Yet rather than presenting them as the objects of a ritual in which one affirms one’s identity as a follower of the Buddhist religion, here they are understood as the parameters of a conscious reorientation of one’s core ethical values. One who embraces dukkha, lets go of craving, experiences the ceasing of craving, and thereby enters the stream of the eightfold path is one who gains increasing lucidity and trust in a way of life that is founded on a set of values that are not driven by the imperatives of craving.
