The practice of the Four Noble Truths begins with the cultivation of renunciation and bodhicitta.

Renunciation enables us to transcend samsara while bodhicitta inspires us to remain in samsara without being bound by it. Are they contradictory to each other? No, not at all. If renunciation is not generated, samsara cannot be transcended. We will then end up in the same position as all other beings in the six realms, having no ability to save anyone. In order to transcend samsara, one must resolutely cut off all attachment to it. However, that does not mean one should abandon all those remained in samsara afterwards. To abandon means one should set one’s goal to only seek enlightenment for oneself and upon reaching that goal, one ignores their need for liberation. Sravakas and pratyekabuddhas, abiding in the meditation of cessation. They have transcended samsara and at the same time abandoned those left in samsara. Alas, owing to their limited power of concentration, they neither have the ability nor the aspiration to lead other sentient beings to liberation.

~ Depicted from Luminous Wisdom Book Series : The Four Noble Truth