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extremes

8 extremes

  • arising
  • ceasing
  • being non-existent
  • being permanent
  • coming
  • going
  • being multiple
  • being single

8 no’s of the middle way

  • no birth
  • no death
  • no permanence
  • no dissolution
  • no coming
  • no going
  • no one
  • no many

8 opposites

8 concepts

In Buddhism we talk about the Eight Concepts:

  • birth
  • death
  • permanence
  • dissolution
  • coming
  • going
  • one
  • and many

The practice to end attachment to these eight ideas is called the Eight No’s of the Middle Way

  • no birth
  • no death
  • no permanence
  • no dissolution
  • no coming
  • no going
  • no one
  • no many

In the thirteenth century in Vietnam, someone asked Master Tue Trung a question following a Dharma talk, and he replied, “Having offered complete release from the Eight Concepts, what further explanation could I possibly give?”

Once these eight ideas have been destroyed, we touch nirvana.

Nirvana is release from the Eight Concepts, and also from their opposites

  • impermanence
  • nonself
  • Interdependent Co-Arising
  • emptiness

  • Middle Way

    Excerpt From The Heart Of The Buddha’s Teaching Hanh, Thich Nhat