The Fourth Noble Truth (Marga – the Noble Eightfold Path to the Cessation of Dukkha)

The way to eventually get to nirvana is to embark on this path and the spiritual life that this entails is called Brahma carya and also Bhahvana which means cultivation (literally “bringing to be”). Methabhahvana thus means cultivation of loving kindness, one aspect of Bhavana and Brahma carya. Buddhism calls itself “the Middle Way” (majama patipada) and this is the required path (patipada).

Yoga is also used in place of marga and means a spiritual path or practice. In the West, we are mainly aware of hathayoga which means force yoga. It’s more a physical discipline in the West. The force referred to is not physical force, though, but the force that makes the mind go deep as it disciplines the body and finally the breath. Lokottara means “beyond the mundane (i.e. beyond the world)”. Nirvana is reached/realised rather than brought about by the Marga (as a summit is reached/realised but not produced by climbing).

So the path has many names but what is it? The next posts will concern this Noble Eightfold Path in more detail. There are various ways to divide it up. That there are eight stages is a quite early teaching of Siddhartha. They are usually depicted in wheel rather than ladder form. This reflects the general Buddhist view of the continuity and interdependence of things. So for example “Right view” is sometimes listed first but it may actually be the endpoint in one sense. Another way of viewing the path is as 37 awakening factors.
There are also three basic parts to the path that I’ll discuss in the next two posts: the following of moral advice is followed by meditations (prescribed as part of and made possible by that advice) which are followed in turn by wisdoms. Wisdom (seeing clearly the reality of things) would lead to one being better able to follow deeper moral advice and so the cycle may continue but eventually with enough wisdoms we may become a Buddha and reach nirvana.