The Four Noble Truths and the NBEF Practice System

The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariya-saccāni) are the Buddha’s essential teaching that systematically explains suffering (dukkha), the cause of suffering (samudaya), the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and the path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga). By realizing these four truths, a practitioner can be freed from suffering and attain liberation (vimutti) and Nibbāna—genuine freedom, peace, and true happiness. The central keyword in this teaching is “dukkha,” or suffering.

According to the Buddha’s teaching, craving is the immediate cause of suffering (taṇhā). On a deeper level, it is rooted in mental defilements (kilesa), especially lust (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha)—collectively known as the Three Poisons. When these defilements are uprooted, suffering ceases. This cessation is what we call liberation and Nibbāna.

The NBEF practice system directly focuses on these fundamental causes of suffering—lust, hatred, and delusion. Practitioners observe how these defilements arise, operate, and fade away in their minds (through thoughts, feelings, and emotions) and bodies (through physical sensations and reactions), using sustained mindfulness (sati).

This observation is not about suppressing or forcibly eliminating defilements. Rather, through natural and repeated awareness, the defilements gradually weaken and eventually cease. In this way, the starting point of the practice is not merely applying a meditation technique but directly contemplating the core of the Four Noble Truths—lust, hatred, and delusion.

This starting point corresponds to the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path: right view (sammā diṭṭhi). As one understands and penetrates the Four Noble Truths more deeply, the right view matures, forming the foundation upon which the right practice unfolds.