Thich Nu Tinh Quang
The Third Noble Truth is the truth of the
cessation of suffering which is nirvana. As a doctor who gives a favorable
prognosis to a patient, the Buddha states that despite the fact that suffering
pervades all levels of samsaric existence; there is a state in which there is
no suffering and that this condition is achievable: It is nirvana.
The word 'nirvana' goes back to the Sanskrit root: निर्वाण nirvāṇa; it means ‘blown out’, and refers to the
extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion; 'nir' meaning fading,
or attenuation (for example, the attenuation of the lamp or cessation of rough
seas). On this basis, the XIX century researchers of Buddhism often built their
theory of nirvana as the complete cessation of life - a kind of complete dying,
so after that Buddhism was accused in total pessimism. However, Buddhist texts
indicate quite clearly that it is not the being that dies or fades. One of the
most common images that are used in the text to illustrate the idea of
nirvana are such: just as an icon lamp ceases to light, running out of the
oil that fuels the fire, or just like a surface of the sea stops worrying when
the wind stops, so in the same way all the suffering stops when all the affects
which feed the suffering run out. Thus, suffering, passion, affection and
obscuration are attenuated, and not being itself. With the disappearance of the
causes of suffering, suffering itself disappears.
Getting
rid of suffering is possible in only one way, and for that it is necessary to
reach a state called enlightenment or nirvana (Pali: 'nibbana'). Nirvana is a
state of supreme bliss in which a person does not feel any kind of need for
something. In state of Nirvana, he does not feel desire, suffering and
attachments, and he is not affected by the events of life.
Nirvana
actually has a very simple meaning; Nirvana literally means "cool" or
"to extinguish", and different from what most people usually thinking
such as heavenly realm where you want to enjoy the things you like.
Nirvana
literally is a state where suffering has been ‘extinguished’. Or said another
way, the flames of desire have been cooled as greed, such as hatred and
delusion would no longer control you. In short, it is a state of the ultimate
freedom - freedom from sorrow, but also freedom from happiness.
In addition,
some teachings in Buddhism call nirvana the exit from another state of being - samsara
(Billington 54 – 60). Samsara is a series of rebirths, so this is also the
state in which at the moment we all are. Being in samsara, a person suffers and
is reborn from one body to another. At the same time, the results of his past
actions affect the course of his present and later life, which is called karma.
Naturally, good actions return to the person as good and bad actions as bad. Buddhism
promotes good karma to help people to exit from the painful state of samsara
and the transition to a state of transcendental bliss, so nirvana is the main
purpose of life for most Buddhists. Nirvana state just occurs due to ongoing
work with your own consciousness, as well as to the conduct of a righteous life
in the world.
So what is
Nirvana? The Buddha himself never gave a straight answer to this question and
tried to keep silent when the question was still asked. Here Buddha happens to
be a direct precursor of the famous philosopher of the XX century Ludwig
Wittgenstein, who proclaimed, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must
be silent."[1]
Back in the early Upanishads, Brahmanical texts of philosophical nature, it
said that the Absolute (Brahman) can speak only in negative terms (not this,
not that), because the Absolute transcends our experience is incomprehensible
for thought and inexpressible in words and concepts (“Brahma Upanishad”).
Nirvana, which as the Buddha teaches, is not God and is not the impersonal
Absolute, and his silence is not apophatic theology. Nirvana is not a
substance, but a state, a state of freedom and of a peculiar, impersonal or
transpersonal fullness of being. But this state as absolutely transcendent to
all our samsaric experiences in which there is nothing like Nirvana:
None of the three worlds (of Desire, Form, and
Formlessness) is eternal; all that exists:
It
is not happy. What exists has a nature and characteristics.
And
all is Void. What is destructible comes and goes,
Apprehensions
and illnesses follow upon [one’s] steps.
The
fears of all the wrongs and evils done,
Age,
illness, death and decline cause worry.
All
these things do not exist forever.
And
they easily break up. Resentment attacks one;
All
are lined with illusion, as in the case of the silkworm and the cocoon.
None
who has wisdom finds joy in a place like this.
This
carnal body is where suffering forgathers.
All
is impure, like unto strains, carbuncles, boils, and other such.
No
reason is at bottom. The same applies
Even
to the heavenly ones who sit above.
All
desires do not last. So I do not cling.
One
casts off desires, meditates well,
Attains
the wonderful Dharma, and one who definitely
Cuts
off ‘is’ (samsaric existence) can today gain Nirvana.
I
pass over to the other shore of "is"
And
stand above all sorrows.
Thus I harvest this superb
Bliss."[2]
That is why even psychologically it is more correct to
say nothing of nirvana than to compare it to something known to us, otherwise
we will immediately construct our own nirvana, create a mental image of
nirvana, then improper understanding of it. Then we will adhere to this view in
such a way making nirvana as our object of affection and this causes source of
suffering. Because of that, Buddha limited himself with the most common
characteristics of nirvana, such as a state free from suffering, or as the
ultimate happiness (nibbanam paramam sukham). Afterwards Buddhists have
developed many different concepts of nirvana, but the recognition of its
non-semiotic nature will remain in Buddhism forever (Gomez 600 – 606).
But how to
achieve liberation, nirvana? This is indicated by the Fourth Noble Truth, the
truth of the path (marga) leading to the cessation of suffering, which is the
Noble Eightfold Path (Ariya-Ashtanga Marga) that we will discuss in details in
Chapter 6.
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