Eightfold Path vs. Eight Precepts

Marissa Skudlarek (Crazy Eights)

Dhammakaya Buddhist meditation center, Thailand (dhammakaya.net/events)

The Noble Eightfold Path: Another religion which incorporates the number eight is Buddhism. I have always thought that Buddhists had some good things to say about the causes of suffering and the ways of alleviating it, such as the Eightfold Path to enlightenment. It consists of:

• 1. right perspective - 2. right intention - 3. right speech - 4. right action - 5. right livelihood - 6. right effort - 7. right mindfulness - 8. right concentration

That is, first one gets in the right frame of mind then strives to live ethically. Only then can one gain insight into existence by meditating on it.

Note that the Eightfold Path is different than the Eight Precepts in Buddhism, which I do not like so much because they suggest that to become more [insightful in meditation], one should refrain from singing, dancing, and going to the theater! Source

A professor makes it "simple"
Internal tranquility creates external peace and leads to the formation of social peace through moral cultivation of the mind. This is because the mind is the source of peace. If one has a good mind, then both speech and action are also good. A teaching of the Buddha called Vijjā-sutta ("knowledge discourse") is a method of development for an individual's mind that can lead to internal tranquillity.