The Buddha described his path as a middle way, avoiding the extremes of devotion to pleasure and of harsh asceticism, both of which he had tried. Later Buddhist philosophy extended the phrase to the middle between eternalism and annihilationism, and Nāgārjuna’s school took the name Madhyamaka, the middle.
Middle Way
The path between sensual indulgence and self-mortification, which the Buddha found led to awakening.
Also: majjhima patipada