Walking The Middle Way Two Extremes That Should Not Be Followed

Monks, these two extremes should not be followed by one who has gone forth into homelessness.

What two?

The pursuit of sensual happiness in sensual pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of worldlings, not honorable, unbeneficial; and

The pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, not honorable, unbeneficial.

Without veering towards either of these extremes, The Tathāgata has awakened to the middle way, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to wisdom, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge (experience), to Enlightenment, to Nibbāna.

And what, Monks, is that middle way awakened to by The Tathāgata, which gives rise to vision, which leads to Nibbāna (Enlightenment)?

It is this Noble Eight Fold Path; that is, Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

(Reference: SN 56.11)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares the two extremes that should not be followed training the mind to walk the middle way.

Prior to Siddhartha Gotama going out into the forest to train the mind through his own independent pursuit of Enlightenment, he attempted to train with two (2) different Teachers. These two (2) Teachers and others claimed that their teachings lead to Enlightenment.

Siddhartha Gotama trained to the point of being recognized as a Master Teacher in both of these Teachers’ disciplines in a short period of time however, he observed that his mind was still discontent. The condition of his mind had not improved. Therefore, he left and went out on his own to attempt to solve the discontent mind, which he did, discovering The Path to Enlightenment.

During his time training with the other Teachers, the extreme of causing harm to the physical body was taught as a way to overcome and challenge the mind to get to Enlightenment. Once Siddhartha Gotama awakened to Enlightenment becoming a Buddha, he understood that it was not indulging in sensual pleasures nor causing harm to the physical body that produced Enlightenment.

Instead, it was training the mind to reside in the middle described as “the middle way”.

The middle way is what The Buddha had discovered and spent forty-five (45) years teaching. The middle way is The Eight Fold Path where the mind is trained not to chase after sensual pleasures nor disparage the body causing harm.

Instead, the mind is trained to acquire wisdom eradicating ignorance (unknowing of true reality) making wise decisions through the newly acquired wisdom.

During the lifetime of The Buddha, there were countless people training with various Teachers who all claimed their teachings were The Path to Enlightenment. The Buddha spent seven (7) weeks contemplating at the Bodhi tree attempting to determine if it would be wise for him to share his Teachings since they were so different than those that were being shared in that region of the world. He felt that his Teachings were too radically different than others for people to listen, understand, practice, and experience the results he had experienced.

Eventually, he did decide to share his Teachings and we know that it is his Teachings that lead to Enlightenment as they have stood the test of time existing in the world for over 2,500 years.

The Teachings he shared are “the middle way”.

The mind cannot perform optimally if it is too loose or too tight. It is only when the mind is trained and tuned to be in the middle that it can perform optimally. It is The Eight Fold Path that is the training guidance that allows the mind to reside in the middle.

Detailed explanation of The Eight Fold Path is available in this same book series found in Chapter 5 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

Detailed explanation of The Middle Way and how to apply it to your life is available in this same book series found in Chapter 6 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).