The UWF Buddhist Lecture Series, Part 4
The gift of Dharma excels all other gifts.
–Dhammapada, 354
Lecture Four: April 4, 2009
The Third Noble Truth
Scope: The Third Noble Truth is the “good news” of Buddhism. There is a cure, we need not suffer. This cessation of suffering is called Nirvana. The experience cannot be conveyed in words, in thoughts, or in even in metaphors.
Outline
The gift of Dharma excels all other gifts.
–Dhammapada, 354
Lecture Four: April 4, 2009
The Third Noble Truth
Scope: The Third Noble Truth is the “good news” of Buddhism. There is a cure, we need not suffer. This cessation of suffering is called Nirvana. The experience cannot be conveyed in words, in thoughts, or in even in metaphors.
Outline
I. The First Noble Truth of dukkha has led many to misconstrue Buddhism as pessimistic. But Buddhism does not say that everything is suffering.
A. What Buddhism says is that life by its nature is flawed.
B. We like life to be delightful all the time, but it’s not going to happen, because life is imperfect.
C. This is not judgment; this is simple, matter-of-fact description.
D. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic.
E. Buddhism tells you exactly and objectively the true state of affairs about you and the world.
1. A pessimistic physician may exaggerate an illness and advise you to give up hope altogether.
2. An optimistic physician may declare that you are not sick and therefore you need no treatment, thus deceiving you with false consolation.
3. A good physician diagnoses the symptoms correctly, understands the nature and cause/s of the illness, sees that it can be cured, and administers a method of treatment.
II. Dukkha, or the “bad news” of Buddhism, is only the first part of the story. The “good news” is that there is a way out of dukkha. The Third Noble Truth is straightforward: You do not have to suffer. Lasting happiness is possible. This cessation of suffering is called Nirvana.
A. If tanha is the cause of dukkha, then the solution is to stop tanha. By ending tanha we end suffering and the cycle of birth and death.
B. To end dukkha we have to eliminate the principal root of dukkha, which is tanha. Therefore Nirvana can be said to be the extinction of thirst (Tanhakkhaya).
C. This is easier said than done. Old habits and set patterns get the better of us, because we are so used to indulging in them. Portia Nelson’s “Autobiography in Five Chapters” says it all.
D. Or take the example of how a trapper catches a monkey.
E. Because everything is illusory and ephemeral, we mistake suffering as happiness, like licking honey from a razor’s edge.
III. Nirvana cannot be conveyed in words, in thoughts, or even in metaphors.
A. For example, the taste of sugar cannot be explained to one who has never tasted sugar. But if you put a lump of sugar on that person’s tongue, he will know what sugar tastes, and no further explanation is necessary.
B. Human language is inadequate because it is created to express and communicate ideas experienced by the sense organs and the mind.
C. The highest aim of Buddhism is to attain Nirvana.
1. “What is Nirvana?” the Ven Sariputta was asked. Sariputta’s reply: “The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion is called Nirvana.”
2. “Is there a practice to attain Nirvana?” “Yes, indeed: The Noble Eightfold Path: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.”
D. There are 32 synonyms for Nirvana. Some of them: Auspicious, Good, Safety, Purity, Island, Refuge, Protection, Opposite Shore, Other Side, Peace, Tranquility, Release, Sublime.
1. None of these positive synonyms grasps fully the real meaning of Nirvana.
2. This is because the significance of the terms used is restricted to the known experiences of the sentient world.
3. All definitions are based on our experiences of the phenomenal world.
4. Our conception of things is samsaric. All our thoughts, words, and concepts are conditioned, and cannot be applied to the Unconditioned.
5. Positive definitions may lead to ideas associated with those definitions, which might be quite the contrary.
E. If Nirvana cannot be expressed in positive terms, it has been expressed in negative terms: extinction of thirst, absence of desire, blowing out, extinction, abandoning, cessation, release, detachment.
F. Positive or negative, all terms are relative and conditioned. But Nirvana is beyond both positive and negative, and is not related to anything conditioned. The Buddha merely used the terms of the world, knowing their limitations.
G. To illustrate how difficult it is to convey the experience of Nirvana, the Buddha used the parable of the Tortoise and the Fish.
IV. Some questions that cannot be answered using definitions belonging to our experiences of the phenomenal world.
A. What is the end or purpose of Nirvana?
B. If there is no Self, who realizes Nirvana?
C. What happens to the Buddha after death?
A. What Buddhism says is that life by its nature is flawed.
B. We like life to be delightful all the time, but it’s not going to happen, because life is imperfect.
C. This is not judgment; this is simple, matter-of-fact description.
D. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic.
E. Buddhism tells you exactly and objectively the true state of affairs about you and the world.
1. A pessimistic physician may exaggerate an illness and advise you to give up hope altogether.
2. An optimistic physician may declare that you are not sick and therefore you need no treatment, thus deceiving you with false consolation.
3. A good physician diagnoses the symptoms correctly, understands the nature and cause/s of the illness, sees that it can be cured, and administers a method of treatment.
II. Dukkha, or the “bad news” of Buddhism, is only the first part of the story. The “good news” is that there is a way out of dukkha. The Third Noble Truth is straightforward: You do not have to suffer. Lasting happiness is possible. This cessation of suffering is called Nirvana.
A. If tanha is the cause of dukkha, then the solution is to stop tanha. By ending tanha we end suffering and the cycle of birth and death.
B. To end dukkha we have to eliminate the principal root of dukkha, which is tanha. Therefore Nirvana can be said to be the extinction of thirst (Tanhakkhaya).
C. This is easier said than done. Old habits and set patterns get the better of us, because we are so used to indulging in them. Portia Nelson’s “Autobiography in Five Chapters” says it all.
D. Or take the example of how a trapper catches a monkey.
E. Because everything is illusory and ephemeral, we mistake suffering as happiness, like licking honey from a razor’s edge.
III. Nirvana cannot be conveyed in words, in thoughts, or even in metaphors.
A. For example, the taste of sugar cannot be explained to one who has never tasted sugar. But if you put a lump of sugar on that person’s tongue, he will know what sugar tastes, and no further explanation is necessary.
B. Human language is inadequate because it is created to express and communicate ideas experienced by the sense organs and the mind.
C. The highest aim of Buddhism is to attain Nirvana.
1. “What is Nirvana?” the Ven Sariputta was asked. Sariputta’s reply: “The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion is called Nirvana.”
2. “Is there a practice to attain Nirvana?” “Yes, indeed: The Noble Eightfold Path: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.”
D. There are 32 synonyms for Nirvana. Some of them: Auspicious, Good, Safety, Purity, Island, Refuge, Protection, Opposite Shore, Other Side, Peace, Tranquility, Release, Sublime.
1. None of these positive synonyms grasps fully the real meaning of Nirvana.
2. This is because the significance of the terms used is restricted to the known experiences of the sentient world.
3. All definitions are based on our experiences of the phenomenal world.
4. Our conception of things is samsaric. All our thoughts, words, and concepts are conditioned, and cannot be applied to the Unconditioned.
5. Positive definitions may lead to ideas associated with those definitions, which might be quite the contrary.
E. If Nirvana cannot be expressed in positive terms, it has been expressed in negative terms: extinction of thirst, absence of desire, blowing out, extinction, abandoning, cessation, release, detachment.
F. Positive or negative, all terms are relative and conditioned. But Nirvana is beyond both positive and negative, and is not related to anything conditioned. The Buddha merely used the terms of the world, knowing their limitations.
G. To illustrate how difficult it is to convey the experience of Nirvana, the Buddha used the parable of the Tortoise and the Fish.
IV. Some questions that cannot be answered using definitions belonging to our experiences of the phenomenal world.
A. What is the end or purpose of Nirvana?
B. If there is no Self, who realizes Nirvana?
C. What happens to the Buddha after death?
