Originally Posted by
enso
Like tommo said, the Buddha laid this out for us. He even constructed the path in very short and easily remembered lists.. "the noble eightfold path" .. "the three trainings" ... this is and probably was instrumental in the teachings / tradition surviving so long, as it can be easily remembered and passed on orally even when written teachings may be destroyed, lost, or decay. The path to enlightenment is extremely simple. One simply practices morality, concentration, and insight. Morality is laid out pretty clearly, you can find more on this if you google "sila". There are extremely simple and effective meditation techniques for concentration, and insight. Examples are what I've already described earlier... for concentration: counting breaths, kasina practice... for insight.. vipassana noting practice. So it's not as if the path is complex, it is almost TOO simple.. people scoff at it because of it's simplicity. And it's certainly more helpful to give more specific instruction as yogi's become more adept.
But really it's just a matter of dedicating yourself to these very simple practices, and doing them consistently / persistently. Just like any great task, we chip away at it one bit at a time, repetition. The buddha may have used the analogy "filling a bucket one drop at a time". ^__^ As long as you are following the meditation instructions properly, you don't even need an intellectual framework or philosophical understanding.. insight naturally arises from these practices. So... the path has been laid out VERY clearly, and simply, it's only a matter of being willing to commit and follow the instructions.