Editing Noble Eightfold Path (section)

== The eight divisions ==
{{See also|Buddhist paths to liberation}}

===Origins: the Middle Way===
According to Indologist Tilmann Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term ''the [[Middle Way]]''.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}} In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the Eightfold Path.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}} Tilmann Vetter and historian Rod Bucknell both note that longer descriptions of "the path" can be found in the early texts, which can be condensed into the Eightfold Path.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}{{sfn|Bucknell|1984}}{{refn|group=note|One of those longer sequences, from the ''CulaHatthipadopama-sutta'', the "Lesser Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprints", is as follows:{{sfn|Bucknell|1984|p=11-12}}
# ''Dhammalsaddhalpabbajja'': A layman hears a Buddha teach the Dhamma, comes to have faith in him, and decides to take ordination as a monk;
# ''sila'': He adopts the moral precepts;
# ''indriyasamvara'': He practises "guarding the six sense-doors";
# ''sati-sampajanna'': He practises mindfulness and self-possession (actually described as mindfulness of the body, kāyānussatti);
# ''jhana 1'': He finds an isolated spot in which to meditate, purifies his mind of the hindrances (nwarana), and attains the first rupa-jhana;
# ''jhana 2'': He attains the second jhana;
# ''jhana 3'': He attains the third jhana;
# ''jhana 4'': He attains the fourth jhana;
# ''pubbenivasanussati-nana'': he recollects his many former existences in samsara;
# ''sattanam cutupapata-nana'': he observes the death and rebirth of beings according to their karmas;
# ''dsavakkhaya-nana'': He brings about the destruction of the dsavas (cankers), and attains a profound realization of (as opposed to mere knowledge about) the four noble truths;
# ''vimutti'': He perceives that he is now liberated, that he has done what was to be done.
A similar sequence can be found in the [[Samaññaphala Sutta]].<ref name="Gethin2008_p142"/>}}

=== Tenfold path ===
In the ''Mahācattārīsaka Sutta''<ref name=BMaha /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbeta.org/result/normal/T02/0099_028.htm|title=Taishō Tripiṭaka Vol. 2, No. 99, Sutra 785|access-date=28 October 2008|publisher=Cbeta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923211023/http://www.cbeta.org/result/normal/T02/0099_028.htm|archive-date=23 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> which appears in the Chinese and Pali canons, the Buddha explains that cultivation of the noble eightfold path of a learner leads to the development of two further paths of the [[Arhat|Arahants]], which are right knowledge, or insight (''sammā-ñāṇa''), and right liberation, or release (''sammā-vimutti'').{{Sfn|Choong|2000|p=141}} These two factors fall under the category of wisdom (''paññā'').{{Sfn|Fuller|2005|p=55-56}}

===Short description of the eight divisions===
The eight Buddhist practices in the Noble Eightfold Path are:
# Right View: our actions have consequences, death is not the end, and our actions and beliefs have consequences after death. The Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and the other world (heaven and underworld/hell).{{sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=12, 77–79}}{{sfn|Velez de Cea|2013|p=54}}{{sfn|Wei-hsün Fu|Wawrytko|1994|p=194}}<ref group=web name="vgweb.org"/> Later on, right view came to explicitly include ''karma'' and rebirth, and the importance of the Four Noble Truths, when "insight" became central to Buddhist [[soteriology]], especially in Theravada Buddhism.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=77}}{{sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}
# Right Resolve (''samyaka-saṃkalpa''/''sammā-saṅkappa'') can also be known as "right thought", "right aspiration", or "right motivation".<ref name="Brahm">{{cite web|title=Word of the Buddha|author=Ajahn Brahm|date=27 May 2018|url=https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/updating-nyanantiloka-theras-word-of-the-buddha/9552/11|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804164855/https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/updating-nyanantiloka-theras-word-of-the-buddha/9552/11|url-status=live}}</ref> In this factor, the practitioner resolves to strive toward non-violence (''[[ahimsa]]'') and avoid violent and hateful conduct.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}} It also includes the resolve to leave home, renounce the worldly life and follow the Buddhist path.{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}}
# Right Speech: no lying, no abusive speech, no divisive speech, no idle chatter.<ref name="rightSpeechAccessToInsight">{{cite web |title=Right Speech: samma vaca |url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vaca/index.html |website=www.accesstoinsight.org |access-date=29 January 2023 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032859/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-vaca/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=12-13}}
# Right Conduct or Action: no killing or injuring, no taking what is not given, no sexual misconduct, no material desires. 
# Right Livelihood: no trading in weapons, living beings, meat, liquor, or poisons.
# Right Effort: preventing the arising of [[Four Right Efforts|unwholesome states]], and generating wholesome states, the ''bojjhaṅgā'' ([[Seven Factors of Awakening]]). This includes ''indriya-samvara'', "guarding the sense-doors", restraint of the sense faculties.<ref name="Analayo2013"/>{{sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83}}
# Right Mindfulness (''[[Sati (Buddhism)|sati]]''; ''[[Satipatthana]]''; ''[[Sampajañña]]''): a quality that guards or watches over the mind;{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=32}} the stronger it becomes, the weaker unwholesome states of mind become, weakening their power "to take over and dominate thought, word and deed."{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=43}}{{refn|group=note|According to Frauwallner, mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects; this may have been the Buddha's original idea;{{sfn|Williams|2000|p=45}} compare [[Buddhadasa]], ''Heartwood of the Bodhi-tree'', on [[Pratītyasamutpāda]]; and Grzegorz Polak (2011), ''Reexamining Jhana: Towards a Critical Reconstruction of Early Buddhist Soteriology'', p.153-156, 196–197.}} In the [[vipassana movement]], ''sati'' is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing;<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Sharf|2014|p=941}}--> this encourages the awareness of the impermanence of body, feeling and mind, as well as to experience the five aggregates (''[[skandha]]s''), the [[five hindrances]], the four True Realities and [[seven factors of awakening]].{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83}}
# Right ''[[samadhi]]'' (''[[passaddhi]]''; ''[[ekaggata]]''; ''sampasadana''): practicing four stages of ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]'' ("meditation"), which includes ''samadhi'' proper in the second stage, and reinforces the development of the ''[[seven factors of awakening|bojjhaṅgā]]'', culminating into ''[[upekkhā]]'' (equanimity) and mindfulness.{{sfn|Polak|2011}}<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Arbel|2017}}--> In the Theravada tradition and the vipassana movement, this is interpreted as ''[[ekaggata]]'', concentration or one-pointedness of the mind, and supplemented with ''[[vipassana]]'' meditation, which aims at insight.

=== Right view ===
{{See also|View (Buddhism)}}

The purpose of "right view" (''{{IAST|samyak-dṛṣṭi}}'' / ''{{IAST|sammā-diṭṭhi}}'') or "right understanding"{{sfn|Gunaratana|2001|p=11}} is to clear one's path from confusion, misunderstanding, and deluded thinking. It is a means to gain right understanding of reality.{{sfnp|Chryssides |Wilkins|2006|p=249}}

====Sequences in the suttas====
The Pali canon and the Agamas contain various "definitions" or descriptions of "right view." The ''[[Mahasatipatthana Sutta]]'' ([[Digha Nikaya]] 22), compiled from elements from other suttas possibly as late as 20 <!-- twenty -->BCE,{{sfn|Sujato|2012|p=304}} defines right view summarily as the Four Noble Truths: 
{{blockquote|And what is right view? Knowing about suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. This is called right view.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sujato |first1=Bhikku |title=Digha Nikaya The Long Discourses |publisher=SuttaCentral |page=213 |url=https://readingfaithfully.org/digha-nikaya-translated-by-bhikkhu-sujato-free-epub-kindle-pdf/ |access-date=18 November 2022 |archive-date=18 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118104207/https://readingfaithfully.org/digha-nikaya-translated-by-bhikkhu-sujato-free-epub-kindle-pdf/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In this, right view explicitly includes ''[[karma]]'' and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]], and the importance of the [[Four Noble Truths]]. This view of "right view" gained importance when "insight" became central to Buddhist soteriology,{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=77}} and still plays an essential role in Theravada Buddhism.{{sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right;"
|-
! ''Mahācattārīsaka Sutta''
|-
| And what is right view? Right view is twofold, I say. There is right view that is accompanied by [[Asava|defilements]], has the attributes of good deeds, and ripens in attachment. And there is right view that is noble, undefiled, transcendent, a factor of the path.

And what is right view that is accompanied by defilements, has the attributes of good deeds, and ripens in attachment? ‘There is meaning in giving, sacrifice,{{refn|group=note|Vetter translates it as "offering into the fire".{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|p=12 with footnote 4}}}} and offerings. There are fruits and results of good and bad deeds. There is an afterlife. There are such things as [serving] mother and father, and beings [devas] that are reborn spontaneously. And there are ascetics and Brahmins who are well attained and practiced, and who describe the afterlife after realizing it with their own insight.’ This is right view that is accompanied by defilements, has the attributes of good deeds, and ripens in attachment.

And what is right view that is noble, undefiled, transcendent, a factor of the path? It's the wisdom—the faculty of wisdom, the power of wisdom, the awakening factor of investigation of principles [''[[dhamma vicaya]]''], and right view as a factor of the path—in one of noble mind and undefiled mind, who possesses the noble path and develops the noble path. This is called right view that is noble, undefiled, transcendent, a factor of the path.

They make an effort to give up wrong view and embrace right view: that's their right effort. Mindfully they give up wrong view and take up right view: that's their right mindfulness. So these three things keep running and circling around right view, namely: right view, right effort, and right mindfulness.<ref>Bikkhu Sujato, [https://suttacentral.net/mn117/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin ''Mahācattārīsakasutta'', "The Great Forty"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119061135/https://suttacentral.net/mn117/en/sujato?layout=plain&reference=none&notes=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin |date=19 November 2022 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|name="graduated talk"|Compare the stock sequence of a "graduated talk" and "the distinctive teaching of the Awakened Ones": "Then the Blessed One gave a graduated talk to Upāli the householder, i.e., a talk on giving, a talk on virtue, a talk on heaven; he proclaimed the drawbacks of, degradation in, & defilement in sensuality, and the rewards of renunciation. Then—when he knew that Upāli the householder was of ready mind, malleable mind, unhindered mind, exultant mind, confident mind—he proclaimed to him the distinctive teaching of the Awakened Ones: stress, origination, cessation, path. Just as a white cloth with stains removed would rightly take dye, in the same way there arose to Upāli the householder, in that very seat, the dustless, stainless Dhamma eye: Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation. Then—having seen the Dhamma, having reached the Dhamma, known the Dhamma, gained a footing in the Dhamma, having crossed over & beyond doubt, having had no more questioning—Upāli the householder gained fearlessness and was independent of others with regard to the Teacher’s message."<ref>Majjhima Nikaya 56, [https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN56.html ''Upālivāda Sutta''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216054009/https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN56.html |date=16 December 2022 }}, translation Thanissaro Bhikkhu</ref>}}
|-
|}

Other suttas give a more extensive overview, stating that our actions have consequences, that death is not the end, that our actions and beliefs also have consequences after death, and that the Buddha followed and taught a successful path out of this world and [[Buddhist cosmology|the other world]] (heaven and underworld or hell).{{sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=12, 77–79}}{{sfn|Velez de Cea|2013|p=54}}{{sfn|Wei-hsün Fu|Wawrytko|1994|p=194}}<ref group=web name="vgweb.org">Victor Gunasekara, ''[http://www.vgweb.org/bsq/payasi.htm The Pāyāsi Sutta: A Commentary and Analysis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126092327/http://www.vgweb.org/bsq/payasi.htm |date=26 January 2017 }}''</ref> The ''Mahācattārīsaka Sutta'' ("The Great Forty," [[Majjhima Nikaya]] 117) gives an extensive overview, describing the first seven practices as requisites of right ''samadhi'' c.q. ''dhyana''. It makes a distinction between mundane right view (''karma'', ''rebirth'') and noble right view as a path-factor, relating noble right view to ''[[dhamma vicaya]]'' ("investigation of principles), one of the ''[[bojjhanga]]'', the "seven factors of awakening" which give an alternate account of right effort and ''dhyana''.<ref>Gethin, ''The Buddhist Path to Awakening''; Keren Arbel, ''Early Buddhist Meditation''</ref>

Alternatively, right view (together with right resolve) is expressed in the stock phrase of ''dhammalsaddhalpabbajja'': "A layman hears a Buddha teach the Dhamma, comes to have faith in him, and decides to take ordination as a monk."{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}{{refn|group=note|See the ''CulaHatthipadopama-sutta'' (the "Lesser Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprints") and the [[Samaññaphala Sutta]]}}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="float:right;"
|-
! ''Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta''
|-
| The venerable Sāriputta said to the venerable Mahākotthita: "Just ask, friend, knowing I shall answer." The venerable Mahākotthita said to the venerable Sāriputta: "Having accomplished what factors is a learned noble disciple in this teaching and discipline reckoned to be endowed with [right] view, to have accomplished straight view, to have accomplished unshakeable confidence in the Buddha, to have come to and arrived at the right teaching, to have attained this right Dharma and awoken to this right Dharma?"

The venerable Sāriputta said: "Venerable Mahākotthita, [this takes place if] a learned noble disciple understands unwholesome states as they really are, understands the roots of unwholesomeness as they really are, understands wholesome states as they really are and understands the roots of wholesomeness as they really are.

"How does [a learned noble disciple] understand unwholesome states as they really are? Unwholesome bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions − these are reckoned unwholesome states. In this way unwholesome states are understood as they really are.

"How does [a learned noble disciple] understand the roots of unwholesomeness as they really are? There are three roots of unwholesomeness: greed is a root of unwholesomeness, hatred is a root of unwholesomeness, and delusion is a root of unwholesomeness − these are reckoned the roots of unwholesomeness. In this way the roots of unwholesomeness are understood as they really are.

"How does [a learned noble disciple] understand wholesome states as they really are? Wholesome bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions − these are reckoned wholesome states. In this way wholesome states are understood as they really are.

"How does [a learned noble disciple] understand the roots of wholesomeness as they really are? That is, there are three roots of wholesomeness: non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion − these are reckoned the roots of wholesomeness. In this way the roots of wholesomeness are understood as they really are.

"Venerable Mahākotthita, [if] in this way a learned noble disciple understands unwholesome states as they really are, understands the roots of unwholesomeness as they really are, understands wholesome states as they really are and understands the roots of wholesomeness as they really are; then, for this reason, [a learned noble disciple] in this teaching and discipline is endowed with right view, has accomplished straight view, has accomplished unshakeable confidence in the Buddha, has come to and arrived at the right teaching, has attained this right Dharma and awoken to this right Dharma."{{sfnp|Analayo|2011|p=13-14}}
|-
|}
Likewise, the [[Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta]] (Majjhima Nikaya 9), and its parallel in the ''Samyukta-āgama'', refer to faith in the Buddha and understanding (''dhamma vicaya'') the path-factors of wholesome bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions.{{sfnp|Analayo|2011|p=13-14}}

==== Theravada ====
Right View can be further subdivided, states translator Bhikkhu Bodhi, into mundane right view and superior or supramundane right view:<ref name="BBodhi_NEP">{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html#ch2 |title=The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering |access-date=10 July 2010 |publisher=Access to Insight |last=Bhikkhu Bodhi |archive-date=28 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828222920/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/waytoend.html#ch2 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Sfn|Fuller|2005|p=56}}
# Mundane right view, knowledge of the fruits of good behavior (''karma''). Having this type of view will bring merit and will support the favourable rebirth of the sentient being in the realm of [[Samsara (Buddhism)|samsara]].
# Supramundane (world-transcending) right view, the understanding of the Four Noble Truths, leading to awakening and liberation from rebirths and associated [[dukkha]] in the realms of samsara.<ref name="BBodhi_NEP"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Bhikkhu Bodhi|title=In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFiGGao0GWoC|year=2005|publisher=Wisdom Publications|isbn=978-0-86171-996-9|pages=147, 446 with note 9}}</ref>{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}} According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, this kind of right view comes at the end of the path, not at the beginning.<ref name="BBodhi_NEP"/>

According to Theravada Buddhism, mundane right view is a teaching that is suitable for lay followers, while supramundane right view, which requires a deeper understanding, is suitable for monastics.{{refn|group=note|name="graduated talk"}} Mundane and supramundane right view involve accepting the following doctrines of Buddhism:{{sfn|Richard Gombrich|2009|pp=27–28, 103–09}}{{Sfn|Keown|2000|pp=59, 96–97}}
# [[Karma in Buddhism|Karma]]: Every action of body, speech, and mind has [[karma|karmic]] results, and influences the kind of future rebirths and realms a being enters into.
# [[Three marks of existence]]: everything, whether physical or mental, is impermanent (''anicca''), a source of suffering (''dukkha''), and lacks a self (''anatta'').
# The [[Four Noble Truths]] are a means to gaining insights and ending ''dukkha''.

====A-ditthi====
Gombrich notes that there is a tension in the suttas between "right view" and 'no view', release by not clinging to any view at all.<ref>Gombrich, ''What the Buddha Thought''.</ref> According to Chryssides and Wilkins, "right view is ultimately non-view: though the Enlightened One sees things as they really are, 'he has a "critical awareness" of the impossibility of giving full and final expression to his conviction in fixed conceptual terms'. One therefore cannot cling to any particular formulation in a rigid and dogmatic manner."{{sfnp|Chryssides |Wilkins|2006|p=249}}

=== Right resolve ===
Right Resolve (''samyak-saṃkalpa'' / ''sammā-saṅkappa'') can also be known as "right thought", "right aspiration", or "right motivation".<ref name="Brahm"/> In this factor, the practitioner resolves to leave home, renounce the worldly life and dedicate himself to an ascetic pursuit.{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=12–13}}{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}} In section III.248, the Majjhima Nikaya states,
{{blockquote|And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness: This is called right resolve.<ref name="Bsaccavi">{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.141.than.html |title=Saccavibhanga Sutta |publisher=Access to Insight |author=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=2005 |access-date=19 July 2007 |archive-date=24 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524160757/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.141.than.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Like right view, this factor has two levels. At the mundane level, the resolve includes being harmless ([[ahimsa]]) and refraining from ill will (''avyapadha'') to any being, as this accrues karma and leads to rebirth.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}<ref name=keownprebish333 /> At the supramundane level, the factor includes a resolve to consider everything and everyone as impermanent, a source of suffering and without a Self.<ref name=keownprebish333>{{cite book |author1=Damien Keown |author2=Charles S. Prebish |title=Encyclopedia of Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFpcAgAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-98588-1 |page=333 |access-date=5 October 2016 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060832/https://books.google.com/books?id=NFpcAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Right speech ===
{{Cetasika|beautiful}}
Right speech (''samyag-vāc'' / ''sammā-vācā'') in most Buddhist texts is presented as four abstentions, such as in the Pali Canon thus:<ref name=BMaha /><ref name="BSac">{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.141.than.html |title=Saccavibhanga Sutta |access-date=6 May 2008 |publisher=Access to Insight |author=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |archive-date=11 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511214556/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.141.than.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{blockquote|And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter: This is called right speech.}}

Instead of the usual "abstention and refraining from wrong" terminology,<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=47–48}}--> a few texts such as the [[Samaññaphala Sutta]] and Kevata Sutta in ''Digha Nikaya'' explain this virtue in an active sense, after stating it in the form of an abstention.<ref name= Samannaphala>{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html |title=Samaññaphala Sutta |publisher=Access to Insight |author=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=1997 |access-date=20 July 2007 |archive-date=9 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209063536/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, Samaññaphala Sutta states that a part of a monk's virtue is that "he abstains from false speech. He speaks the truth, holds to the truth, is firm, reliable, no deceiver of the world."<ref name= Samannaphala /> Similarly, the virtue of abstaining from divisive speech is explained as delighting in creating concord.<ref name= Samannaphala /> The virtue of abstaining from abusive speech is explained in this Sutta to include affectionate and polite speech that is pleasing to people. The virtue of abstaining from idle chatter is explained as speaking what is connected with the Dhamma goal of his liberation.<ref name= Samannaphala />{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=83–84}}

In the ''Abhaya-raja-kumara Sutta'', the Buddha explains the virtue of right speech in different scenarios, based on its truth value, utility value and emotive content.{{Sfn|Kalupahana|1992|p=105}}<ref name=abhayasutta>{{cite web|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.058.than.html|title=Abhaya Sutta|access-date=6 May 2008|publisher=Access to Insight|last=Thanissaro Bhikkhu|archive-date=11 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210656/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.058.than.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[Tathāgata|Tathagata]]'', states Abhaya Sutta, never speaks anything that is unfactual or factual, untrue or true, disagreeable or agreeable, if that is unbeneficial and unconnected to his goals.<ref name=abhayasutta />{{Sfn|Kalupahana|1992|pp=50–52}} Further, adds Abhaya Sutta, the ''Tathagata'' speaks the factual, the true, if in case it is disagreeable and unendearing, only if it is beneficial to his goals, but with a sense of proper time.<ref name=abhayasutta />{{Sfn|Kalupahana|1992|p=50-52}} Additionally, adds Abhaya Sutta, the ''Tathagata'', only speaks with a sense of proper time even when what he speaks is the factual, the true, the agreeable, the endearing and what is beneficial to his goals.<ref name=abhayasutta />{{Sfn|Kalupahana|1992|pp=50–52}}<ref name="Ganeri2007p47">{{cite book|author=J Ganeri  |title=The Concealed Art of the Soul: Theories of Self and Practices of Truth in Indian Ethics and Epistemology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5dITDAAAQBAJ |year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-920241-6|pages=47–48}}</ref>

The Buddha thus explains right speech in the Pali Canon, according to Ganeri, as never speaking something that is not beneficial; and, only speaking what is true and beneficial, "when the circumstances are right, whether they are welcome or not".<ref name="Ganeri2007p47" />

=== Right action ===
Right action (''samyak-karmānta'' / ''sammā-kammanta'') is like right speech, expressed as abstentions but in terms of bodily action. In the Pali Canon, this path factor is stated as:
{{blockquote|And what is right action? Abstaining from killing, abstaining from stealing, abstaining from sexual misconduct. This is called right action.<ref name=bucknellkangp12>{{cite book|author1=Roderick Bucknell |author2=Chris Kang |title=The Meditative Way: Readings in the Theory and Practice of Buddhist Meditation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSaOAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-80408-3 |pages=12–13 }}</ref>}}

The prohibition on killing precept in Buddhist scriptures applies to all [[Sentient beings (Buddhism)|living beings]], states Christopher Gowans, not just [[Human beings in Buddhism|human beings]].<ref name="Gowans2004p177">{{cite book |author=Christopher Gowans |title=Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-46973-4 |pages=177–78 |access-date=5 October 2016 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060836/https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C |url-status=live }}</ref> Bhikkhu Bodhi agrees, clarifying that the more accurate rendering of the Pali canon is a prohibition on "taking life of any sentient being", which includes human beings, animals, birds, insects but excludes plants because they are not considered sentient beings.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=57–58}}--> Further, adds Bodhi, this precept refers to ''intentional'' killing, as well as any form of intentional harming or torturing any sentient being.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=57–58}}--> This moral virtue in early Buddhist texts, both in context of harm or killing of animals and human beings, is similar to ''ahimsa'' precepts found in the texts particularly of Jainism as well as of Hinduism,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Purusottama Bilimoria|author2=Joseph Prabhu|author3=Renuka M. Sharma|title=Indian Ethics: Classical traditions and contemporary challenges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g78Cw4xQmsMC |year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-0-7546-3301-3 |pages=311–24 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John Arapura |editor=K. R. Sundararajan & Bithika Mukerji|title=Hindu Spirituality: Postclassical and Modern |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUWIEfAY-mMC |year=2003|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1937-5 |pages=392–417 }}</ref> and has been a subject of significant debate in various Buddhist traditions.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=57–58}}-->

The prohibition on stealing in the Pali Canon is an abstention from intentionally taking what is not voluntarily offered by the person to whom that property belongs.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=58–59}}--> This includes taking by stealth, by force, by fraud or by deceit.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=59–60}}--> Both the intention and the act matters, as this precept is grounded on the impact on one's karma.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=59–60}}-->

The prohibition on sexual misconduct in the Noble Eightfold Path refers to "not performing sexual acts".{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|p=12}} This virtue is more generically explained in the ''Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta'', which teaches that one must abstain from all sensual misconduct, including getting sexually involved with someone unmarried (anyone protected by parents or by guardians or by siblings), and someone married (protected by husband), and someone betrothed to another person, and female convicts or by ''dhamma''.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=60–62}}--><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html |title=Cunda Kammaraputta Sutta |access-date=6 May 2008 |publisher=Access to Insight |last=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |archive-date=11 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200911215322/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an10/an10.176.than.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

For monastics, the abstention from sensual misconduct means strict celibacy while for lay Buddhists this prohibits adultery as well as other forms of sensual misconduct.<ref name="Emmanuel2015p440">{{cite book |author=Christopher Gowans |editor=Steven M. Emmanuel |title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ |year=2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-14466-3 |pages=440 |access-date=5 October 2016 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111053956/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew Powell |title=Living Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XO-qSUMphgC |year=1989|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-20410-2 |page=24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David L. Weddle |title=Miracles: Wonder and Meaning in World Religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lS8tcx-VE40C |year=2010|publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-0-8147-9483-8 |page=118 }}</ref> Later Buddhist texts state that the prohibition on sexual conduct for lay Buddhists includes any sexual involvement with someone married, a girl or woman protected by her parents or relatives, and someone prohibited by ''dhamma'' conventions (such as relatives, nuns and others).<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=60–62}}-->

=== Right livelihood ===
Right livelihood (''samyag-ājīva'' / ''sammā-ājīva'') precept is mentioned in many early Buddhist texts, such as the ''Mahācattārīsaka Sutta'' in ''Majjhima Nikaya'' as follows:<ref name=BMaha />
{{blockquote|And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions; there is right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.

And what is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.

And what is the right livelihood that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood in one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. (...)}}

The early canonical texts state right livelihood as avoiding and abstaining from wrong livelihood. This virtue is further explained in Buddhist texts, states Vetter, as "living from begging, but not accepting everything and not possessing more than is strictly necessary".{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|p=12}} For lay Buddhists, this precept requires that the livelihood avoid causing suffering to sentient beings by cheating them, or harming or killing them in any way.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83}}

The Anguttara Nikaya III.208 asserts that the right livelihood does not trade in weapons, living beings, meat, alcoholic drink or poison.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83}}{{Sfn|Rahula|2007|p=53}} The same text, in section V.177, asserts that this applies to lay Buddhists.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martine Batchelor|title=The Spirit of the Buddha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fL3mykqlOJcC&pg=PT59|year=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-17500-4|page=59|access-date=5 October 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> This has meant, states Harvey, that raising and trading cattle livestock for slaughter is a breach of "right livelihood" precept in the Buddhist tradition, and Buddhist countries lack the mass slaughter houses found in Western countries.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=273–74}}

=== Right effort ===
{{See also|Four Right Efforts|Viriya|dhamma vicaya|Examination of conscience}}

Right effort (''samyag-vyāyāma'' / ''sammā-vāyāma'') is preventing the arising of [[Four Right Efforts|unwholesome states]], and the generation of [[Four Right Efforts|wholesome states]]. This includes ''indriya-samvara'', "guarding the sense-doors", restraint of the sense faculties.<ref name="Analayo2013">Analayo (2013), ''Satipatthana'', Windhorse Publications: "... sense-restraint, which in fact constitutes an aspect of right effort."</ref> Right effort is presented in the Pali Canon, such as the ''Sacca-vibhanga Sutta'', as follows:<ref name="BSac" /><ref name=bucknellkangp12 />
{{blockquote|And what is right effort?<br />
Here the monk arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to prevent the arising of evil and unwholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.<br />
He arouses his will... and strives to eliminate evil and unwholesome mental states that have already arisen. He arouses his will... and strives to generate wholesome mental states that have not yet arisen.<br />
He arouses his will, puts forth effort, generates energy, exerts his mind, and strives to maintain wholesome mental states that have already arisen, to keep them free of delusion, to develop, increase, cultivate, and perfect them.<br />
This is called right effort.}}

The unwholesome states (''akusala'') are described in the Buddhist texts are related to thoughts, emotions, intentions. These include the ''pancanivarana'' ([[five hindrances]]), that is, sensual thoughts, doubts about the path, restlessness, drowsiness, and ill will of any kind.{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|p=12}}<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=67–68}}--> Of these, the Buddhist traditions consider sensual thoughts and ill will needing more right effort. Sensual desire that must be eliminated by effort includes anything related to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=69–75}}--> This is to be done by restraint of the sense faculties (''indriya-samvara''). Ill will that must be eliminated by effort includes any form of aversion including hatred, anger, resentment towards anything or anyone.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=69–75}}-->

=== Right mindfulness ===
{{Main|Mindfulness (Buddhism)}}
{{See also|Sampajañña|Dhamma vicaya|Satipatthana|Anapanasati|Satipatthana Sutta}}

While originally, in Yogic practice, ''sati'' may have meant to remember the meditation object, to cultivate a deeply absorbed, secluded state of mind,<ref>Chip Hartranft (spring 2011),[https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/did-the-buddha-teach-satipatth%c4%81na ''Did the Buddha Teach Satipatthāna?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804174403/https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/article/did-the-buddha-teach-satipatth%c4%81na/ |date=4 August 2020 }}, Buddhist Inquiry</ref> in the oldest Buddhism it has the meaning of "retention", being mindful of the ''dhammas'' (both wholesome states of mind, and teachings and practices that remind of those wholesome states of mind) that are beneficial to the Buddhist path.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|pp=942–43}} According to Gethin, ''sati'' is a quality that guards or watches over the mind;{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=32}} the stronger it becomes, the weaker unwholesome states of mind become, weakening their power "to take over and dominate thought, word and deed."{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=43}} According to [[Erich Frauwallner|Frauwallner]], mindfulness was a means to prevent the arising of craving, which resulted simply from contact between the senses and their objects. According to Frauwallner this may have been the Buddha's original idea.{{sfn|Williams|2000|p=45}} According to Trainor, mindfulness aids one not to crave and cling to any transitory state or thing, by complete and constant awareness of phenomena as impermanent, suffering and without self.<ref name=trainor2004p74 /> Gethin refers to the ''Milindapanha'', which states that ''sati'' brings to mind the ''dhammas'' and their beneficial or unbeneficial qualities, aiding the removal of unbeneficial dhammas and the strengthening of beneficial dhammas.{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=37-38}} Gethin further notes that ''sati'' makes one aware of the "full range and extent of ''dhammas''", that is, the relation between things, broadening one's view and understanding.{{sfn|Gethin|2003|p=39, 42}}

The ''[[Satipatthana Sutta]]'' describes the contemplation of [[Satipatthana|four domains]], namely body, feelings, mind and phenomena.{{refn|group=note|The formula is repeated in other sutras, for example the ''Sacca-vibhanga Sutta'' (MN 141): "And what is right mindfulness?<br />Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;<br />he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;<br />he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;<br />he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;<br />This is called right mindfulness."<ref name="BSac" /><ref name=bucknellkangp12 />}} The ''Satipatthana Sutta'' is regarded by the vipassana movement as the quintessential text on Buddhist meditation, taking cues from it on "bare attention" and the contemplation on the observed phenomena as ''[[dukkha]]'', ''[[anatta]]'' and ''[[anicca]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Mark G. Williams |author2=Jon Kabat-Zinn |title=Mindfulness: Diverse Perspectives on Its Meaning, Origins and Applications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVuOAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-98514-3 |pages=21–27 }}</ref>{{sfn|Thera|2013}}{{refn|group=note|From The Way of Mindfulness, The ''Satipatthana Sutta'' and Its Commentary, Soma Thera (1998),<br />
(...)<br />'''For''' the dull-witted man of the theorizing type [ditthi carita] it is convenient to see consciousness [citta] in the fairly simple way it is set forth in this discourse, by way of impermanence [''[[anicca]]ta''], and by way of such divisions as mind-with-lust [saragadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of permanence [nicca sañña] in regard to consciousness. Consciousness is a special condition [visesa karana] for the wrong view due to a basic belief in permanence [niccanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. The contemplation on consciousness, the Third Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity of this type of man.<ref name=somatherasps />
<br />'''For''' the keen-witted man of the theorizing type it is convenient to see mental objects or things [dhamma], according to the manifold way set forth in this discourse, by way of perception, sense-impression and so forth [nivaranadi vasena], in order to reject the notion of a soul [''[[anatta|atta sañña]]''] in regard to mental things. Mental things are special conditions for the wrong view due to a basic belief in a soul [attanti abhinivesa vatthutaya ditthiya]. For this type of man the contemplation on mental objects, the Fourth Arousing of Mindfulness, is the Path to Purity.<ref name=somatherasps>{{cite web | last1=Bodhi | first1=Bhikkhu | title=The Way of Mindfulness: The Satipatthana Sutta and Its Commentary | last2=Thera | first2=Soma | year=1998 | url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html | access-date=27 May 2016 | archive-date=28 February 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228152818/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html | url-status=live }}</ref><br />(...)}}{{refn|group=note|Vetter and Bronkhorst note that the path ''starts'' with right view, which includes insight into ''anicca'', ''dukkha'' and ''anatta''.}} According to Grzegorz Polak, the four ''upassanā'' have been misunderstood by the developing Buddhist tradition, including Theravada, to refer to four different foundations. According to Polak, the four ''upassanā'' do not refer to four different foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the ''jhanas'', describing how the ''samskharas'' are tranquilized:{{sfn|Polak|2011|pp=153–56, 196–97}}
* the [[Ayatana|six sense-bases]] which one needs to be aware of (''kāyānupassanā''); 
* contemplation on [[vedanā]]s, which arise with the contact between the senses and their objects (''vedanānupassanā'');
* the altered states of mind to which this practice leads (''cittānupassanā'');
* the development from the [[five hindrances]] to the [[seven factors of enlightenment]] (''dhammānupassanā'').{{refn|group=note|Note how ''kāyānupassanā'', ''vedanānupassanā'', and ''cittānupassanā'', resemble the [[Skandha|five skandhas]] and the chain of causation as described in the middle part of [[Pratītyasamutpāda]]; while ''dhammānupassanā'' refers to mindfulness as retention, calling into mind the beneficial ''dhammas'' which are applied to analyse phenomena, and counter the arising of disturbing thoughts and emotions.}}

In the [[vipassana movement]], mindfulness (''{{IAST|samyak-smṛti}}'' / ''sammā-sati'') is interpreted as "bare attention": never be absent minded, being conscious of what one is doing.{{sfn|Sharf|2014|p=941}} [[Rupert Gethin]] notes that the contemporary vipassana movement interprets the ''Satipatthana Sutta'' as "describing a pure form of insight (''vipassanā'') meditation" for which ''[[samatha]]'' (calm) and ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]'' are not necessary. Yet, in [[pre-sectarian Buddhism]], the establishment of mindfulness was placed before the practice of the ''Dhyāna'', and associated with the abandonment of the [[five hindrances]] and the entry into the first ''Dhyāna''.<ref name="Gethin2008_p142"/>{{refn|group=note|Gethin: "The sutta is often read today as describing a pure form of insight (''vipassanā'') meditation that bypasses calm ([[samatha]]) meditation and the four absorptions (''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]''), as outlined in the description of the Buddhist path found, for example, in the [[Samaññaphala Sutta]] [...].  The earlier tradition, however, seems not to have always read it this way, associating accomplishment in the exercise of establishing mindfulness with abandoning of the [[five hindrances]] and the first absorption."<ref name="Gethin2008_p142">Gethin, Rupert, Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations from the Pali Nikayas (Oxford World's Classics), 2008, p. 142.</ref>}}

The ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]''-scheme describes mindfulness also as appearing in the third and fourth ''dhyāna'', after initial concentration of the mind.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=13}}<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}-->{{refn|group=note|Original publication: {{Cite book | last=Gombrich | first=Richard | year=2007 | title=Religious Experience in Early Buddhism | publisher=OCHS Library | url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | access-date=12 October 2018 | archive-date=1 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701190900/http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | url-status=live }}}} Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second ''dhyāna'' denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth ''dhyāna'' one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully aware of objects while being indifferent to them.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|pp=106–07; 140, note 58}}-->{{refn|group=note|Original publication: {{Cite book | last=Gombrich | first=Richard | year=2007 | title=Religious Experience in Early Buddhism | publisher=OCHS Library | url=http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | access-date=12 October 2018 | archive-date=1 July 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701190900/http://www.ochs.org.uk/lectures/religious-experience-early-buddhism | url-status=live }}}} According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element".<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Wynne|2007|p=140, note 58}}-->

=== Right samadhi (unification of mind)===
{{Main|Dhyāna in Buddhism}}

====''Samadhi''====
''[[Samadhi]]'' (''samyak-samādhi'' / ''sammā-samādhi'') is a common practice or goal in Indian religions. The term ''samadhi'' derives from the root sam-a-dha, which means 'to collect' or 'bring together',{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} and thus it is often translated as 'concentration' or 'unification of mind'. In the early Buddhist texts, samadhi is also associated with the term "[[samatha]]" (calm abiding).{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}

====Dhyana====
Bronkhorst notes that neither the Four Noble Truths nor the Noble Eightfold Path discourse provide details of right ''samadhi''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Johannes Bronkhorst |title=Buddhist Teaching in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mhuabeq5-cAC |year=2009|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-86171-566-4 |pages=10–17 }}</ref> Several ''Suttas'', such as the following in ''Saccavibhanga Sutta'', equate it with ''dhyana'':<ref name=BSac /><ref name=bucknellkangp12 />

{{blockquote|And what is right concentration?

[i] Here, the monk, detached from sense-desires, detached from unwholesome states, enters and remains in the first ''jhana'' (level of concentration, Sanskrit: ''dhyāna''), in which there is applied and sustained thinking, together with joy and pleasure born of detachment;<br />
[ii] And through the subsiding of applied and sustained thinking, with the gaining of inner stillness and oneness of mind, he enters and remains in the second ''jhana'', which is without applied and sustained thinking, and in which there are joy and pleasure born of concentration;<br />
[iii] And through the fading of joy, he remains equanimous, mindful and aware, and he experiences in his body the pleasure of which the Noble Ones say: "equanimous, mindful and dwelling in pleasure", and thus he enters and remains in the third ''jhana'';<br />
[iv] And through the giving up of pleasure and pain, and through the previous disappearance of happiness and sadness, he enters and remains in the fourth ''jhana'', which is without pleasure and pain, and in which there is pure equanimity and mindfulness.<br />
This is called right concentration.<ref name=bucknellkangp12 /><ref name="Bronkhorst2009p16">{{cite book|author=Johannes Bronkhorst |title=Buddhist Teaching in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mhuabeq5-cAC |year=2009|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-86171-566-4 |pages=16–17 }}</ref>}}

Bronkhorst has questioned the historicity and chronology of the description of the four ''jhanas''. Bronkhorst states that this path may be similar to what the Buddha taught, but the details and the form of the description of the ''jhanas'' in particular, and possibly other factors, is likely the work of later scholasticism.<ref name=bronkhorst2009p17>{{cite book|author=Johannes Bronkhorst |title=Buddhist Teaching in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mhuabeq5-cAC |year=2009|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-86171-566-4 |pages=17–19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Oliver Freiberger |title=Asceticism and Its Critics: Historical Accounts and Comparative Perspectives|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2cbCr7M4SJ8C |year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-971901-3|pages=249–51}}</ref> Bronkhorst notes that description of the third ''jhana'' cannot have been formulated by the Buddha, since it includes the phrase "Noble Ones say", quoting earlier Buddhists, indicating it was formulated by later Buddhists.<ref name=bronkhorst2009p17 /> It is likely that later Buddhist scholars incorporated this, then attributed the details and the path, particularly the insights at the time of liberation, to have been discovered by the Buddha.<ref name=bronkhorst2009p17 />

====Concentration====
In the Theravada tradition, ''samadhi'' is interpreted as concentration on a meditation object. [[Buddhagosa]] defines samadhi as "the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object...the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered."<ref>Visudimagga 84–85{{full citation needed|date=September 2016}}</ref>

According to Henepola Gunaratana, in the suttas samadhi is defined as one-pointedness of mind (''Cittass'ekaggatā'').<ref>Henepola Gunaratana (1995), The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation</ref>  According to [[Bhikkhu Bodhi]], the right concentration factor is reaching a one-pointedness of mind and unifying all mental factors, but it is not the same as "a gourmet sitting down to a meal, or a soldier on the battlefield" who also experience one-pointed concentration.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=97–110}}--> The difference is that the latter have a one-pointed object in focus with complete awareness directed to that object&nbsp;– the meal or the target, respectively. In contrast, right concentration meditative factor in Buddhism is a state of awareness without any object or subject, and ultimately unto no-thingness and emptiness, as articulated in apophatic discourse. <!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|pp=97–110}}-->

====Development into equanimity====
Although often translated as "concentration", as in the limiting of the attention of the mind on one object, in the fourth ''dhyana'' "equanimity and mindfulness remain",{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=63}} and the practice of concentration-meditation may well have been incorporated from non-Buddhist traditions.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|pp=53–70}} Vetter notes that ''samadhi'' consists of the [[four stages of awakening]], but
{{blockquote|...to put it more accurately, the first dhyana seems to provide, after some time, a state of strong concentration, from which the other stages come forth; the second stage is called samadhija.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=13}}}}

Gombrich and Wynne note that, while the second ''jhana'' denotes a state of absorption, in the third and fourth ''jhana'' one comes out of this absorption, being mindfully awareness of objects while being indifferent to it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gombrich |first=Richard |date=1997 |title=Religious Experience in Early Buddhism |url=https://ocbs.org/religious-experience-in-early-buddhism/ |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies |language=en-GB |archive-date=29 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129114243/https://ocbs.org/religious-experience-in-early-buddhism/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Gombrich, "the later tradition has falsified the jhana by classifying them as the quintessence of the concentrated, calming kind of meditation, ignoring the other – and indeed higher – element."

=== Liberation ===
Following the Noble Eightfold Path leads to [[Moksha|liberation]] in the form of [[nirvana]]:{{Sfn|Lopez|2009|p=136-137}}<ref name="auto"/>
{{blockquote|And what is that ancient path, that ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times? Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the ancient path, the ancient road, traveled by the Rightly Self-awakened Ones of former times. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of aging & death, direct knowledge of the origination of aging & death, direct knowledge of the cessation of aging & death, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of aging & death. I followed that path. Following it, I came to direct knowledge of birth... becoming... clinging... craving... feeling... contact... the six sense media... name-&-form... consciousness, direct knowledge of the origination of consciousness, direct knowledge of the cessation of consciousness, direct knowledge of the path leading to the cessation of consciousness. I followed that path.
|The Buddha, Nagara Sutta, ''Samyutta Nikaya ii.124'', Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html |title=Nagara Sutta |access-date=6 May 2008 |publisher=Access to Insight |last=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |archive-date=18 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418063130/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.065.than.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbeta.org/result/normal/T02/0099_012.htm |title=Samyukta Agama, sutra no. 287, Taisho vol 2, p. 80 |access-date=27 October 2008 |publisher=Cbeta |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923210906/http://www.cbeta.org/result/normal/T02/0099_012.htm |archive-date=23 September 2008 }}</ref>}}