Question

- What was the eightfold path?
d) What are the rules prescribed for Buddhist monks and nuns?
e) Write a note on Buddhist and Jain literature.​

Answer 1

Answer:

The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga; Sanskrit: āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)[1] is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth.[2][3]The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi ('meditative absorption or union').[4] In early Buddhism, these practices started with understanding that the body-mind works in a corrupted way (right view), followed by entering the Buddhist path of self-observance, self-restraint, and cultivating kindness and compassion; and culminating in dhyana or samadhi, which re-inforces these practices for the development of the body-mind.[5][6][7][8] In later Buddhism, insight (Prajñā) became the central soteriological instrument, leading to a different concept and structure of the path,[5][9] in which the "goal" of the Buddhist path came to be specified as ending ignorance and rebirth.[10][11][12][3][13][14]

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal teachings of Theravada Buddhism, taught to lead to Arhatship.[15] In the Theravada tradition, this path is also summarized as sila (morality), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (insight). In Mahayana Buddhism, this path is contrasted with the Bodhisattva path, which is believed to go beyond Arahatship to full Buddhahood.[15]

In Buddhist symbolism, the Noble Eightfold Path is often represented by means of the dharma wheel (dharmachakra), in which its eight spokes represent the eight elements of the path.

Answer 2

Answer:

The Noble Eightfold Path is:

1. Right Understanding: accepting the Four Noble Truths.

1. The existence of suffering;
2. the cause of suffering;
3. the end of suffering;
4. and the end of pain.

2. Right Resolve: renounce the pleasures of the body. Change your lifestyle so that you harm no living creatures and have kind thoughts for everyone.

3. Right Speech: do not gossip, lie or slander anyone.

4. Right Action: do not kill, steal or engage in an unlawful sexual act.

5. Right Occupation (Right Livelihood): avoid working at any job that could harm someone.

6. Right Effort: heroically work to eliminate evil from your life. Through your own effort develop good conduct and a clean mind.

7. Right Contemplation: make your self aware of your deeds, words and thoughts so that you can be free of desire and sorrow.

8. Right Meditation: train your mind to focus on a single object without wavering so as to develop a calm mind capable of concentration.

The Eightfold Path is also known as the Middle Path because it teaches avoiding the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. Following the Noble Eightfold Path requires that a person do the above eight things. Nirvana (Salvation) is through what a Buddhist does. It is through human works, what a person does with his life.