Noble Eightfold Path

Let us look at the more detail eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path.

The first factor is right view. What is right view? Right view consist of four kinds of knowledge:

1. The insight knowledge of the Noble Truth of suffering which is the fire aggregates of clinging.
2. The insight knowledge of the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering which discerns the causes for the five aggregates of clinging of which in other words it is the insight knowledge of dependent origination.
3. The realization and knowledge of the Cessation of Suffering which is cessation of the five aggregates of clinging, Nibbana.
4. The knowledge of the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering which is the way of practice to the realization of Nibbana, the Noble Eightfold Path.

The second factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right thought. Right thought too is four-fold:

1. Applied thought to the object of the Noble Truth of suffering, which is the five aggregates of clinging.
2. Applied thought to the object of the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering, which are the causes for the five aggregates of clinging.
3. Applied thought to the object of the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, which is Nibbana.
4. Applied thought to the object of the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering, which is the Noble Eightfold Path.

As such, right thought applies the mind to the object of the Truth of Suffering, the five aggregates of clinging and the right view understands it as it really is. These two factors work together to apply the mind to each of the Four Noble Truths and to understand them. Since they work together in this way, they are considered as training of wisdom.

The third factor of the Noble Eightfold Path is right speech. Right speech is to abstain from lying, slander, harsh words and useless talk. 

The fourth factor is right action. right action is to abstain from killing, from theft and from sexual misconduct.

The fifth factor is right livelihood which is to abstain from obtaining a living by wrong speech or wrong actions such as killing, stealing or lying. For lay people it includes five types which are wrong trade, trade in weapons, humans, animals for slaughter, intoxicants and poisons.

The three factors of right speech, right action and right livelihood are called the training of morality.

The sixth factor is right effort which consist of four kinds:

1. The effort to prevent the arising of unwholesome states that have yet to arisen.
2. The effort to remove unwholesome states that have already arisen.
3. The effort to arouse unwholesome states that have yet to arisen.
4. The effort to increase wholesome states that have already arisen.

To keep developing these four kinds of right effort, we must practice and develop the three trainings of morality, concentration and wisdom.

The seventh factor is right mindfulness which also have four types:

1. Mindfulness of the body.
2. Mindfulness of feelings.
3. Mindfulness of consciousness.
4. Mindfulness of Dhammas.

Here, dhammas are the 51 associated mental factors excluding feeling or the 5 aggregates of clinging or the 12 internal and external sense bases or the 18 elements or the 7 factors of enlightenment or the Four Noble Truths, etc, etc. But the four types of mindfulness can in fact be reduced to just two, mindfulness of materiality and mindfulness of mentality.

The eight factor is right concentration is the first jhana or absorption, second jhana, third hjana and fourth jhana. These are called right concentration according to the Great Sutta on the Foundation of Mindfulness. In the Visuddhi Magga, the right concentration is further elaborated as four fine material hjanas, the four immaterial jhanas and access concentration.

Some people have a great accumulation of paramis and can attain Nibbana by simply listening to a brief or detailed talk on the Dhamma. Most people, however, do not have such paramis and must practice the Noble Eightfold Path in its gradual order. They are considered person-to-be-led and must develop the path step by step in the order of morality, concentration and wisdom.

After purifying their morality, they must then train in concentration and after purifying their mind by way of concentration in practical, they must train in wisdom.