What is the middle way for 400 Alex?

The goal of Buddhism is to basically rid yourself of the drape of ignorance fogging your view of the reality of existence, and to achieve a concept called Nirvana, which I'll divulge more into later on.  The path to this realization is known as the Middle Way, or also known as the Dharma.

The Dharma is the Buddha in essence, his teachings and the middle way that will deliver you to Nirvana. However he didn't create the Dharma, he merely found it, because the truth can't be written or created, it just is. To understand the Dharma is to first understand 'The Four Noble Truths" about the universe.

1.  The world is filled with suffering.

2.  All suffering has a cause

3.  To eliminate the cause eliminates the suffering

4.  The Eight fold path is the way to eliminate suffering.

Now when I say suffering, you have to keep your definition of the word open to multiple interpretations.  The Indians of 2500 years ago have a word for this unique description that literally doesn't have an equal word in English, called "Dukkha".  It can literally mean what suffering infers to in today's English, be it physical or emotional torment or pain.  However it also can mean a dis-quietness, or a more passive longing for the unattainable.  A discomfort that roots down to your very core, that you sometimes can't rid with anything worldly.

All suffering has a cause, and at the base of every moment of suffering is ignorance.  The whole world is aflame with the ignorance of the universe, of others, and even ourselves.  To see things as they truly are is the only freedom from ignorance.  Nirvana literally means "to extinguish, or to put out", which is to imply that Nirvana is the 'putting out the flame of ignorance'.

Eliminating suffering at the source isn't unlike pulling weeds.  Throughout our lives, we merely deal with the visible aspects of our emotional and mental 'weeds' by trimming off what we can see, and not giving it a second thought.  We have a bad day, we go out to drink the pain away.  We have an argument with a loved one and we bury our resentment inside ourselves instead of dealing with our frustrations.  What Buddhism teaches us is through introspection, we can identify the source of our suffering, and pull it out by the root.

The pulling of the roots, so to speak, is attained through the Eight Fold Path.

1.  Right View

2.  Right Intention

3.  Right Speech

4.  Right Action

5.  Right Livelihood

6.  Right Effort

7.  Right Mindfulness

8.  Right Concentration

Often, the Eight Fold Path is depicted by a wheel...

This is because there is no first step or last step, but a continuation of the cycle of the Eight Fold path, for every moment there is an opportunity to go through these steps.

I'll get into the eight fold path into more detail later on, but a basic description of each step is warranted to understand the flow of the path.

1.  Right View - The best I can describe this as plainly as I can, is your attitude towards everything that happens in life.  To understand how the universe really is, and that everyone is a living being that wants to be free from their suffering at their core, and to show everything and everyone the compassion you would hope would be afforded to you.  Right View is important for approaching the other 7 steps with vigor and determination, and the other 7 steps in turn reinforce your Right view.

2.  Right Intention - Coinciding with Right View, right intention is a willful act of enforcing a positive right view in all your actions, and even your thoughts.  If you do good deeds with the hope of receiving good in return is still a self interested attitude on your part, but to do good deeds because merely because you can see the benefit in others through your deeds, you begin to understand the true purpose of Right Intention.

3.  Right Speech - What you say, and how you say it is relevant in everyday interactions with other people.  You have to ask to yourself, regardless of ifs the truth or not, will your speech bring people together, or bring people apart.  Avoiding Idle Chatter, Slanderous, False, or Harsh speech is obviously part of the idea.  Everything you say should be true, meaningful, and caring.

4.  Right Action -  Probably the most obvious of the 8 in my opinion.  You wouldn't want harm to come to you, so don't do harm to others physically, or through your actions in some other way.  Don't be dishonest by stealing or being destructive to others well being, and to not cause harm through sexual misconduct.

5.  Right Livelihood  -  It's not to say that if you do, you can't be Buddhist, but for the sake of argument, being in a job where you take the life of animals, deal out intoxicants or weapons that can harm or kill people can make your path to enlightenment more difficult.  Buddha understood people have jobs, and you gotta do what you gotta do at times, but someone who is serious about attaining a higher level of enlightenment will likely steer clear of these kind of professions.

6.  Right Effort - When unwanted feelings arise, its important to not get caught up in the moment.  To relax and realize where it is coming from, and eliminate the source of the discomfort, be it mentally or physically.  To be clear, this is not to suppress emotions, that's just as counter productive as taking out your emotions on others.  It's to observe these emotions as they rise, acknowledge them until they fade on their own, then continue on with your day.

7.  Right Mindfulness - Meditation is an important part of Buddhism, its key for introspection into your own mind.  You don't have to be in a robe on a mountaintop like I'm sure you're thinking right now, but just a few mins a day can really cause wonders for you.  Mindfulness is the process of living in the moment.  Life is an infinite chain of moments, which in themselves hold all of eternity, if only to stop and witness them.  Rarely does anyone stop and really focus on the present in their lives, specially with the abundance of distractions we throw at ourselves, be it TV, Movies, Radio, etc.  We constantly entertain ourselves with outside sources and, to coin the term, "Stop to smell the Roses".

8.  Right Concentration - The act of meditation requires that you clear your mind of thoughts by focusing on a single point.  Usually people focus on a mantra, or their breathing, or a flame, etc.  Whatever it is, is irrelevant.  Only that it clears your mind of the everyday clutter of random thoughts so that you are free to look into yourself with the concentration rarely afforded with today's attention span.