Middle Way - wikipedia Middle Way For other uses, see Middle way ( disambiguation ). Part of a series on Buddhism History Timeline Gautama Buddha Councils Later Buddhists Dharma Concepts Four Noble Truths Five Aggregates Impermanence Suffering Non-self Dependent Origination Middle Way Emptiness Karma Rebirth Saṃsāra Cosmology Buddhist texts Buddhavacana Tripiṭaka Mahayana Sutras Pāli Canon Tibetan canon Chinese canon Practices Three Jewels Buddhist Paths to liberation Morality Perfections Meditation Philosophical reasoning Mindfulness Wisdom Compassion Aids to Enlightenment Monasticism Laity Nirvāṇa Four Stages Arhat Buddha Bodhisattva Traditions Theravāda Pāli Mahāyāna Hinayana Chinese Vajrayāna Tibetan Navayana Newar Buddhism by country India China Thailand Japan Myanmar Sri Lanka Laos Cambodia Korea Taiwan Tibet Bhutan Mongolia Russia Outline Buddhism portal The Middle Way or Middle Path ( Pali : Majjhimāpaṭipadā ; Sanskrit : Madhyamāpratipad ; Tibetan : དབུ ་ མའི ་ ལམ །, THL : Umélam ; Chinese : 中 道 ; Vietnamese : Trung đạo ; Thai : มัชฌิมาปฏิปทา ) is the term that Gautama Buddha used to describe the character of the Noble Eightfold Path he discovered that leads to liberation. Contents 1 Theravada Buddhism and the Pali canon 1.1 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta 1.2 Dependent Origination 1.3 Anatta 1.4 Rebirth 2 Mahayana 2.1 Madhyamaka 2.2 East Asian conceptions 2.2. 1 Tendai 2.2. 2 Chan Buddhism 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 Sources Theravada Buddhism and the Pali Canon Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta In the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, the term `` Middle Way '' was used in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, which the Buddhist tradition regards to be the first teaching that the Buddha delivered after his awakening. In this sutta, the Buddha describes the Noble Eightfold Path as the middle way of moderation, between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self - mortification : Monks, these two extremes ought not to be practiced by one who has gone forth from the household life. ( What are the two ? ) There is addiction to indulgence of sense - pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable ; and there is addiction to self - mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable. Avoiding both these extremes, the Tathagata ( the Perfect One ) has realized the Middle Path ; it gives vision, gives knowledge, and leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment and to Nibbana. And what is that Middle Path realized by the Tathagata... ? It is the Noble Eightfold path, and nothing else, namely : right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. According to the scriptural account, when the Buddha delivered the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, he was addressing five ascetics with whom he had previously practiced severe austerities. Thus, it is this personal context as well as the broader context of Indian shramanic practices that gives particular relevancy to the caveat against the extreme ( Pali : antā ) of self - mortification ( Pali attakilamatha ). Later Pali literature has also used the phrase Middle Way to refer to the Buddha 's teaching of dependent origination as a view between the extremes of eternalism and annihilationism. Dependent origination Main article : Pratītyasamutpāda Pratītyasamutpāda, or `` dependent origination '', describes the existence of objects and phenomena as the result of causes. When one of these causes changes or disappears, the resulting object or phenomena will also change or disappear, as will the objects or phenomena depending on the changing object or phenomena. Thus, there is nothing with an eternal self or atman, only mutually dependent origination and existence. However, the absence of an eternal atman does not mean there is nothing at all. Early Buddhism adheres to a realistic approach which does not deny existence as such, but denies the existence of eternal and independent substances. This view is the Middle Way between eternalism and annihilationism : The understanding that sees a `` person '' as subsisting in the causal connectedness of dependent arising is often presented in Buddhist thought as `` the middle '' ( madhyama / majjhima ) between the views of `` eternalism '' ( śaśvata - / sassata - vāda ) and `` annihilationism '' ( uccheda - vāda ). Anattā Dependent origination views human persons too as devoid of a personal essence or atman. In Theravadin literature, this usage of the term `` Middle Way '' can be found in 5th century CE Pali commentaries : The Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle without veering to either of these extremes -- eternalism or annihilationism -- having abandoned them without reservation. He teaches while being established in the middle way. What is that Dhamma ? By the formula of dependent origination, the effect is shown to occur through the cause and to cease with the cessation of the cause, but no agent or experiencer (... ) is described. In the Visuddhimagga, the following is found : `` Dependent origination '' ( paticca - samuppada ) represents the middle way, which rejects the doctrines, ' He who acts is he who reaps ' and ' One acts while another reaps ' ( S. ii. 20 )... '' In the Pali Canon itself, this view is not explicitly called the `` Middle Way '' but is literally referred to as `` teaching by the middle '' ( majjhena dhamma ). Rebirth Paticcasamuppāda `` dependent origination '' also gives a rationale for rebirth : Conditioned Arising is (... ) a ' Middle Way ' which avoids the extremes of ' eternalism ' and ' annihilationism ' : the survival of an eternal self, or the total annihilation of a person at death. In Theravadin soteriology, the principle of anattā means there is neither a permanent self nor complete annihilation of the person at death ; there is only the arising and ceasing of causally related phenomena. Paticcasamuppāda also describes the Twelve Nidānas of dukkha `` suffering '' that lead to rebirth, from avijjā `` ignorance '' to jarāmaraṇa `` aging and death '', and the parallel reverse - order interdependent cessation of these factors. In Theravada Buddhism, only nibbana is unconditioned ; nonetheless, even the arahant or tathāgata, upon passing, neither exists nor non-exists according to the Pāli Canon. Mahayana In Mahayana Buddhism, the Middle Way refers to the insight into śūnyatā `` emptiness '' that transcends the extremes of existence and non-existence, the two truths doctrine. According to Kalupahana, Two aspects of the Buddha 's teachings, the philosophical and the practical, which are mutually dependent, are clearly enunciated in two discourses, the Kaccāyanagotta - sutta and the Dhammacakkappavattana - sutta, both of which are held in high esteem by almost all schools of Buddhism in spite of their sectarian rivalries. The Kaccāyanagotta - sutta, quoted by almost all the major schools of Buddhism, deals with the philosophical `` middle path '', placed against the backdrop of two absolutistic theories in Indian philosophy, namely, permanent existence ( atthitaa ) propounded in the early Upanishads and nihilistic non-existence ( natthitā ) suggested by the Materialists. Madhyamaka In Mahayana Buddhism, the Madhyamaka ( `` Middle Way '' ) school portrays a `` middle way '' position between metaphysical claims that things ultimately either exist or do not exist. Nagarjuna 's influential Mūlamadhyamakakārikā deconstructs the usage of terms describing reality, leading to the insight into śūnyatā `` emptiness ''. It contains only one reference to a sutta, the Kacc āyanagotta Sutta from the Samyutta Nikaya : `` Everything exists '' : That is one extreme. `` Everything does n't exist '' : That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, The Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle. East asian conceptions Tendai In the Tendai school, the Middle Way refers to the synthesis of the thesis that all things are śūnyatā and the antithesis that all things have phenomenal existence. Chan Buddhism In Chan Buddhism, the Middle Way describes the realization of being free of the one - sidedness of perspective that takes the extremes of any polarity as objective reality. In chapter ten of the Platform Sutra, Huineng gives instructions for the teaching of the Dharma. Huineng enumerates 36 basic oppositions of consciousness and explains how the Way is free from both extremes : If one asks about the worldly, use the paired opposite of the saintly ; if asking about the saintly use the paired opposite of the worldly. The mutual causation of the Way of dualities, gives birth to the meaning of the Middle Way. So, for a single question, a single pair of opposites, and for other questions the single ( pair ) that accords with this fashion, then you do not lose the principle. See also Wikisource has original text related to this article : Saṃyukta Āgama 301 : Kātyāyana Gotra Sūtra moderation Argument to moderation Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta Golden Mean Sirat al - Mustaqim, Straight Path or Middle Way in Islam Undue burden standard - `` a ' middle way ' forward '' in Constitutional law Via media ' Middle Road ' Notes Jump up ^ Also see the Pali version of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta ( available on - line at SLTP, n.d. - b, sutta 12.2. 1 ) where the phrase majjhimā patipadā is repeatedly used. Jump up ^ Samyutta Nikaya, 56 : 11. See ( 1 ) Jump up ^ See, for instance, the Mahasaccaka Sutta ( `` The Longer Discourse to Saccaka, '' MN 36 Thanissaro, 1998 ). Jump up ^ Gethin 's endnote ( p. 290, n. 22 ) then references SN 12.17. See Thanissaro 2005 ) Jump up ^ See, e.g., Bodhi ( 2005 ), p. 315 : `` Several suttas hold up dependent origination as a ' teaching by the middle ' ( majjhena tathāgato dhamma ṃ deseti ). It is a ' teaching by the middle ' because it transcends two extreme views that polarize philosophical reflection on the human condition. One extreme, the metaphysical thesis of eternalism ( sassatavāda ), asserts that the core of human identity is an indestructible and eternal self, whether individual or universal (... ) The other extreme, annihilationism ( ucchedavāda ), holds that at death the person is utterly annihilated... Dependent origination offers a radically different perspective that transcends the two extremes. It shows that individual existence is constituted by a current of conditioned phenomena devoid of a metaphysical self yet continuing on from birth to birth as long as the causes that sustain it remain effective. Jump up ^ For example : `` Suppose there is a person who asks, ' What is taken for and called darkness ? ' Reply and say, ' Light is the proximate cause and darkness is the contributory cause. When light is ended, then there is darkness. By the means of light, darkness manifests ; by the means of darkness, light manifests. ( Their ) coming and going are mutually proximate causes and become the meaning of the Middle Way. citation needed ) References Jump up ^ Kohn ( 1991 ), p. 143. ^ Jump up to : `` Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta : Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion ''. www.accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 2015 - 12 - 30. Jump up ^ Piyadassi ( 1999 ). Jump up ^ Gethin ( 1998 ), p. 145 Jump up ^ Bodhi ( 2000 ), p. 739 note 41, quoting from the Samyutta Nikaya Commentary ( SN - a or Spk. ) in regards to SN 12.17 ( S ii. 20 ) Jump up ^ Buddhaghosa & Ñāṇamoli ( 1999 ), Visuddhimagga XVII, 24, p. 531 Jump up ^ Harvey ( 2007 ), p. 58. Jump up ^ Nāgārjuna ( 1986 ). Kalupahana, David, ed. The philosophy of the middle way = Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press. p. 1. ISBN 978 - 0887061486. Jump up ^ Kohn ( 1991 ), pp. 131, 143. Jump up ^ Thanissaro ( 1997 ), Translation of Kaccayanagotta Sutta, SN 12.15 Archived 2013 - 03 - 29 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Kohn ( 1991 ), pp. 143 - 144. Jump up ^ citation needed ) Sources Bodhi, Bhikkhu ( trans. ) ( 2000 ). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha : A Translation of the Sa ṃyutta Nikāya. Boston : Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0 - 86171 - 331 - 1. Bodhi, Bhikkhu ( ed., trans. ) ( 2005 ). In the Buddha 's Words : An Anthology of Discourses from the Pāli Canon. Somerville : Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0 - 86171 - 491 - 1. Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya & Bhikkhu Ñā ṇamoli ( trans. ) ( 1999 ). The Path of Purification : Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA : BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1 - 928706 - 00 - 2. Dhamma, Rewata ( 1997 ). The First Discourse of the Buddha : Turning the wheel of Dhamma. Somerville, MA : Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0 - 86171 - 104 - 1. Gethin, Rupert ( 1998 ). The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford : Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 - 19 - 289223 - 1. Harvey, Peter ( 2007 ). An Introduction to Buddhism : Teachings, History and Practices. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0 - 521 - 31333 - 3. Kohn, Michael H. ( trans. ) ( 1991 ). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Boston : Shambhala. ISBN 0 - 87773 - 520 - 4. Piyadassi Thera ( trans. ) ( 1999 ). Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta : Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth ( SN 56.11 ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` Access to Insight '' at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.piya.html. Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede ( eds. ) ( 1921 - 5 ). The Pali Text Society 's Pali -- English Dictionary ( PED ). Chipstead : Pali Text Society. A general on - line search engine for the PED is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/. Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03, the entry for `` pabbajita '' is available at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:1639.pali. Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series ( SLTP ) ( n.d. - a ). Ahara vaggo ( SN 12.2 ) ( in Pali ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` MettaNet - Lanka '' at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta2/12-Abhisamaya-Samyutta/02-Aharavaggo-p.html. Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka Series ( SLTP ) ( n.d. - b ). Dhammacakkappavattana vaggo ( SN 55.2 ) ( in Pali ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` MettaNet - Lanka '' at http://www.metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta5/55-Sacca-Samyutta/02-Dhammacakkappavattanavaggo-p.html. Thanissaro Bhikkhu ( trans. ) ( 1997 ). Kaccayanagotta Sutta : To Kaccayana Gotta ( on Right View ) ( SN 12.15 ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` Access to Insight '' at https://web.archive.org/web/20130329025311/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.than.html. Thanissaro Bhikkhu ( trans. ) ( 1998 ). Maha - Saccaka Sutta : The Longer Discourse to Saccaka ( excerpt ) ( MN 36 ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` Access to Insight '' at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.036x.than.html. Thanissaro Bhikkhu ( trans. ) ( 2005 ). Acela Sutta : To the Clothless Ascetic ( SN 12.17 ). Retrieved 2008 - 01 - 03 from `` Access to Insight '' at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.017.than.html. 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Question: eightfold path of buddhism is known as the middle path because
Answer: the middle way of moderation, between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification