the middle way

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a concept central to Buddhist philosophy referring to the path between extreme asceticism and sensual indulgence that the Buddha discovered and taught as the route to liberation from suffering, and more broadly an idiom in English for a moderate, balanced approach that avoids the dangers of extremes; in Buddhist teaching the middle way encompasses the Noble Eightfold Path of right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration; as an English idiom it is used in political, social, and personal contexts to describe compromise, moderation, and the rejection of binary choices in favour of nuanced positions that acknowledge the partial validity of opposing views; the phrase carries both its specific Buddhist doctrinal meaning and a secular philosophical meaning about the virtue of balance and the dangers of ideological excess