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Interbeing in the Essence of the Four Noble Truths
We are breathing in, sitting in the Deer Park where two thousand six hundred years ago the Buddha set in motion the wheel of the Dharma. To be means to inter-be: a sheet of paper contains cloud, rain, tree, sunshine, earth, time, space and the worker who made it. Without returning each element to its source, there is no paper; without interbeing, we cannot be by ourselves alone.
The Four Noble Truths inter-are and cannot be separated:
- suffering
- the cause of suffering
- the cessation of suffering
- the path leading to the cessation of suffering
The First Truth is duḥkha, ill-being; the Second is craving, hate, anger, discrimination; the Third confirms that ending suffering brings happiness; the Fourth is the Noble Eightfold Path, beginning with Right Thinking, Right Speech and Right Action. Each moment we can practice:
- Right Thinking in the direction of understanding, forgiveness, compassion, non-discrimination
- Right Speech that forgives and heals
- Right Action that supports, protects and saves
Every thought of compassion, every word of forgiveness, every deed of non-violence heals ourselves and the world. Walking meditation on this sacred ground brings us home to the here and now, touching Buddha, Dharma and Sangha with each step.
