Editing Theravada (section)

===Textual basis===
In the [[Pāli Canon]], the path (''magga'') or way (''patipada'') of Buddhist practice is [[Buddhist paths to liberation|described in various ways]], one of the most widely used frameworks in Theravāda is the [[Noble Eightfold Path]]:

{{blockquote|The Blessed One said, "Now what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."<ref group=web>{{Citation |url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn45/sn45.008.than.html|title=Magga-vibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Path|website=www.accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>}}

The Noble Eightfold Path can also be summarized as the Three Noble Disciplines of [[śīla|sīla]] (moral conduct or discipline), [[Samadhi|Samādhi]] (meditation or concentration) and [[Prajñā (Buddhism)|Paññā]] (understanding or wisdom).<ref group="web">{{Citation |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.4.pali.103879|title=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary|publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708195133/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.4.pali.103879|archive-date=8 July 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:989.pali|title=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary|publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708071648/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:989.pali|archive-date=8 July 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref><ref group="web">{{Citation |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:3397.pali|title=The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary|publisher=Dsal.uchicago.edu|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709035335/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:3397.pali|archive-date=9 July 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

Theravāda orthodoxy takes the [[Visuddhimagga#Seven Stages of Purification|seven stages of purification]] as outlined in the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'' as the basic outline of the path to be followed. The ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'', a Sinhala Theravāda doctrinal ''[[summa]]'' written in the fifth century by [[Buddhaghosa]], became the orthodox account of the Theravāda path to liberation in Sri Lanka after the 12th century and this influence spread to other Theravāda nations.<ref name="Crosby, 2013, p. 86"/> It gives the sequence of seven purifications, in three sections:
*The first section (part 1) explains the rules of discipline, and the method for finding a correct temple to practice, or how to meet a [[Kalyāṇa-mittatā|good teacher]].
*The second section (part 2) describes [[Samatha]] (calming) practice, object by object (see [[Kammaṭṭhāna]] for the list of the forty traditional objects). It mentions different stages of [[Samadhi|Samādhi]].
*The third section (parts 3–7) is a description of the five [[Skandha|khandhas]], [[ayatana]]s, the [[Four Noble Truths]], [[Pratītyasamutpāda|dependent origination]], and the practise of [[Vipassanā]] (insight) through the development of wisdom. It emphasizes [[Vipassanā-ñāṇa|different forms of knowledge]] emerging because of the practice. This part shows a great analytical effort specific to [[Buddhist philosophy]].

This basic outline is based on the threefold discipline. The emphasis is on understanding the [[three marks of existence]], which removes [[avijja|ignorance]]. Understanding destroys the ten [[Fetter (Buddhism)|fetters]] and leads to [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|Nibbana]].

Theravādins believe that every individual is personally responsible for achieving their own self-awakening and liberation, each being responsible for their own [[karma in Buddhism|karma]] (actions and consequences). Applying knowledge acquired through direct experience and personal realization is more heavily emphasized than beliefs about the nature of reality as revealed by the Buddha.