Questions tagged [middle-way]

The Central Path, Middle Way or Middle Path (Pali: Majjhimāpaṭipadā; Sanskrit: Madhyamāpratipad; Tibetan: དབུ་མའི་ལམ། Umélam; Vietnamese: Trung đạo; Thai: มัชฌิมา) is the term that Gautama Buddha used to describe the character of the Noble Eightfold Path he discovered that leads to liberation.

The Central Path, Middle Way or Middle Path (Pali: Majjhimāpaṭipadā; Sanskrit: Madhyamāpratipad; Tibetan: དབུ་མའི་ལམ། Umélam; Vietnamese: Trung đạo; Thai: มัชฌิมา) is the term that Gautama Buddha used to describe the character of the Noble Eightfold Path he discovered that leads to liberation.

Theravada

In the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, the expression Middle Way is used by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, to describe the Noble Eightfold Path as the way to achieve nibbana instead of employing extremes of austerities and sensual indulgence. Later Pali literature has also used the phrase Middle Way to refer to the Buddha's teaching of dependent origination as a view between the extremes of eternalism and annihilationism.

For more info see the Wiki.

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If Buddhism is about moderation, then why is it that you can attain nirvana only after renouncing worldly possessions?

This is really confusing to me. Buddha himself was an ascetic, and his teachings seem to imply that the path to nirvana is attained through renouncing one's worldly possessions. Isn't this in direct contradiction to the Middle Way?
extremeaxe5
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What is the true meaning of The Middle Way

All the teachers and people I have read, talked with and listened to, emphazises that Buddhism is the Middle Way. Is this the right way to see it? If so, what is the most important or central aspect of The Middle Way?
Mr. Concept
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Isn't the act of Prince Vessantara giving his children away extreme?

http://www.buddha-images.com/vessantara-jataka.asp It depicts the life of prince Vessantara who gives away all his possessions, including his children to become servants of an evil spirited character. What can this say that Buddha encourages the…