I encourage everyone practicing at NBEF to read the articles explaining the teachings that support our practice. Studying the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path helps us understand what we are observing in our own body and mind.
As you practice, compare your experience with the teachings. When greed or anger arises, can you recognize the suffering that accompanies it? When you stop feeding that reaction and let it go, what changes? Through repeated observation, the teachings become something you can examine directly in daily life.
Recognizing this connection can give you confidence that you are following the path taught by the Buddha. Faith in the teachings grows as you begin to understand their meaning through your own experience. This confidence can help sustain your practice when difficulties arise.
For Dhamma teachers, understanding both theory and practice is essential. We need to understand the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path and recognize how they operate in experience. Study helps clarify the direction of practice, and practice deepens our understanding of what we study.
Nancy Acord