The Eightfold Path in 21 days
Twenty-one days through the eight factors as the early texts define them, with a daily sit and one real-world action each.
The eightfold path is usually taught as a list. This path takes it one factor at a time, using the discourses that define each one, especially the Analysis of the Path (SN 45.8), which states in a few lines what each factor means: right view, right purpose (often translated “right intention”), right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right immersion.
Each day pairs a short passage with a sit and one concrete thing to try: naming what is uncomfortable when something irritates you, waiting a moment before acting on a small want, or pausing before a remark about someone who is not there.
Scope. Day 1 is a complete free preview. Days 2–21 are part of Daily Dharma Plus.
All 21 days
- Day 1Eight factors, one pathSN 45.8
- Day 2Knowing suffering and its endSN 45.8
- Day 3Understanding the pull of wantingSN 56.11
- Day 4Three intentions to carrySN 45.8
- Day 5Thoughts wear a grooveMN 19
- Day 6Four things not to saySN 45.8
- Day 7Speech that passes five testsAN 5.198
- Day 8What the body leaves undoneSN 45.8
- Day 9A gift of safety to allAN 8.39
- Day 10Getting by without harmSN 45.8
- Day 11Trades that carry harmAN 5.177
- Day 12Effort that prevents and growsSN 45.8
- Day 13Strings at even tensionAN 6.55
- Day 14Four fields of attentionSN 45.8
- Day 15Breathing in, knowing itMN 10
- Day 16Pleasant, painful, or neitherMN 10
- Day 17Naming the mind's stateMN 10
- Day 18A settled, unified mindSN 45.8
- Day 19Five bowls of waterSN 46.55
- Day 20Good friends, the whole of itSN 45.2
- Day 21The work is yoursDhp 273–276
Day 1 is published here in full. Days 2–21 are in the iPhone app with Daily Dharma Plus; each title above links to the source text it is built on, which is free to read.