The Noble Eightfold Path--The Middle Way

This is the path for leading a religious life without going to extremes.

An outstanding aspect of the Buddha’s Teaching is the adoption of the Eightfold Path as a noble way of life. Another name for the Eightfold Path is the Middle Path. The Buddha advised His followers to follow this Path so as to avoid the extremes of sensual pleasures and self-mortification. The Middle Path is a righteous way of life which does not advocate the acceptance of decrees given by someone outside oneself. A person practices the Middle Path, the guide for moral conduct, not out of fear of any super-natural agency, but out of the intrinsic value in following such an action. He chooses this self-imposed discipline for a definite end in view: self-purification.

The Middle Path is a planned course of inward culture and progress. A person can make real progress in righteousness and insight by following this path, and not by engaging in external worship and prayers. According to the Buddha, anyone who lives in accordance with the Dharma will be guided and protected by that very law. When a person lives according to Dharma, he will also be living in harmony with the universal law.

Every Buddhist is encouraged to mould his life according to the Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha. He who adjusts his life according to this noble way of living will be free from miseries and calamities both in this lifetime and hereafter. He will also be able to develop this mind by restraining from evil and observing morality.