The Spiritual Liberation , Nibbana and The Truth

The teaching of the Buddha, 'sukha kamani bhutani' is that the worldlings often seek happiness and therefore they are attracted to sensual pleasure for satisfaction. On one occasion the Buddha said that a person with uncontrolled craving `jumps from here to there like a monkey searching for fruit in the forest'(Dhammapada 334). Over indulgence in sensual pleasures often end in dissatisfaction, making people look for ways to detach from sensual pleasures.

 In Search of Liberation

 Interestingly, looking for ways to refrain from sense pleasures, the worldlings, still yearn for satisfaction, the Buddha has also said that the beings are insatiable. There are some who take up spiritual meditation practices which enable them to experience some form of happiness by relinquishing greed and ill will to which they tend to get attached and like to dwell in. Those practitioners often leave their lay life (i.e. sensual pleasures) to live in isolation and move to forests. Such yogis are able to develop concentration and reach Dyana (jana) states to be free from greed and ill will which they consider as gaining liberation. Through such practices they develop merits to be reborn in higher celestial levels, however, in completion of the life span in respective existence they often return to lower states. It doesn't mean that such practices are meaningless but the true liberation can only be achieved through the path shown by the Buddha.

There is an important discourse by the Buddha that explains this, a person is wounded by a poisoned arrow and the family and friends take him to a doctor. The doctor immediately removes the arrow and prescribes treatments for the wound, the wounded person is happy being free from the arrow however, ignores the prescribed treatments to heal the wound. As a consequence of his ignorance and negligence of the wound, he could end in serious illness or even death. This analogy helps to understand the fact that just by discarding greed and ill will, the condition for their re-emergence, i.e. delusion, is not eliminated and that one will not be free from Samsara until the root cause of delusion is abandoned.  

There are also others who follow Buddhism to achieve fruition, to become a stream winner, once returner, non-returner or to attain Nibbana, once again looking for happiness or to satisfy oneself. They tend to take up various forms of meditation practices to overcome dissatisfaction. These people gain temporary relief from such practices, however, are unaware that ultimate relief or deliverance can only be reached through the Path shown by the Buddha. Penetrative knowledge of the truth and the law of dependent origination awakens wisdom and the right view to embark on the Noble Path. 

 The Truth and the Path

The one who seeks the truth free from imaginations develops the Noble Wisdom. Seeking the origin of phenomenon through wise attention leads to awakening of the wisdom that makes the person disenchanted, not mentally or due to frustration, but through wisdom. Such person who endeavours in search of the Noble Truth is not simply after fruition or to make himself enlightened.

In Oga Tharana Sutra, in reply to a question by a god how the Tathagatha crossed the flood (of samsara), the Blessed one said, ‘I crossed the flood by not stopping or not struggling’. Let’s examine this statement to understand what the Buddha meant. When one crosses the flood, if he stops, he gets drowned, if he struggles, he gets swept away. When we apply this analogy to Dhamma, stopping means that the person goes along with greed, ill will and delusion and struggling is to make an effort to keep away from greed, ill will and delusion, either way he is still in the world, i.e. either indulging in sense pleasures or making an effort to refrain from sense pleasures through self-mortification. Buddha rejected both these as extremes, kamasukhallikanuyogaya and attakilamathanuyoga, in his first sermon.

Self-View

On another occasion, a god with a long life span, observed the suffering of the worldlings, caught up in the repetitive cycles of birth and death, afflicted with greed & ill will. This god became compassionate about the plight of the worldlings and reported to the Buddha that these people should endeavour to relinquish their delight in sensual pleasure as if their hair is caught up in fire, so that they can be reborn in heavenly abodes and be free from their persistent suffering due to repetitive birth, decay and death. His point was that a person whose hair is in fire, drops everything else to extinguish the fire and be free. The Buddha replied, 'yes, they should try as someone who's hair is in fire but to abandon the self-view (sakkaya ditti) rather than to relinquish sensual pleasure. This crucial teaching from the Buddha emphasises the importance of abandoning the self-view and gaining the right view.

The Enlightened One has spoken of the feat of a holy aspirant as much more difficult than that of a skilled archer.

When Venerable Ananda reports to the Buddha about the difficult feat of Liccavi youth who were shooting even with their arrows from a distance through a very small keyhole, and splitting an arrow, shot after shot, with never a miss. ''Now what do you think, Ananda? Which is the harder, which is the harder task to compass: To shoot like that or to pierce one strand of hair, a hundred times divided, with an arrow as thin as that strand?'

'Why, lord, of course to split a divided hair in such a way is the harder, much the harder task.'

'Just so, Ananda, they who penetrate the meaning of this is dukkha, this is the arising of dukkha, this is the ceasing of dukkha and this is the path that leads to the ceasing of dukkha, pierce through something much harder to pierce.

Wherefore, Ananda, you must make an effort to realise: This is dukkha. This is the arising of dukkha. This is the ceasing of dukkha, this is the path that leads to the ceasing of dukkha'(The Four Noble Truths), remarked the exalted one stressing the importance of abandoning self-view and gaining the Right view.

Self-view (sakkaya ditti) is the view that there is 'me (myself')' in the five aggregates of clinging (panca upadanaskandha), i.e. there is me who sees visible form, hears sound and so on who interacts with the external, that it’s me who feel, perceive, fabricate and know, all experiences pivots around me. However, the Buddha pointed out that it is wrong to hold on to clinging aggregates that are impermanent, that arise and cease due to conditions.

One who associates Salutary Friends and listens to the true Dhamma, and who makes and effort to explore, first identify the underlying problem and approach the Dhamma gradually, the problem of taking the five aggregates of clinging as 'oneself'.

It doesn't mean to conclude that there is no 'me', 'myself' but to comprehend the wrong perception of taking as 'me’, myself', that it is an erroneous view caused due to delusion which loses ground when the delusion is abandoned. One must develop the right view by awakening the wisdom for that. The right view is knowing This is dukkha. This is the arising of dukkha. This is the ceasing of dukkha. This is the path that leads to the ceasing of dukkha. The task is not to discard dukkha but to gain penetrative insight to dukkha. As said before any attempt to discard dukkha involves me, i.e. to satisfy myself. When the dukkha is comprehended with insight, the knowledge of the cause for dukkha, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation is also realised then and there.

Insight to Dukkha

Birth, decay-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair (Jati Jara Marana soka parideva) and so on identified as dukkha can be narrowed down to, not getting what we wish and inability to sustain what we get according to our wishes. In Dukkhatha Sutra the Buddha describes three types of dukkha, dukkha dukkha, viparinama dukkha and sankhara dukkha. Not getting what we want (as we wish) and change in what we get , belong to the first & the second categories of dukkha explained in this Sutra. Furthermore, in defining Dukkha as birth, decay, death and so on in his first sermon, the Buddha concluded that, in short, the five clinging aggregates are dukkha thereby attributing all forms of dukkha as dukkha that arise due to formation, or sankhara dukka, the third type of dukkha explained in Dukkha Sutra.

We worldlings, get attached to things that bring satisfaction and avert things that are of unsatisfactory nature. This relates to all sense experiences we encounter through eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, or in other words through formation of five aggregates of clinging. This is the process of dukkha formation, therefore to comprehend dukkha we need to examine formation of five aggregates of clinging and comprehend that they arise due to causes, as a fruit of causality or dependency.

Five Aggregates of Clinging and Impermanence

The Buddha explains this with an interesting parable in Veenopama Sutra. A king hears a sound that he has never heard before, he asks his aids what that sound is and they say it is the sound of a Veena (an eastern musical instrument that resembles a lute). He demands them to bring that sound to him. The aids bring him the Veena (let’s call it a lute) with its bow and the king asks what they for are as he was looking for the sound he heard. The aids say to him that it’s a lute. Not happy with what he got the King demands, "I want that beautiful sound I heard, not this."

The aids explain to the king that the sound he heard originates from the lute when someone plays it with the bow. Disappointed with the lute the king exclaims, "Then I don't want that, take it away, break it and burn it."

The Blessed One urges us to see the impermanence of the five aggregates of clinging in that manner, how they are dependent and originate due to conditions. When one knows that, the Buddha says, the erroneous notion of taking as me, myself and mine does not arise.  

This teaching expounds the Dhamma discussed earlier, that the five clinging aggregates that arise due to conditions are dukkha (sankhara dukka).

The condition for the formation of dukkha is ignorance (avidya), the Buddha revealed, ignorance of not knowing dukkha, cause for dukkha, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation. When one comprehends the process of dependent origination, and how the dukkha arises due to conditions, he abandons the ignorance and develops the knowledge of dukkha, cause for dukkha, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation (vidya). Thereby the person comprehends that abandoning ignorance removes the cause for dukkha formation revealing the path to nibbana. (avidya nirodo sankhara niroda).

Knowing Ignorance

Cinematic experience helps to understand how dukkha arises due to ignorance of not knowing the truth. For example, dangerous events seen in an action film such as destruction of buildings and car crashes bring tension and fear to the audience and when a character they like is harmed, it makes them sad. This is due to the spectator’s attachment to the events or characters seen on the screen, as he or she is ignorant of the tactics, special effects or makeup used in the making of the cinema. However, if the film maker is in the audience he will not be moved or be shaken up by any event projected on the screen. He is aware of all special effects and tricks he used in the making of the film under his direction. He knows that the buildings that get destroyed are not real and the cars that crash and roll over are just toys. Suppose the rest of the spectators realise the way these scenes are created; they will be amused rather than being shocked with fear.

Any sense experience such as seeing a visible form or hearing a sound is formed due to conditions. Forms, Sensations, Perceptions, Formations and Consciousness, known as Five clinging aggregates, are catogorised into these five groups according to the way they are experienced and not because they are found separately.

Insight to Form

Penetrative insight to five clinging aggregates can begin with gaining insight to form and how it originates, through yoniso mansikara (attention to source), commonly known as wise attention. The one who sees the process of formation as discussed above, the ignorance of not knowing the formation is no more. The teaching explains, when the eye meets an object the eye consciousness arises and the three coming together is known as chakku sampassa or the eye contact. Arising from eye contact is the feeling which is perceived and thought about to determine and know, it is further explained as the process of seeing a visible object.

We can comprehend this causality further by relating to the parable of the lute. The sound the king heard was not the lute, the bow or the player. The lute represents internal sense bases and the bow, external sense bases. The person playing the lute denotes the role of consciousness. The sound generated is the five aggregates of clinging.

The sound of the lute does not exist but is generated by the instrument when someone plays it with the bow, the sound originates due to conditions and ceases when conditions cease to exist. The sound can only be described along with conditions that causes it. It's not something that exists and disappears but one that originates due to conditions and ceases when the conditions are not present.

Try to understand this occurrence, the beautiful music generated from the lute can only be heard when someone plays the instrument. The instrument becomes a lute only when it is being played, if not it is not a lute. It is one of the factors that contribute to create the music and thus we call it a lute. The lute does not create sound when it is not being played. When someone plays the instrument, it generates a characteristic sound and hence becomes a lute and the sound ceases when the playing stops. Therefore, it can be said that the instrument becomes a lute only when necessary conditions come together and that it ceases to be one when the conditions cease to exist.

In the same way until the eye meets the visible object and the eye consciousness arises there is no eye or an object. An eye and an external object arise only with the arising of the eye consciousness that causes 'eye contact' (chakku sammpassa).

Path to Liberation

It becomes clear from the above parable that in the same way the King lost his interest and became disgruntled with the music he heard by knowing its conditionality, the one who observes that the visible experience is conditioned or dependent becomes disenchanted. As he or she further realises that both the object and the experiencer are impermanent as well in this phenomenon of dependent origination, the person comprehends the fallacy in grasping as me or myself.

This penetrative insight makes the person disenchanted and dispassionate about the five aggregates of clinging detaching him or her from it, to liberate and attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana. It’s not something that one achieves through self but what ensues from the radical shift in the standpoint of the one who treads on the Noble Path.

 -Based on Dhamma sermons by Venerable Katukurunde Nanananda Thero and Venerable Allawwe Anomadassi Thero