The Eightfold Path

 

  1. Right view (sammā diṭṭhi)
    1. A correct grasp of the law of kamma, the moral efficacy of action
    2. Understanding the Four Noble Truths (dukkha, arising, release, path)
  1. Right Intention (sammā saṅkappa)
    1. Intention of renunciation
    2. Intention of good will
    3. Intention of harmlessness
  1. Right Speech (sammā vācā)
    1. Truthfulness
    2. Harmonious (non-divisive) speech
    3. Gentle (non-harsh) speech
    4. Meaningful speech
  1. Right Action (sammā kammanta) – the five precepts
    1. Refrain from killing (harming) living beings
    2. Refrain from taking what is not offered
    3. Refrain from sexual misconduct
    4. Refrain from false speech
    5. Refrain from intoxicants causing heedlessness
  1. Right Livelihood (sammā ājīva)
    1. Legal
    2. Peaceful
    3. Without coercion
    4. Not deceptive
    5. Non-harming
  1. Right Effort (sammā viriya)
    1. To prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states
    2. To abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen
    3. To arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen
    4. To maintain and develop wholesome states already arisen
  1. Right Mindfulness (sammā sati)
    1. Contemplation of body
    2. Contemplation of feeling tone (pleasant, unpleasant, neither)
    3. Contemplation of mental states
    4. Contemplation of phenomena (the Buddha’s Eightfold Path)
  1. Right Concentration (sammā samādhi)
    1. The four jhānas – states of calm, mental stability, and clarity