The eight fold path is often emphasized as the set of practices that support us to reach liberation. It is also described as being the" possession" of those who are liberated. So we can understand that in our practice of the eight fold path, we are emulating those who are free.
The Buddha clearly described how suffering (dukkha) comes to be in the teaching of dependent origination. Understanding this teaching helps us to recognize this process at work in our own minds, which allows mindfulness and wisdom to begin to uproot the fundamental cause of dukkha: ignorance.
When the experience of vedana - of pleasant, unpleasant or neutral feeling tone - is not clearly seen with wisdom, it tends to lead on towards craving and suffering. With mindfulness of feeling, we understand feeling's nature as impermanent, which leads us towards peace.
