Noble Eightfold Path

"Eightfold Path" redirects here. For other uses, see Eightfold Path (disambiguation).

The eight spoke Dharma wheel symbolizes the Noble Eightfold Path.
Translations of
The Noble Eightfold Path
Sanskritआर्याष्टाङ्गमार्ग
(IAST: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)
Paliअरिय अट्ठङ्गिक मग्ग
(ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga)
Bengaliঅষ্টাঙ্গিক আর্য মার্গ
(Astangik ārya mārga
Oșŧangik Azzo Maggo
Oșŧangik Arzo Margo)
Burmeseမဂ္ဂင်ရှစ်ပါး
(MLCTS: mɛʔɡɪ̀ɰ̃ ʃɪʔ pá)
Chinese八正道
(Pinyin: bā zhèngdào)
Japanese八正道
(Rōmaji: Hasshōdō)
Khmerអរិយដ្ឋង្គិកមគ្គ
(UNGEGN: areyadthangkikameak)
Korean팔정도
八正道
(RR: Paljeongdo)
Mongolianᠣᠦᠲᠦᠶᠲᠠᠨᠦ
ᠨᠠᠢᠮᠠᠨ
ᠭᠡᠰᠢᠭᠦᠨᠦ
ᠮᠥᠷ
Найман гишүүт хутагт мөр
([qutuγtan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch (help))
Sinhalaආර්ය අෂ්ඨාංගික මාර්ගය
Tibetanའཕགས་པའི་ལམ་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པ
(Wylie: 'phags pa’i lam yan lag brgyad pa
THL: pakpé lam yenlak gyépa)
Tamilஉன்னத எட்டு மடங்கு பாதை
TagalogWaluhang Mahal na Landas
ᜏᜀᜎᜓᜑᜀᜈᜄ ᜋᜀᜑᜀᜎ ᜈᜀ ᜎᜀᜈᜇᜀᜐ
Thaiอริยมรรคมีองค์แปด
(RTGS: Ariya Mak Mi Ong Paet)
VietnameseBát chính đạo
八正道
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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]

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.

  1. ^ Brekke, Torkel. "The Religious Motivation of the Early Buddhists". Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 67, No. 4 (Dec. 1999), p. 860
  2. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (18 October 2018). "Aryashtangamarga, Arya-ashtanga-marga, Āryāṣṭāṅgamārga: 6 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  3. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (5 July 2019). "Samyag-marga, Samyagmārga, Samyanc-marga: 2 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  4. ^ Gethin 1998, pp. 81–83.
  5. ^ a b Anderson 2013, pp. 64–65.
  6. ^ Lopez 2009, p. 136-137.
  7. ^ Stephen J. Laumakis (2008). An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-1-139-46966-1.
  8. ^ Vetter 1988, pp. 11–14.
  9. ^ a b Vetter 1988.
  10. ^ Bronkhorst 1993.
  11. ^ Raju 1985, pp. 147–51.
  12. ^ Eliot 2014, pp. 39–41.
  13. ^ Harvey 2016, p. 253–55.
  14. ^ Williams, Tribe & Wynne 2012, p. 52.
  15. ^ a b Harvey, Peter (2000). An introduction to Buddhist ethics : foundations, values and issues. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 123–24. ISBN 0-521-55394-6.