In short: The Noble Eightfold Path is the Buddha's practical answer to suffering: eight ways of living that, together, lead to peace. It is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths and what the Buddha called the middle way, between indulgence and self-punishment.
Definitions are quoted from SN 45.8, translated by Bhikkhu Sujato on SuttaCentral. The "try today" ideas are ANEW's.
The path at a glance
| Group | Factor |
|---|---|
| Wisdom | 1. Right view |
| 2. Right purpose | |
| Ethical conduct | 3. Right speech |
| 4. Right action | |
| 5. Right livelihood | |
| Meditation | 6. Right effort |
| 7. Right mindfulness | |
| 8. Right immersion |
"Right" here means skillful or complete, not right as opposed to someone else being wrong. The eight are practiced together, like strands of one rope.
Read the full guide
1. Right view
Knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.
Try today: when you feel stressed, ask "What am I craving right now?"
2. Right purpose
The purpose of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness.
Try today: set one intention in the morning: "Today I will not add harm."
3. Right speech
Refraining from speech that's false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical.
Try today: before you send a message, ask: is it true, is it kind, is it needed?
4. Right action
Refraining from killing living creatures, stealing, and unchastity.
Try today: keep the Five Precepts carefully for one day.
5. Right livelihood
It's when a noble disciple gives up wrong livelihood and earns a living by right livelihood.
Try today: notice one way your work helps someone, and do that part well.
6. Right effort
The Buddha describes four efforts: to prevent unskillful qualities from arising, to give up those that have arisen, to develop skillful qualities, and to keep and grow the skillful qualities that have arisen.
Try today: drop one small bad habit for the day, and add one small good one.
7. Right mindfulness
Meditating by observing the body, feelings, the mind and principles, "keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world".
Try today: three times today, feel three breaths fully. Start with a 1-minute breath.
8. Right immersion
The deep stillness of meditation, which the Buddha describes as four stages of absorption, from rapture and bliss to pure equanimity and mindfulness.
Try today: sit for three minutes without trying to get anywhere. See Buddhist meditation for beginners.
Where to start
Most people start with the middle group: speech, action and livelihood. They are the most visible and the fastest to change. A calmer, kinder day then makes meditation easier, and clearer meditation makes kindness easier. That is the path working as one.
The path was first taught in the first sermon.
The full text in Pāli and English
Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato, from SuttaCentral (SN45.8). Ellipses (…) are abbreviations in the original.
| Pāli | English |
|---|---|
| Sāvatthinidānaṁ. | At Sāvatthī. |
| “Ariyaṁ vo, bhikkhave, aṭṭhaṅgikaṁ maggaṁ desessāmi vibhajissāmi. | “Mendicants, I will teach and analyze for you the noble eightfold path. |
| Taṁ suṇātha, sādhukaṁ manasi karotha, bhāsissāmī”ti. | Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” |
| “Evaṁ, bhante”ti kho te bhikkhū bhagavato paccassosuṁ. | “Yes, sir,” they replied. |
| Bhagavā etadavoca: | The Buddha said this: |
| “Katamo ca, bhikkhave, ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo? | “And what is the noble eightfold path? |
| Seyyathidaṁ—sammādiṭṭhi …pe… sammāsamādhi. | It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. |
| Katamā ca, bhikkhave, sammādiṭṭhi? | And what is right view? |
| Yaṁ kho, bhikkhave, dukkhe ñāṇaṁ, dukkhasamudaye ñāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhe ñāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya ñāṇaṁ— | Knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammādiṭṭhi. | This is called right view. |
| Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammāsaṅkappo? | And what is right purpose? |
| Yo kho, bhikkhave, nekkhammasaṅkappo, abyāpādasaṅkappo, avihiṁsāsaṅkappo— | The purpose of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāsaṅkappo. | This is called right purpose. |
| Katamā ca, bhikkhave, sammāvācā? | And what is right speech? |
| Yā kho, bhikkhave, musāvādā veramaṇī, pisuṇāya vācāya veramaṇī, pharusāya vācāya veramaṇī, samphappalāpā veramaṇī— | Refraining from speech that’s false, backbiting, harsh, or nonsensical. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāvācā. | This is called right speech. |
| Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammākammanto? | And what is right action? |
| Yā kho, bhikkhave, pāṇātipātā veramaṇī, adinnādānā veramaṇī, abrahmacariyā veramaṇī— | Refraining from killing living creatures, stealing, and unchastity. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammākammanto. | This is called right action. |
| Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammāājīvo? | And what is right livelihood? |
| Idha, bhikkhave, ariyasāvako micchāājīvaṁ pahāya sammāājīvena jīvitaṁ kappeti— | It’s when a noble disciple gives up wrong livelihood and earns a living by right livelihood. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāājīvo. | This is called right livelihood. |
| Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammāvāyāmo? | And what is right effort? |
| Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu anuppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ anuppādāya chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati, | It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. |
| uppannānaṁ pāpakānaṁ akusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ pahānāya chandaṁ janeti …pe… | They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that bad, unskillful qualities that have arisen are given up. |
| anuppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ uppādāya chandaṁ janeti …pe… | They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities arise. |
| uppannānaṁ kusalānaṁ dhammānaṁ ṭhitiyā asammosāya bhiyyobhāvāya vepullāya bhāvanāya pāripūriyā chandaṁ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṁ ārabhati cittaṁ paggaṇhāti padahati— | They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are fully developed. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāvāyāmo. | This is called right effort. |
| Katamā ca, bhikkhave, sammāsati? | And what is right mindfulness? |
| Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu kāye kāyānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ; | It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. |
| vedanāsu vedanānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ; | They meditate observing an aspect of feelings—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. |
| citte cittānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ; | They meditate observing an aspect of the mind—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. |
| dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati ātāpī sampajāno satimā, vineyya loke abhijjhādomanassaṁ— | They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāsati. | This is called right mindfulness. |
| Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammāsamādhi? | And what is right immersion? |
| Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi vivicca akusalehi dhammehi savitakkaṁ savicāraṁ vivekajaṁ pītisukhaṁ paṭhamaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. | It’s when a mendicant, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of seclusion, while placing the mind and keeping it connected. |
| Vitakkavicārānaṁ vūpasamā ajjhattaṁ sampasādanaṁ cetaso ekodibhāvaṁ avitakkaṁ avicāraṁ samādhijaṁ pītisukhaṁ dutiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. | As the placing of the mind and keeping it connected are stilled, they enter and remain in the second absorption, which has the rapture and bliss born of immersion, with internal clarity and mind at one, without placing the mind and keeping it connected. |
| Pītiyā ca virāgā upekkhako ca viharati sato ca sampajāno, sukhañca kāyena paṭisaṁvedeti, yaṁ taṁ ariyā ācikkhanti: ‘upekkhako satimā sukhavihārī’ti tatiyaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati. | And with the fading away of rapture, they enter and remain in the third absorption, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, experiencing for themselves the bliss of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous and mindful, one meditates in bliss.’ |
| Sukhassa ca pahānā dukkhassa ca pahānā pubbeva somanassadomanassānaṁ atthaṅgamā adukkhamasukhaṁ upekkhāsatipārisuddhiṁ catutthaṁ jhānaṁ upasampajja viharati— | With the giving up of pleasure and pain and the disappearance of former happiness and sadness, they enter and remain in the fourth absorption, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness. |
| ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sammāsamādhī”ti. | This is called right immersion.” |
| Aṭṭhamaṁ. |
A checklist for right speech: five marks of well-spoken words.
Why it is called the middle way: what is the Middle Way?
Each factor explained: right intention, right speech, right action, right effort, right mindfulness, right immersion.
Try it
Begin each day with the 3-minute morning practice and one right-speech intention.
Questions people ask
What are the eight parts of the Noble Eightfold Path?
Right view, right purpose (or intention), right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right immersion (or concentration).
Do you practice the eight steps in order?
No. They are less like steps on a ladder and more like strands of one rope, practiced together. Each one supports the others.
What are the three groups of the Eightfold Path?
Traditionally the path is grouped into wisdom (view, purpose), ethical conduct (speech, action, livelihood) and meditation (effort, mindfulness, immersion).