Āryamārga. The eight right or correct ways, the "eightfold noble path" for the arhat to nirvāna; also styled 八道船, 八正門, 八由行, 八游行, 八聖道支, 八道行, 八直行, 八直道. The eight are: (1) 正見Samyag-drsti, correct views in regard to the Four Axioms, and freedom from the common delusion. (2) 正思 Samyak-samkalpa, correct thought and purpose. (3) 正語 Samyag-vāc, correct speech, avoidance of false and idle talk. (4) 正業 Samyak-karmānta, correct deed, or conduct, getting rid of all improper action so as to dwell in purity. (5) 正命 Samyag-ājīva, correct livelihood or occupation, avoiding the five immoral occupations. (6) 正精進 Samyag-vyāyāma, correct zeal, or energy in uninterrupted progress in the way of nirvāna. (7) 正念 Samyak-smrti, correct remembrance, or memory, which retains the true and excludes the false. (8) 正定 Samyak-samadhi, correct meditation, absorption, or abstraction. The 正 means of course Buddhist orthodoxy, anything contrary to this being 邪 or heterodox, and wrong.

A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous