The Eightfold Path is Buddhism's route to both personal fulfillment and religious truth. Although these eight steps run directly counter to the 'how we usually do things,' they are quite practical and not at all difficult to describe. Sometimes called the Middle Way, a practicing Buddhist tries to do all eight of them at once, so they are more like aspects or factors rather than steps.

Rev Master Daizui McPhillamy, the author, was a Buddhist monk for 30 years and was Head of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives from 1996 until his death in April 2003. He wrote Buddhism from within, which takes a plain-speaking, intuiitive approach to the basic principles of Buddhism, offering a window into understanding the religion in a personal way.

Technical Notes:
The Adobe Acrobat .pdf files, "The Eightfold Path A4 booklet", and "The Eightfold Path letter booklet" can, if desired, be printed out on ordinary computer printers to make a booklet. When printed double-sided the layout of the .pdf files ensures that the printed pages appear in appropriate order to form a booklet.

The “A4” .pdf file prints on to paper of metric size, as used in the UK , Europe and many other countries. The “letter” .pdf file uses the paper size used in the USA and North America .

To print the pages:

•  If you have a suitable printer, print the appropriate .pdf file double-sided on to A4 or Letter paper, with a ‘Landscape' orientation . Some printers may require a further instruction such as to ‘Flip pages up' to ensure both sides are printed with the same orientation.

•  If your printer does not have a double-sided printing facility, print odd-numbered pages, and then reinsert the paper and print even-numbered pages

To make a simple booklet from the printed pages:

•  Fold the pages in two in the printed order, and:

•  If you have a long-arm stapler, insert staples along the spine, or

•  If you don't have such a stapler, cut or guillotine along the folded edge to remove as little paper as possible. Insert two staples parallel to the cut edge about a quarter the way from the top and bottom of the page.

•  If desired, the first two printed pages [which makes four pages of the booklet] can be printed on to different (e.g. thicker) paper to make a cover.

For OBC meditation groups / priories etc:

•  Reinsert the booklet pages containing the ‘Local contacts' box and overprint with the local contact details.

•  The typeface used for the booklet is “Trebuchet MS” if you wish to use the same font.

Copyright Information:
The Eightfold Path is copyrighted for free distribution.. Permission is hereby granted to allow the user to make copies for personal use, or non-commercial distribution, provided each copy contains the complete text, including the copyright notice on the first page. No commercial uses, altering, changing or transcribing is permitted without the written consent of the copyright holder. For such permissions, contact the copyright holder via this email address: obc@obcon.org

Return to the O.B.C. Home Page

All contents ©1997-2005 Order of Buddhist Contemplatives