Table of contents hide 1 A discussion about Dhamma 2 Something lost in our Culture 3 Nibbana 4 Nibbana and Dualism 5 What is Nibbana? 6 Nibbana and knowledge 7 Nibbana and meditation

"The righteous man casts out evil, and eliminating lust, bitterness and illusion, comes to Nirvana"

- Buddha

This time I bring you an article of the Venerable Khammai Dhammasami in which he expresses himself towards the true meaning of Nibbana, which is the Sanskrit for Nirvana . It was written on May 26, 1997, and the teacher gives us his wisdom to clarify the waters in this important subject.

I must clarify that in order to write it, I had to make some decisions regarding translations, always aiming to keep the teacher's message as intact as possible.

I hope you enjoy.

A discussion about Dhamma

I am particularly using the term 'discussion' here because in one of the speeches given by the Buddha, which we all know as Mangala Sutta, he said that anyone who wishes to achieve success must follow thirty-eight laws. They cover all aspects of life such as education, employment, marriage, social interactions and spiritual progress.

Something lost in our Culture

There are two points of the Sutta that I would like to startle here. One is ' Kalena Dhammasavanam ', which means listening to Teisho ( Buddhist Master's Speeches ) from time to time. Another is ' Kalena Dhammasakaccha ', which means discussing the Dharma when the opportunity appears.

When listening to speeches, one hears about new things, and there may be something that has not been clear. Then you need to discuss those things to make them clearer . That is why today I specifically used the term ' discussion '.

In Burmese culture, once a monk ends his sermon, the laity say ' Sadhu ', well done, three times as a gesture of approval towards what he has said and thanking him for his speech, without being sure that he understood the sermon or not. There are times when the unnoticed monk says something wrong. Even in those cases the laity say ' Sadhu '.

Then when one hears a sermon, the first point ' Kalena dhammasavanam ' is fulfilled. However, the second ' Kalena dhammasakaccha ' is not fulfilled. This is a lost factor in our Buddhist culture . Therefore we need to incorporate this element into it. It is with this intention that I have used the term 'discussion'.

The Nibbana

Next, I would like to discuss Nibbana . We always say in our prayers that we aspire to reach Nibbana, which is the highest goal. What is Nibbana? It is very difficult to explain.

Before talking about how it is, I would like to point out an erroneous interpretation and misuse of Nibbana and its concept. The canonical Buddhist texts refer to the thirty-one planes of existence, such as the kingdom of humans, gods and goddesses, of Brahma, etc. Some describe Nibbana as a plane above those thirty-one planes. Nibbana is not an existential plane .

Sometimes people say in their prayers that they would like to reach the golden city of Nibbana and conceptualize it as a particular city, such as Birmingham, London, Manchester or countries like the US, England or Switzerland.

In the Shan culture (Southeast Asia), people also have this concept of a golden city of Nibbana. Then people have begun to believe that Nibbana is specifically a place, a city totally free from all kinds of suffering and with all pleasurable pleasures, which we have to reach. This is completely a misconception.

Nibbana is only an experience .

Nibbana and Dualism

The ideas of an ordinary person have been conditioned . Our way of thinking is mainly conditioned by the dualistic tendency to judge things as pleasant or not pleasant, positive or negative, likes or dislikes, permanent or impermanent.

There are Eight Worldly Concerns ( Loka Dhamma ), half of which belong to the pleasurable experience, and the other half to the unpleasant. These show us that our way of perceiving is confined to one side or the other . The people of ancient India thought that indulgence in sensual pleasures was a way of freedom from suffering. On the other hand, those opposed to this idea said that torturing oneself by abstaining from all natural behavior is a way to free oneself from suffering. You can see how they belong to one or the other of the two extremes .

Some said in those days that life ends at the time of death, while others believed that life continued in eternity. This is the case for many people even today .

Our emotions are also largely governed by this dualistic tendency. We jump for joy when we are praised and resentful, and we even develop dislike when we are criticized. Therefore, joy and aversion are two dualistic places that repel each other.

Nibbana cannot be understood in terms of dualistic tendency. The Buddha abandoned these tendencies and found a new path known as the Middle Path, which is not a compromise between the two, but a total transcendence of them. Because Nibbana is not dualistic in structure, it could not be understood in a dualistic way of thinking.

What is nibbana?

The Buddha said ' Ragakkhayo dosakkhayo mohakkhayo ', which means that Nibbana is the extinction of attachment, aversion and ignorance . Here on earth if we ever eradicate these three demons that are the root of all others, we have obtained Nibbana. This is not a place but a state of mind where there are no impurities that interrupt and disturb peace. Peace of mind continues without any obstacles.

Nibbana is grammatically the combination of the word ' Ni ' (cesar) and ' bana ' (attachment), which refers to the total abandonment of attachment to all things, people and ideas. At the age of thirty-five, the ascetic Gautama became enlightened to what we call the Gautama Buddha . From that moment, he began to experience Nibbana. The technical term for the Nibbana experienced in life is ' Sa-upadisesa-Nibbana '.

In meditation, when we feel tired, in pain or itching, how do we react? We develop feelings of resentment, we get uncomfortable. In the absence of those sensations, we feel comfortable. How comfortable and uncomfortable! Why do we remain trapped in the cycle of these dualistic tendencies? It is because of our lack of Sati (awareness) of them at the moment they are present, because we are not attentive to those feelings and their existence in the present moment.

The only ones constantly attentive to things at all times are the Buddha and the Arahats . In the Buddhist monastic judicial system, if a monk is judged and declared by the judges to be in a constant state of conscience, all the allegations against him will be annulled (“ Sati vinayo ” is as it is said to a judicial case in which the verdict is of constant state of conscience of the accused). The message is that if the person is always attentive and aware of everything, he or she is free from the dualistic tendency.

Nibbana and knowledge

The Maha Satiapatthana Sutta, a major discourse on meditation mentions two words: ' Sato, sampajano ' ( Sato - conscience, sampajano - clear understanding), which refers to the fact that if there is full consciousness one comes to understand everything that is being experienced . Knowledge comes through consciousness .

When the pain appears, we contemplate the pain . This is Sato . We are attentive to the existence of pain at the time it exists. With the presence of this full consciousness, feelings of aversion or resentment will not wake up. Pain does not create greater suffering. Pain usually creates resentful attitudes towards an object. But you can develop attachment to a feeling too. Not the pain itself, but when you want to get rid of it and seek a comfortable feeling, you are indirectly sticking to the feeling of comfort that is not present at the time of your experience.

When Sati is present, both aversion and attachment do not wake up. This is mindfulness meditation on a feeling ( Vedana-nupassana ). When we continue practicing, three qualities of the mind develop: The ability to be aware ( Vinnyana ), to understand ( Mana ) and to think ( Citta ).

Nibbana and meditation

In meditation, instead of getting angry when there is any reason to do so, we try to experience anger through the attention developed. When anger is experienced, then it can be understood. The anger is Dukkha Sacca (the truth of suffering). Being aware of it, experiencing it, and understanding it is the path to the end of suffering .

Instead of reacting with pain, if we look closely, we can become more patient . The pain can no longer possess you and drag you more. He cannot create more suffering. When you experience it through mindfulness, you get to know what it is like. When we know something like it, sound to sound, pain to pain, thought to thought, emotion to emotion, we can free ourselves from the tendencies of duality.

Transcending this dualistic tendency means transcending the mundane natural condition itself. It is called Lokuttara, the supermundane mental state when transcendence becomes lasting.

Therefore, when those conditions pain, anger, attachment, etc. You are not conditioning your mental state, you are in an unconditioned state. It is called Asankhatadhamma . That is Nibbana.

Nibbana is not Loka (mundane), it is Lokuttara (other than mundane). It is a misuse of our artists when they say ' Lawka neitban ' in Burmese. Loka and Nibbana are totally different. In Buddhist philosophy they could never be used together .

However, Nibbana, the end of worldly experience, cannot and should not be seen outside the world. It is in the world . That is why the Buddha told a monk that the world, the end of the world (Nibbana) and the path that leads to the end of the world were in his body of a long breaststroke .

Traveling, one cannot reach the end of the world. However, without reaching it, He (the Buddha) said that the Nibbana cannot be obtained.

Be happy!

AUTHOR: Lucas, editor of the great family of HermandadBlanca.org

SOURCES: http://www.myanmarnet.net/nibbana/nibbana6.htm