Put to use in everyday life, the Eightfold Path can enhance health, keep people on the proper moral and ethical road, increase efficiency at work, establish a correct view of the world and humankind, and cultivate wisdom. But Mahayana Buddhism rejected sole reliance on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as insufficient for its goal, which is to work diligently not only for personal enlightenment but also for the improvement of one’s fellow human beings and all society. Though Mahayana followers recognized the value of the Hinayana truths and principles of action for self-improvement, they decried the absence of altruistic ideals. In the stead of the solitary arhat, they adopted the ideal of the bodhisattva, whose first consideration is the benefit and happiness of other beings. The Eightfold Path, which cannot serve as a complete teaching for bodhisattvas, was replaced with the Six Perfections as the model for religious action.
Basic Buddhist Concepts