CHAPTER IV
THE THIRD NOBLE TRUTH:
NIRODHA:
‘The Cessation of Dukkha’
The third Noble Truth is
that there is emancipation, liberation, freedom from
suffering, from the continuity of dukkha. This is
called the Noble Truth of the Cessation of dukkha (Dukkhanirodha-ariyasacca),
which is Nibbāna, more popularly known in its
Sanskrit form of Nirvāna.
To eliminate dukkha completely one has to eliminate the main
root of dukkha, which is ‘thirst’ (tanhā), as
we saw earlier. Therefore Nirvāna is known also by then term
Tanhakkhaya ‘Extinction of Thirst’.
Now you will
ask: But what is Nirvāna? Volumes have been written in reply
to this quite natural and simple question; they have, more
and more, only confused the issue rather than clarified it.
The only reasonable reply to give to the question is that it
can never be answered completely and satisfactorily in
words, because human language is too poor to express the
real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which
is Nirvāna. Language is created and used by masses of human
beings to express things and ideas experienced by their
sense organs and their mind. A supramundane experience like
that of the Absolute Truth is not of such a category.
Therefore there cannot be words to express that experience,
just as the fish had no words in his vocabulary to express
the nature of the solid land. The tortoise told his friend
the fish that he (the tortoise) just returned to the lake
after a walk on the land. ‘Of course’ the fish said, ‘You
mean swimming.’ The tortoise tried to explain that one
couldn’t swim on the land, that it was solid, and that one
walked on it. But the fish insisted that there could be
nothing like it, that is must be liquid like his lake, with
waves, and that one must be able to dive and dive and swim
there.
Words are
symbols representing things and ideas known to us; and these
symbols do not and cannot convey the true nature of even
ordinary things. Language is considered deceptive and
misleading in the matter of understand of the Truth. So the
Lankāvatāra-sūtta says that ignorant people get stuck
in words like an elephant in the mud.
Nevertheless
we cannot do without language. But if Nirvāna is to be
expressed and explained in positive terms, we are likely
immediately to grasp an idea associated with those terms,
which may be quite the contrary. Therefore it is generally
expressed in negative term-a
less dangerous mode perhaps. So it is often referred to by
such negative terms as Tanhakkhaya ‘Extinction of
Thirst’, Asamkhata ‘Unconditioned’, Virāga
‘Absence of desire’, Nirodha ‘Cessation’, Nibbāna
‘Blowing out’ or ‘ Extinction’.
Let us
consider a few definitions and descriptions of Nirvāna as
found in the original Pali texts:
‘It is the
complete cessation of that very ‘thirst’ (tanhā),
giving it up, renouncing it, emancipation from it,
detachment from it.’
‘Calming of
all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements,
extinction of “thirst”, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.’
‘O bhikkhus, what is the Absolute (Asamkhata, Unconditioned)?
It is, O bhikkhus, the extinction of desire (rāgakkhayo)
the extinction of hatred (dosakkhayo), the extinction
of illusion (mohakkhayo). This O bhikkhus, is called
the Absolute.’
‘O Rādha, the
extinction of “thirst” (Tanhakkhayo) is Nibbāna.’
‘O bhikkhus,
whatever there may be things conditioned or unconditioned,
among them detachment (virāga) is the highest. That
is to say, freedom from conceit, destruction of thirst,
the
uprooting of attachment, the cutting off of continuity, the
extinction of “thirst”, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna.’
The reply
Sāriputta, the chief disciple of the Buddha, to a direct
question ‘What is Nibbāna?’ posed by a Parivrājaka, is
identical with the definition of Asamkhata given by
the Buddha (above): ‘The extinction of desire, the
extinction of hatred, the extinction of illusion.’
‘The
abandoning and destruction of desire and craving for these
Five Aggregates of Attachment” that is the cessation of
dukkha.’
‘The
cessation of Continuity and becoming (Bhavanirodha)
is Nirvāna.’
And further,
referring to Nirvāna the Buddha says:
‘O bhikkhus,
there is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned. Were there
not the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, there would be
no escape for the born, grown, and conditioned. Since there
is the unborn, ungrown, and unconditioned, so there is
escape for the born, grown, and conditioned.’
‘Here the
four elements of solidity, fluidity, heat and motion have no
place; the notions of length and breadth, the subtle and the
gross, good and evil, name and form are altogether
destroyed; neither this world nor the other, nor coming,
going or standing, neither death nor birth, nor
sense-objects are to be found.’
Because
Nirvana is this expressed in negative terms, there are many
who have got a wrong notion that it is negative, and
expresses self-annihilation. Nirvāna is definitely no
annihilation of self, because there is no self no
annihilate. If at all, it is the annihilation of the
illusion, of the false idea of self.
It is
incorrect to say that Nirvāna is negative or positive. The
ideas of ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ are relative, and are
within the realm of duality. These terms cannot be applied
to Nirvāna, Absolute Truth, which is beyond duality and
relativity.
A negative
word need not necessarily indicate a negative state. The
Pali of Sanskrit word for health is ārogya, a
negative term, which literally means ‘absence or illness’.
But ārogya (health) does not represent a negative
state. The word ‘Immortal’ (or its Sanskrit equivalent
Amrta or Pali Amata), which also is a synonym for
Nirvāna, is negative, but it does not denote a negative
state. The negation of negative values is not negative. One
of the well-known synonyms for Nirvāna is ‘Freedom’ (Pali
Mutti, Skt. Mukti). Nobody would say that freedom
is negative. But even freedom has a negative side: freedom
is always a liberation from something which is obstructive,
which is evil, which is negative. But freedom is not
negative. So Nirvāna, Mutti or Vimutti, the
Absilute Freedom, is freedom from all evil, freedom from
craving, hatred and ignorance, freedom from all terms of
duality, relativity, time and space.
We may get
some idea of Nirvāna as Absolute Truth from the
Dhātuvibhanga-sutta (No. 140) of the Majjhima-nikāya.
This extremely important discourse was delivered by the
Buddha to Pukkusāti (already mentioned), whom the Master
found to be intelligent and earnest, in the quiet of the
night in a potter’s shed. The essence of the relevant
portions of the sutta is as follows:
A man is
composed of six elements: solidity, fluidity, heat, motion,
space and consciousness. He analyses them and finds that
none of them is ‘mine’, or ‘my self’. He understands how
consciousness appears and disappears, how pleasant,
unpleasant and neutral sensations appear and disappear.
Through this knowledge his mind becomes detached. Then he
finds within him a pure equanimity (upekhā), which he
can direct towards the attainment of any high spiritual
state, and he knows that thus this pure equanimity will last
for a long period. But then he thinks:
‘If I focus
this purified and cleansed equanimity on the Sphere of
Infinite Space and develop a mind conforming thereto, that
is a mental creation (samkhatam).
If I focus this purified and cleansed equanimity on the
Sphere of Infinite Consciousness… on the Sphere of
Nothingness … or on the Sphere of Neither-perception nor
Non-perception and develop a mind conforming thereto, that
is a mental creation.’ Then he neither mentally creates nor
wills continuity and becoming (bhava) or annihilation
(vibbava).As
he does not construct or does not will continuity and
becoming or annihilation, he does not cling to anything in
the world; as he does not cling, he is not anxious; as he is
not anxious, he is completely calmed within (fully blown out
within paccattam yeva parinibbāyati). And he knows:
‘Finished is birth, lived is pure life, what should be done
is done, nothing more is left to be done.’
Now, when he
experiences a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensation, he
knows that it is impermanent, that it does not bind him,
that it is not experienced with passion. Whatever may be the
sensation, he experiences it would being bound to it (visamyutto).
He knows that all those sensations will be pacified with the
dissolution of the body, just as the flame of a lamp goes
out when oil and wick give out.
‘Therefore, O
bhikkhus, a person so endowed is endowed with the absolute
wisdom, for the knowledge of the extinction of all dukkha
is the absolute noble wisdom.
‘This his
deliverance, founded on Truth, is unshakable. O bhikkhus,
that which is unreality (mosadhamma) is false; that
which is reality (amosadhamma), Nibbāna, is Truth (Sacca).
Therefore, O bhikkhu, a person so endowed is endowed with
this Absolute Truth. For, the Absolute Noble Truth (paramam
ariyasaccam) is Nibbāna, which is Reality.’
Elsewhere the
Buddha unequivocally uses the word Truth in place of Nibbāna:
‘I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the
Truth.’
Here Truth definitely means Nirvāna.
Now, what is
Absolute Truth? According to Buddhism, the Absolute Truth is
that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything
is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is
no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self,
Soul, or Ātman within or without. This is the
Absolute Truth. Truth is never negative, though there is a
popular expression as negative truth. The realization of
this Truth, i.e., to see things as they are (yathābhūtam)
without illusion or ignorance (avijjā),
is the extinction of craving ‘thirst’ (Nirodha) of
dukkha, which is Nirvāna. It is interesting and useful
to remember here Mahāyāna view of Nirvāna as not being
different from Samsāra.
The same thing is Samsāra or Nirvāna according to the way
you look at it – subjectively or objectively. This Mahāyāna
view was probably developed out of the ideas found in the
original Theravāda Pali texts, to which we have just
referred in our brief discussion.
It is
incorrect to think that Nirvāna is the natural result of the
extinction of craving. Nirvāna is not the result of
anything. If it would be a result, then it would be an
effect produced by a cause. It would be samkhata
‘produced’ and ‘conditioned’. Nirvāna is neither cause nor
effect. It is beyond cause and effect. Truth is not a result
nor an effect. It is not produced like a mystic, spiritual,
mental state, such as dhyāna or samādhi. TRUTH
IS. NIRVĀNA IS. The only thing you can do is to see it, to
realize it. There is a path leading to the realization of
Nirvāna. But Nirvāna is not the result of this path.
You may get to the mountain along a path, but the mountain
is not the result, not an effect of the path. You may see a
light, but the light not the result of your eyesight.
People often
ask: What is there after Nirvāna? This question cannot
arise, because Nirvāna is the Ultimate Truth. If it is
Ultimate, there can be nothing effect it. If there is
anything after Nirvāna, then that will be the Ultimate Truth
and not Nirvāna. A monk named Rādha put this question to the
Buddha in a different form: ‘For what purpose (or end) is
Nirvāna?’ This question presupposes something after Nirvāna,
when it postulates some purpose or end for it. So the Buddha
answered: ‘O Rādha, this question could not catch its limit
(i.e., it is beside the point). One lives the holy life with
Nirvāna as its final plunge (into the Absolute Truth), as
its goal, as its ultimate end.’
Some popular
inaccurately phrased expressions like ‘The Buddha entered
into Nirvāna or Parinirvāna after his death’ have given rise
to many imaginary speculations about Nirvāna.
The
moment you hear the phrase that ‘the Buddha entered into
Nirvāna or Parinirvāna’, you take Nirvāna to be a state, or
a realm, or a position in which there is some sort of
existence, and try to imagine it in terms of the senses of
the word ‘existence’ as it is known to you. This popular
expression ‘entered into Nirvāna’ has no equivalent in the
original texts. There is no such thing as ‘entering into
Nirvāna after death’. There is a word parinibbuto
used to denote the death of the Buddha or an Arahant who has
realized Nirvāna, but it does not mean ‘entering into
Nirvāna’. Parinibbuto simply mean ‘fully blown out’
or ‘fully extinct’, because the Buddha or an Arahant has no
re-existence after his death.
Now another
question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant
after his death, parinirvāna? This comes under the
category of unanswered questions (avyākata).
Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no
words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an
Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named
Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like ‘born’ or ‘not born’
do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those
things-matter, sensation, perception, mental activities,
consciousness- with which the terms like ‘born’ and ‘not
born’ are associated, are completely destroyed and
up-rooted, never to rise again after his death.
An Arahant
after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when
the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone
out when the wick and oil are finished.
Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without
any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire
gone out is not Nirvāna, but the ‘being’ composed of
the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāna. This point has to
be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars,
have misunderstood and misinterpreted this smile as
referring to Nirvāna. Nirvāna is never compared to a fire or
a lamp gone out.
There is
another popular question: If there is no Self, no Ātman,
who realizes Nirvāna? Before we go on to Nirvāna, let us
ask the question: Who thinks now, if there id no Self? We
have seen earlier that it is the though that thinks, that
there is no thinker behind the thought. In the same way, it
is wisdom (paňňa), realization, that realizes. There
is no other self behind the realization. In the discussion
of the orgin of dukkha we saw that whatever it may
be- whether being, or thing, or system- if it is of the
nature of arising, it has within itself the nature, the
germ, of its cessation, its destruction. Now dukkha,
samsāra, the cycle of continuity, is of the nature of
arising; it must also be of the nature of cessation.
Dukkha arises because of ‘thirst’ (tamhā), and it
ceases because of wisdom (paňňa). ‘Thirst’ and wisdom
are both within the Five Aggregates, as we saw earlier.
Thus, the
germ of their arising as well as that of their cessation are
both within the Five Aggregates. This is real meaning of the
Buddha’s well-known statement: ‘Within this fathom-long
sentient body itself, I postulate the world, the arising of
the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading
to the cessation of the world.’
This means that all the Four Noble Truths are found within
the Five Aggregates, i.e., within ourselves. (Here he word
‘world’ (loka) is used in place of dukkha).
This also means that there is no external power that
produces the arising and the cessation of dukkha.
When wisdom
is developed and cultivated according to the Fourth Noble
Truth (the next to be taken up), it sees the secret is
discovered, when the Truth is seen, all the forces which
feverishly produce the continuity of samsāra in
illusion become calm and incapable of producing any more
karma-formations, because there is no more illusion, no more
‘thirst’ for continuity. It is like a mental disease which
is cured when the cause or the secret of the malady is
discovered and seen by the patient.
In almost all
religions the summmum bonum can be attained only
after death. But Nirvāna can be realized in this very life;
it is not necessary to wait till you die to ‘attain’ it.
He who has
realizes the Truth, Nirvana, is the happiest being in the
world. He is free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the
worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health
is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood
over the future. He lives fully in the present.
Therefore he appreciated and enjoys things in the purest
sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant,
enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from
anxiety, serene and peaceful.
As he is free from selfish, desire, hatred, ignorance,
conceit, and all such ‘defilements’, he is pure and gentle,
full of universal love, compassion, kindness, sympathy,
understanding and tolerance. His service to others is of the
purest, for he has no thought of self. He gains nothing,
accumulates, nothing, not even anything spiritual, because
he is free from the illusion of Self, and the ‘thirst’ for
becoming.
Nirvāna is
beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore
beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong,
existence and non-existence. Even the word ‘happiness’ (sukha)
which is used to describe Nirvana has an entirely different
sense here. Sāriputta once said: ‘O friend, Nirvāna is
happiness! Nirvāna is happiness!’ Then Udāvi asked: ‘But,
friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no
sensation?’ Sāriputta’s reply was highly philosophical and
beyond ordinary comprehension: ‘That there is no sensation
itself is happiness.’
Nirvāna is beyond logic and reasoning (atakkāvacara). However
much we may engage, often as a vain intellectual pastime, in
highly speculative discussions regarding Nirvāna or Ultimate
Truth or Reality, we shall never understand it that way. A
child in the kindergarten should not quarrel about the
theory of relativity. Instead, if he allows hiss studies
patiently and diligently, one day he may understand it.
Nirvāna is ‘to be realized by the wise within themselves’ (paccattam
veditabbo viňňūhi). If we follow the Path patiently and
with diligence, train and purify ourselves earnestly, and
attain the necessary spiritual development, we may one day
realize it within ourselves- without taxing ourselves with
puzzling and high- sounding words.
Let us
therefore now turn to the Path which leads to the
realization of Nirvāna.
