THE FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH What is the Noble Truth of the Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering? It is the Noble Eightfold Path, also called the Middle Path, a path of balance, opening, seeing what is true now, letting go. It is what we practice. Of course, this Path must be walked. As Antonio Machado said, “Travelers, there is no path; paths are made by walking.” The Eightfold Path is presented in three aspects: beginning with Wise View or Understanding, and Wise Intention or Aspiration; these first two elements of the Path are grouped together as Wisdom, where the Path is centered in the heart liberated from self-view and selfishness, that knows that all our thoughts, words and deeds have consequences. The second group is Moral Commitment (to live a trustworthy life with integrity and a light footprint); this consists of Wise Speech, Wise Action and Wise Livelihood. Third is Meditation, consisting of Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness and Wise Concentration, the commitment to train the mind/heart to unification leading to deep realization, peace and freedom. From this peace emerges Wisdom, where we started. The Path is not a straight line, but a circle. The totality of the Path allows us to respond appropriately to the world, the natural response of life itself. Encountering the hungry, we feed them; the sick, we find medicine; the lonely and forgotten, we provide solace. Encountering injustice, we work for justice—not from a place of grasping and reaction, but simply from caring, from the wisdom that it is “we” who are hungry, sick, homeless, lonely and poor, not “them.” We walk the Path ourselves, but not in isolation. On the Path, we are connected to all of life.