The Middle Path

The Middle Path - True Wisdom and Practice

What is the Middle Path?

The fundamental meaning of the term “Middle Path” is to walk the indivisible middle way, not only unswayed by such extremes as suffering and pleasure, existence and void, or impermanence and eternity, but also based on correct Buddhist wisdom, which comprehends that all things manifest and become extinct because of causal relationships.

In an ancient sutra called the Shugyo Dochi Sutra, there is the following story, called “The Parable of the Bird,” that concerns itself with the Middle Path of Buddhism. At a certain royal palace, it seemed as if every day, a large number of birds were seized, and from among them, the plumper ones were served at the king’s table, one by one. One of the captured fowl observed the state of affairs and thought secretly in his heart: If I gorge myself and become obese, I will certainly be slaughtered and devoured. But then again, if I do not eat, I will perish. Either way, I cannot escape death. In any case, just as I am now, I’ll try to exercise moderation and eat just the right amount, so that I can live a long life. From that day on, the bird adequately reduced the amount of food he ate. When he had shrunk himself just to the size of the holes in the net meshing of his bird cage, it is said that the bird flew out into the open air and became free.

We common mortals sometimes act as the foolish bird who adheres only to what is in front of its face, when we are unable to correctly surmise the dangerous situations we find ourselves in. In short, to take an actual problem, it is not easy for those of us who are extremely selfish, or who become too attached, to actualize the Middle Path of Buddhism. We will therefore find a clue to the Middle Path by becoming enlightened to the wisdom of the Middle Path by reflecting upon the two extremes of any given matter.

Merits of the Middle Path

Shakyamuni discarded the two extremes of any given spectrum and became enlightened to the Middle Path. It could be said that the Middle Path is correct wisdom, correct practice and correct, truthful presentation of oneself. As the Buddhist phrase “All things are impermanent” and the truths of “birth, old age, sickness and death” explain, our real world is not a place of stasis, but a place where the circumstances of things are constantly changing. In order to practice the Middle Path in the midst of these changing circumstances, a two-sided “Wisdom of the Middle Path” is needed.

One aspect is the kind of wisdom with which one correctly discerns overall circumstances, while the other is critical wisdom with which one then chooses the correct response to those circumstances. Further, because one cannot display the “Wisdom of the Middle Path” if one has extreme attachments, it can also be said that the “Wisdom of the Middle Path” also incorporates provisional Mahayana wisdom (the wisdom of “ku”). The merits of the Middle Path are clear from the preceding points. Through practice of the Middle Path, one can attain a life condition of harmonized and unrestricted freedom.

Various Aspects of the Middle Path

(The Middle Path between Suffering and Pleasure)

Shakyamuni expounded the teaching of the Middle Path between suffering and pleasure to the five ascetics. The Middle Path between suffering and pleasure is the Middle Path that is removed from each of the two extremes of austerities and pleasure. If one uses the wisdom of the Middle Path to act with propriety and without running either of the two extreme courses of life’s sufferings or pleasures, one can carry on an agreeable life of the Middle Path between suffering and pleasure.

In “Happiness in This World,” the Daishonin also gives the following explanation on the posture of practicing the Middle Path between suffering and pleasure by embracing the Mystic Law.

Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life and continue chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, no matter what happens. (M.W., Vol. 1, p. 161)

In other words, the meaning of the Middle Path between suffering and pleasure is not simply the midway point between suffering and pleasure. Because both suffering and pleasure are unavoidable in real life, the way to actualize the Middle Path between suffering and pleasure is by not trying to easily avoid sufferings when visited by them, nor becoming too indulgent in pleasures, even while enjoying them. That is the true practice of the Middle Path.

The Middle Path between Existence and Non-Existence

Although the Middle Path is illustrated from various points of view, from an intellectual viewpoint, the Middle Path is explained in terms of existence and non-existence. The truth of causal relationships (cause and effect) penetrates the foundation of Shakyamuni’s teachings. This Buddhist doctrine of causal relationships (dependent origination) excludes the two partial views of existence and non-existence, and the reasoning that “neither existence nor non-existence” is known as the Middle Path between existence and non-existence. The Middle Path between existence and non-existence can also be expressed as the equilibrium of both existence and non-existence.

For example, although we are attached to existence, and think that we will always have our youth or wealth, both youth and wealth are fragile entities, and though they might seem to exist (permanently), they really do not exist as fixed entities. Anyone can understand that if they look face-to-face at old age and death. On the other hand, it is a mistake to be attached to non-existence, overtaken by the notion that the “non-existence” of the Middle Path between existence and non-existence means “nothingness.” At that point, one sinks into nihilism, and that will not lead to true wisdom.

Everything in the world exists through the harmony of causal relationships. Given that, the teaching of the Middle Path between existence and non-existence is the correct understanding that the nature of all things incorporates both existence and non-existence.

The Eight Negations of the Middle Path

The Indian philosopher Nagarjuna further underscores the meaning of the Middle Path expounded by Shakyamuni through the Eight Negations of the Middle Path, which are as follows: neither born nor dying, neither eternal nor ending (impermanent), neither the same nor different, and neither coming nor going. The teaching of the Eight Negations of the Middle Path can be summed up by the idea, “neither born nor dying,” which perceives that the actual realm of birth and death is the very realm where there is neither birth nor death.

For example, when a seed is planted in the earth, it is said to germinate, but by the time that the seed has germinated, it has already absorbed water and nutrients to become transformed into a sprout. From the perspective of the sprout, it has been “born.” But at the same time, from the perspective of the seed itself, the seed is “dead.” In short, as we can see from the relationship between the seed and the sprout, if one takes a biased view of either “birth” or “death,” one cannot capture life’s Middle Path aspect that is “neither born nor dying.” In this way, the doctrine of the Eight Negations of the Middle Path, which is exemplified by such ideas as “neither born nor dying,” correctly elucidates the overall picture of the Middle Path.

The Middle Path of the Lotus Sutra

The foregoing explains the implications of the Middle Path from various points of view. However, in contrast to the partial treatment given the Middle Path by various earlier sutras, the Middle Path expounded in the Lotus Sutra, which completely clarifies the Middle Path of Buddhism, is the Perfectly Melded Middle Path of the Threefold Truth (kutai, ketai and chutai). In the Maka Shikan, the Great Master T’ien-t’ai explains the Threefold Truth as follows:

A polished mirror could be used as a metaphor for the [Three Perfectly Melded Truths]: the mirror’s clarity can be likened to nature or potential (kutai), the image reflected in the mirror is but temporal existence (ketai), and the mirror itself can be compared to entity (chutai). Though the three are neither combined nor disparate, their differences fit together gracefully.

In other words, T’ien-t’ai explains that the situation in which nothing is reflected in the mirror is the mirror’s natural or potential state (kutai), while the image of all that is reflected in the mirror represents temporal existence (ketai), and the mirror itself possesses both potential and temporal existence, which represents the entity of the Middle Path (chutai).

From the perspective of the Threefold Truth of the Lotus Sutra, the Great Master T’ien-t’ai explained that the mind of a common mortal is the object for the practice of observing one’s mind, and considered the truth of the genuine Middle Path found within the minds of common mortals to be the [entity] of the Mystic Law. But in the Latter Day of the Law, even if we common mortals were to make our common mortal minds the objects for practice of observance of the mind as T’ien-t’ai espoused during his day, we would not be able to obtain the benefit of the Mystic Law.

Observance of the mind in the Latter Day of the Law includes both our direct belief in the Dai-Gohonzon, which is the embodiment of the True Buddha, and our chanting of the Daimoku of the True Buddhism of Sowing. In the Ongi Kuden (Orally Transmitted Teachings), the Daishonin explains:

[The nature of] ‘one’ is entity (chutai), ‘ultimate’ is nature or potential (kutai) and ‘phenomenon’ is temporal existence (ketai). These Three Perfectly Melded Truths are none other than Nam-Myoho-Renge- Kyo. These five characters are the True Entity, and the reason for Nichiren’s advent in this world. (Shinpen, p. 1729)

The Daishonin explains here that it is the very practice that reveres the Middle Path founded in the Dai-Gohonzon that is the correct path to the attainment of Buddhahood.

Myohoji TempleApril 18, 2021