The central ethical teaching of Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths (Arya Satyas) that diagnose suffering and its cure, and the Eightfold Path (Ashtangika Marga) that prescribes the practical way to end suffering and reach nirvana.
- The Four Noble Truths: there is suffering (dukkha); suffering has a cause (desire or craving, trishna); suffering can be ended; and there is a path to end it.
- The Eightfold Path consists of right view, right resolve (intention), right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
- The path is described as the Middle Way (madhyama pratipada), avoiding both self-indulgence and extreme self-mortification.
- The Buddha first preached these at Sarnath in the sermon called the Dharmachakra Pravartana (turning of the wheel of law).
- Following the path leads to the cessation of the cycle of rebirth (samsara) and the attainment of nirvana, the extinction of desire and suffering.
The Four Noble Truths, the eight components of the path, the Middle Way idea, and the Sarnath first sermon are recurring Buddhism facts and frequent matching items.
The Four Noble Truths (the diagnosis) are distinct from the Eightfold Path (the prescription); the Middle Way is Buddhist, not the Jain emphasis on extreme asceticism.
Buddhism's core: Four Noble Truths on suffering and the Eightfold Path (the Middle Way) to nirvana, first preached at Sarnath.