[598] Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus of the group of five: "Bhikkhus, these two extremes should not be pursued by one gone forth. Which two? The pursuit of indulgence in sensual pleasure among sensual pleasures (kāmasukhallikānuyoga), which is low, vulgar, of the worldling, ignoble, and not connected with the goal; and the pursuit of self-mortification (attakilamathānuyoga), which is painful, ignoble, and not connected with the goal. Without approaching either of these two extremes, bhikkhus, the middle way of practice (majjhimā paṭipadā), fully awakened to by the Tathāgata, producing vision, producing knowledge (ñāṇa), leads to tranquility, to superknowledge (abhiññā), to full awakening, to Nibbāna. And what, bhikkhus, is that middle way of practice, fully awakened to by the Tathāgata, producing vision, producing knowledge, that leads to tranquility, to superknowledge, to full awakening, to Nibbāna? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: Right View (sammādiṭṭhi), Right Thought (sammāsaṅkappa), Right Speech (sammāvācā), Right Action (sammākammanta), Right Livelihood (sammā-ājīva), Right Effort (sammāvāyāma), Right Mindfulness (sammāsati), Right Concentration (sammāsamādhi). This indeed, bhikkhus, is that middle way of practice, fully awakened to by the Tathāgata, producing vision, producing knowledge, which leads to tranquility, to superknowledge, to full awakening, to Nibbāna."
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.