Friends,
Imagine someone who tried to be physically fit. He studied exercise physiology and learned everything about anatomy, increasing muscle mass, oxygen capacity, and whatnot. Once he did that, he declared, “OK, I’m done, now I’m physically fit!” Obviously that makes no sense, because physical fitness must come from physical training, and all that knowledge he gained about exercise physiology can only prepare him for the training, it does not replace the training.
In the same way, the first three noble truths inform us about the nature, the cause, and the absence of suffering, but to arrive at liberation from suffering, we need to practice. The instructions for the practice are in the Fourth Noble Truth. That is why it is so important.
As we leave the topic of the Third Noble Truth (Topic#5), here is a ultrashort reminder of it, in video form.
We will do a special Thanksgiving series up next, and then, continue with the Fourth Noble Truth in Topic#6 after Thanksgiving.