In Buddhist philosophy, the Eightfold Path is the prescribed course of sustained self-effort—rather than passive belief, grace, or momentary emotional experience—by which the practitioner overcomes suffering (dukkha), whose cause was diagnosed as the ego-centered drive toward private fulfillment (the third and fourth of the Four Noble Truths). The path comprises eight interrelated disciplines spanning cognitive orientation (right knowledge, right aspiration/resolve), ethical conduct (right speech, right behavior, right livelihood), and sustained inner cultivation (right effort, right mindfulness, right meditation), culminating in a non-conceptual, experiential state of insight.
In Buddhist philosophy, the Eightfold Path is the prescribed course of sustained self-effort—rather than passive belief, grace, or momentary emotional experience—by which the practitioner overcomes s…