# THE MIDDLE WAY

## Sukkha

The Middle Way and the Third Noble Truth are both about a way to get life running smoothly, to make it Sukkha.
Originally the word Dukkha (suffering) described when a wheel was problematic or not turning smoothly. Sukkha described when the wheel was turning smoothly.

A good wheelwright would not only cure Dukkha, he would make the wheel Sukkha.

Buddhas's message was about far more than how to stop "suffering". Buddha found the answer to fulfilment in life; he found not only the answer to Dukkha, but also the way to make things Sukkha.

The Third Truth
The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutra gives the most detailed version of the Four Noble Truths in the Pali scriptures.

The Third Truth develops the sensory process outlined in The Five Aggregates and relates them to each of The Six Senses. It describes something which happens not only with the mind, but also with the tactile sense, the eye, the ear, the nose, and the mouth.

## The Middle Way

The Middle Way is central to Buddhism and it was first revealed at the same time as The Four Noble Truths. But, In the Pali texts, there is very little written about it. All we really know is the Middle Way is a way between the two extremes of sensual indulgence and sensory withdrawal.

The History and Mystery of The Middle Way describes Buddha's personal experience of sensual indulgence and sensory withdrawal, and discusses the traditional and current understandings of the Middle Way.

The Middle way is generally understood as moderation in our mental and emotional approach to life.

## A Thought Process

I wanted to know if or how the Middle Way between the two extremes of sensual indulgence and sensory withdrawal – could be related to the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna's Third Truth about The Five Aggregates and The Six Senses.

At first the normal view seemed justified. When applied to the mind, i could only understand the Middle Way as an attitude to life involving moderation or non-attachment. There was nothing decisive, nothing definite, just a broad area between two extremes.

When applied to the body, it seemed to indicate taking care of it, not ignoring it or delighting in it. Again, this left a broad area of moderation.

Moderation has many advantages. Wise local rulers and teachers would have known about the value of moderation – even everyday craftsmen and householders would have known its value – long before Buddha's time.

I could not believe that Buddha would proclaim anything about moderation at the same time as the Four Noble Truths, directly after his enlightenment. These teachings must have been about something new and special.

Then i asked myself, could the two extremes of sensual indulgence and sensory withdrawal be applied to the physical senses? – What else could i do with my eyes apart from focusing with them or closing them?

And immediately i thought of how some birds and horses see their entire visual field without focusing on anything special, with their so-called peripheral vision.

Here was an unexplored third perspective. For a while i forgot about The Middle Way, i became fascinated with how animals used this way of sensing. And my first experiments with this are described in the opening paragraphs of Welcome To The Panorama.

It took several years, for me to return to Buddhism and realise that the hunch was correct.

Panoramic sensing fulfils the criteria of the Middle Way perfectly. This is a practical expression of The Middle Way. Panoramic sensing is a way of using the senses, without any sensory indulgence or sensory withdrawal.

By "without sensory indulgence or sensory withdrawal" Buddha seems again to be describing something for which there was no available terminology in pre-literate times.

The words to differentiate between focused and panoramic sensing didn't develop until the late 1800s.

Please continue with Desire is Dependent on Focusing

Back to Chapter Four : Buddhism and Wheels
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