Sometimes, I think to myself, why listen to disciples of the Buddha when I can just try to go straight to source and try to listen to the Buddha by trying to directly examine the Dhamma-Vinaya taught by him?
The first thought that came to mind is that the clearest explanation and step-by-step description of the path to Nibbana is the Noble Eightfold Path. Though this might sound obvious, it seems easy to forget and seems worth remembering and re-remembering.
The Buddha seems claim that his unique discovery that was not yet made by any other being in this historical era prior to his arising is very specifically the Noble Eightfold Path, which he seems to claim is both necessary and sufficient to attain Nibbana.
The entire Dhamma-Vinaya provided by the Buddha seems to be a support for beings to carefully tread this path, the Noble Eightfold Path, to Nibbana, the end of dukkha (sadness), or unconditional happiness (happiness that does not depend on conditions).