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“These two extremes, bhikkhus, should not be followed by one who has gone forth from worldly life.”
So did the Blessed One begin his first sermon known as ‘Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta’, meaning ‘the Discourse on Turning the Wheel of the Dhamma.’
“What are the two extremes? One extreme is indulgence in desirable sense pleasure, which is low, vulgar, unprofitable, practised by workdlings but not by noble persons (ariyas). The other extreme is self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble and unprofitable.
“O bhikkhus, avoiding both these extremes, the TathÈgata (Buddha) has realized the Middle Path. This Path produces vision, produces knowledge, leads to calm, to higher knowledge, to enlightenment, to NibbÈna.
“And what is that Middle Path, O bhikkhus, that the TathÈgata has realized? It is simply the Noble Eightfold Path, namely: right understanding, right thought , right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.”
Indeed, by avoiding the two extremes and following the Middle Path, the Buddha gained vision and special knowledge; he could eradicate all defilements; he could penetrate into the four Noble Truths; he attained Arahatta Fruition and Supreme Omniscience and became a Fully Enlightened Buddha.
When he expounded in his first sermon the four Noble Truths — he greatest universal truths, the penetrative understanding of which leads to full enlightment as a noble person the described the Noble Eightfold Path as the Fourth Noble Truth, that is, the Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Extinction of Suffering.
This Fourth Noble Truth constitutes the most important practical aspect of Buddhism. Any able, ardent person who strenuously walks along the Middle Path will surely be enlightentd to the four Noble Truths to become a noble person who can enjoy the unique bliss of NibbÈna as much as he likes without ever being reborn in lower woeful abodes. As the attainment of this state is the goal of Buddhists, the Noble Eightfold Path represents the essence of Buddhism.
The Fourth Noble Truth has been verified by the Buddha himself as well as by countless Arahants. To realize this Noble Truth should be the urgent noble aim of every Buddhist.
(PaÔisambhidÈmagga, Dhammacakkapavattana VÈra)

The eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path can be classified as the Noble Threefold Training.

While the Blessed One was residing at Savatthi, a certain deity came to him at midnight, and in order to get rid of his doubts he asked this question:
“O Venerable Gotama (family name of the Buddha), this network of craving (taÓhÈ) resembles a tangle in the sense of lacing together, like the tangle called network of branches in bamboo thickets, etc., because it goes on arising again and again above and below among the six sense objects. It is called the inner tangle and the outer tangle because it arises for one’s own requisites and another’s, for one’s own person and another’s, and for the internal and external sense bases (Èyatanas). This tangle of craving entangles the race of sentient beings including mankind. Who is able to disentangle this tangle ? ”
When questioned thus, the Blessed One, whose knowledge of all things is unimpeded, the Deity of Deities, excelling the Sakka (the Ruler of Gods), excelling all Brahmas, fearless as he possesses the four virtues of courage, Wielder of the Ten Powers, All-seer with unobstructed knowledge, gave the answer thus:
SÊle paÔiÔÔhÈya naro sapaÒÒo,
CittaÑ paÒÒaÒca bhÈvayaÑ.
ŒtÈpÊ nipako bhikkhu,
So imaÑ vijaÉaye jaÉanti.
“When a person with three-rooted rebirth consciousness establishes himself well in morality (sÊla), exerts the energy which can scorch off defilements, possesses that knowledge that can impede opposing defilements, and develops the tranquility of mind called concentration (samÈdhi) and the insight knowledge with peretrative vision (paÒÒÈ), he will succeed in disentangling the tangle of craving.”
The essence of this statement is as follows:
(i) A person must be endowed with wisdom born of kamma by being reborn with a resultant consciousness associated with wisdom;
(ii) He establishes himself well in morality (Virtue, sÊla);
(iii) He possesses the energy which can scorch off defilements;
(iv) He possesses the knowledge that can impede or obstruct opposing defilements;
(v) He develops the tranquility of mind called the right concentration;
(vi) He undertakes insight meditation to develop insight with penetrative vision;
The person who is endowed with the three kinds of wisdom and the three kinds of morality, concentration and energy mentioned above will succeed in disentangling the tangle of craving.
Just as a man stands on the ground, wields a sword or axe which is well sharpened, and cuts a large bamboo grove to clear it away, so too a person, standing firmly on the ground of morality, gripping the sharp, powerful weapon of insight meditation with the might of strenuous effort and raising it with the hand of all purpose wisdom (parihÈriya paÒÒÈ), can cut off and clear away the tangle of craving from his mind.
About 1600 years ago (412 AC) Venerable Buddhaghosa, based on the PÈÄi verse mentioned above, wrote “Visuddhi Magga”, meaning “the Path of Purity” or “the Path of Purification”. ‘Purity’ or ‘Purification’ should be understood as ‘NibbÈna’ which is free from all taints and utterly pure.
“Visuddhi Magga” is considered to be an excellent compendium of the Buddha’s doctrine covering the strict observation of morality (sÊla) leading to the Purification of the body, the practice of mental concentration (samÈdhi) leading to the Purity of the mind, and the development of insight (paÒÒÈ) leading to Perfect Wisdom.

1. ‘Visuddhimagga’ by BhaddantÈcariya Buddhaghosa, translated into Myanmar by Ven.NandamÈlÈ, Vol.1, pp. 1-7.
2. ‘Visuddhimagga’ by BhaddantÈcariya Buddhaghosa, translated into Myanmar by Ven. Sobhana (MahÈsi Sayadaw), Vol.1, pp.1-19.
3. ‘The Path of Purity’ (Visuddhimagga) by BhaddantÈcariya Buddhaghosa, translated into English by Pe Maung Tin, PTS, 1971, pp. 1-3.
4. ‘The Path of Purification’ (Visuddhimagga) by BhaddantÈcariya Buddhaghosa, translated into English by Bhikkhu ©ÈÓamoli, published by Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre, pp. 1-4.