Finding the Just-right Way

January 8, 2026

When the Buddha first introduced his teaching, he called it a Middle Way. In that case, it was the middle way between self-torture and sensual indulgence.

There were a lot of other middles he talked about in the course of his training, the important point being that “middle” doesn’t mean “middling.” There’s no half-way point. It simply means that you have to avoid extremes and have to figure out what is the point of “just right.” That requires that you use your powers of observation—how much food is just right, how much sleep is just right, that sort of thing.

In some cases, it’s not a matter of amount. It’s a matter of making distinctions. Take the issue of indulging in sensual pleasures: He said that there are some pleasures that are perfectly fine because they’re in accordance with the Dhamma. They don’t excite unskillful states in your mind and they don’t break the precepts.

But there are others that do excite unskillful states. So you have to figure out which is which for you—because it’s not going to be the same for everybody.

I noticed, when I was in Thailand, that there are some monks, who, when they stayed in the monasteries, didn’t behave themselves very well. But when they went out into the forest and suddenly were face to face with the loneliness and the dangers of the forest, they got their act together. Other monks could stay in the monasteries and behave themselves perfectly well: Their meditation progressed very well. They were very alert, very ardent, very heedful.

So things like this are going to vary from person to person, which means that, in your case, you have to figure out what is the just-right point for you. That requires that you use your own discernment to look for causes, look for the results.

It’s in this way that the Middle Way is actually harder than the extremes. Extremes may require a lot of energy and effort but they don’t necessarily require much insight. The insight comes from finding the Middle Way, the way that’s just right in taking you to the end of suffering.

This is how it should be: that if you’re going to gain insight and discernment, you have to use your powers of observation and take responsibility.

If someone tells you to follow an extreme path and it doesn’t work out—well, you can blame them. But in terms of finding the point of “just right,” that’s your responsibility—but the benefits are greater, because it’s through the Middle Way that you actually find the way out.

Extreme paths are fool-proof. Fools can follow extreme paths and still be fools, but following the path of the Middle Way requires that you get past your foolishness, make sure that you look carefully at what you’re doing and the results; learn to develop your powers of judgement as to what works and what doesn’t work.

That’s why the path to awakening is the Middle Way. It requires that you become wise. So take the time to observe, because it’s in using your powers of observation that wisdom arises, that discernment arises. That’s what’s going to lead you to the way out.