Noble Eightfold Path

1. Right View (Sammā Diṭṭhi)

Wholesome or unwholesome

Beneficial or harmful

Peaceful or hostile

The law of karma

The law of cause and effect

The Interdependent Origination

2. Right Thought (Sammā Saṅkappa)

Practice renunciation, relinquish desires, attain nirvana

3. Right Speech (Sammā Vāchā)

Abstain from false speech

Abstain from slanderous speech

Abstain from harsh speech

Abstain from idle speech

Abstain from covetousness

4. Right Action (Sammā Kammanta)

Abstain from killing

Abstain from stealing

Abstain from sexual misconducts

5. Right Livelihood (Sammā Ājīva)

6. Right Effort (Sammā Vāyāma)

Four Right Efforts (sammāppadhāna):

1. Restraint (saṁvara) – Generating the desire for the non–arising of unwholesome states.

2. Abandoning (pahāna) – Generating the desire for abandoning arisen unwholesome states.

3. Developing (bhāvanā) – Generating the desire for the arising of wholesome states.

4. Protecting (anurakkhanā) – Generating the desire for continuing arisen wholesome states.

7. Right Mindfulness (Sammā Sati)

Four Foundations of Mindfulness

1. Contemplation of the Body

2. Contemplation of Feeling

3. Contemplation of Mind

4. Contemplation of Dhammas

8. Right Concentration (Sammā Samadhi)

First Jhāna: The practitioner experiences extremely pleasant sensations and a cessation of any existing physical aches.

Second Jhāna: This is characterized by emotional joy and increased serenity.

Third Jhāna: Joy changes to a more subdued feeling of contentment.

Fourth Jhāna: Equanimity reigns, with neither positive nor negative sensations in mind or body. Instead, there is an all–pervasive peace, with the mind singularly focused upon itself.

Fifth Jhāna: The practitioner’s attention shifts outward as if watching himself from above. The body experiences floating, expansive sensations, as though it were gradually filling out all of space.

Sixth Jhāna: The meditator realizes that the unlimited space he/she “occupies” includes his/her own consciousness. There is a sense of unification with nature and concentration becomes further pinpointed.

Seventh Jhāna: Realization dawns that this infinite consciousness contains nothing permanent – the universe is always in flux.

Eighth Jhāna: This is a state of indescribable peace. There is a little realization of the experience, yet the practitioner is not entirely unaware of what is happening, either. Enlightenment, however, is still some distance away.