The Buddha stressed that the one who practises the path to enlightenment must train in the middle-path (majjhimā paṭipadā). Going to the root of a tree, an empty dwelling or a forest, bearing only the three robes and the alms-bowl, the bhikkhus of old dedicated themselves to getting ashore from the suffering of saŋsāra. To the bhikkhu who strives with energy to get ashore from the round of rebirths, it is this limit that the Blessed One set forth as [the extent of] the middle-path. Anyone who feels like it can interpret the meaning of ‘middle-path’ according to the length and breadth of one’s own defilements. The freedom to do so is amply available in the sāsana. The freedom to criticize, too, is present. There is nothing wrong with it either. But the results of getting ashore from the suffering of saŋsāra will not be as expected. For the bhikkhu who bears the alms-bowl and subsists only by going on house-to-house alms round, how to obtain even the requisite razor or bar of soap from the lay benefactor in a manner conforming to Vinaya is stated very clearly in the paṭipadā. That is where the middle-path the Buddha expounded on, the middle-path that can bear fruit, lies. The bhikkhu subsisting on what is received during the alms round, being content with it, is middle-path.

In a forest hermitage with dry rations kept in the storage-kuṭī of sanctioned items, if the meal served at almsgiving consists of nothing spicy, oily, or savoury, preparing something [additional] is not in line with the middle-path. Yet Vinaya gives complete freedom for it. And there is also nothing wrong with making full use of that freedom.

I reiterate this. Vinaya is there for the unskilful (the incompetent). He who is skilful will be content with what is received. The bhikkhu who expects to develop the path to enlightenment is not someone who piles up or accumulates but someone who’d let go of the remainder once the hunger is satisfied. For him, there is no tomorrow. He lives in the here and now.

In the present day, this interpretation might even be ridiculed as a joke; it might even be criticized. Not just in the present but even when the Blessed One was still alive this meaning drew criticism, to say nothing of today.

Yet it has to be admitted without question that [even] at this very moment this earth abounds with sons of the Buddha who develop the above path, who make an effort to develop this path, who strive with energy, who search for a refuge or way. These venerables are not ‘media-men’ who go about making public statements that ‘I dwell in the forest’ or ‘I subsist merely on the rag-robe and food collected on the alms round’. Those venerables use even the aforesaid bare minimum not to clasp such requisites to themselves but because it won’t be feasible to relinquish; because the body needs to be protected until the goal of enlightenment is conquered.

What the bhikkhu is supposed to eat reflectively is the food the benefactor offers at almsgiving.[i] Instead, thinking that that food served at almsgiving is not tasty enough or nutritious enough, indulging the tanhā for taste, and thereby eating reflectively the savoury or tastier food prepared by yourself or the lay caretaker is not the middle-path. Still, even I agree that it can be done according to Vinaya-rules. If someone were to do so, I would not criticize it either. These are natures inherent in the world. Therefore, we should not resent it.

The one who dedicates himself solely to emancipation must break free from such perceptions as the storage-kuṭī of sanctioned items, the gas cooker, or the hot water flask. These are forms of Māra that rouse your tanhā for taste. Between the middle-path (majjhimā paṭipadā) and the extreme of indulging in sensuous pleasures (kāma-sukhallikānuyoga), too, exists a relative extreme. It is neither the middle-path nor the path of indulging in sensuous pleasures but a combination of both, a mixture of the two. It is just like equanimity that exists between attachment and resentment. In equanimity, both attachment and resentment are subtly present. In the above situation, both a state of exceeding the middle-path and a state of brushing against the extreme of indulging in sensuous pleasures are present. Let’s call this the ‘Māra paṭipadā’.[ii] Training in a ‘Māra paṭipadā’, mistaking it for ‘majjhimā paṭipadā’, we search for the path to enlightenment. Even though the cow is with the calf, if it’s the calf you’re milking, you won’t get any milk. That is neither the cow’s nor the calf’s fault; it is your fault. Yet, in front of you, both the cow and the udder are present.

If you keep tethering the cow with the rope called Vinaya, it will be of no use. There is no point even collecting the dung and urine of the cow. You need to be skilful to extract the fivefold tastes[iii] from the cow. Only if you realize that, will you become one who is skilful. The way for it is the true middle-path.

If you dedicate yourself to developing your paṭipadā by going to the root of a tree, an empty dwelling or a forest, bearing [just] the three robes and the alms-bowl, that is where a meaningful middle-path lies. Think intently. Even though words may speak lies, your heart will not lie. You’ll only be able to see it with paññā.

Before freeing yourself from the weight (burden) of the rest of the world, first free yourself from your own weight (burden). When you free yourself from your own weight, you’ll realize it was the weight of the entire world you had been carrying all along. Only when you emancipate from the world, will you realize the length and breadth of the delusion of the puthujjana, who, due to ignorance, carry the weight of the world that doesn’t belong to him. Earnestly training in the middle-path if you cross over to the far shore of the path to nibbāna, you’ll be able to bring the entire universe onto your palms by making it subtle, by making it fine. Then you would feel thus: ‘I have overcome the world, conquered the world’.

The power to overcome the world remains hidden in the spirituality of all of you. All you need to do is uncover it. If you were to be lethargic to uncover it in this lifetime, you would have to endure suffering for many more eons.

[i] When eating food offered by benefactors (as with the other three requisites―robes, dwelling and medicine), a bhikkhu is supposed to wisely review and reflect upon the food that is being eaten―specifically, the purpose of consuming that food, its non-self (anatta) nature, and its loathsomeness. To denote such act of review and reflection, the translation uses the terms ‘eat reflectively’ or ‘review and reflection’ as applicable. To shed light on what is meant by this, stated below, in brief, is how one usually contemplates when performing such review and reflection on food:

“This food is eaten not for fun or enjoyment, nor to develop manly vigour, nor to fatten lean areas of the body, nor to make the body look attractive, but this food is taken in so as to sustain body and life, to avoid the pain of hunger, and to be able to pursue Dhamma by practising the path. … …”

“This food would replenish blood and flesh. Yet the food does not know of that. Nor does the body know that it is dependent on food. Thus the food and the body are two masses of elements that have no knowledge or expectation of each other. There’s no being or person in them. Thus, it is not correct to say ‘I eat’.”

“No sooner this food enters the body than it mixes with saliva and phlegm and turns into vomit and gorge. As it digests further, it becomes loathsome long before it reaches the stage of excrement.”

[ii] The term ‘Māra’ is used metaphorically to denote all hindering phenomena that prevent one from practising the correct path to enlightenment and thereby keeps one bound to the round of rebirths. In this context, ‘Māra Paṭipadā’ would refer to a path of practice that would not lead one to enlightenment no matter how much he strives on it. Thus, the phrase ‘the unenlightening way of practice’ is an adequate rendering.

[iii] Used here as a simile, the fivefold tastes refer to the five types of traditional rich dairy products derived from cow’s milk; namely, milk, cream, whey, curd, and butter.