The eight factors of the Eightfold Path of the Buddha, the path of practice, are nothing other than this very body: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one tongue, and one body. This is the Path. And the mind is the one who follows the Path. Therefore both the study and the practice exist in our body, speech, and mind… – A Taste of Freedom, Ajahn Chah

The best way to support and sustain the Dhamma (teaching of the Buddha) is to practice it. Sincere Dhamma practice is an act of generosity that benefits the practitioner and those who they come into contact with.

You can practice the Dhamma by working to perfect the  factors of Noble Eightfold Path, using each factor to support the others.

Below is a summary of the Noble Eightfold Path. Please click here for a guide to the Noble Eightfold Path as it relates to the practical development of wisdom.

  • Right View – viewing all experiences in terms of the four noble truths*:
    • Suffering: What suffering feels like and what events are associated with it
    • Its cause: How deluded desire, craving, causes this suffering to arise
    • Its end: What freedom from suffering feels  and looks like
    • The path: How to abandon craving and realise unshakeable freedom from suffering
  •  Right Intention – developing and maintaining intentions of renunciation, goodwill and harmlessness
  • Right Speech – abstaining from false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech and idle chatter
  • Right Action – abstaining from taking life, abstaining from taking what is not given and abstaining from sexual misconduct
  • Right Livelihood –  avoiding business dealings involving weapons, living beings, meat production and butchery, poisons, and intoxicants
  • Right Effort – making an effort to train the mind by:
    • Preventing the arising of as yet unarisen unwholesome states of mind
    • Abandoning already arisen unwholesome states of mind
    • Cultivating as yet unarisen wholesome states of mind
    • Maintaining and perfecting already arisen wholesome states of mind
  • Right Mindfulness – remaining in the present, ardent, alert and mindful, contemplating how to develop skillful qualities as they relate to the body, feelings, states of mind, and mental phenomena.
  •  Right Concentration – Developing a mind that is unified and free from distraction caused by sense desire, ill will, heaviness of mind, worry and agitation, and doubts

*Right view may also be practised by viewing all experiences in terms of dependent co-arising (please click here for an in-depth guide to this topic).