LECTURE ON NIBBĀNA

LECTURE ON NIBBĀNA

(U Khemācāra)

1. Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhanirodhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ– yo tassāyeva taṇhāya asesavirāganirodho cāgo paṭinissaggo mutti anālayo.

            "This is, O bhikkhus, the noble truth of the cessation of suffering. It is complete cessation of craving, giving it up, renouncing it, released from it, detachment from it."

[Dhammacakkappavattanasuttaṃ]

2. Nibbānaṃ pana lokuttarasaṅkhātaṃ catumaggañāṇena sacchikātabbaṃ maggaphalānamārammaṇabhūtaṃ  vānasaṅkhātāya taṇhāya nikkhantattā nibbānanti pavuccati.                                         

            "Nibbāna is termed supramundane, and is to be realized by the knowledge of the four paths. It becomes an object to the path and fruits, and is called Nibbāna because it is a departure from craving, which is an entanglement.”

[Abhidhammattha saṅgaha]

3. “Yattha kho, āvuso, na jāyati na jīyati na  mīyati na cavati na upapajjati, nāhaṃ taṃ gamanena lokassa antaṃ  ñāteyyaṃ daṭṭheyyaṃ patteyyanti vadāmī”ti.

     Api ca khvāhaṃ, āvuso, imasmiṃyeva byāmamatte kaḷevare sasaññimhi samanake, lokañca paññapemi, lokasamudayañca, lokanirodhañca, lokanirodhagāminiñca paṭipadanti. 

    “Gamanena na pattabbo, lokassanto kudācanaṃ; 

     Na ca appatvā lokantaṃ, dukkhā atthi pamocanaṃ. 

            "I do not say that the end of the world, where there is no birth, nor aging, nor death, nor passing away, nor arising again, could be known, or seen, or reached, by going there.

            But, neither do I say, friend, that without reaching the end of the world one could make an end of dukkha."

            "As a matter of fact, friend, it is based on this very body which is a fathom long and which has perception and mind that I declare the truth of dukkha, the truth of the origin of dukkha, the truth of the cessation of dukkha, and the truth of the practice that lead to the cessation of dukkha.

            The end of the world cannot at all be reached by going there; there can be no emancipation from dukkha without reaching the end of the world."

[Rohitassa sutta, SN]