Middle way
Encyclopedia
The Middle Way or Middle Path is the descriptive term that Siddhartha Gautama used to describe the character of the path he discovered that led to liberation
. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment. In this sutta - known in English as The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma
- the Buddha describes the middle way as a path of moderation between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. This, according to him, was the path of wisdom
. The middle path does not mean a mid point in a straight line joining two extremes represented by points. The Middle Way is a dynamic teaching as shown by the traditional story that the Buddha realized the meaning of the Middle Way when he sat by a river and heard a lute player in a passing boat and understood that the lute string must be tuned neither too tight nor too loose to produce a harmonious sound.
In later Theravada texts as well as in Mahayana
and Vajrayana
Buddhism, the Middle Way refers to the concept, enunciated in the Canon, of direct knowledge that transcends seemingly antithetical claims about existence.
, the very phrase "middle way" is ascribed to the Buddha himself in his description of the Noble Eightfold Path
as a path between the extremes of austerities and sensual indulgence. 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.
(SN
56.11):
Thus, for the attainment of Nibbana (Pali; Skt.: Nirvana), the Middle Way involves:
In this discourse (Pali: sutta
), the Buddha identifies the Middle Way as a path for "one who has gone forth from the household life" (Pali: pabbajitena) although lay
Buddhists may center their lives on this path as well.
In regard to the Buddha's admonition against the "indulgence of sense-pleasures" (Pali: kāmesu kāma-sukha-allika), Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma has written:
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: atta-kilamatha).
.
In the Pali Canon itself, this view is not explicitly called the "Middle Way" (majjhimā paipadā) but is literally referred to as "teaching by the middle" (majjhena dhamma) as in this passage from the Samyutta Nikaya
's Kaccyanagotta Sutta (in English and Pali
):
In this discourse, the Buddha next describes the conditioned origin of suffering (dukkha
) – from ignorance (avijja) to aging and death (jaramarana
) – and the parallel reverse-order interdependent cessation of such factors (see Dependent Origination and Twelve Nidanas
). Thus, in Theravada Buddhist soteriology, 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.
("Middle Way") school posits a "middle way" position between metaphysical claims that things ultimately either exist or do not exist.
In the Tendai
school, the "middle way" refers to the synthesis of the thesis that all things are "empty"
and the antithesis that all things have phenomenal existence.
In Zen
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. For example, in the Platform Sutra
of the Great Master Huineng
, in Chapter 10 he gives instructions to be handed down about how to explain the Dharma. Huineng enumerates 36 basic oppositions of consciousness and discusses how the Way is free from both extremes.
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
. It was coined in the very first teaching that he delivered after his enlightenment. In this sutta - known in English as The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is traditionally the Buddha's first discourse after he attained Bodhi and Nirvāṇa.-Sources:In the Pali Canon, this sutta is contained in the Sutta Pitaka's Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 56 The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Pali; Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra, Sanskrit;...
- the Buddha describes the middle way as a path of moderation between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. This, according to him, was the path of wisdom
Prajña
Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...
. The middle path does not mean a mid point in a straight line joining two extremes represented by points. The Middle Way is a dynamic teaching as shown by the traditional story that the Buddha realized the meaning of the Middle Way when he sat by a river and heard a lute player in a passing boat and understood that the lute string must be tuned neither too tight nor too loose to produce a harmonious sound.
In later Theravada texts as well as in Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
and Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
Buddhism, the Middle Way refers to the concept, enunciated in the Canon, of direct knowledge that transcends seemingly antithetical claims about existence.
Theravada contexts
In Theravada Buddhism's Pali CanonPāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
, the very phrase "middle way" is ascribed to the Buddha himself in his description of the Noble Eightfold Path
Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
as a path between the extremes of austerities and sensual indulgence. Later Pali literature
Pali literature
Pali literature is concerned mainly with Theravada Buddhism, of which Pali is the traditional language.- India :Main article: Pali CanonThe earliest and most important Pali literature constitutes the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravada...
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.
Noble Eightfold Path
In the Pali canon, the Middle Way (majjhimā paipadā) was said to have been articulated by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana SuttaDhammacakkappavattana Sutta
The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is traditionally the Buddha's first discourse after he attained Bodhi and Nirvāṇa.-Sources:In the Pali Canon, this sutta is contained in the Sutta Pitaka's Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 56 The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Pali; Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra, Sanskrit;...
(SN
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
56.11):
- "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 TathagataTathagataTathāgata in Pali and Sanskrit) is the name the Buddha of the scriptures uses when referring to himself. The term means, paradoxically, both one who has thus gone and one who has thus come . Hence, the Tathagata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena...
(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 pathNoble Eightfold PathThe Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
, and nothing else, namely: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."
Thus, for the attainment of Nibbana (Pali; Skt.: Nirvana), the Middle Way involves:
- abstaining from addictive sense-pleasures and self-mortification
- nurturing the set of "right" actions that are known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
In this discourse (Pali: sutta
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
), the Buddha identifies the Middle Way as a path for "one who has gone forth from the household life" (Pali: pabbajitena) although lay
Householder (Buddhism)
In English translations of Buddhist literature, householder denotes a variety of terms. Most broadly, it refers to any layperson, and most narrowly, to a wealthy and prestigious familial patriarch...
Buddhists may center their lives on this path as well.
In regard to the Buddha's admonition against the "indulgence of sense-pleasures" (Pali: kāmesu kāma-sukha-allika), Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma has written:
- "...This kind of practice is the concern of so-called 'urban civilization,' which condones sensuous pleasures as the highest attributes of bliss; the greater the pleasures, the greater the happiness....
- "The Buddha taught that indulgence in sensuous pleasures is not the practice of enlightened, noble ones (ariyas). Noble ones who live the worldly life do not have attachment to sense objects. For example, in the first stage of an enlightenedFour stages of enlightenmentThe four stages of enlightenment in Buddhism are the four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat, which an average, instructed person can attain in this life...
noble life, the sotāpannaSotapannaIn Buddhism, a Sotāpanna , Srotāpanna , or "stream-winner" is a person who has eradicated the first three fetters of the mind. Sotapanna literally means "one who entered the stream ", after a metaphor which calls the Noble Eightfold Path, 'a stream'...
, or stream winner, has not yet overcome lust and passions. Incipient perceptions of the agreeableness of carnal pleasures (sukhasaññā) still linger. Nevertheless, the stream-winner will not feel the need to indulge in worldly pleasures."
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
Shramana
A shramana is a wandering monk in certain ascetic traditions of ancient India including Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvikism. Famous śramaṇas include Mahavira and Gautama Buddha....
practices that gives particular relevancy to the caveat against the extreme (Pali: antā) of self-mortification (Pali: atta-kilamatha).
Dependent Origination
Harvey (2007) writes, "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 Theravadan literature, this usage of the term "Middle Way" can be found in 5th c. CE Pali commentariesAtthakatha
Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries were based on earlier ones, now lost, in Old Sinhalese, which were written down at the same...
.
In the Pali Canon itself, this view is not explicitly called the "Middle Way" (majjhimā paipadā) but is literally referred to as "teaching by the middle" (majjhena dhamma) as in this passage from the Samyutta Nikaya
Samyutta Nikaya
The Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
's Kaccyanagotta Sutta (in English and Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
):
"'Everything exists': That is one extreme. 'Everything doesn't exist': That is a second extreme. Avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma via the middle...." | Sabbamatthī'ti kho ..., ayameko anto. Sabba natthī'ti aya dutiyo anto. ... [U]bho ante anupagamma majjhena tathāgato dhamma deseti. |
In this discourse, the Buddha next describes the conditioned origin of suffering (dukkha
Dukkha
Dukkha is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, social alienation, anxiety,...
) – from ignorance (avijja) to aging and death (jaramarana
Jaramarana
Jarāmaraa is Sanskrit and Pāli for "old age" and "death" . In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of .Synonyms:...
) – and the parallel reverse-order interdependent cessation of such factors (see Dependent Origination and Twelve Nidanas
Twelve Nidanas
The Twelve Nidānas are the best-known application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda , identifying the origins of dukkha to be in tanha and avijja...
). Thus, in Theravada Buddhist soteriology, 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.
Mahayana contexts
In Mahayana Buddhism, the MadhyamakaMadhyamaka
Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
("Middle Way") school posits a "middle way" position between metaphysical claims that things ultimately either exist or do not exist.
In the Tendai
Tendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
school, the "middle way" refers to the synthesis of the thesis that all things are "empty"
Shunyata
Śūnyatā, शून्यता , Suññatā , stong-pa nyid , Kòng/Kū, 空 , Gong-seong, 공성 , qoγusun is frequently translated into English as emptiness...
and the antithesis that all things have phenomenal existence.
In Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
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. For example, in the Platform Sutra
Platform Sutra
The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch , is a Buddhist scripture that was composed in China. It is one of the seminal texts in the Chan/Zen schools. It is centered on discourses given at Shao Zhou temple attributed to the sixth Chan patriarch, Huineng...
of the Great Master Huineng
Huineng
Dajian Huineng was a Chinese Chán monastic who is one of the most important figures in the entire tradition, according to standard Zen hagiographies...
, in Chapter 10 he gives instructions to be handed down about how to explain the Dharma. Huineng enumerates 36 basic oppositions of consciousness and discusses 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. 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.’"
See also
- Argument to moderation
- BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
- Dhammacakkappavattana SuttaDhammacakkappavattana SuttaThe Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta is traditionally the Buddha's first discourse after he attained Bodhi and Nirvāṇa.-Sources:In the Pali Canon, this sutta is contained in the Sutta Pitaka's Saṃyutta Nikāya, chapter 56 The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Pali; Dharmacakra Pravartana Sūtra, Sanskrit;...
- Golden MeanGolden meanGolden mean may refer to:*Doctrine of the Golden Mean , a chapter in Li Ji, one of the Four Books of Confucianism*Golden mean , the felicitous middle between the extremes of excess and deficiency...
- MadhyamakaMadhyamakaMadhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
- Middle Way Meditation
- MūlamadhyamakakārikāMulamadhyamakakarikaThe Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.-Competing interpretations:...
- NagarjunaNagarjunaNāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
- Nirvana (concept)
- Noble Eightfold PathNoble Eightfold PathThe Noble Eightfold Path , is one of the principal teachings of the Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening. It is used to develop insight into the true nature of phenomena and to eradicate greed, hatred, and delusion...
- TendaiTendaiis a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
External links
- Advayavada Buddhism Infocenter. The Noble Eightfold Path in Advayavada Buddhism. On-line at http://www.euronet.nl/~advaya/patipada.htm
- The Two Truths of the Middle Way http://www.emptymountains.org/
- Moral objectivity and the Middle Way http://www.moralobjectivity.net
- The Buddhist Critique of Sassatavada and Ucchedavada http://www.zencomp.com/greatwisdom/ebud/ebdha263.htm
- The Middle Way in Eastern and Western Modes of Thought http://knol.google.com/k/buddhism-and-quantum-physics#