The Fourth Noble Truth

The Fourth Noble Truth, also called the Eight Fold Path, teaches how to use the Dharma in everyday life. More subtly, it teaches that each of us is a Buddha waiting to emerge.The path unfolds in three sections: Wisdom, Morality and Concentration.This month we focus on Wisdom and a teaching called Right Understanding. In this context Right doesn't mean being correct, instead it suggests experiencing the world through the eyes of the Dharma. And understanding doesn't mean rational thinking; instead it's the intuitive knowing that comes from the gut - in a flash and often in meditation. In our culture, however, gut knowing isn't trusted, often goes unrecognized, and certainly isn't cultivated. On the meditative path it emerges as a precious gift.With Right Understanding we intuit that everyone and everything in our impermanent world arises, manifests and fades. Self-preoccupation starts dissolving, and one day we realize we suffer less and are more content. Then comes the moment when we intuit that everyone and everything in this world are One. Thich Nhat Hanh used the word inter-are to describe the same intuition. This has profound implications for how we live everyday life.This series on the Four Noble Truths relies on teachings by the Venerable Ajahn Sumedho. www.amaravati.org/