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By Jayaram V
"And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha:
the remainderless fading & cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release,
& letting go of that very craving." — Samyutta Nikaya LVI.11
Buddhism is not a religion of despair, but of hope and freedom.
The teachings of the Buddha are very optimistic about ending suffering. There is
a misconception among many non-Buddhists that Buddhism is all about suffering and
personal sacrifice. It is true, externally that is how a monk's life looks to be
to the general public. Leaving everything behind and going out all alone to spend
time in contemplation and mindfulness, begging for alms and holding on to nothing.
A very tough life indeed!
The fact is Buddhism offers a permanent solution to the eternal problem of earthly
suffering. The teachings of the Buddha show us the way out of suffering, and give
us the hope that suffering can be overcome eventually by controlling ones cravings
and leading a virtuous life as dictated by the principles of the noble Eightfold
path. The Buddha found a solution in the problem itself. The eightfold path is not
difficult to practice. It is not prescribed for the monks alone, but for people
of all ages, backgrounds and temperaments.
Suffering ends when the craving ends. It ceases to exist, only when the beings
achieve complete liberation from it. The seeds of this reverse process are sown
when a monk or a follower of the Buddha becomes aware of the impermanent and distasteful
nature of the world and its objects. The first step in this process is the cultivation
of dispassion.
"Among whatever qualities there may be, fabricated or unfabricated,
the quality of dispassion — the subduing of intoxication, the elimination of
thirst, the uprooting of attachment, the breaking of the round, the destruction
of craving, dispassion, cessation, the realization of Unbinding — is considered
supreme. Those who have confidence in the quality of dispassion have confidence
in what is supreme; and for those with confidence in the supreme, supreme is
the result."
The following passages from Anguttara Nikaya describe how craving arises
and how it can be ended by discernment.
"From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications. From
fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness. From consciousness
as a requisite condition comes name-and-form. From name-and-form as a requisite
condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite
condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving. From craving as a requisite
condition comes clinging/sustenance. From clinging/sustenance as a requisite
condition comes becoming. From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then old age and death, sorrow, lamentation,
pain, distress, and despair come into play. Such is the origination of this
entire mass of stress and suffering.
"Now from the remainderless fading and cessation of that very
ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications. From the cessation of fabrications
comes the cessation of consciousness. From the cessation of consciousness comes
the cessation of name-and-form. From the cessation of name-and-form comes the
cessation of the six sense media. From the cessation of the six sense media
comes the cessation of contact. From the cessation of contact comes the cessation
of feeling. From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving. From
the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance. From the
cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming. From the cessation
of becoming comes the cessation of birth. From the cessation of birth, then
old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair all cease.
Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress and suffering.
"This is the noble method that is rightly seen and rightly ferreted
out by discernment." — Anguttara Nikaya X.92
There are five stages in this process of this liberation. They are, the extinction
of craving, the extinction of clinging, the extinction of the effects of karma,
the extinction of rebirth and the extinction of rebirth, cessation of decay, death,
sorrow, lamentation, suffering, grief and despair.
When a person passes through these five stages, his craving ceases and he finds
permanent freedom from all forms of suffering. He becomes liberated from the world
of impermanence and change. He does not return nor re-enter into the wheel of existence.
The path to Nirvana goes through two stages. The first phase happens when a person
is still alive on earth. During this phase, all the impurities of the seeker are
removed and he becomes an Arhat or a holy person. At this stage the ego is no more
nourished, but remains on earth in a very diminished state. The second stage is
set in motion when the fivefold process comes to an end and the Arhat leaves this
world. At this stage the ego is completely dissolved, without any trace, bringing
an end to the five fold process.
When the Arhat or the holy one passes away, he attain the realm where there is
nothing, where there is "neither solid nor fluid, neither heat nor motion, neither
this world nor any other world, neither the sun nor the moon." This is called the
cessation of becoming which is "neither arising, nor passing away, neither standing
still nor being born, nor dying." It is Nirvana, which is unborn, without source,
uncreated and unformed real into which escape is possible for the beings through
cessation of craving.
The Buddha discouraged all forms of speculation about this final state. He did
not clarify what would happen to the monks when they became Arhats. He did not answer
whether they would continue to exist or cease to exist. He did not even clarify
what would happen to the Buddha himself when he passed away into the nothingness
of Nirvana. Would he continue to guide, and provide inspiration to his followers
from somewhere above, in some inexplicable state of existence, or simply dissolve
himself into an unfathomable void of non-becoming and nothingness, leaving the monks
to their own fate?
Perhaps the Buddha did not define what could not be defined. Perhaps he was aware
that to define and describe truth would be to limit its scope and distort it. Perhaps
he felt silence as the best solution to such matters, which could be better understood
through personal experience rather than the speculative theories of idle minds.
Suggested Further Reading
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