Buddhism

====Noble Eightfold Path====
{{Main|Noble Eightfold Path}}

The Eightfold Path consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, lead to the cessation of [[dukkha]].{{sfnp|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|pp=87–88}} These eight factors are: Right View (or Right Understanding), Right Intention (or Right Thought), Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

This Eightfold Path is the fourth of the [[Four Noble Truths]] and asserts the path to the cessation of ''dukkha'' (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness).{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=81–83}}{{sfnp|Anderson|2013|pp=64–65}} The path teaches that the way of the enlightened ones stopped their craving, clinging and [[karma|karmic]] accumulations, and thus ended their endless cycles of rebirth and suffering.{{sfnp|Harvey|2016|pp=253–255 }}{{sfnp|Bodhi|2010|pp=1–13}}{{sfnp|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2012|p=52}}

The Noble Eightfold Path is grouped into [[Three disciplines of Buddhism|three basic divisions]], as follows:{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}}{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83–85}}{{sfnp|Bodhi|2010|pp=47–48}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Division
! Eightfold factor
!''Sanskrit, Pali''
! Description
|- style="background:#cff;"
| rowspan="2" |Wisdom<br />(Sanskrit: ''[[Wisdom in Buddhism|prajñā]]'',<br />Pāli: ''paññā'')
|1. Right view
|''samyag dṛṣṭi,<br />sammā ditthi''
|The belief that there is an afterlife and not everything ends with death, that Buddha taught and followed a successful path to nirvana;{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}} according to Peter Harvey, the right view is held in Buddhism as a belief in the Buddhist principles of [[karma]] and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]], and the importance of the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the True Realities.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}
|- style="background:#cff;"
|2. Right intention
|''samyag saṃkalpa,<br />sammā saṅkappa''
|Giving up home and adopting the life of a religious mendicant in order to follow the path;{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}} this concept, states Harvey, aims at peaceful renunciation, into an environment of non-sensuality, non-ill-will (to lovingkindness), away from cruelty (to compassion).{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}
|- style="background:#cfc;"
| rowspan="3" |Moral virtues{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83–85}}<br />(Sanskrit: ''[[śīla]]'',<br />Pāli: ''sīla'')
|3. Right speech
|''samyag vāc,<br />sammā vāca''
|No lying, no rude speech, no telling one person what another says about him, speaking that which leads to salvation.{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}}
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|4. Right action
|''samyag karman,<br />sammā kammanta''
|No killing or injuring, no taking what is not given; no sexual acts in monastic pursuit,{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}} for lay Buddhists no sensual misconduct such as sexual involvement with someone married, or with an unmarried woman protected by her parents or relatives.{{sfnp|Gowans|2013|p=440}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew Powell |url=https://archive.org/details/livingbuddhism00powe |title=Living Buddhism|publisher=University of California Press |year=1989|isbn=978-0-520-20410-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/livingbuddhism00powe/page/24 24]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David L. Weddle|url=https://archive.org/details/miracleswonderme0000wedd|url-access=registration|title=Miracles: Wonder and Meaning in World Religions|publisher=New York University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8147-9483-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/miracleswonderme0000wedd/page/118 118]}}</ref>
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|5. Right livelihood
|''samyag ājīvana,<br />sammā ājīva''
|For monks, beg to feed, only possessing what is essential to sustain life.{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|p=12}} For lay Buddhists, the canonical texts state right livelihood as abstaining from wrong livelihood, explained as not becoming a source or means of suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83, 273–274}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Martine Batchelor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fL3mykqlOJcC&pg=PT59|title=The Spirit of the Buddha|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-300-17500-4|page=59|access-date=10 July 2016|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111055838/https://books.google.com/books?id=fL3mykqlOJcC&pg=PT59|url-status=live}}; Quote: "These five trades, O monks, should not be taken up by a lay follower: trading with weapons, trading in living beings, trading in meat, trading in intoxicants, trading in poison."</ref>
|- style="background:#9fff80;"
| rowspan="3" |Meditation{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|pp=83–85}}<br />(Sanskrit and Pāli: ''[[samādhi]]'')
|6. Right effort
|''samyag vyāyāma,<br />sammā vāyāma''
|Guard against sensual thoughts; this concept, states Harvey, aims at preventing unwholesome states that disrupt meditation.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=83}}
|- style="background:#9fff80;"
|7. Right mindfulness
|''samyag smṛti,<br />sammā sati''
|Never be absent-minded, conscious of what one is doing; this, states Harvey, encourages mindfulness about impermanence of the body, feelings and mind, as well as to experience the five [[skandha]]s, the five hindrances, the four True Realities and seven factors of awakening.{{sfnp|Harvey|2013|p=83}}
|- style="background:#9fff80;"
|8. Right concentration
|''samyag samādhi,<br />sammā samādhi''
|Correct meditation or concentration (''dhyana''), explained as the four jhānas.{{sfnp|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}}<ref name="bucknellkangp12">{{cite book|author1=Roderick Bucknell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSaOAQAAQBAJ|title=The Meditative Way: Readings in the Theory and Practice of Buddhist Meditation|author2=Chris Kang|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-1-136-80408-3|pages=12–13}}</ref>
|}