THE MIDDLE WAY – PRACTICE AND BENEFITS. The World-Honored One continued: "Monks, avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata has attained the wisdom of entering the Middle Way, creating eyes, creating wisdom, leading to peace, superior wisdom, enlightenment, Nirvana.” With these words, the World-Honored One let the Group of Five Bhikkhus know that after abandoning the two extreme practices, he found the Middle Way, and by that path he himself attained enlightenment, having He had eyes, he had wisdom, he had peace... For thirteen years, from sixteen to twenty-nine years old, he indulged in sensual pleasures, an extremely easy path. At the age of twenty-nine, he gave up that easy lifestyle by becoming a monk and leaving worldly life. After that, for six years he practiced extreme forms of asceticism through self-mortification. After six years of rigorous practice, he did not gain any superior knowledge, nor did he gain any benefit from that practice, and realized that he was on the wrong path. Therefore, he abandoned ascetic practices and returned to eating normally to strengthen his physical strength for meditation through the breathing exercises he had practiced before. His return to eating and drinking was a carefully considered action with the aim of giving him enough strength to practice the breathing meditation exercises that are part of the Middle Way. When food is consumed with moderation, and with mindfulness, it cannot be considered as sensual enjoyment, nor asceticism, because there is no suffering due to refusal of food. Therefore it is definitely the Middle Path, having nothing to do with the two extreme practices. Once he had recovered his health by eating and drinking normally again, the Buddha went into practice and attained the four stages of meditation. The concentration of these meditators is the precursor to the Noble Paths (pubba bhāga magga), or the foundation for the development of Vipassana Meditation and thus constitutes Right Concentration, one of the steps of the Middle Way or the Noble Eightfold Path. . Based on the foundation of Right Concentration, the World-Honored One developed insight and Right View with a completely focused mind. In this way he personally discovered the Four Noble Paths or Noble Eightfold Path, not through strict asceticism nor through the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, but by the Middle Way. Therefore, he declared: "Monks, by avoiding these two extreme practices, the Tathagata will gain the wisdom to enter the Middle Way." Through the above statement he wanted to say that he possessed the wisdom to enter the Middle Way which is neither too easy nor too strict, thanks to abandoning two erroneous practices, namely kāmasukhallika (enjoyment of sensual pleasures) considered is too indulgent, and attakilamatha (self-torture) is considered too ascetic. The two extreme paths, Are erroneous practices, They should be avoided. The Middle Way is the Right Path. HOW TO AVOID THE TWO EXTREMES Regarding the five sense objects — sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, if those objects do not interfere with keeping the precepts or if they help the practice of Dharma, then one can enjoy receive. You need to eat normally,Wearing normal clothes helps facilitate Dharma practice, thus avoiding extreme asceticism or physical self-torture. Necessities such as food, clothing, medicine, and shelter (cups, cups) must be used along with visualization or meditation practice, or vipassana meditation. That is, every time you come into contact with the five sense objects, you need to note them as objects of vipassana meditation. By applying a visualization or noting these sense objects as objects of insight, eating, dressing, etc. will not develop into enjoying them with a mind of pleasure, thereby avoiding the other extreme, which is is indulging in sensual pleasures. Therefore, the World-Honored One said, "By avoiding these two extremes, the Tathagata has the wisdom to enter the Middle Way." ANTIDIOT TO DIFFICULTY DIGESTIVE FOOD Applying visualization or vipassana meditation means developing mindfulness, concentration and wisdom, which are steps in the Noble Eightfold Path. It is like taking an antidote after eating food that is not suitable and difficult to digest. After a serious illness, during the convalescence period, you need to be careful about your diet. You must know to avoid inappropriate foods that can harm your health. If you cannot resist the temptation to eat that food, you must take antidote immediately to counteract the harmful effects of the food you have eaten. In this way, you can satisfy your desire to eat what you like, and at the same time avoid the negative consequences of eating. Similarly, by contemplating the objects we are using or noting them as objects of meditation, we prevent their use from developing into sensual enjoyment. Every time one sees, hears, touches, or perceives, if the meditator notes and clearly understands the nature of impermanence, suffering, and non-self in all phenomena of birth and death, then greed and anger towards seeing, hearing, etc. It cannot develop in them. When receiving the four essential items, such as food, clothes, medicine and shelter (cups, cups, etc.), if the meditator continuously notes them, no afflictions can arise. for these items. Thus we can make use of the necessary items for a comfortable life, while still avoiding the development of craving for them through the practice of visualization and Vipassana Meditation. In this way, the two extremes are avoided, because practicing visualization and Vipassana meditation at the time of taking food, etc. means practicing the Middle Path. With the practice of following the Middle Way by continuously noting all objects that appear at the six sense doors, thereby knowing their true nature, the eye of wisdom will be born, the eye of wisdom will open leading to the attainment of Nirvana. Those are the benefits that come from following the Middle Way. The Buddha continued to explain: "The Middle Way, absorbed by the Tathagata, creates eyes (acts into eyes), creates wisdom (works into wisdom)." END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ). GOLDEN ZEN BUDDHIST MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.23/6/2024.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.