Editing Noble Eightfold Path (section)

=== Sila-samadhi-prajna ===
The Noble Eightfold Path is sometimes divided into [[Three disciplines of Buddhism|three basic divisions]], with right view and right resolve concluding the sequence:{{sfn|Prebish|2000|p=40}}
{| class="wikitable"
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! style="background:#eee; text-align:center;" | Division!! style="background:#eee; text-align:center;" |Eightfold Path factors
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| style="background:#cfc;" rowspan="3" | Moral virtue{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83-84}} (Sanskrit: ''[[śīla]]'', Pāli: ''sīla'')|| style="background:#cfc;" |1. [[#Right speech|Right speech]]
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| style="background:#cfc;" | 2. [[#Right action|Right action]]
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| style="background:#cfc;" | 3. [[#Right livelihood|Right livelihood]]
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| style="background:#fc9;" rowspan="3" | Meditation{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83-84}} (Sanskrit and Pāli: ''[[samādhi]]'') || style="background:#fc9;" |4. [[#Right effort|Right effort]]
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| style="background:#fc9;" | 5. [[#Right mindfulness|Right mindfulness]]
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| style="background:#fc9;" | 6. [[#Right concentration|Right concentration]]
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| style="background:#cff;" rowspan="2" | Insight, wisdom (Sanskrit: ''[[Wisdom in Buddhism|prajñā]]'', Pāli: ''paññā'')|| style="background:#cff;" |7. [[#Right view|Right view]]
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| style="background:#cff;" | 8. [[#Right resolve|Right resolve]]
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|}

This order is a later development, when discriminating insight (''prajna'') became central to Buddhist soteriology, and came to be regarded as the culmination of the Buddhist path.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=13}} Yet, Majjhima Nikaya 117, ''Mahācattārīsaka Sutta'', describes the first seven practices as requisites for right samadhi. According to Vetter, this may have been the original soteriological practice in early Buddhism.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}

The "[[Buddhist ethics|moral virtues]]" (Sanskrit: ''[[śīla]]'', Pāli: ''sīla'') group consists of three paths: right speech, right action and right livelihood.{{Sfn|Harvey|2013|p=83-84}} The word ''sīla'', though translated by English writers as linked to "morals or ethics", states Bhikkhu Bodhi, is in ancient and medieval Buddhist commentary tradition closer to the concept of discipline and disposition that "leads to harmony at several levels&nbsp;– social, psychological, karmic and contemplative".<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|p=47-48}} --> Such harmony creates an environment to pursue the meditative steps in the Noble Eightfold Path by reducing social disorder, preventing inner conflict that result from transgressions, favoring future karma-triggered movement through better rebirths, and purifying the mind.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|p=47-48}}-->{{Sfn|Spiro|1982|p=44-48}}

The meditation group ("samadhi") of the path progresses from moral restraints to training the mind.<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2010|p=65}}-->{{Sfn|Spiro|1982|p=44-53}} Right effort and mindfulness calm the mind-body complex, releasing unwholesome states and habitual patterns and encouraging the development of wholesome states and non-automatic responses, the ''[[seven factors of awakening|bojjhaṅga]]'' (seven factors of awakening). The practice of ''[[Dhyāna in Buddhism|dhyāna]]'' reinforces these developments, leading to ''[[upekkhā]]'' (equanimity) and mindfulness.{{sfn|Polak|2011}}<!-- invalid{{Sfn|Arbel|2017}}--> According to the Theravada commentarial tradition and the contemporary vipassana movement, the goal in this group of the Noble Eightfold Path is to develop clarity and insight into the nature of reality&nbsp;– ''[[dukkha]]'', ''[[anicca]]'' and ''[[anatta]]'', discard negative states and dispel ''[[Avidyā (Buddhism)|avidya]]'' (ignorance), ultimately attaining ''[[nirvana]]''.<ref name=trainor2004p74>{{cite book |author=Kevin Trainor |title=Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517398-7 |pages=74 |access-date=5 October 2016 |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060833/https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the threefold division, ''prajna'' (insight, wisdom) is presented as the culmination of the path, whereas in the eightfold division the path starts with correct knowledge or insight, which is needed to understand why this path should be followed.{{sfn|Anderson|2013}}