The Noble Eightfold Path – The Buddha's Way Out of Suffering
Teachings · Dharma basics
The Noble Eightfold Path
八正道
The fourth Noble Truth is the path. The Buddha described it as eight parts of one road, walked together, that lead out of suffering for good.
The eight parts of the path
Tap each one. They fall into three trainings: wisdom, ethics and meditation.
Right View正见
Seeing things as they are: that actions have results, that nothing lasts, that suffering has causes and can end.
In daily life: before reacting, remember that what I do now becomes what I experience later.Right Intention正思维
The wish to let go, to be kind, and to do no harm. Intention is the seed of every action.
In daily life: start the day by deciding why you are doing what you do.Right Speech正语
Truthful, kind, useful and timely. No lies, no harsh words, no gossip, no idle chatter.
In daily life: if it is not true, kind and necessary, leave it unsaid.Right Action正业
Not killing, not stealing, not misusing sexuality. Protecting life and what belongs to others.
In daily life: the five lay precepts are Right Action made simple.Right Livelihood正命
Earning a living in a way that does not harm others: not through weapons, poisons, killing, cheating or exploiting.
In daily life: ask whether your work leaves others better or worse off.Right Effort正精进
Preventing and abandoning unwholesome states of mind; arousing and keeping wholesome ones. Gentle, steady, daily.
In daily life: when anger comes, do not feed it; when kindness comes, let it grow.Right Mindfulness正念
Knowing what is happening in body, feelings, mind and thoughts as it happens. The gap between feeling and craving.
In daily life: one breath before you answer.Right Concentration正定
A mind that can stay where it is placed, calm and clear. This is what makes wisdom cut deep instead of staying an idea.
In daily life: five minutes of sitting with the breath, every day, beats one hour once a month.How the three trainings work together
Ethics calms the life, so meditation becomes possible. Meditation calms the mind, so wisdom can see clearly. Wisdom shows why ethics matters, and the wheel turns again. In the Tibetan tradition this same path is laid out step by step as the lamrim, the graded stages taught by Je Tsongkhapa.
- Choose one of the eight and keep it for seven days, nothing else.
- Each evening, note once where you kept it and once where you lost it.
- Next week, choose another. The whole path is built this way.