Path and Nibbana

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Path and Nibbana

Post by Alex123 »

In Ud 8.3 Nibbāna is described as:
  • not-born (ajātaṃ) , not-brought-to-being (abhūtaṃ), not-made (akataṃ), not-conditioned (asaṅkhataṃ).”
also in Ud8.1
  • Here, bhikkhus, I say there is no coming, no going, no staying, no deceasing, no uprising.
Also Nibbāna is timeless and doesn't ever arise, for "Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation."

Question: How can the path brings or creates Nibbāna into being?
User avatar
ground
Posts: 2591
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:01 am

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by ground »

Nibbana can be revealed, not brought into being.

kind regards
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Alex123 »

ground wrote:Nibbana can be revealed, not brought into being.

kind regards
Is revelation of Nibbāna same or different from Nibbāna?
User avatar
Bhikkhu Pesala
Posts: 4647
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:17 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

From the Cūḷavedalla Sutta:

Is the Path Conditioned or Unconditioned?
“Ariyo panāyye, aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo saṅkhato udāhu asaṅkhato”ti?
“Is the Eightfold Path conditioned or is it unconditioned?”

The Path Is Conditioned
To this question, Dhammadinnā gave the following answer:
“Ariyo kho, āvuso Visākha, aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo saṅkhato”ti.
“Friend Visākha, the Eightfold Path is conditioned.”

The Eightfold Path is conditioned and proceeds from causes, such as insight. Only nibbāna is unconditioned. This nibbāna symbolises supreme bliss and tranquillity because the faculty of the Noble Path gives no chance for the occurrence of defilements. Tranquillity, not being an occurrence, cannot be said to have arisen from a cause. What is meant by this nibbāna is that no new existence comprising unsatisfactory mind and matter will arise, because defilements, which are its cause, have become extinct, thereby bringing forth a blissful state of freedom from all forms of craving and human passion. This also cannot be called the cause of conditioned phenomena since there is no incidence or occurrence. It should only be regarded as the unconditioned, the unmade, which is not produced.”

From the MilindapañhaThe Uncaused

“Nāgasena, there are things in the world that have come into existence through kamma, others are the result of a cause, and others are produced by season. Tell me, is there anything that does not fall into either of these three categories?”
“There are two such things, O king; space and nibbāna.”

“Do not, Venerable Nāgasena, corrupt the words of the Conqueror, or answer a question without knowing what you are saying!”
“What have I said, O king, that you speak to me thus?”

“Venerable sir, it is right what you say about space but with hundreds of reasons did the Blessed One proclaim to his disciples the way to the realisation of nibbāna and yet you say that nibbāna is not the result of any cause.”
“It is true, O king, that in many ways did the Blessed One point out a way to the realisation of nibbāna, but he did not point out a cause for the arising of nibbāna.”

“Here, Nāgasena, we go from darkness to greater darkness; from uncertainty to utter confusion. If there is a father of a child we would expect to find a father of the father. Just so, if there is a cause for the realisation of nibbāna we would expect to find a cause for its arising.”
“Nibbāna, O king, is unconstructed, therefore no cause has been pointed out for its production. It cannot be said of nibbāna that it has arisen or can arise; that it is past, present, or future; or cognizable by the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body.”

“Then, Nāgasena, nibbāna is a condition that does not exist!”
“Nibbāna does exist, O king, and can be cognized by the mind. A noble disciple whose mind is pure, lofty, sincere, unobstructed and free from craving can attain nibbāna.”

“Then explain by means of similes what nibbāna is.”
“Is there such a thing as the wind?”

“Yes there is.”
“Then explain by means of similes what the wind is.”

“It is not possible to explain what the wind is by means of similes but it exists all the same.”
“Just so, O king, nibbāna exists but it is impossible to describe.”
BlogPāli FontsIn This Very LifeBuddhist ChroniclesSoftware (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
User avatar
ground
Posts: 2591
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:01 am

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by ground »

Alex123 wrote:
ground wrote:Nibbana can be revealed, not brought into being.

kind regards
Is revelation of Nibbāna same or different from Nibbāna?
"Revelation" means removal of obscurations which can also be said to be cessations because what ceased is what obscures.
The obscured is not the removal of obscurations because the removal of obscurations is what reveals the obscured.
Sarva
Posts: 209
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:49 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Sarva »

ground wrote:
Alex123 wrote:
ground wrote:Nibbana can be revealed, not brought into being.

kind regards
Is revelation of Nibbāna same or different from Nibbāna?
"Revelation" means removal of obscurations which can also be said to be cessations because what ceased is what obscures.
The obscured is not the removal of obscurations because the removal of obscurations is what reveals the obscured.
Dear Ground
I would agree, however I cannot recall a sutta stating this as clearly as your good self, do you or another member know of one, please?

Great post Ven Bhikkhu Pesala and thanks for the useful thread, Alex123 :smile:
metta
“Both formerly & now, it is only stress that I describe, and the cessation of stress.” — SN 22:86
User avatar
mikenz66
Posts: 19945
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by mikenz66 »

Thank you Bhante, excellent post.

:anjali:
Mike
Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:From the Cūḷavedalla Sutta:

Is the Path Conditioned or Unconditioned?
“Ariyo panāyye, aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo saṅkhato udāhu asaṅkhato”ti?
“Is the Eightfold Path conditioned or is it unconditioned?”

The Path Is Conditioned
To this question, Dhammadinnā gave the following answer:
“Ariyo kho, āvuso Visākha, aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo saṅkhato”ti.
“Friend Visākha, the Eightfold Path is conditioned.”
User avatar
ground
Posts: 2591
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:01 am

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by ground »

ground wrote:
Alex123 wrote:
ground wrote:Nibbana can be revealed, not brought into being.

kind regards
Is revelation of Nibbāna same or different from Nibbāna?
"Revelation" means removal of obscurations which can also be said to be cessations because what ceased is what obscures.
The obscured is not the removal of obscurations because the removal of obscurations is what reveals the obscured.
Sarva wrote:Dear Ground
I would agree, however I cannot recall a sutta stating this as clearly as your good self, do you or another member know of one, please?
Hi Sarva
It is a logical consequence of the quotes of the opening post. Or can you conceive of another possibility?

What is called "nibbana" that may become manifest when the body is alive must be a "purified" mode of operation that is a concomitant of the afflictions/obscuration (passions) from the very beginning.

So it is nothing to be seen, perceived but a mode of operation that is called "unconditioned" within the context of this living body but which of course is conditioned by this living body without which there could not be a mode of operation at all.


Kind regards
User avatar
tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by tiltbillings »

Alex123 wrote:In Ud 8.3 Nibbāna is described as:
  • not-born (ajātaṃ) , not-brought-to-being (abhūtaṃ), not-made (akataṃ), not-conditioned (asaṅkhataṃ).”
also in Ud8.1
  • Here, bhikkhus, I say there is no coming, no going, no staying, no deceasing, no uprising.
Also Nibbāna is timeless and doesn't ever arise, for "Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation."

Question: How can the path brings or creates Nibbāna into being?
The question is wrongly put in that it assumes nibbana is actually some thing.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
Kenshou
Posts: 1030
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:03 am
Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Kenshou »

I figure, nibbana is what happens when we stop creating. When a flame goes out do we say that non-flameness has been created? That would be rather backwards.
User avatar
tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by tiltbillings »

Kenshou wrote:I figure, nibbana is what happens when we stop creating.
That is what the suttas say.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Alex123 »

Kenshou wrote:I figure, nibbana is what happens when we stop creating. When a flame goes out do we say that non-flameness has been created? That would be rather backwards.
Thanks for good point. But don't the suttas state that Nibbāna always exists. Nibbāna cannot be "what happens when..."
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Alex123 »

I have a hunch that Awakening can, in theory, occur instantly if one does all the right things.

Some may say that we have accumulated so many defilements that it would take us a long time to get rid of them is contradicted in Ptsm XXIII On Convergence where it clearly states that: one cannot abandon past defilements since they are no more, one cannot abandon future defilements because they do not yet exist, and one cannot abandon present defilements. "He does not abandon past defilements, he does not abandon future defilements, he does not abandon presently-arisen defilements." Pg 389

Since everything is anicca, an arisen defilement ceases the next moment. So there isn't some permanent storehouse that must be emptied (an impossible task) for Awakening to occur. It is also said in AN1.49 that citta is already shining (pabhassara cittaṃ) but is covered with adventitious defilements.

So it is not matter of removing past/future/present defilements.
It is not a matter of building pure citta.
It is not a matter of building/creating/Nibbāna.

It could be a matter of simply abiding in nibbāna with luminous mind that already is. But of course this requires very deep insight that can take some people far longer than others to realize.

IMHO.


With metta,

Alex
User avatar
Ron-The-Elder
Posts: 1909
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:42 pm
Location: Concord, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Ron-The-Elder »

Alex123 wrote:
Kenshou wrote:I figure, nibbana is what happens when we stop creating. When a flame goes out do we say that non-flameness has been created? That would be rather backwards.
Thanks for good point. But don't the suttas state that Nibbāna always exists. Nibbāna cannot be "what happens when..."
Yes it can be something that happens when:

o You begin living your life in accordance with The Noble Eight Fold Path
o And, you realize that there is no "you" to begin with, and that there never was a you.
o And, you cease clinging to all the aggregates.
o And, you learn to dwell in emptiness.

Nobody goes anywhere when this happens. There are no invitations sent out, and no one attends such an event. But unbinding and release both happen when....
What Makes an Elder? :
A head of gray hairs doesn't mean one's an elder. Advanced in years, one's called an old fool.
But one in whom there is truth, restraint, rectitude, gentleness,self-control, he's called an elder, his impurities disgorged, enlightened.
-Dhammpada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
User avatar
Alex123
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:32 pm

Re: Path and Nibbana

Post by Alex123 »

Ron-The-Elder wrote:
Alex123 wrote:
Kenshou wrote:I figure, nibbana is what happens when we stop creating. When a flame goes out do we say that non-flameness has been created? That would be rather backwards.
Thanks for good point. But don't the suttas state that Nibbāna always exists. Nibbāna cannot be "what happens when..."
Yes it can be something that happens when:

o You begin living your life in accordance with The Noble Eight Fold Path
o And, you realize that there is no "you" to begin with, and that there never was a you.
o And, you cease clinging to all the aggregates.
o And, you learn to dwell in emptiness.

Nobody goes anywhere when this happens. There are no invitations sent out, and no one attends such an event. But unbinding and release both happen when....
I understand that, to speak precisely, Awakening (not Nibbāna) happens when one lives in accordance with N8P, etc etc.

Nibbāna cannot occur "when..." or "due to..." because that would imply a starting point for it and conditions to create it. But it has no causes and never arises. It always is. It is: “not-born (ajātaṃ) , not-brought-to-being (abhūtaṃ), not-made (akataṃ), not-conditioned (asaṅkhataṃ).”
Post Reply