Page 4 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path
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Preface
The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the best known
formulations of the Buddha's teaching, and it is almost
universally found throughout the many schools and
traditions of Buddhism. Sooner or later, every Buddhist
teacher must address himself to expounding this classic
presentation of the Way to Enlightenment which
comprehensively embraces all aspects of human life. The
Ven. Maha Sthavira Sangharakshita chose to lecture on this
theme in London, shortly after founding a new Buddhist
movement, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order, in
1967.
The audience he found before him consisted of Westerners
from many backgrounds, all with some interest in Buddhism.
If they knew much at all about the subject it was from books
that their knowledge came; books often written by authors
whose approach was mainly intellectual rather than
practical. Ven. Sangharakshita's task was therefore to bring
the Dharma to life so that his hearers could see how they
themselves could apply it in their own lives. His lectures then
gave a thoroughly traditional account of the Eightfold Path
which was, at the same time, closely related to personal
experience.
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