Survey Of Buddhism The Buddha S Noble Eightfold Path

This first volume of Sangharakshita's Complete Works includes two foundational texts that have inspired readers for decades in their understanding and practice of Buddhism: A Survey of Buddhism and The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path.Of the first, the great Buddhist teacher and writer Lama Anagarika Govinda wrote, 'It would be difficult to find a single book in which the history and development of Buddhist thought has been described as vividly and clearly as in this survey.' The first chapter illuminates the doctrines and methods common to all schools and draws out the transcendental unity of Buddhism. Later chapters discuss the teachings and practices of the different schools. The concluding chapter is dedicated to the bodhisattva ideal, 'the perfectly ripened fruit of the whole vast tree of Buddhism'. Sangharakshita's beautiful prose, shot through with poetry, combines with an exceptional clarity of thought to make the Survey one of the most inspiring elucidations of the Dharma.The Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path: Vision and Transformation looks at one of the best known formulations of the Buddha's teaching. We are led step by step from the mundane world to the transcendental, from wrong view to right view, and on to Perfect Vision. A practical perspective shows how we can apply the Buddha's teachings to all aspects of our lives, including the food we eat, our relationships and our work. Sangharakshita goes on to make clear the real meaning of mindfulness and meditation, thus giving the reader both a vision of the whole path and guidance in setting out upon it.This volume includes a full section of endnotes locating the teachings to the suttas and sAtras that inspired them, as well as a Foreword by Dharmachari Subhuti looking at these two texts from an inspirational and a critical perspective, and bringing out the inner connection between them.

The Noble Eightfold Path is the most widely known of the Buddha's teachings. It is ancient, extending back to the Buddha's first discourse and is highly valued as a unique treasury of wisdom and practical guidance on how to live our lives. This introduction takes the reader deeper while always remaining practical, inspiring and accessible. Sangharakshita translates ancient teachings and makes them relevant to the way we live our lives today.

This book offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life. The work's final chapter addresses the Buddhist path and its culmination in enlightenment.

The Eightfold Path is the most widely known formulation of the Buddha's teaching. It is ancient, reaching back to the Buddha's very first discourse, and it is highly venerated as a unique treasury of wisdom and practical guidance. The teaching of the Eightfold Path challenges us to grasp the implications of that vision, and asks us to transform ourselves in its light. Like the teaching itself, this work covers every aspect of life.

A thorough exposition of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path by a renowned scholar-monk from Sri Lanka, who also traveled and studied in the West. The lively explanations are illuminated with many appropriate stories and quotations from the Buddha's words. Included is an "Indices" of proper names, and Pali and English terms.

The Buddha's teachings center around two basic principles. One is the Four Noble Truths, in which the Buddha diagnoses the problem of suffering and indicates the treatment necessary to remedy this problem. The other is the Noble Eightfold Path, the practical discipline he prescribes to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying causes of suffering. The present book offers, in simple and clear language, a concise yet thorough explanation of the Eightfold Path. Basing himself solidly upon the Buddha's own words, the author examines each factor of the path to determine exactly what it implies in the way of practical training. Finally, in the concluding chapter, he shows how all eight factors of the path function in unison to bring about the realization of the Buddhist goal: enlightenment and liberation.