|
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.
Additional Information
For additional information on the
Four Noble Truths, you may check the following links also.
|
