1. -1- What the Buddha Taught A series of lecture-discussions sponsored by Oxford Soto Zen Suggested by Les Kaye Led by Jimmyle Listenbee Based on What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula

2. -2- Lecture 5 Chapter 4: The Four Noble Truths The 3nd Noble Truth: The Cessation of Dukkha

3. -3- The Four Noble Truths I.Dukkha II.Samudaya, the arising or origin of dukkha III.Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha IV.Magga, the way leading to the cessation of dukkha

4. -4- The 3r d Noble Truth: The Cessation of Dukkha There is emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering! It is called Nibbana, popularly known as “Nirvana” AKA Tanhakkhaya “Extinction of Thirst”

5. -5- What is Nirvana? Language is incapable of expressing – Absolute Truth Ultimate Reality Relate to “In the beginning was the Word…”? Fish & tortoise story

6. -6- Discussion Nirvana is the extinction of hatred; of desire; of illusion. It is a long journey toward trusting that it is possible to let go of the concept of being an individual self. Glimpses light the path.

7. -7- Buddha’s Description of Nirvana, Enlightenment READ p.37 “O bhikkhus, there is the unborn…and conditioned’ And “Here are the four elements…nor sense objects are to be found.”

8. -8- Not Negative/Not Positive Not “Self-annihilation” but annihilation of illusion – the False Idea of Self. Negative & Positive are relative, within the realm of duality. Nirvana is beyond the realm of relativity & duality.

9. -9- Freedom Freedom is always liberation from something obstructive. Nirvana is freedom from evil, craving, hatred, ignorance, Freedom from all terms of duality, relativity, time & space.

10. -10- “Self”-Analysis READ p.38-39 “A man is composed of six elements…Now, when he experiences a pleasant, unpleasant or neutral sensation, he knows that it is impermanent.

11. -11- The Absolute Noble Truth which is Nirvana, Reality The Absolute Truth is that: There is nothing absolute in the world; Everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent; There is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul or Atman, within or without.

12. -12- Nirvana is not a “Result” Beyond cause and effect, it IS. One can only see it or realize it. There is a path (practice) leading to such realization, but the realization is not the effect or result of the path.

13. -13- Metaphors of the Mountain, the Light: You may get to the mountain along a path, but the mountain is not the result of the path. You may see a light, but the light is not the result of your eyesight.

14. -14- What is after, beyond Nirvana? What is its purpose? Since it is Ultimate Truth, there can be nothing after or beyond it. “Purpose” is beside the point. One lives the holy life with Nirvana as its final plunge into the Absolute Truth – as its goal, its ultimate end.

15. -15- After Death One does not “enter into Nirvana.” A Buddha’s or Arahant’s death is parinibbuto: “fully passed away” “fully blown out” “fully extinct” What happens to him/her comes under the category of “unanswered questions.” It is Compared to a fire gone out when wood is fully burned, a lamp when wick & oil are finished.

16. -16- The Being (not Nirvana) is the fire A being, composed of the 5 Aggregates has realized Nirvana. It is not necessary to wait until death to realize Nirvana.

17. -17- If no Self – then who realizes Nirvana? Consider if no self, then who is it now that thinks? (It is the thought that thinks.) In the same way, it is wisdom itself (realization) that realizes Nirvana.

18. -18- Thirst & Wisdom are both within The 5 Aggregates The germ of their arising as well as their cessation are both within the 5 Aggregates. READ Buddha’s well-known statement, p.42 “Within this fathom-long body…and the path leading to the cessation of the world.” There is no external power that produces the arising and the cessation of dukkha.

19. -19- Developing Wisdom When wisdom is developed and cultivated according to the 4 th Noble Truth, it sees the secret of life, the reality of things as they are. When this secret is discovered, all the feverish forces of samsara are rendered calm and incapable of producing more karma – because there is no more illusion, no more thirst for continuity. It is like a mental disease cured when the patient gains insight into the cause or secret of the malady.

20. -20- Nirvana on Earth READ p.43 “He who has realized the Truth…He lives fully in the present.” Nirvana is “to be realized by the wise within themselves” If we follow the Path with diligence, if we earnestly train and purify ourselves, if we attain the necessary spiritual development --- we may one day realize it within ourselves.