The Middle Way: The “middle” in “middle way” refers to not relying on the two extremes of pleasure and asceticism, in other words, placing oneself in a free state without getting caught up in one-sided deluded attachments. Rather than a middle state between two extremes, it means to eliminate the contradiction between the two. The “way” refers to practice, or concrete methods leading to liberation. The “middle way” expresses the state of body and mind that leads to liberation.