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The Essential Sutra Recitations - The Wonderful Place of Peace 8
The Four Noble Truths – Suffering, Origin, Cessation, and Path – are not separate but inter-are with each other: if we only see Suffering without seeing Origin, Cessation, and Path, we have not truly understood Suffering. The Path is the way of liberation (Marga), built upon deep understanding of Suffering, Origin, and Cessation. When these three truths are thoroughly penetrated, the practitioner firmly grasps the path of liberation, which is the Noble Eightfold Path, consisting of eight elements likened to three bean pods – the first two pods each have three beans, the third pod has two beans, making a total of eight beans:
- body, speech, and mind – the three karmas (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood)
- mindfulness, concentration, and insight (insight is Right View born from mindfulness and concentration)
- Right Thought and Right Diligence
The Noble Eightfold Path is not just a theory but nourishment for happiness: Right View, Right Thought, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, and Right Diligence are “foods” for wisdom, ceasing to feed suffering. The central practice is conscious breathing – with each in-breath and out-breath we generate the energy of mindfulness, nourishing mindfulness, concentration, and insight, so that happiness and peace are present right in this very moment.