The Middle Path (majjhimā patipadā) in Theravada Buddhism
By Dr. Ari Ubeysekara
Introduction
Buddhism is the teaching of the Lord Gautama Buddha who lived and preached in Northern India during the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Having been born into a royal family, Prince Siddhartha Gautama had enjoyed all the comforts that were available to a royal prince at that time. Soon after the birth of the prince, a prediction was made by some wise men that one day the young prince may leave the domestic life to become an ascetic and would eventually become a Buddha. King Suddhodana, the prince’s father, was said to have been alarmed by this prediction and had made all the necessary arrangements to make sure that the prince would have a life full of enjoyment and would be protected from experiencing or noticing any human suffering. The king had built three palaces called Ramya, Suramya and Subha with beautiful gardens for the prince to stay during the hot season, cold season and the rainy season respectively. At the age of sixteen, the prince married a beautiful princess named Yasodharā and enjoyed the royal comforts till the age of twenty nine when the princess gave birth to their son named Rāhula.
At the age of twenty nine, the prince witnessed for the first time, a weak and frail old man, a sick person in great pain and a dead body being carried in a funeral procession during his visits outside the palace. Having realised that old age, sickness, death and associated suffering are common to himself, his loved ones and every human being, the prince was overwhelmed by the need to renounce the domestic life in order to search for an escape from the human suffering. So, the prince paid a quiet farewell to his wife and the newly born son and left the palace to become a homeless ascetic in search of a way out of suffering.
During the next six years, supported by five ascetic companions, ascetic Gautama went through severe austerity and self-mortification following the belief prevalent in India at that time that such pratice will help one to find the way to end human suffering and attain enlightenment. While severe austerity and self-mortification led him to physical emaciation and deterioration of his mental faculties, it did not bring him any closer to the path he was looking for. Ascetic Gautama finally realised through personal experience that neither self-mortification he experienced as an ascetic nor indulgence in sensual pleasures he experienced during his princely life has helped him to find the way to end human suffering. With that realisation, he decided to follow the Middle Path (majjhimā patipadā), which was to become one of the salient features of his teaching.
Six years after the renunciation, observing the Middle Path, ascetic Gautama meditated under a Bodhi tree (Ficus religiosā) at the place presently known as Bodh Gaya in India and attained enlightenment on the full moon day of the month of May. The Buddha attained full enlightenment through the realisation of the four Noble Truths.
The four Noble Truths:
- The Truth of universal suffering (dukkha sacca)
- The Truth of the origin of suffering (samudaya sacca)
- The Truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha sacca)
- The Truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga sacca)
Having attained enlightenment as a Buddha, through compassion for the other beings, the Buddha decided to teach the path of liberation from suffering that He had discovered so that others too can travel the same path and be liberated from their suffering by attaining the state of Nibbāna. The Buddha delivered His first sermon to the five previous ascetic companions named Kondañña, Vappa, Bhaddiya, Mahānāma and Assaji. They had supported Him during the six years of His search for the path of liberation and were staying at that time in a deer park at Isipathana, now called Sārnath near Varanasi, India. At the time of the Buddha, there were two prominent traditions practised by the ascetics in India with the hope to become free from suffering. One was the practice of indulging in sensual pleasures (kāmasukhallikānu yoga) and the other was the practice of severe austerity and self-mortification (aththakilamathānu yoga). In this first sermon called “dhammacakkappavattana sutta” meaning “turning the Wheel of the Truth”, the Buddha rejected both the practice of indulging in sensual pleasures and the practice of severe austerity and self-mortification. (1)
Middle Path (majjhimā patipadā)
In the very first sermon following enlightenment, the Buddha expounded the Middle Path (majjhimā patipadā) which according to the Buddha gives vision and knowledge, and leads to peace, direct knowledge, enlightenment, and Nibbāna. In this sermon, the Buddha described the Middle Path as the Noble Eight-fold Path (ariya atthangika magga) discovered by the Buddha and through which He attained full enlightenment. Out of the four Noble Truths that the Buddha realised during the process of enlightenment, the Noble Eight-fold Path is the fourth Truth: the path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga sacca).
The Noble Eight-fold Path
- Right view (sammā ditthi)
- Right intention (sammā sankappa)
- Right speech (sammā vācā)
- Right action (sammā kammantha)
- Right livelihood (sammā ājīva)
- Right effort (sammā vāyāma)
- Right mindfulness (sammā sati)
- Right concentration (sammā samādhi)
From a practical standpoint, the above eight factors are divided into three groups of practice:
- Morality (sīla) consisting of right speech, right action and right livelihood
- Concentration (samādhi) consisting of right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration
- Wisdom (paññā), consisting of right view and right intention
Although the eight factors of the Noble Eight-fold Path will not necessarily develop in the sequence stated above, the three practical stages of morality, concentration and wisdom may enhance the development of wisdom in that order: right moral discipline will lead to right concentration and right concentration will lead to right wisdom.
Right view (sammā-ditthi)
Right view is the correct understanding of the four Noble Truths: that there is suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. Correct understanding of the four Noble Truths in relation to the Noble Eight-fold Path takes place in two ways. Firstly, it can happen at the beginning of the Noble Eight-fold Path in the form of a conceptual understanding of the four Noble Truths by learning and reflecting upon them. This understanding is known as right understanding in accordance with the truths (saccanulomika sammā-ditthi). Secondly, the proper understanding of the four Noble Truths takes place at the end of the process of the Noble Eight-fold Path by penetrative and experiential realisation through meditation and is known as right understanding or the penetrative knowledge of the truths (sacca pativedita sammā-ditthi).
Right intention (sammā-sankappa)
Right intention or right thought, naturally evolves as a result of right view and together they form the stage of the Eight-fold Path called wisdom (panna). Right intention is necessary for the development of the next stage of the path, namely the moral discipline (sīla) consisting of right speech, right action and right livelihood. There are three aspects of right intention:
- Right intention of renunciation (nekkhamma sankappa)
- Right intention of good-will (avyāpāda sankappa)
- Right intention of harmlessness (avihimsa sankappa)
The right intention of renunciation is to counter the wrong intention of greed. It is to work towards letting go of craving and attachment to external objects that will bring only temporary pleasures. The right intention of good-will is to counter the wrong intention of ill-will. This counters the wrong intention of negative emotions like ill-will, anger, resentment, aversion and hatred towards others. The right intention of harmlessness is to counter the wrong intention of harmfulness. It is to counter the negative and harmful thoughts of aggression and violence towards others.
Right speech (sammā-vācā)
Right speech is the first of the three factors of the division of moral discipline (sīla). Within the Noble Eight-fold Path, right speech is guided by the first two factors of right view and right intention. There are four aspects of right speech:
- Abstinence from false speech or telling lies
- Abstinence from malicious, backbiting, divisive or slanderous speech
- Abstinence from harsh, blameful or hurtful speech
- Abstinence from gossip, vain talk or idle chatter
Right action (sammā-kammanta)
Right action is the second of the three factors of the division of moral discipline (sīla). Right action, by the avoidance of unwholesome physical or bodily actions, will result in an ethical life and will lead to peace and harmony between oneself and others. There are three aspects of right action:
- Abstinence from killing any living beings
- Abstinence from stealing
- Abstinence from sexual misconduct
Right livelihood (sammā-ājīva)
Right livelihood is the third of the three factors of the division of moral discipline (sīla). It expects one to make one’s living by ethical, legal and honest means following certain ethical standards and causing no harm or suffering to other living beings directly or indirectly. There are five types of trades that are to be avoided by a layperson in order to maintain a right livelihood:
- Trading in living beings including human beings and animals
- Trading in arms and weapons
- Trading in intoxicants including alcohol and illicit drugs
- Trading in poisons
- Trading in meat
Right effort (sammā-vāyāma)
Right effort is the first of the three factors of the division of concentration or mental development (samādhi), the other two factors being right mindfulness and right concentration. Right effort provides the necessary energy to develop all the other seven factors of the path but, in particular, it provides the energy to develop the right mental concentration necessary to develop right wisdom. There are four aspects of right effort:
- Effort to prevent the arising of un-arisen unwholesome mental states
- Effort to abandon the unwholesome mental states that have arisen
- Effort to develop the wholesome mental states that have not yet arisen
- Effort to maintain and further develop the wholesome mental states that have arisen
Right mindfulness (sammā-sati)
Right mindfulness is the second factor of the division of higher mental development or concentration (samādhi). Mindfulness is deliberately paying bare and detached attention to thoughts, emotions and feelings in the present moment in a non-judgmental fashion. As taught by the Buddha in the Satipatthāna sutta, right mindfulness is to be developed through the four foundations of mindfulness, namely:
- Contemplation of the body (kāyānupassanā)
- Contemplation of feelings (vedanānupassanā)
- Contemplation of the mind (cittānupassanā)
- Contemplation of the mind objects (dhammānupassanā)
Right concentration (sammā-samādhi)
Right concentration is the third and final factor of the division of mental development or concentration (samādhi). The first seven factors of the path, from right view to right mindfulness, when developed successfully become supportive and requisite conditions for the development of right concentration. Right concentration has to be wholesome and accompanied by the suppression of mental hindrances and when progressed successfully, would lead to deep meditative absorption states and attainment of wisdom or insight. There are eight deep meditative absorption states (jhanas) of which the first four are fine material states of mind (rūpa jhanas) while the remaining four higher absorption states are formless or immaterial states (arūpa jhanas). The first four deep absorption states have been described in relation to right concentration within the Noble Eight-fold Path. (2)
In the Kaccāyanagotta sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s connected discourses), referring to the two belief systems of “everything exists” and “everything does not exist”, the Buddha has described the Middle Path as the Buddha’s teaching.
“Everything exists. That is one extreme. Everything doesn’t exist. That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma via the middle.” (3)
During the time of the Buddha, there were two prevalent belief systems in India in relation to the existence of a soul or a permanent entity in living beings.
- Eternity belief (sāssata ditthi): The belief in the presence of a persisting ego entity or a soul independent of the mind and matter, which continues to exist after death
- Annihilation belief (ucceda ditthi): The belief in the presence of an ego identity that is identical with the mind and matter, which will be totally annihilated at the time of death
The belief that everything exists is equal to the eternity belief and the belief that everything does not exist is equal to the annihilation belief. The Buddha rejected both these extremes and introduced Dependent Origination (paticca samuppada) as the Middle Path according to which, while there is no fixed and enduring entity transferring from one existence to the next, there is a conditioned becoming based on the formula of cause and effect.
In the Timbaruka sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, when the Buddha was asked by the wanderer named Timbaruka whether pleasure and pain are produced by oneself, or another, neither or both, the Buddha presented the Dependent Origination as the Buddha’s teaching of the Middle Path. (4) Similarly, in the Annatara sutta of the Samyutta Nikāya, the Buddha was asked whether the one who acts is the same one who experiences or whether one who acts is someone other than the one who experiences the result. Again, the Buddha rejected both the possibilities as extremes and presented the Dependent Origination as the Middle Path. (5)
Dependent Origination follows the natural law of cause and effect or action and reaction in relation to all physical and mental processes in the universe with no exception. Events in the universe arise not due to chance or creation by a Creator, but due to the existence of certain supporting conditions and by altering those conditions one has the opportunity to change the outcome of that process. The Buddha described this conditioned process as follows;
“Imasmim sati idam hoti
When there is this, this comes to be
imasuppādā idam upajjati
With the arising of this, this arises
imasmim asati idam na hoti
When there is not this, this does not come to be
imassa nirodhā idam nirujjhati
With the cessation of this, this ceases”
The Buddha has described twelve interdependent factors of the Dependent Origination which in the form of a forward chain reflect the cause of suffering.
Forward chain of Dependent Origination
“Avijjā paccaya sankhāra
Conditioned by ignorance arise mental formations
Sankhāra paccaya viññānam
Conditioned by mental formations arises consciousness
Viññāna paccaya nāmarūpam
Conditioned by consciousness arise mind and matter
Nāmarūpa paccaya salāyatanam
Conditioned by mind and matter arise six sense bases
Salāyatana paccaya phasso
Conditioned by six sense bases arise contact
Phassa paccaya vedanā
Conditioned by contact arise feeling
Vedanā paccaya tanhā
Conditioned by feeling arise craving
Tanhā paccaya upādānam
Conditioned by craving arise clinging
Upādāna paccaya bhavo
Conditioned by clinging arise becoming
Bhava paccaya jāti
Conditioned by becoming arise birth
Jāti paccaya jarāmarana-soka-parideva-dukkha-domanassa-upāyāsa
Conditioned by birth arise ageing-death-sorrow-lamentation-pain-grief and despair”
In the reverse chain of the Dependent Origination, the Buddha has shown that when the factor of ignorance is eliminated by the development of true wisdom, all the other factors that are dependent on ignorance cease to arise leading to cessation of suffering.
Reverse chain of Dependent Origination:
“Avijjā nirodhā sankhāra nirodho
With the cessation of ignorance mental formations cease
Sankhāra nirodhā viññāna nirodho
With the cessation of mental formations consciousness ceases
Viññāna nirodhā nāma-rūpa nirodho
With the cessation of consciousness mind and matter cease
Nāma-rūpa nirodhā salāyatana nirodho
With the cessation of mind and matter six sense bases cease
Salāyatana nirodhā phassa nirodho
With the cessation of six sense bases contact ceases
Phassa nirodhā vedanā nirodho
With the cessation of contact feeling ceases
Vedanā nirodhā tanhā nirodho
With the cessation of feeling craving ceases
Tanhā nirodhā upādāna nirodho
With the cessation of craving clinging ceases
Upādāna nirodhā bhava nirodho
With the cessation of clinging becoming ceases
Bhava nirodhā jāti nirodho
With the cessation of becoming birth ceases
Jāti nirodhā jarā-maranam soka-parideva dukkha-domanassupāyāsā nirujjhanti
With the cessation of birth, decay-death-sorrow-lamentation-pain-grief and despair cease” (6)
In seven short discourses included in the Achelaka vagga of the third book of the Anguttara Nikāya (collection of the Buddha’s numerical discourses), the Buddha has referred to three practices. In these discourses, the Buddha has again rejected both the practice of indulging in sensual pleasures (kāmasukhallikānu yoga) and the practice of severe austerity and self- mortification (aththakilamathānu yoga). Instead, the Buddha has presented the Middle Path as the Buddha’s teaching. In describing the Buddhist Middle Path, the Buddha has described the seven groups of factors that are included in the thirty seven requisites of enlightenment (Bodhipakkiya dhamma). (7)
- Four foundations of mindfulness (satipatthāna)
- Four types of right effort (sammappadāna)
- Four bases of mental power (iddhipāda)
- Five spiritual faculties (pancha indriya)
- Five spiritual powers (pancha bala)
- Seven factors of enlightenment (satta bojjhanga)
- The Noble Eight-fold Path (ariya atthangika magga)
Four foundations of mindfulness:
- Contemplation of the body (kāyānupassanā)
- Contemplation of feelings (vedanānupassanā)
- Contemplation of the mind (cittānupassanā)
- Contemplation of mind objects (dhammānupassanā)
Four types of right effort:
- Effort to prevent the arising of un-arisen unwholesome mental states (samvara padhāna)
- Effort to abandon unwholesome mental states that have already arisen (pahāna padhāna)
- Effort to cultivate un-arisen wholesome mental states (bhāvanā padhāna)
- Effort to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen (anurakkhana padhāna)
Four bases of mental power (iddhipāda):
- Desire or will to act (chanda)
- Effort or energy (viriya)
- Consciousness or mind (citta)
- Investigation or discrimination (vimamsa)
Five spiritual faculties (pancha indriya)
- Faith or conviction (saddhā)
- Energy or effort (viriya)
- Mindfulness (sati)
- Concentration (samādhi)
- Wisdom (paññā)
Five spiritual powers (pancha bala):
- Faith or conviction (saddhā)
- Energy or effort (viriya)
- Mindfulness (sati)
- Concentration (samādhi)
- Wisdom (paññā)
Seven factors of enlightenment (satta bojjhanga):
- Mindfulness (sati)
- Investigation of dhammas (dhamma vicaya)
- Energy or effort (viriya)
- Rapture or joy (pīti)
- Tranquility (passaddhi)
- Concentration (samādhi)
- Equanimity (upekkhā)
The Noble Eight-fold Path (ariya atthangika magga):
- Right view (sammā ditthi)
- Right intention (sammā sankappa)
- Right speech (sammā vācā)
- Right action (sammā kammanta)
- Right livelihood (sammā ājīva)
- Right effort (sammā vāyāma)
- Right mindfulness (sammā sati)
- Right concentration (sammā samādhi)
The Middle Path (majjhimā patipadā) can be described as a hall mark of the teachings of the Lord Gautama Buddha. The often-quoted saying ascribed to the Buddha says that the Buddha’s mission was to teach suffering and how to get rid of suffering.
“I teach only two things: Suffering and end of suffering”
In the Buddha’s very first sermon called the “dhammacakkappavattana sutta”, the Buddha rejected the two extremes of indulgence in sensual pleasures (kāmasukhallikānu yoga) and severe austerity and self-mortification (aththakilamathānu yoga) and presented the Middle Path which is the Noble Eight-fold Path. Just before passing away at the age of eighty years, the Buddha again stated in the last sermon named Mahā Parinibbāna sutta, that as long as this Middle Path exists and is properly practised, there will be noble disciples in the world who have attained the Buddhist spiritual path of liberation. (8) The Middle Path in Buddhism does not mean the middle ground or a compromise between two extremes but a completely different, ethical, practical and an experiential process that can lead to liberation from suffering. The Middle Path or the Noble Eight-fold Path is the path leading to the cessation of suffering which is the fourth of the four Noble Truths that the Buddha realised during the process of enlightenment.
In some of the discourses, the Buddha has referred to the Dependent Origination (paticca samuppāda) as the Middle Path. The Buddha has presented Dependent Origination as the Middle Path by rejecting two other extremes that were prevalent in India during the time of the Buddha: Eternalism (sāssata ditthi) and annihilationism (ucceda ditthi). The Buddha has also rejected the two extremes of belief in existence and non-existence and presented Dependent Origination as the Middle Path.
Though in the Acelaka vagga of the Anguttara Nikāya, the Buddha has referred to the thirty seven requisites of enlightenment as the Middle Path, in the Buddhist scriptures it generally refers to either the Noble Eight-fold Path or the Dependent Origination. While the Noble Eight-fold Path has been described as a practical Middle Path that leads to liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth and death (samsāra), Dependent Origination has been described as a philosophical Middle Path to explain the process of existence of living beings and the arising of suffering as a conditioning process based on cause and effect.
References
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Ven. Ledi. Sayadaw (1977), ‘The Noble Eightfold Path and It’s Factors Explained’, The Wheel Publication, No. 245/247, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Kaccāyanagotta Sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Timbaruka Sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 1999, Annatara Sutta, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Samyutta Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Piyadassi Thera, 2008, Dependent Origination (paticca samuppāda), Wheel Publication No: 15, Buddhist Publication society, Kandy, Sri Lanka.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi 2012, Acelaka vagga, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, Anguttara Nikāya, Wisdom Publications.
- Walshe, Maurice (1987), Mahā Parinibbāna sutta in “Thus Have I Heard”, The Long Discourses of the Buddha, Dīgha Nikāya, Wisdom Publications, London.
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