Buddha’s Teaching As It Is –

Lecture 7: Noble Eightfold Path Bhikkhu Bodhi

PowerPoint presentation on Bhikkhu Bodhi’s
recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching As It Is’.
Materials for the presentation are taken from the
recorded lectures (MP3) posted at the website of
Bodhi Monastery and the notes of the lectures
posted at beyondthenet.net

Originally prepared to accompany the playing of

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recorded lectures on ‘Buddha’s Teaching
As It is’ in the Dharma Study Class at PUTOSI Temple,
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
This series of weekly study begins in November, 2010.
 Noble Eightfold Path
The Fourth Noble Truth
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Lecture 7
 Namo Tassa Bhagavato
Arahato Sammasambuddhassa

NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH –

PART I
 Noble Eightfold Path
Dukkha, its origin, its cessation, and the way to its cessation-
these are the Four Noble Truths, the "elephant's footprint"
that contains within itself all the essential and other
teachings of the Buddha.
It might be risky to say that any one truth is more important
than the others. since they all hang together in a very close
integral unit. But if we were to single out one truth as the key
to the whole Dhamma it would be the Fourth Noble Truths,
the truth of the way, the way to the end of Dukkha. That is
the Noble Eightfold Path.
 Noble Eightfold Path
The path is made up of the following eight factors, divided into
three larger groups:
1. Wisdom group: Right View; Right Intention;
2. Moral discipline group (sila): Right Speech; Right Action;
Right Livelihood
3. Concentration (Samadhi) group: Right Effort; Right
Mindfulness; Right Concentration.
We say that the path is the most important element in the
Buddha's teaching because the path is what makes the
Dhamma available to us as a living experience. Without the
path the Dhamma would just be a shell, a collection of
doctrines without inner life. Without the path, even full
deliverance from suffering would become a mere dream.
 Discovery of the Path
Now it should be understood that the Noble Eightfold Path was
not created by the Buddha; rather the path was discovered by
the Buddha. Whether a Buddha arises or not the path
remains as the indispensable means to enlightenment.
During the long periods when no Buddha has appeared in the
world, the path is shrouded in darkness, lost to the masses of
mankind. But when a Buddha arises, he rediscovers the lost
path to deliverance and then makes it known again to the
world. In-fact, that is the special and unique function of a
Buddha.
From one angle the discovery of the Noble Eightfold Path might
be called the primary significance of the Buddha's
enlightenment.
 Discovery of the Path
Before his renunciation, when he was still living in the palace as
a Bodhisatta, he had already recognized the unsatisfactory
nature of existence. He had recognized the hard facts of old
age, sickness and death, and he had lost his worldly
complacency, his desire for power, fame and sense pleasures.
Thus even from the start he had an intuition, a confidence,
that there was a way out of suffering, a state of liberation
beyond the round of birth and death. Because of his
confidence he was able to leave the palace to go in search of
deliverance. But what he did not know was the path to
deliverance, and with the discovery of the path he was able to
escape the trap of ignorance, to reach enlightenment, to
attain his own liberation and to guide others to liberation.
 The Path – Way to Awakening
The path is essentially a way to awakening, a means to generate
in our own minds the same experience of enlightenment that
the Buddha himself went through while sitting beneath the
Bodhi Tree.
In the causal chain that originates Dukkha, the Buddha points
out that all the suffering and unsatisfactoriness we meet in
the round of becoming arises because of our craving and
clinging. Craving and clinging in turn are nurtured by
ignorance, by blindness to the real nature of things that
shrouds our minds. To eliminate ignorance what is needed is
the exact opposite, knowledge, the superior wisdom that
shines brightly and eclipses the darkness of ignorance. But
this wisdom does not arise out of nothing. It arises out of
conditions.
 The Path – Way to Awakening
The set of conditions that lead to enlightenment constitutes the
Noble Eightfold Path.
In describing the path the Buddha says that it produces
knowledge and vision. The kind of knowledge the Path leads
to is not conceptual or abstract knowledge, but immediate
insight. By virtue of this insight, the Path leads to peace, the
peace that comes with the destruction of craving and clinging,
the path leads to full enlightenment (sammasambodhi), thus
leading us out of the cycle of suffering, birth and death and to
the ultimate goal, the unconditioned state, Nibbana, the
deathless element.
 The Path – Middle Way
In his first discourse the Buddha calls the Noble Eightfold Path
the middle way. He calls it the middle way because the
eightfold path avoids all extremes in conduct and in views. In
the discourse the Buddha points out that there are two
extremes which a seeker of enlightenment has to steer clear
off. These two extremes are, on the one side, indulgence in
desire, on the other, self -mortification. Some hold the view
that sensual indulgence, the grasping of luxury and comfort, is
the greatest happiness. But the Buddha, from his own
experience, calls this way a low, inferior ignoble course which
does not lead to the realization of the highest goal.
 The Path – Middle Way
The other extreme is not so common but has always an
attraction for religious seekers. This is the extreme of self-
mortification. Those who follow this practice hold that the
way to liberation is through strict and austere asceticism. The
Buddha himself followed this path of asceticism before his
enlightenment, but he found that it does not lead to the goal.
Therefore he called the path of self-affliction, painful, ignoble
and not conducive to the goal.
 The Path – Middle Way
In its place he holds up the Noble Eightfold Path as the middle
way. It is not called the middle way because it lies in between
the two extremes as a compromise between too much and
too little, but, because it rises above them, because it is free
from their errors, from their imperfections, from the blind
alleys to which they lead.
To follow the middle path means to provide the body with what
it needs to be in a strong and healthy condition yet at the
same time to rise above bodily concerns in order to train the
mind in right conduct, concentration and wisdom. In fact, the
middle way is essentially a way of mind training, not a
compromise with the attitude of renunciation. On following
the Noble Eightfold Path the mind has to be strengthened and
trained in the strongest attitude of renunciation, detachment
from the demands of craving and clinging.
 The Path – Middle Way
The Path is made up of eight factors. When it is called the
Eightfold Path, the eight factors of the path are not eight
steps to be followed in sequence. In actual practice certain
factors have to be developed before other factors can arise.
But ideally, each factor that emerges does not replace the
one that comes before it nor do the earlier factors that have
been developed drop away when more advanced factors
appear. Rather the early factors remain, but the new ones
that arise merge into them and absorb them so that at its
highest level of development the Path consists of the eight
factors working simultaneously.
At this level, all eight factors are present, all are performing their
functions and contributing in their own unique way to
accomplishment of the goal, to reaching the end of suffering.
 Vision and Mission
The eight factors of the path can be divided into two parts; one
consisting of knowledge, and understanding, the other
concerned with practice and conduct. The first part
concerned with understanding contains only one factor, right
view; the other part concerned with practice contains the
remaining seven factors, from right intention through to right
concentration.
So through this twofold division we can see the tremendous
weight that falls on right view.
THE PATH FACTORS
 Right View (Sammaditthi)
Right view is placed first because right view is the eye that
guides and directs all the other factors. In the practice of the
path, we need the vision and understanding supplied by right
views, in order to see the way to travel along the path. Then
we need the other factors, conduct or practice, in order to
bring us to our destination.
Right view is placed at the beginning of the path to show that
before we can set foot on the actual practice, we need the
understanding provided by right view, as our guide, our inner
director, to show us where we are starting from, where we
are heading, and what are the successive stages to be passed
through in practice.
 Right View (Sammaditthi)
Usually the Buddha defines right view as the understanding of
the Four Noble Truths: suffering, the origin, its cessation and
the way to its cessation. To follow the path right from the
start we need a correct perspective on the human condition.
We have to see that our lives are not fully satisfactory, that
life is impermanent, that it is subject to suffering; and we
have to understand that suffering is something that we have
to penetrate by means of knowledge, something that we have
to conquer, and not something we should escape from by
pain removers, entertainment, distractions or dull
forgetfulness.
 Right View (Sammaditthi)
At the deepest level we have to see that all things that make up
our being, the five aggregates, are impermanent, constantly
changing, and therefore cannot be held to as a basis for
security or unchanging happiness. Then we have to see that
the cause of Dukkha lies in our own mind. Nobody is imposing
it on us. We cannot put the blame outside ourselves. It is
through our own craving and clinging that we produce
suffering and pain for ourselves. Then when we see that the
cause of the Dukkha lies in our own mind, we understand that
the key to liberation too lies in our own mind. That key is the
overcoming of ignorance and craving by means of wisdom.
Then, to enter the path, we need the confidence that by
following the Noble Eightfold Path we can reach the goal, the
cessation of suffering.
 Right View (Sammaditthi)
The Buddha defines right view as the understanding of the Four
Noble Truths for a very important reason, namely, that he
does not want his disciples to practice his teaching merely out
of feelings of devotion towards him out of respect for him.
Rather, he wants them to follow the path on the basis of their
own understanding. Their own insight into the nature of
human life.
As we'll see later, the path begins with an elementary level of
right understanding. As the mind develops in the course of
practice, the understanding will gradually deepen, expand
and widen, and as it does so we come back again and again to
right view.
Right Intention (Samma Sankappa)
The second factor of the path is right intention. "Sankappa"
means purpose, intention, resolve, aspiration, motivation.
This factor of right intention follows as the natural
consequence of right view.
Through right view, we gain an understanding of the real nature
of existence, and this understanding changes our motivation,
our purposes in life, our intentions and inclinations. As a
result, our minds become shaped by right intentions(that
accord and follow from right view) as opposed to wrong
intentions.
Right Intention (Samma Sankappa)
In his analysis of this factor, the Buddha explains that there are
three kinds of right intentions:
a) The intention of renunciation
b) The intention of non-aversion or loving kindness.
c) The intention of non-injury or compassion.
These are opposed respectively to the three wrong intentions,
the intention of sensuality, the intention of aversion and
intention of harmfulness or cruelty.
Right Intention (Samma Sankappa)
Right intention, as we said, follows naturally from right view.
Whenever we gain right view, insight into the fact of Dukkha,
then we become motivated to renounce our attachments, our
clinging to pleasure, wealth, power and fame. We don't have
to suppress the desire for them. The desire falls off naturally
by itself.
When we look at other beings through the lens of the Four
Noble Truths, we see that others are also caught up in the net
of suffering. This perception brings about a deep
identification with others, a feeling of oneness with them,
which leads to loving kindness and compassion.
As these attitudes arise they motivate us to renounce aversion
and hatred and all violence and cruelty.
Right Intention (Samma Sankappa)
The first two factors of the Path work together in opposition to
the three unwholesome roots – greed, hatred and delusion.
The most fundamental is delusion. Right view serves to
counteract delusion. Delusion is non-understanding. Right
views leads to true comprehension.
The second factor, right intention, counteracts the two
unwholesome roots of actions, greed and aversion. The
intention of renunciation counteracts greed. The intentions
of non-aversion and non-injury counteract hatred.
With the next three factors, we learn to translate right
intentions into right conduct, bodily and verbal acts in daily
life. Thus we get the three factors of right speech, right
action, and right livelihood.
 Right Speech (Samma Vacca)
This contains four aspects.
(a) Abstinence from false speech, that is, from lying –
instead, make an effort to speak truthfully.
(b) Abstinence from slanderous speech, statements intended
to divide or create enmity between people. Instead, the
follower of the path should always speak words which
promote friendship and harmony between people.
(c) Abstinence from harsh speech, from speech which is
angry and bitter, which cuts into the hearts of others. Instead
one's speech should always be soft, gentle and affectionate.
(d) Abstinence from idle chatter, from gossip. Instead, one
should speak words which are meaningful, significant and
purposeful.
 Right Speech (Samma Vacca)
The above show the tremendous power locked up in the faculty
of speech. The tongue may be a very small organ compared to
the body. But this little organ can do immense good or
immense harm depending on how it is used. Of course, what
we really have to master is not the tongue but the mind
which makes use of the tongue.
 Right Action (Samma Kammanta)
This factor, right action, is concerned with bodily action and has
three aspects.
(a) Abstinence from destruction of life, that is, abstaining from
killing of other living beings, which includes animals and all
other sentient beings, to abstain from hunting, fishing etc.
(b) Abstinence from taking what is not given, that is, from
stealing, cheating, exploiting others, gaining wealth by
dishonest and illegal ways etc.
(c) Abstinence from sexual misconduct, that is from illicit types
of sexual relations such as adultery, seduction, rape, etc. and
for those who are ordained as monks, the observance of
celibacy.
 Right Action (Samma Kammanta)
Although the principles of right speech and right action are
worded negatively as abstaining from this and that, but a little
reflection would show that positive psychological factors
(virtues) of great power go along with these abstinences, for
example;
1. Abstaining from the taking of life implies a commitment to
compassion, respecting the life of other beings.
2. Abstaining from stealing involves a commitment to
honesty or respect for others' rights of ownership.
3. Abstaining from false speech implies a commitment to
truth.
 Right Livelihood (Samma Ajiva)
The Buddha teaches his disciples to avoid any occupation or job
that causes harm and suffering to other living beings or any
kind of work that leads to one's own inner deterioration.
Instead the disciple should earn a living in an honest,
harmless and peaceful way.
Buddha mentions five specific occupations that one should
avoid:

(a) Dealing in flesh, e.g.. as a butcher.

(b) Dealing in poisons.
(c) Dealing in weapons and arms.
(d) Dealing in slave trade and prostitution.
(e) Dealing in intoxicants or liquors and drugs.
 Right Livelihood (Samma Ajiva)
The Buddha also says that his followers should avoid
deceitfulness, hypocrisy, high pressure salesmanship, usury
and trickery, or any kind of dishonest way of acquiring means
of support.
These three factors which we have discussed - right speech, right
action and right livelihood deal with the outer conduct of life.
The next three factors are concerned with the training of the
mind.
 Right Effort (Samma Vayama)
The Buddha begins the training of the mind with right effort. He
places a special stress on this factor because the practice of
the path requires work, energy and exertion. The Buddha is
not a saviour: "The Enlightened Ones point out the path, you
yourselves must make the effort". He says further, "the goal"
is for the energetic person, not for the lazy one. Here we
come to the great optimism of Buddhism, the optimism which
refutes all charges of pessimism. The Buddha says through
right effort we can transform the whole structure of our lives.
We are not the hopeless victims of our past conditioning. We
are not the victims of our genes or of our environment.
Through mental training it is possible to raise the mind to the
high plateau of wisdom, enlightenment and liberation.
 Right Effort (Samma Vayama)
Right effort can be broken down into four aspects. If we observe
the states that arise in the mind, we see that they fall into
two basic classes, wholesome states and unwholesome
states.
The unwholesome states are the states of mind rooted in the
defilements, in greed, hatred and delusion, and in their
offshoots.
The wholesome side consists of the virtuous qualities that
should be developed and cultivated, such as the eight factors
of the path, the four foundations of mindfulness, the seven
factors of enlightenment, etc.
 Four Aspects of Right Effort
With regard to each of these wholesome and unwholesome
states there are two tasks we have to perform. So the four
aspects of right effort are as follows:
(a) The effort to prevent unarisen unwholesome states from
arising
At a time when the mind is calm, something may happen
which will spark off a defilement. e.g. attachment to a
pleasant object, aversion to an unpleasant object.
By maintaining watchfulness over the senses, we are able to
prevent the unarisen defilement from arising. We are able to
simply take note of the object without reacting to the object
by way of greed or aversion.
NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH –
PART II
 Four Aspects of Right Effort
(b) The effort to abandon the arisen unwholesome states
That is to eliminate the defilements that have arisen. When we see
that a defilement has arisen we have to apply energy to eliminate
it. This can be done by a variety of methods.
1. One method is to replace the unwholesome thought formation
by its opposite. For example when a strong attachment arises
in the mind for wealth or possession, one could reflect on the
impermanence of the possession. When a strong sensual
desire arises, one could reflect on the impure nature of the
body as a heap of skin, bones, organs and blood, etc, then the
desire would fade away. If anger or illwill arises, one could
meditate on loving-kindness. If depression arises, reflect on the
noble quality of Buddha to drive it away.
 Four Aspects of Right Effort
2. A second method is to develop a keen sense of the danger
in the unwholesome thoughts, to recognise how they keep
us entangled in suffering and prevent us from
accomplishing good for oneself and others.
3. Another method is to turn the mind away from the
object that is stimulating the unwholesome thought and
divert it to other object of concentration, to breathing for
example.
4. A fourth method is to observe the thought itself, to see
how the thought arises and to still it eventually. One
could trace the causes of the thoughts back in sequence.
5. Confront the unwholesome thought directly when the
above methods fail, and expel it from the mind.
 Four Aspects of Right Effort
(c) Develop the undeveloped wholesome states
We have many beautiful, potential qualities stored up in the
mind. We have to bring these up to the surface of the mind,
e.g. loving kindness, compassion etc.
(d) Strengthen and cultivate the existing wholesome states.
We must avoid falling into complacency and have to make
effort to sustain the wholesome states and to develop them
to full growth and completion.
By applying these four aspects of right effort step by step, we
can cleanse the mind of defilements until it becomes pure,
bright and radiant.
 Right Effort and Right Intention
It might seem that right intention and right effort are very
similar. They are not exactly the same. Right intention means
the basic purpose or direction of the mind. Right effort is the
actual application of the energy to eliminate the
unwholesome states and to develop and perfect the
wholesome states. In actual practice of the Path, these two
factors are so closely intertwined that one cannot draw a
sharp dividing line between them. One can distinguish their
functions. Right intention is the factor which directs the
mind and right effort is the energy or mental power that
energises the mind. One could compare right intention to the
steering wheel and right effort to the carburetor of a car.
 Right Effort (Samma Vayama)
A further word of caution has to be added about right effort. The
mind is a very delicate instrument and its development requires
a precise balancing of the different mental faculties. We need
keen mindfulness to recognize what kind of mental state has
arisen and a certain degree of wisdom to keep the mind in
balance to prevent it from veering to extremes. This is the middle
way.
Effort should be balanced without exhausting the mind on the one
hand and without letting it fall into stagnation on the other. The
Buddha says in order to get good music from a lute, its strings
have to be tuned not too tight and not too loose.
Practicing the path must be done in the same way. The way to
practising is according to the Middle Way: balance energy with
calm.
 Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati)
What is meant by Right mindfulness? Right mindfulness is the
clear awareness of what is happening in us and around us at
the successive moments of experience. Mindfulness is a form
of attention. To practice mindfulness involves attending to
our experience. But mindfulness differs from ordinary
attention. Ordinarily The faculty of attention is used as an
instrument for serving our purposes – biological and
psychological needs, attention serves as an instrument of
the rest of the mind.
 Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati)
Mindfulness is a kind of attention that operates independently
of all ulterior aims and purposes. Mindfulness is an attention
that observes our experience carefully and precisely, always
attending to what is occurring in the present, without making
any discrimination. Mindfulness is attention concerned only
with attending, with observing what is happening in the
present for the sake of knowing and understanding what is
happening in the present.
 Right Mindfulness (Samma Sati)
Mindfulness is an attention that functions in an atmosphere of
detachment, aspires to pure objectivity, an awareness that
reflects the nature of objects exactly as they are, without
elaborating upon them, without interpreting them.
The Buddha devised the practice of mindfulness according to its
objects, into four groups called the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness:
1. Mindful contemplation of the body
2. Mindful contemplation of feeling
3. Mindful contemplation of states of mind
4. Mindful contemplation of dhammas (mind objects)
 Mindful Contemplation of the Body
In mindful contemplation of the body, the practitioner has to
develop a continuous awareness of the bodily process,
beginning with the grossest object, the physical body. It
includes a number of exercises, the most basic of these is the
mindfulness of breathing, Anapanasati. Sitting in a
comfortable cross-legged posture, when the meditator is
breathing in, he becomes aware of breathing in; when
breathing out, he becomes aware simply of breathing out.
When taking a long breath, he is aware of a long breath;
When taking a short breath, he becomes aware of a short
breath. Mindfulness is aware of the movement of the breath
exactly as it occurs.
 Mindful Contemplation of the Body
The practice can be extended to all aspects of bodily
experience. The whole itself can be attended to with
mindfulness.
The body is analysed into its component parts, organs and
tissues, etc.
Mindfulness of the body can be applied to different actions and
postures, sitting, standing, sleeping, lying, walking.
Mindfulness is extended to different activities, eating, going to
the bathroom, speaking, etc.
Every aspect of physical bodily experience comes into the range
of mindful contemplation.
 Mindful Contemplation of Feeling
The second foundation is the mindfulness of feeling. This
involves attending to the feelings that arise at the different
moments of experience – pleasant feeling, painful feeling,
neutral feeling. Whatever feeling arises, it is attended to with
bare mindfulness without liking or disliking. We simply
become aware of whatever feeling has arisen. In this way we
prevent the mind from getting sucked into the feeling, from
grasping onto pleasure or running away from the pain. The
mind becomes able to look at all the states of experience with
calm equanimity and self-possession
 Contemplation of Mental States
The third foundation of mindfulness is the contemplation of
mind itself, the general state of consciousness. To practice
the contemplation of the mind, we have to see into the actual
present state of mind clearly and precisely. We have to
understand clearly what kind of mental state is occurring,
reflect the state without judging, without reproaching or
congratulating ourselves for the unwholesome or wholesome
states that occur respectively.
We just see the nature of the state of mind with detached
observation; determine whether the state of mind is
wholesome or unwholesome state; see into the kind of
wholesome or unwholesome state of mind, whether it has
attachment, aversion or delusion etc. Whatever state of mind
arises, see and note it as it is, let it go its own way without
clinging to it.
 Contemplation of Dhammas
The fourth foundation of mindfulness is the contemplation of
dhammas. These dhammas are the factors and objects of the
mind. We tune into the specific contents rather than the
general state of the mind. The mind is dissected into its
components to see what factors are at work within it,
whether defilements or wholesome factors are present. If
defilements are present, note their presence, investigate how
they arise, how they can be eliminated and how they can be
prevented from arising in the future.
When the beneficial factors leading to liberation arise, become
aware of their presence, investigate how they arise, how they
can be developed and perfected.
 Contemplation of Dhammas
Mindfulness of dhammas has another aspect. This is the
contemplation of the basic factors of experience as a pure
contemplative exercise aimed at insight, as seeing into the
characteristics of the body-mind process. This will be
elaborated later.
Right effort and right mindfulness work together in close
cooperation. Right mindfulness makes us aware of what kind
of state has arisen, wholesome or unwholesome. Through
right effort, we apply our energy to eliminate the
unwholesome state. Through right effort, we strive to arouse
and strengthen the wholesome states that lead to calm and
clarity. Right effort and right mindfulness are both directed
to the eighth factor of the Path, right concentration,
sammasamadhi.
Right Concentration (Samma Samadhi)
Right concentration is defined as wholesome one-pointedness of
the mind, wholesome unification of the mind. To develop
concentration we generally begin with a single object and
attempt to fix the mind on this object so that it remains there
without wavering. We use right effort to keep the mind
focussed on the object, right mindfulness to be aware of the
hindrances and aids to concentration, then we use effort to
eliminate hindrances and strengthen the aids to
concentration. With repeated practice the mind becomes
gradually stilled, unified and concentrated and tranquil.
With further practice we can develop deep states of absorption,
called the "JHANAS". These will be given in details in the
lecture.
Stilled Mind – Gateway to Wisdom
When the mind is stilled and collected, it serves as the means to
develop insight. Having developed right concentration, when
the mind has become a powerful tool, we direct it to the
practice of the four foundations of mindfulness,
contemplating the body, feeling, states of mind and mind
objects.
Then as the mind examines the flow of events in the body-mind
process, as it tunes in on the flow from moment to moment,
gradually step by step there occurs the arising of insight.
Insight develops, matures and deepens, and turns into
wisdom, the liberating wisdom which sees into the Four
Noble Truths.
Stilled Mind – Gateway to Wisdom
At this peak of development, the seeing of the Four Noble Truths
become direct and immediate and it brings the destruction of
the defilements, the purification of the mind and liberation of
the mind from the fetters.
As the name suggests, the Noble Eightfold Path consists of eight
factors in three groups of training – sila (moral discipline –
right speech, right action, right livelihood), samadhi (right
effort, right mindfulness and right concentration), and panna
(right view and right intention).
The three aspects of the path are to be developed with one
stage acting as the base for the other. Begin the Path with
preliminary right view and intention (the forerunners of the
threefold training). Enter the threefold training with moral
Stilled Mind – Gateway to Wisdom
Discipline. Moral discipline acts as the basis for developing
concentration. When the mind is calm and concentrated,
that acts as the basis for developing wisdom. When wisdom
is fully developed, that results in liberation.
The eight factors need not be followed in sequence. The path
consists of eight factors working simultaneously. They all
perform distinctive functions, all contributing in their unique
way to attainment of the end of suffering.
 The Mundane Path
There are two kinds of Noble Eightfold Path. This is an important
distinction to remember:
1. The mundane path
2. The supramundane path
The mundane path is developed when we try to purify our discipline,
to develop concentration and to arouse insight either in day to day
practice or in intensive periods of practice on retreats. The word
"mundane" here does not mean a worldly path in the ordinary
sense, i.e. a path leading to wealth, fame or worldly success. This
mundane path leads to enlightenment, and in fact we have to
practice the mundane path to reach the supramundane path. This
is called mundane path because even at its highest level of insight
contemplation, it still involves the contemplation of conditioned
objects, that is, things included in the five aggregates.
 Supramundane Path
The supramundane path is the direct seeing of Nibbana, the
unconditioned element.
People often mistake the Noble Eightfold Path for a mere path
of ethical conduct. They think that as long as they are living
within basic framework of morality, they are in accordance
with the Noble Eightfold Path. This is not the case. The Noble
Eightfold Path is the way leading to the cessation of Dukkha.
When we practise the mundane path, our understanding gets
deeper and deeper, sharper and sharper and when insight
reaches its climax, at some unexpected moment a sudden
radical change can take place.
 Supramundane Path
When wisdom stands at its highest point, if all the faculties of
the mind are fully mature and the wish for enlightenment is
strong and steady, then the mind turns away from all
conditioned phenomena and focuses on the unconditioned
element. That is, the mind breaks through to the realisation
of Nibbana. When this happens, all the eight factors of the
path rise up simultaneously with great power of penetration,
focussing upon Nibbana. Therefore at this time the eight
factors constitute the supramundane path or transcendental
path.
Four levels of Supramundane Path: Stream-entry; Once-
returner; Non-returner; Arahat. Certain sets of defilements
are eliminated or uprooted at the path moment of each level
of attainment.