SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the middle way
Attested in the Tipiṭaka: Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.11.
Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.11
Linked Discourses 56.11
sn56.11:0.1
2. Dhammacakkappavattanavagga
2. Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma
sn56.11:0.2
Dhammacakkappavattanasutta
Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma
sn56.11:0.3
Ekaṁ samayaṁ bhagavā bārāṇasiyaṁ viharati isipatane migadāye.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Varanasi in the deer park at Isipatana.
sn56.11:1.1
Tatra kho bhagavā pañcavaggiye bhikkhū āmantesi:
There the Buddha addressed the group of five mendicants:
sn56.11:1.2
“Dveme, bhikkhave, antā pabbajitena na sevitabbā.
“Mendicants, these two extremes should not be cultivated by one gone forth.
sn56.11:2.1
Katame dve?
What two?
sn56.11:2.2
Yo cāyaṁ kāmesu kāmasukhallikānuyogo hīno gammo pothujjaniko anariyo anatthasaṁhito, yo cāyaṁ attakilamathānuyogo dukkho anariyo anatthasaṁhito.
Indulgence in sensual pleasures, which is low, crude, ordinary, ignoble, and pointless. And indulgence in self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, and pointless.
sn56.11:2.3
Ete kho, bhikkhave, ubho ante anupagamma majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati.
Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One understood the middle way of practice, which gives vision and knowledge, and leads to peace, direct knowledge, awakening, and extinguishment.
sn56.11:2.4
Katamā ca sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati?
And what is that middle way of practice?
sn56.11:3.1
Ayameva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo, seyyathidaṁ—
It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is:
sn56.11:3.2
sammādiṭṭhi sammāsaṅkappo sammāvācā sammākammanto sammāājīvo sammāvāyāmo sammāsati sammāsamādhi.
right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.
sn56.11:3.3
Ayaṁ kho sā, bhikkhave, majjhimā paṭipadā tathāgatena abhisambuddhā cakkhukaraṇī ñāṇakaraṇī upasamāya abhiññāya sambodhāya nibbānāya saṁvattati.
This is that middle way of practice, which gives vision and knowledge, and leads to peace, direct knowledge, awakening, and extinguishment.
sn56.11:3.4
Sinhala: pending (release 2, translated by Tilanka, CC0)