So today we're starting a series of talks that I hope will support your somatic understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
And what's so beautiful for me about these teachings is they're like a flower continuously unfolding.
Now I have been taught and have taught about the Four Noble Truths countless times over my years of practice.
And every time I discover something new.
Every time.
It's really extraordinary.
So as we explore these together,
Again some of you have explored them with me,
Consider suspending your knowing of them.
Like whatever your understanding,
Stay attuned to it,
But maintain curiosity.
And how I want to approach this topic is from the perspective of how it relates to the four elements of earth,
Fire,
Water,
And air.
So the First Noble Truth is that there is suffering.
It's a part of life.
It's a part of earth.
Stress is a factor of being alive.
And the cause of stress,
The Second Truth is fire.
The fire of clinging.
The Third Truth is that the fire can be put out.
And this Third Truth,
It relates to the water.
There is a way that you can extinguish it.
Extinguish the fire.
And the way to putting it out is this Noble Eightfold Path.
The path of air.
The path of breath.
So we'll be exploring these truths using the four elements as simply another way of understanding.
In some of the Buddhist origin stories,
They speak of the mutual and reciprocal relationship between humans and the natural world.
And human behavior impacts and shapes the world that we live in.
You know,
With a population of 8 billion people,
We have a major impact on the workings of this planet.
And the workings of the entire natural world is integral for our welfare.
Our lives depend on the natural world.
There would be no human life without it.
So when we look at the first of the Four Noble Truths,
What we're being asked is that the truth of suffering be understood.
So one of these origin stories is this understanding it can be represented in a Buddhist fable.
And the fable is of a giant fig tree.
And on this fig tree,
In this fable,
The fruit is continuously available for people to pick.
But then one man after eating all the figs he could from the ever flourishing fig tree,
Broke off a branch from the tree.
And from that point on,
The fig stopped bearing fruit.
So if this mythical fig tree represents the entire natural world,
Then the fable illustrates how humans use the world's natural resources.
Our greed is a factor of stress in the system that we depend on for life.
So this stress,
This dukkha is so old.
It's as old as recorded history,
Older.
You know,
Stress is the smog in our cities,
The chemicals in our water,
On our food.
Stress is eroded topsoil blowing in the wind,
The loss of wetlands,
Acid rain pouring on countries that didn't create it.
Greenhouse gases,
Stress is in the dirt,
In the atmosphere,
In the water.
It's being extracted and refined and reframed.
I think it's important to understand that this Pali word dukkha,
It translates as uneasiness,
Vulnerability,
Pain.
It's like this big ouch.
It's something that we contract around,
Something that hurts,
And it's universal.
So this first noble truth that there is pain and it's to be investigated.
And I'm asserting that the pain,
The stress,
Is part of our living breathing system.
It's embedded in our earth.
Usually what we do every week is we investigate the ways we personally experience the pain,
The suffering,
The personal ouch in our life.
But the pain is not just in this body and mind,
It's everywhere.
And in this great paradox of spiritual practice,
Where we go is,
Like,
Where do we go when we want to relieve pain and suffering?
You know,
Where do we normally take ourselves?
I know that I go for relief to the river or to the mountains,
To the trails and the peaks.
And maybe we don't see the suffering for a time when we're on those trails or at the river.
But then comes wildfires,
Hurricanes,
Violent wind,
Earthquakes.
There is dukkha in nature,
In earth,
And it's impersonal and it's all around us.
So as we delve into the truth of suffering,
We also have to understand that the quality of our ethical behavior also contributes to the stress in ourselves and in the natural world.
So greed and hatred and ignorance have a direct negative influence on ourselves and the natural environment,
In our own bodies and all around us.
Greed,
Hatred,
And ignorance are called the three poisons,
And they drive our continued suffering.
These are the root causes of suffering.
So understanding suffering as part of the earth,
As part of being an earthling,
When we see that suffering and stress are embedded in the earth and in our nervous system,
We also get to see that it's not so personal.
We know the stress of what is happening in our natural environment,
Like technically,
Scientifically,
Part of climate change,
We understand that.
And we also know the gifts of fresh air to breathe and nurturing rain and black soil and honeybees.
There's the great paradox again.
So suffering is not the end of the story.
Maybe,
And I hope,
That by exploring these noble truths in the way of the elements,
It will help us live in a way that the earth will be grateful for us.
So thank you for your kind attention,
For being open to this type of exploration.
I welcome your comments and your questions.
