The Buddhist path (marga) to liberation, also referred to as awakening, is described in a wide variety of ways. The Noble Eightfold Path is prominent in Theravada Buddhism and popularly well-known, but is only one of several summaries presented in the Sutta Pitaka. A number of other summaries of the path to liberation are given within various Buddhist traditions, of which the four stages of dhyana may be the most prominent one.
There are various expositions of the path to liberation in the Early Buddhist texts, the following examples are drawn from the Pali Nikayas.
The Noble Eightfold Path is widely known as the description of the Buddhist path. In the Sutta Pitaka it is summed up as follows:
While the noble eightfold path is popularly well-known, the four dhyanas, which are included in the noble eightfold path as the eight limb, samadhi, may actually be the most prominent scheme.
Alternate, and possibly older than the formula noble eightfold path, sequences of the stages on the Buddhist path to liberation, can be found throughout the Pali Canon.
A standard sequence of developments can be found in the Nikayas, which may predate the more stylised four noble truths. For example the Tevijja Sutta verse 40âÂÂ75 (Digha Nikaya 13):
According to Rod Bucknell, another listing of path stages occurs in various places in the Majjhima Nikaya, and can be illustrated with the following list of stages from the Cula-Hatthipadopama-sutta (Lesser Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprints).
According to Bucknell, in this sutta the Buddha gives the following list of "things that are to be done by recluses and brahmans":
According to Bucknell, in the Sekha sutta the Buddha prompts Ananda to teach a "learner's course" to a group of disciples, which goes thus:
According to Bhikkhu Sujato, the Chinese Madhyama Agama of the Sarvastivada school includes some exposition of the gradual path not available in the Pali Nikayas of the Theravada school. He outlines three main such expositions of the path, from the following sutras, MA 44, MA 54, and MA 55:
The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the lists in the bodhipakkhiyÃÂ dhammÃÂ, a term used in the Pali commentaries to refer to seven sets of qualities or aids to awakening regularly ascribed the Buddha throughout the Pali Canon, each summarizing the Buddhist path. Within these seven sets of awakening qualities, there is a total of thirty-seven overlapping and repetitive factors or qualities.
Four establishments of mindfulness (cattÃÂro satipaá¹Âá¹ÂhÃÂnÃÂ)
Four right exertions/efforts (cattÃÂro sammappadhÃÂnÃÂ)
Four bases of magical/mental/supernatural power (cattÃÂro iddhipÃÂdÃÂ)
Five spiritual faculties (pañca indriya)
Five Strengths (pañca bala)
Seven Factors of Awakening (bojjhanga)
According to Rupert Gethin, the Buddhist path to awakening is frequently summarized in the Pali Canon in a short formula as
Various practices lead to the development of the bojjhaá¹ gÃÂ, the seven factors of awakening, which are not only the means to, but also the constituents of awakening. According to Gethin, there is a "definite affinity" between the four jhanas and the bojjhaá¹ gÃÂ, the development of which is aided by a variety of meditation practices. Together with satipatthana (mindfulness) and anapanasati (breath-meditation), this results in a "heightened awareness," "overcoming distracting and disturbing emotions."
Other descriptions of Buddhist essentials can also be found.
Another formula is anupubbikathÃÂ, "graduated talk, in which the Buddha talks on generosity (dÃÂna), virtue (sëla), heaven (sagga), danger of sensual pleasure ( ÃÂdënava) and renunciation (nekkhamma). When the listener is prepared by these topics, the Buddha then delivers "the teaching special to the Buddhas," the Four Noble Truths (cattÃÂri ariya-saccÃÂni), by which arises "the spotless immaculate vision of the Dhamma." In the Tibetan Lamrim teachings, the Bodhisattva-path, with its training of the six perfections, is added to this formula.
The Atthakavagga, one of the oldest books of the Sutta Pitaka, contained in the Sutta Nipata, does not give a clear-cut goal such as Nirvana, but describes the ideal person. This ideal person is especially characterized by suddhi (purity) and santi (calmness).
Commentaries on the Atthakavagga, namely the Mahaniddesa and the commentary by Buddhaghosa, show the development of Buddhist ideas over time. Both commentaries place the Atthakavagga in their frame of reference, giving an elaborated system of thought far more complicated than the Atthakavagga itself.
The classical outline of the Theravada path to liberation are the Seven Purifications, as described by Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga. These purifications are:
The "Purification by Knowledge and Vision" is the culmination of the practice, in four stages leading to liberation.
The emphasis in this system is on understanding the three marks of existence, dukkha, anatta, anicca. This emphasis is recognizable in the value that is given to vipassana over samatha, especially in the contemporary vipassana movement.
The SarvÃÂstivÃÂda VaibhÃÂá¹£ika school developed an influential outline of the path to awakening, one which was later adapted and modified by the scholars of the Mahayana tradition. This was called the "five paths" (pañcamÃÂrga), and can be seen in their Abhidharma texts as well as Vasubadhu's Abhidharmakoà Âa (AKBh).
The five paths are:
MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva. MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by following the bodhisattva path. The path can be described in terms of the six perfections or in terms of the five paths and ten bhumis.
The six paramitas are the means by which Mahayana practitioners actualize their aspiration to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all. In MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhism, the PrajñapÃÂramitàSà «tras, the Lotus Sutra (Skt., Saddharma Puá¹Âá¸Âarëka Sà «tra), and a large number of other texts, list the six perfections as follows:
The Mahayana commentary the Abhisamayalamkara presents a progressive formula of five paths (pañcamÃÂrga, Wylie Tibetan lam lnga) adopted from the Sarvastivada tradition's Abhidharma exposition. The Five Paths as taught in the Mahayana are:
The "bodhisattva bhà «mis" ("enlightenment-being grounds/levels") are subcategories of the Five Paths. The Sanskrit term ' literally means "ground" or "foundation", since each stage represents a level of attainment and serves as a basis for the next one. Each level marks a definite advancement in one's training that is accompanied by progressively greater power and wisdom. The Avatamsaka Sutra refers to the following ten bhà «mis:
Lam Rim describes the stages of the path. Tsong Khapa mentions three essential elements:
In the highest class of tantra, two stages of practice are distinguished, namely generation and completion. In some Buddhist tantras, both stages can be practiced simultaneously, whereas in others, one first actualizes the generation stage before continuing with the completion stage practices.
In the first stage of generation, one engages in deity yoga. One practices oneself in the identification with the meditational Buddha or deity (yidam) by visualisations, until one can meditate single-pointedly on being the deity.
In the generation stage of Deity Yoga, the practitioner visualizes the "Four Purities" (Tibetan: yongs su dag pa bzhi; yongs dag bzhi) which define the principal Tantric methodology of Deity Yoga that distinguishes it from the rest of Buddhism:
In the next stage of completion, the practitioner can use either the path of method (thabs lam) or the path of liberation ('grol lam).
At the path of method the practitioner engages in Kundalini yoga practices. These involve the subtle energy system of the body of the chakras and the energy channels. The "wind energy" is directed and dissolved into the heart chakra, where-after the Mahamudra remains, and the practitioner is physically and mentally transformed.
At the path of liberation the practitioner applies mindfulness, a preparatory practice for Mahamudra or Dzogchen, to realize the inherent emptiness of every-'thing' that exists.
MahÃÂmudrÃÂ' literally means "great seal" or "great symbol". The name refers to the way one who has realized mahÃÂmudrÃÂ. "Mudra" refers to the fact that each phenomenon appears vividly, and "maha" refers to the fact that it is beyond concept, imagination, and projection.
MahÃÂmudrÃÂ is sometimes divided into four distinct phases known as the four yogas of mahÃÂmudrÃÂ. They are as follows:
These stages parallel the four yogas of dzogchen semde. The four yogas of MahÃÂmudrÃÂ have also been correlated with the MahÃÂyÃÂna five Bhumi paths.
Although the Rinzai Zen-tradition emphasises sudden awakening over the study of scripture, in practice several stages can be distinguished. A well-known example are the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures which detail the steps on the Path.
The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices, attributed to Bodhidharma, refers the entrance of principle (çÂÂå ¥ lÃÂrù) and the entrance of practice (è¡Âå ¥ xÃÂngrù).
According to John R. McRae, "the "entrance of principle" refers to interior cultivation, mental practice undertaken deep within the individual's psyche, and the "entrance of practice" refers to practice undertaken actively and in interaction with the world." Yet, McRae also notes that it's not clear what exactly the "entrance of principle" entailed. The phrase "wall contemplation," biguan, is not explicated. Later tradition graphically depicted it as practicing dhyana while facing a wall, but it may be a metaphor, referring to the four walls of a room which prevent the winds from entering the room.
In the 8th century the distinction became part of a struggle for influence at the Chinese court by Shenhui, a student of Huineng. Hereafter "sudden enlightenment" became one of the hallmarks of Chan Buddhism, though the sharp distinction was softened by subsequent generations of practitioners. Once the dichotomy between sudden and gradual was in place, it defined its own logic and rhetorics, which are also recognizable in the distinction between Caodong (Soto) and Lin-ji (Rinzai) chán. But it also led to a "sometimes bitter and always prolix sectarian controversy between later Chán and Hua-yen exegetes".
In the Huayan classification of teachings, the sudden approach was regarded inferior to the Perfect Teaching of Hua-yen. Guifeng Zongmi, fifth patriarch of Hua-yen ànd Chán-master, devised his own classification to counter this subordination. Guifeng Zongmi also softened the edge between sudden and gradual. In his analysis, sudden awakening points to seeing into one's true nature, but is to be followed by a gradual cultivation to attain Buddhahood. Chinul, a 12th-century Korean Seon master, followed Zongmi, and also emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. To establish the superiority of the Chán-teachings, Chinul explained the sudden approach as not pointing to mere emptiness, but to suchness or the dharmadhatu.
This is also the standpoint of the contemporary Sanbo Kyodan, according to whom kensho is at the start of the path to full enlightenment. This gradual cultivation is described by Chan Master Sheng Yen as follows:
In Rinzai, insight into true nature is to be followed by gradual cultivation. This is described in teachings such as The Three mysterious Gates of Linji, and the Four Ways of Knowing of Hakuin.
Although Sà Âtà  emphasizes shikan-taza, just-sitting, this tradition too had description of development within the practice. This is described by Tozan, who described the Five ranks of enlightenment.
Seven Stages of Purification
Lam Rim
Creation and Completion
Mahamudra