concept and structure of the path,[5][9] in which the Translations of
"goal" of the Buddhist path came to be specified as ending The Noble Eightfold Path
ignorance and rebirth. [10][11][12][3][13][14]
Sanskrit आया ा माग
(IAST:
The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)
Theravada Buddhism, taught to lead to Arhatship.[15] In the
Pali अ रय अ ङिगक म ग
Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila
(ariya aṭṭhaṅgika
(morality), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (insight). In
magga)
Mahayana Buddhism, this path is contrasted with the Bodhisattva
path, which is believed to go beyond Arahatship to full Bengali অটাি ক আয মাগ
Buddhahood.[15] (Aṭāṅgika ārya mārga)
Burmese မဂင် ှစ်ပါး
In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often (IPA: [mɛʔɡɪ̀ɴ ʃɪʔ pá])
represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), in
Chinese 八正道
which its eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.
Japanese 八正道
(rōmaji: Hasshōdō)
Khmer អរ ិយដងិ កមគ
Contents (UNGEGN:
Etymology and nomenclature areyadthangkikameak)
The Eightfold Path Korean 팔정도
Origin (RR: Paljeongdo)
The Eight Divisions Sinhala ආ ය අ ටා◌ ක
Liberation මා ගය
Threefold division Tibetan འཕགས་པའི་ལམ་ཡན་ལག་
Tenfold Path
བད་པ་
Further explanation Wylie: 'phags
Right view
 Theravada pa’i lam yan lag
Right resolve brgyad pa
Right speech THL: pakpé lam
Right action yenlak gyépa
Right livelihood Thai อริยมรรคมีองคแปด
Right effort (RTGS: Ariya Mak Mi
Right mindfulness Ong Paet)
Right concentration
Vietnamese Bát chính đạo
Samadhi
Glossary of Buddhism
Practice
Mindfulness
Practice
Order of practice
Gender
Cognitive psychology
See also
Notes
References
Sources
External links

Etymology and nomenclature

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: arya 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",[3][19][20] or "eightfold Aryan 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 Eightfold Path

Origin
According to Indologist Tilmann Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as
simple as the term the middle way.[5] In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the
description of the eightfold path.[5] Tilmann Vetter and historian Rod Bucknell both note that longer
descriptions of "the path" can be found in the early texts, which can be condensed into the eightfold
path.[5][24][note 1]
The Eight Divisions
The eight Buddhist practices in
the Noble Eightfold Path
are:[27][note 2]

1. Right View: our actions

have consequences,
death is not the end, and
our actions and beliefs
have consequences
after death. The Buddha
followed and taught a
successful path out of The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism
this world and the other
world (heaven and
underworld/hell).[28][29][30][31][note 3] Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and
rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when "insight" became central to
Buddhist soteriology.[32][33]
2. Right Resolve or Intention: the giving up home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant
in order to follow the path; this concept aims at peaceful renunciation, into an environment
of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to loving kindness), away from cruelty (to compassion).[34]
Such an environment aids contemplation of impermanence, suffering, and non-Self.[34]
3. Right Speech: no lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says about him
to cause discord or harm their relationship.[27]
4. Right Conduct or Action: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct
5. Right Livelihood: Gaining ones livelihood by benefiting others also not selling weapons,
poisons or intoxicants
6. Right Effort: preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and generating wholesome
states, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). This includes indriya-samvara, "guarding
the sense-doors," restraint of the sense faculties.[35][34]
7. Right Mindfulness (sati; Satipatthana; Sampajañña): "retention," being mindful of the
dhammas ("teachings," "elements") that are beneficial to the Buddhist path.[36][note 4] In the
vipassana movement, sati is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being
conscious of what one is doing;[38] this encourages the awareness of the impermanence of
body, feeling and mind, as well as to experience the five aggregates (skandhas), the five
hindrances, the four True Realities and seven factors of awakening.[34]
8. Right samadhi (Passaddhi; Ekaggata; sampasadana): practicing four stages of dhyāna
("meditation"), which includes samadhi proper in the second stage, and reinforces the
development of the bojjhagā, culminating into upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness.[39][8]
In the Theravada tradition and the Vipassana movement, this is interpreted as ekaggata,
concentration or one-pointedness of the mind, and supplemented with Vipassana-
meditation, which aims at insight.

Liberation
Following the Noble Eightfold Path leads to liberation in the form of nirvana:[40][41]

(...) Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the ancient path, the
ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. I followed that
 path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of aging & death, direct knowledge of the
origination of aging & death, direct knowledge of the cessation of aging & death, direct
knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of aging & death. I followed that path.
Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth... becoming... clinging... craving...
feeling... contact... the six sense media... name-&-form... consciousness, direct knowledge of
the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct
knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.

— The Buddha, Nagara Sutta, Samyutta Nikaya ii.124, Translated by Thanissaro

Bhikkhu[42][43]

Threefold division
The Noble Eightfold Path is sometimes divided into three basic divisions, as follows:[44]

Division Eightfold Path factors

3. Right speech

Moral virtue[33] (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) 4. Right action

5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort

Meditation[33] (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi) 7. Right mindfulness

8. Right concentration
1. Right view
Insight, wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)
2. Right resolve

This order is a later development, when discriminating insight (prajna) became central to Buddhist
soteriology, and came to be regarded as the culmination of the Buddhist path.[45] Yet, Majjhima Nikaya
117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, describes the first seven practices as requisites for right samadhi. According
to Vetter, this may have been the original soteriological practice in early Buddhism.[5]

"Moral virtues" (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla) group consists of three paths: right speech, right action and
right livelihood.[33] The word śīla though translated by English writers as linked to "morals or ethics",
states Bhikkhu Bodhi, is in ancient and medieval Buddhist commentary tradition closer to the concept of
discipline and disposition that "leads to harmony at several levels – social, psychological, karmic and
contemplative".[46] Such harmony creates an environment to pursue the meditative steps in the Noble
Eightfold Path by reducing social disorder, preventing inner conflict that result from transgressions,
favoring future karma-triggered movement through better rebirths, and purifying the mind.[46][47]

The meditation group ("samadhi") of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the
mind.[48][49] Right effort and mindfulness calm the mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states
and habitual patterns and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non-automatic
responses, the bojjhagā (seven factors of awakening). The practice of dhyana reinforces these
developments, leading to upekkha (equanimity) and mindfulness.[39][8] According to the Theravada
commentarial tradition and the contemporary Vipassana movement, the goal in this group of the Noble
Eightfold Path is to develop clarity and insight into the nature of reality – dukkha, anicca and anatta,
discard negative states and dispel avidya (ignorance), ultimately attaining nirvana.[50]
In the threefold division, prajna (insight, wisdom) is presented as the culmination of the path, whereas in
the eightfold division the path starts with correct knowledge or insight, which is needed to understand
why this path should be followed.[51]

Tenfold Path
In the Mahācattārīsaka Sutta[52][53] which appears in the Chinese and Pali canons, the Buddha explains
that cultivation of the noble eightfold path of a learner leads to the development of two further paths of
the Arahants, which are right knowledge, or insight (sammā-ñāṇa), and right liberation, or release
(sammā-vimutti).[54] These two factors fall under the category of wisdom (paññā).[55]

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.[56][57]

Further explanation

Right view
"Right view" (samyak-dṛṣṭi / sammā-diṭṭhi) or "right understanding"[58] explicates that our actions have
consequences, that death is not the end, that our actions and beliefs also have consequences after death,
and that the Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven
and underworld or hell).[59][29][30][31] Majjhima Nikaya 117, Mahācattārīsaka Sutta, a text from the Pāli
Canon, describes the first seven practices as requisites of right samadhi, starting with right view:

Of those, right view is the forerunner [...] And what is the right view with effluents, siding
with merit, resulting in acquisitions? 'There is what is given, what is offered, what is
sacrificed.[note 5] There are fruits, and results of good and bad actions. There is this world
and the next world. There is mother and father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there
are contemplatives and brahmans who faring rightly and practicing rightly, proclaim this
world and the next after having directly known and realized it for themselves.' This is the
right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.[52][60]

Later on, right view came to explicitly include karma and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble
Truths, when "insight" became central to Buddhist soteriology.[32] This presentation of right view still
plays an essential role in Theravada Buddhism.[61]

The purpose of right view is to clear one's path from confusion, misunderstanding, and deluded thinking.
It is a means to gain right understanding of reality.[62] In the interpretation of some Buddhist movements,
state Religion Studies scholar George Chryssides and author Margaret Wilkins, right view is non-view:
as the enlightened become aware that nothing can be expressed in fixed conceptual terms and rigid,
dogmatic clinging to concepts is discarded.[62]

Theravada
Right View can be further subdivided, states translator Bhikkhu Bodhi, into mundane right view and
superior or supramundane right view:[63][64]
 1. Mundane right view, knowledge of the fruits of good behavior. Having this type of view will
bring merit and will support the favourable rebirth of the sentient being in the realm of
samsara.
2. Supramundane (world-transcending) right view, the understanding of karma and rebirth, as
implicated in the Four Noble Truths, leading to awakening and liberation from rebirths and
associated dukkha in the realms of samsara.[65][61]
According to Theravada Buddhism, mundane right view is a teaching that is suitable for lay followers,
while supramundane right view, which requires a deeper understanding, is suitable for monastics.
Mundane and supramundane right view involve accepting the following doctrines of Buddhism:[66][67]

1. Karma: Every action of body, speech, and mind has karmic results, and influences the kind
of future rebirths and realms a being enters into.
2. Three marks of existence: everything, whether physical or mental, is impermanent (anicca),
a source of suffering (dukkha), and lacks a self (anatta).
3. The Four Noble Truths are a means to gaining insights and ending dukkha.

Right resolve
Right resolve (samyak-saṃkalpa / sammā saṅkappa) can also be known as "right thought", "right
intention", or "right aspiration". In this factor, the practitioner resolves to leave home, renounce the
worldly life and dedicate himself to an ascetic pursuit.[68][61] In section III.248, the Majjhima Nikaya
states,

And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on
harmlessness: This is called right resolve.[69]

Like right view, this factor has two levels. At the mundane level, the resolve includes being harmless
(ahimsa) and refraining from ill will (avyabadha) to any being, as this accrues karma and leads to
rebirth.[61][70] At the supramundane level, the factor includes a resolve to consider everything and
everyone as impermanent, a source of suffering and without a Self.[70]

Right speech
Right speech (samyag-vāc / sammā-vācā) in most Buddhist texts is presented as four abstentions, such as
in the Pali Canon thus:[52][71]

And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive
speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.

Instead of the usual "abstention and refraining from wrong" terminology,[72] a few texts such as the
Samaññaphala Sutta and Kevata Sutta in Digha Nikaya explain this virtue in an active sense, after stating
it in the form of an abstention.[73] For example, Samaññaphala Sutta states that a part of a monk's virtue
is that "he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver
of the world."[73] Similarly, the virtue of abstaining from divisive speech is explained as delighting in
creating concord.[73] The virtue of abstaining from abusive speech is explained in this Sutta to include
affectionate and polite speech that is pleasing to people. The virtue of abstaining from idle chatter is
explained as speaking what is connected with the Dhamma goal of his liberation.[73][61]
In the Abhaya-raja-kumara Sutta, the Buddha explains the virtue of right speech in different scenarios,
based on its truth value, utility value and emotive content.[74][75] The Tathagata, states Abhaya Sutta,
never speaks anything that is unfactual or factual, untrue or true, disagreeable or agreeable, if that is
unbeneficial and unconnected to his goals.[75][76] Further, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata speaks the
factual, the true, if in case it is disagreeable and unendearing, only if it is beneficial to his goals, but with
a sense of proper time.[75][77] Additionally, adds Abhaya Sutta, the Tathagata, only speaks with a sense
of proper time even when what he speaks is the factual, the true, the agreeable, the endearing and what is
beneficial to his goals.[75][76][78]

The Buddha thus explains right speech in the Pali Canon, according to Ganeri, as never speaking
something that is not beneficial; and, only speaking what is true and beneficial, "when the circumstances
are right, whether they are welcome or not".[78]

Right action
Right action (samyak-karmānta / sammā-kammanta) is like right speech, expressed as abstentions but in
terms of bodily action. In the Pali Canon, this path factor is stated as:

And what is right action? Abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from
sexual misconduct. This is called right action.[79]

The prohibition on killing precept in Buddhist scriptures applies to all living beings, states Christopher
Gowans, not just human beings.[80] Bhikkhu Bodhi agrees, clarifying that the more accurate rendering of
the Pali canon is a prohibition on "taking life of any sentient being", which includes human beings,
animals, birds, insects but excludes plants because they are not considered sentient beings.[81] Further,
adds Bodhi, this precept refers to intentional killing, as well as any form of intentional harming or
torturing any sentient being.[81] This moral virtue in early Buddhist texts, both in context of harm or
killing of animals and human beings, is similar to ahimsa precepts found in the texts particularly of
Jainism as well as of Hinduism,[82][83] and has been a subject of significant debate in various Buddhist
traditions.[81]

The prohibition on stealing in the Pali Canon is an abstention from intentionally taking what is not
voluntarily offered by the person to whom that property belongs.[84] This includes, states Bhikkhu Bodhi,
taking by stealth, by force, by fraud or by deceit.[85] Both the intention and the act matters, as this
precept is grounded on the impact on one's karma.[85]

The prohibition on sexual misconduct in the Noble Eightfold Path, states Tilmann Vetter, refers to "not
performing sexual acts".[86] This virtue is more generically explained in the Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta,
which teaches that one must abstain from all sensual misconduct, including getting sexually involved
with someone unmarried (anyone protected by parents or by guardians or by siblings), and someone
married (protected by husband), and someone betrothed to another person, and female convicts or by
dhamma.[87][88]

For monastics, the abstention from sensual misconduct means strict celibacy, states Christopher Gowans,
while for lay Buddhists this prohibits adultery as well as other forms of sensual misconduct.[89][90][91]
Later Buddhist texts, states Bhikkhu Bodhi, state that the prohibition on sexual conduct for lay Buddhists
includes any sexual involvement with someone married, a girl or woman protected by her parents or
relatives, and someone prohibited by dhamma conventions (such as relatives, nuns and others).[87]
Right livelihood
Right livelihood (samyag-ājīva / sammā-ājīva) precept is mentioned in many early Buddhist texts, such
as the Mahācattārīsaka Sutta in Majjhima Nikaya as follows:[52]

"And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right
livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions; there is right livelihood
that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

"And what is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions?
There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and
maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood with effluents, siding
with merit, resulting in acquisitions.

"And what is the right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of
the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood in one
developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is
fully possessed of the noble path. (...)

The early canonical texts state right livelihood as avoiding and abstaining from wrong livelihood. This
virtue is further explained in Buddhist texts, states Vetter, as "living from begging, but not accepting
everything and not possessing more than is strictly necessary".[86] For lay Buddhists, states Harvey, this
precept requires that the livelihood avoid causing suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or
harming or killing them in any way.[34]

The Anguttara Nikaya III.208, states Harvey, asserts that the right livelihood does not trade in weapons,
living beings, meat, alcoholic drink or poison.[34][92] The same text, in section V.177, asserts that this
applies to lay Buddhists.[93] This has meant, states Harvey, that raising and trading cattle livestock for
slaughter is a breach of "right livelihood" precept in the Buddhist tradition, and Buddhist countries lack
the mass slaughter houses found in Western countries.[94]

Right effort
Right effort (samyag-vyāyāma / sammā-vāyāma) is preventing the arising of unwholesome states, and the
generation of wholesome states. This includes indriya-samvara, "guarding the sense-doors," restraint of
the sense faculties.[35] Right effort is presented in the Pali Canon, such as the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta, as
follows:[71][79]

And what is right effort?

Here the monk arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and
strives to prevent the arising of evil and unwholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will... and strives to eliminate evil and unwholesome mental states that have
already arisen. He arouses his will... and strives to generate wholesome mental states that
have not yet arisen.
He arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to
 maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen, to keep them free of delusion, to
develop, increase, cultivate, and perfect them.
This is called right effort.

The unwholesome states (akusala) are described in the Buddhist texts, as those relating to thoughts,
emotions, intentions, and these include pancanivarana (five hindrances) – sensual thoughts, doubts about
the path, restlessness, drowsiness, and ill will of any kind.[86][95] Of these, the Buddhist traditions
consider sensual thoughts and ill will needing more right effort. Sensual desire that must be eliminated by
effort includes anything related to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch.[96] This is to be done by
restraint of the sense faculties (indriya-samvara). Ill will that must be eliminated by effort includes any
form of aversion including hatred, anger, resentment towards anything or anyone.[96]

Right mindfulness
In the vipassana movement, mindfulness (samyak-smṛti / sammā-sati) is interpreted as "bare attention":
never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing.[38] Yet, originally it has the meaning of
"retention," being mindfull of the dhammas ("teachings," "elements") that are beneficial to the Buddhist
path.[97] According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which
resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner this may
have been the Buddha's original idea.[37] According to Trainor, mindfulness aids one not to crave and
cling to any transitory state or thing, by complete and constant awareness of phenomena as impermanent,
suffering and without self.[50]

The Satipatthana Sutta describes the contemplation of four domains, namely body, feelings, mind and
phenomena.[note 6] The Satipatthana Sutta is regarded by the Vipassana movement as the quintessential
text on Buddhist meditation, taking cues from it on "bare attention" and the contemplation on the
observed phenomena as dukkha, anatta and anicca.[98][99][note 7][note 8] According to Grzegorz Polak, the
four upassanā have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to
refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four upassanā do not refer to four different
foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the jhanas, describing how
the samskharas are tranquilized:[101]

the six sense-bases which one needs to be aware of (kāyānupassanā);

contemplation on vedanās, which arise with the contact between the senses and their
objects (vedanānupassanā);
the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (cittānupassanā);
the development from the five hindrances to the seven factors of enlightenment
(dhammānupassanā).[note 9]
Rupert Gethin notes that the contemporary Vipassana movement interprets the Satipatthana Sutta as
"describing a pure form of insight (vipassanā) meditation" for which samatha (calm) and jhāna are not
necessary. Yet, in pre-sectarian Buddhism, the establishment of mindfulness was placed before the
practice of the jhanas, and associated with the abandonment of the five hindrances and the entry into the
first jhana.[26][note 10]

The dhyāna-scheme describes mindfulness also as appearing in the third and fourth dhyana, after initial
concentration of the mind.[45][102][note 11] Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhana
denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth jhana one comes out of this absorption, being
mindfully awareness of objects while being indifferent to them.[103][note 12] According to Gombrich, "the
later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming
kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element.[102]

Right concentration

Samadhi
Samadhi (samyak-samādhi / sammā-samādhi) is a common practice in Indian religions. The term
samadhi derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means 'to collect' or 'bring together', and thus it is often
translated as 'concentration' or 'unification of mind'. In the early Buddhist texts, samadhi is also
associated with the term "samatha" (calm abiding). In the suttas, samadhi is defined as one-pointedness
of mind (Cittass'ekaggatā).[104] Buddhagosa defines samadhi as "the centering of consciousness and
consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object...the state in virtue of which
consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and
unscattered."[105]

According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the right concentration factor is reaching a one-pointedness of mind and
unifying all mental factors, but it is not the same as "a gourmet sitting down to a meal, or a soldier on the
battlefield" who also experience one-pointed concentration.[106] The difference is that the latter have a
one-pointed object in focus with complete awareness directed to that object – the meal or the target,
respectively. In contrast, right concentration meditative factor in Buddhism is a state of awareness
without any object or subject, and ultimately unto nothingness and emptiness.[106]

Practice
Bronkhorst notes that neither the Four Noble Truths nor the Noble Eightfold Path discourse provide
details of right samadhi.[107] The explanation is to be found in the Canonical texts of Buddhism, in
several Suttas, such as the following in Saccavibhanga Sutta:[71][79]

And what is right concentration?

[i] Here, the monk, detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome states, enters
and remains in the first jhana (level of concentration, Sanskrit: dhyāna), in which there is
applied and sustained thinking, together with joy and pleasure born of detachment;
[ii] And through the subsiding of applied and sustained thinking, with the gaining of inner
stillness and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second jhana, which is without
applied and sustained thinking, and in which there are joy and pleasure born of
concentration;
[iii] And through the fading of joy, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware, and he
experiences in his body the pleasure of which the Noble Ones say: "equanimous, mindful
and dwelling in pleasure", and thus he enters and remains in the third jhana;
[iv] And through the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the previous disappearance
of happiness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is without
pleasure and pain, and in which there is pure equanimity and mindfulness.
This is called right concentration.[79][108]
Bronkhorst has questioned the historicity and chronology of the description of the four jhanas.
Bronkhorst states that this path may be similar to what the Buddha taught, but the details and the form of
the description of the jhanas in particular, and possibly other factors, is likely the work of later
scholasticism.[109][110] Bronkhorst notes that description of the third jhana cannot have been formulated
by the Buddha, since it includes the phrase "Noble Ones say", quoting earlier Buddhists, indicating it was
formulated by later Buddhists.[109] It is likely that later Buddhist scholars incorporated this, then
attributed the details and the path, particularly the insights at the time of liberation, to have been
discovered by the Buddha.[109]

Mindfulness
Although often translated as "concentration," as in the limiting of the attention of the mind on one object,
in the fourth dhyana "equanimity and mindfulness remain,"[111] and the practice of concentration-
meditation may well have been incorporated from non-Buddhist traditions.[112] Vetter notes that samadhi
consists of the four stages of dhyana meditation, but

...to put it more accurately, the first dhyana seems to provide, after some time, a state of
strong concentration, from which the other stages come forth; the second stage is called
samadhija.[45]

Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second jhana denotes a state of absorption, in the third and
fourth jhana one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully awareness of objects while being
indifferent to it.[103][note 13] According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by
classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other –
and indeed higher – element.[102]

Practice

Order of practice
Vetter notes that originally the path culminated in the practice of dhyana/samadhi as the core
soteriological practice.[5] According to the Pali and Chinese canon, the samadhi state (right
concentration) is dependent on the development of preceding path factors:[52][113][114] quote|The Blessed
One said: "Now what, monks, is noble right concentration with its supports and requisite conditions?
Any singleness of mind equipped with these seven factors – right view, right resolve, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right effort, and right mindfulness – is called noble right concentration with its
supports and requisite conditions.|Maha-cattarisaka Sutta

According to the discourses, right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right
effort, and right mindfulness are used as the support and requisite conditions for the practice of right
concentration. Understanding of the right view is the preliminary role, and is also the forerunner of the
entire Noble Eightfold Path.[52][115]

According to the modern Theravada monk and scholar Walpola Rahula, the divisions of the noble
eightfold path "are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the
capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others."[116]
Bhikkhu Bodhi explains that these factors are not sequential, but components, and "with a certain degree
of progress all eight factors can be present simultaneously, each supporting the others. However, until
that point is reached, some sequence in the unfolding of the path is inevitable."[117]

The stage in the Path where there is no more learning in Yogachara Abhidharma, state Buswell and
Gimello, is identical to Nirvana or Buddhahood, the ultimate goal in Buddhism.[118][119]

Gender
According to Bernard Faure, the ancient and medieval Buddhist texts and traditions, like other religions,
were almost always unfavorable or discriminatory against women, in terms of their ability to pursue
Noble Eightfold Path, attain Buddhahood and nirvana.[120][121] This issue of presumptions about the
"female religious experience" is found in Indian texts, in translations into non-Indian languages, and in
regional non-Indian commentaries written in East Asian kingdoms such as those in China, Japan and
southeast Asia.[120] Yet, like other Indian religions, exceptions and veneration of females is found in
Indian Buddhist texts, and female Buddhist deities are likewise described in positive terms and with
reverence. Nevertheless, females are seen as polluted with menstruation, sexual intercourse, death and
childbirth. Rebirth as a woman is seen in the Buddhist texts as a result of part of past karma, and inferior
than that of a man.[120]

In some Chinese and Japanese Buddhist texts, the status of female deities are not presented positively,
unlike the Indian tradition, states Faure.[120] In the Huangshinu dui Jingang (Woman Huang explicates
the Diamond Sutra), a woman admonishes her husband about he slaughtering animals, who attacks her
gender and her past karma, implying that "women go to hell" not because of her intentions nor actions
(kamma), but simply because of the biology of her gender and the bodily functions over which she has no
choice.[122][123] Similar discriminatory presumptions are found in other Buddhist texts such as the Blood
Bowl Sutra and the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra.[120][122] In the Five Obstacles theory[note 14] of
Buddhism, a woman is required to attain rebirth as a man before she can adequately pursue the Eightfold
Path and reach perfect Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra similarly presents the story of the Dragon King's
daughter, who desires to achieve perfect enlightenment. The Sutra states that, "Her female organs
vanished, the male organs became visible, then she appeared as a bodhisattva".[126]

Gender discrimination worsened during the medieval era in various sub-traditions of Buddhism that
independently developed regionally, such as in Japan.[127]

Some scholars, such as Kenneth Doo Young Lee, interpret the Lotus Sutra to imply that "women were
capable of gaining salvation", either after they first turned into a man, or being reborn in Pure Land realm
after following the Path.[128] Peter Harvey lists many Sutras that suggest "having faded out the mind-set
of a woman and developed the mind-set of a man, he was born in his present male form", and who then
proceeds to follow the Path and became an Arahant.[129] Among Mahayana texts, there is a sutra
dedicated to the concept of how a person might be born as a woman. The traditional assertion is that
women are more prone to harboring feelings of greed, hatred and delusion than a man. The Buddha
responds to this assumption by teaching the method of moral development through which a woman can
achieve rebirth as a man.[130]

According to Wei-Yi Cheng, the Pali Canon is silent about women's inferior karma, but have statements
and stories that mention the Eightfold Path while advocating female subordination.[131] For example, a
goddess reborn in the heavenly realm asserts:
 When I was born a human being among men I was a daughter-in-law in a wealthy family. I
was without anger, obedient to my husband, diligent on the Observance (days). When I was
born a human being, young and innocent, with a mind of faith, I delighted my lord. By day
and by night I acted to please. Of old (...). On the fourteenth, fifteenth and eighth (days) of
the bright fortnight and on a special day of the fortnight well connected with the eightfold
(precepts) I observed the Observance day with a mind of faith, was one who was faring
according to Dhamma with zeal in my heart...

— Vimanavatthu III.3.31, Wei-Yi Cheng[131]

Such examples, states Wei-Yi Cheng, include conflating statements about spiritual practice (Eightfold
Path, Dhamma) and "obedience to my husband" and "by day and by night I acted to please", thus
implying unquestioned obedience of male authority and female subjugation.[131] Such statements are not
isolated, but common, such as in section II.13 of the Petavatthu which teaches that a woman had to "put
away the thoughts of a woman" as she pursued the Path and this merit obtained her a better rebirth; the
Jataka stories of the Pali Canon have numerous such stories, as do the Chinese Sutta that assert
"undesirability of womanhood".[131] Modern Buddhist nuns have applied Buddhist doctrines such as
Pratītyasamutpāda to explain their disagreement with women's inferior karma in past lives as implied in
Samyutta Nikaya 13, states Wei-Yi Cheng, while asserting that the Path can be practiced by either gender
and "both men and women can become arhant".[132]

Cognitive psychology
The noble eightfold path has been compared to cognitive psychology, wherein states Gil Fronsdal, 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.[133] 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.[134]

See also
Buddhist Paths to liberation
Bodhipakkhiyādhammā (thirty-seven qualities for awakening)
Four Right Exertions
Four stages of enlightenment
Index of Buddhism-related articles
Raja Yoga (Ashtanga yoga)
Secular Buddhism
Seven Factors of Enlightenment
Three Vajras (body, speech and mind)

Notes
1. One of those longer sequences, from the CulaHatthipadopama-sutta, the "Lesser Discourse
on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprints", is as follows:[25]
1. Dhammalsaddhalpabbajja: A layman hears a Buddha teach the Dhamma, comes to
have faith in him, and decides to take ordination as a monk;
2. sila: He adopts the moral precepts;
 3. indriyasamvara: He practises "guarding the six sense-doors";
4. sati-sampajanna: He practises mindfulness and self-possession (actually described as
mindfulness of the body, kāyānussatti);
5. jhana 1: He finds an isolated spot in which to meditate, purifies his mind of the
hindrances (nwarana), and attains the first rupa-jhana;
6. jhana 2: He attains the second jhana;
7. jhana 3: He attains the third jhana;
8. jhana 4: He attains the fourth jhana;
9. pubbenivasanussati-nana: he recollects his many former existences in samsara;
10. sattanam cutupapata-nana: he observes the death and rebirth of beings according to
their karmas;
11. dsavakkhaya-nana: He brings about the destruction of the dsavas (cankers), and attains
a profound realization of (as opposed to mere knowledge about) the four noble truths;
12. vimutti: He perceives that he is now liberated, that he has done what was to be done.
A similar sequence can be found in the Sāmaññaphala-sutta.[26]
2. See also Majjhima Nikaya 44, Culavedalla Sutta (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/m
n/mn.044.than.html)
3. Quotes:
* Vetter: "Compare AN 10.17.10 (Nal. ed. IV p. 320,26): "He has the right views
(sammiiditthiko hotz), he does not see things in a wrong way: that which is given exists, that
which is sacrificed exists, that which in poured (into the fire) exists, the fruit, i.e. retribution
for good and evil actions, exists, the world, here, exists, the other world exists, the mother
exists, the father exists, beings who appear (spontaneously) exist, in the world ascetics and
brahmans exist who have gone and followed the right path and who describe this world and
the other world from their own experience and realization."
* Wei-hsün Fu and Wawrytko: "In the Theravada Buddhist Canon, many episodes appear
where the Buddha emphasizes that accepting the reality of an afterlife is a part of having
the Right View, the initial wisdom that one must have in pursuit of [...]"[30]
4. According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which
resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects; this may have been the
Buddha’s original idea;[37] compare Buddhadasa, Heartwood of the Bodhi-tree, on
Pratītyasamutpāda; and Grzegorz Polak (2011), Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical
Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology, p.153-156, 196–197.
5. Vetter translates it as "offering into the fire".[60]
6. The formula is repeated in other sutras, for example the Sacca-vibhanga Sutta (MN 141):
"And what is right mindfulness?
Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful,
having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;
he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;
he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful,
having put aside worldly desire and sadness;
This is called right mindfulness."[71][79]
 7. From The Way of Mindfulness, The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary, Soma Thera
(1998),
(...)
For the dull-witted man of the theorizing type [ditthi carita] it is convenient to see
consciousness [citta] in the fairly simple way it is set forth in this discourse, by way of
impermanence [aniccata], and by way of such divisions as mind-with-lust [saragadi vasena],
in order to reject the notion of permanence [nicca sañña] in regard to consciousness.
Consciousness is a special condition [visesa karana] for the wrong view due to a basic
belief in permanence [niccanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. The contemplation on
consciousness, the Third Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity of this type of
man.[100]
For the keen-witted man of the theorizing type it is convenient to see mental objects or
things [dhamma], according to the manifold way set forth in this discourse, by way of
perception, sense-impression and so forth [nivaranadi vasena], in order to reject the notion
of a soul [atta sañña] in regard to mental things. Mental things are special conditions for the
wrong view due to a basic belief in a soul [attanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. For this
type of man the contemplation on mental objects, the Fourth Arousing of Mindfulness, is the
Path to Purity.[100]
(...)
8. Vetter and Bronkhorst note that the path starts with right view, which includes insight into
anicca, dukkha and anatta.
9. Note how kāyānupassanā, vedanānupassanā, and cittānupassanā, resemble the five
skandhas and the chain of causation as described in the middle part of Pratītyasamutpāda;
while dhammānupassanā refers to mindfulness as retention, calling into mind the beneficial
dhammas which are applied to analyse phenomena, and counter the arising of disturbing
thoughts and emotions.
10. Gethin: "The sutta is often read today as describing a pure form of insight (vipassanā)
meditation that bypasses calm (samatha) meditation and the four absorptions (jhāna), as
outlined in the description of the Buddhist path found, for example, in the Sāmaññaphala-
sutta [...] The earlier tradition, however, seems not to have always read it this way,
associating accomplishment in the exercise of establishing mindfulness with abandoning of
the five hindrances and the first absorption."[26]
11. Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism (htt
p://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism), OCHS Library
12. Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism (htt
p://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism), OCHS Library
13. Original publication: Gombrich, Richard (2007), Religious Experience in Early Buddhism (htt
p://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism), OCHS Library
14. The Lotus Sutra, for example, asserts "A woman's body is filthy, it is not a Dharma-
receptacle. How can you attain unexcelled bodhi?... Also a woman's body even then has
five obstacles.[124][125]

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External links
"The Path to Peace and Freedom for the Mind" (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/p
athtopeace.html) by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
"The Craft of the Heart" (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/craft.html) by Ajaan Lee
Dhammadharo
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