The Noble Middle Way in Buddhism : หน้า 41/263

sense of security, but in the end, he will surely take advantage of us and leave us decapitated in the jungle. It is for all of these reasons that the Lord Buddha taught that self-mortification is a non-Buddhist practice, it is unwholesome, ignoble and unsuitable for monks subscribing to Buddhism to practise or associate with. Self-mortification is a dangerous temptation which looks as if it should be a fruitful practice, but instead puts one in dreadful danger. 3. The Noble Middle Way [majjhima paṭipadā] Anyone who wishes to escape from the Cycle of Existence [vadda samsāra], who has gone to all the trouble to renounce the life of a householder, should devote themselves to the practise of the Middle Way [majjhimaṭipadā], which consists of eight components, and is thus often referred to as the "Noble Eightfold Path". The Buddha himself, having surveyed the world with the special wisdom accessible only to a Buddha¹, saw that it is possible to see the Four Noble Truths (i.e. The Existence of Suffering, the Origin of Suffering, the Extinction of Suffering and the way to the Extinction of Suffering) only by the practice of the Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is the only way in which defilements can be uprooted from the mind. It is a condition of becoming enlightened as the Four Noble Truths. It is a condition of attaining Nirvana. Commentorial Metaphors: The Noble Middle Way 1. A Righteous Emperor: It can be compared to a Righteous Emperor of unrivaled majesty — whose rule all other ¹. The special wisdom of the Buddha referred to as "aṇuvaranāṇa" which allows him to have insight which penetrates to the roots of all things. 37