What is the last thing to let go?

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Ananda26
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Ananda26 »

SarathW wrote:I am just think in term of six senses and ten fetters. Is there something you let go last? Say I let go my eye, ear, tongue etc consciousness.
I think all this is not me, mine myself in terms of mental formations and body.

But "I" still see "I" am sitting here and writing this post.

So how can "I" let go everything and dive into Nirvana? :)
If you are eager to attain Nirvana in this life you should prepare to become a monastic, because that is the nature of Arahants to like the monastic way of life.

All 10 fetters are abandoned by an Arahant. With the complete abandoning of the the 5 lower fetters one has become a Never Returner, one has become due to be spontaneously reborn and shall there attain Nirvana without ever returning from that world. With the abandoning of 3 fetters and the weakening of lust, hatred, and delusion one has become a Once Returner and having returned once more to this world will put an end to suffering. With the abandoning of 3 fetters one has become a Stream Winner, no more subject to rebirth in hell, no more subject to rebirth as an animal, no more subject to rebirth as a peta ghost, fixed in destiny with enlightenment as destination.

About the 6 sense bases, you can abandon obsession with the 6 sense bases, but still cultivate those bases in a way that causes unwholesome states to be abandon, and wholesome states to increase.
david.sojourn
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by david.sojourn »

SarathW wrote:I am just think in term of six senses and ten fetters. Is there something you let go last? Say I let go my eye, ear, tongue etc consciousness.
I think all this is not me, mine myself in terms of mental formations and body.

But "I" still see "I" am sitting here and writing this post.

So how can "I" let go everything and dive into Nirvana? :)
You're better off diving into a swimming pool.

At least there is something in the swimming pool.

Have you tried finding the happiness in your life lately? Or are you just focusing on trying desperately to get out of it?

Sounds like the latter to me.
SarathW
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by SarathW »

This is a very old post.
What is let go?
What is the Pali word for let go?
Is there a Sutta reference about letting go?
:thinking:
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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retrofuturist
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Sarath,

Good question.

The opposite of letting go, is picking up, accumulating, clinging and appropriating, which is upadana.

Nirodha means cessation.

Therefore, in that case, how do you feel about upadananirodha?

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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retrofuturist
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Alternatively, aparāmasaṃ is "not grasping".

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Dhammanando
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Dhammanando »

SarathW wrote:What is let go?
What is the Pali word for let go?
In the Suttas paṭinissagga and its synonym vossagga are the words that usually get translated ‘relinquishment’, ‘letting go’ and suchlike. What is relinquished is appropriation (ādāna) which is a term for taṇhā and upādāna.

  • In what sense is vipassanā a power?

    Through contemplation of impermanence vipassanā is unshakable by perception of permanence, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of pain it is unshakable by perception of pleasure, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of not-self it is unshakable by perception of self, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of dispassion it is unshakable by delight, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of fading away it is unshakable by greed, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of cessation it is unshakable by arising, thus vipassanā is a power.

    Through contemplation of relinquishment (paṭinissaggānupassanā) it is unshakable by appropriation (ādāna), thus vipassanā is a power.

    It is unshakable, immovable and cannot be shifted by ignorance and by the defilements and aggregates that accompany ignorance, thus vipassanā is a power. This is vipassanā as a power.
    (Paṭisambhidāmagga 99)
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
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Dhammanando
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Dhammanando »

Dhammanando wrote:In the Suttas paṭinissagga and its synonym vossagga are the words that usually get translated ‘relinquishment’, ‘letting go’ and suchlike.
The corresponding verbs are vossajjati and paṭinissajjati.

  • Etamādīnavaṃ ñatvā, dukkhaṃ ārambhapaccayā,
    Sabbārambhaṃ paṭinissajja, anārambhe vimuttino.

    Ucchinnabhavataṇhassa, santacittassa bhikkhuno,
    Vitiṇṇo jātisaṃsāro, natthi tassa punabbhavo ti.


    "Knowing this peril, that 'Misery is because of exertion', giving up all exertion, for a bhikkhu who is released in non-exertion, whose craving for existence has been cut off, with calmed mind, the journeying on in [repeated] births has been crossed over. There is no renewed existence for him."
    — Dvayatānupassanāsutta, Sn. 745-6 (Norman tr.)
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
dhammarelax
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by dhammarelax »

SarathW wrote:I am just think in term of six senses and ten fetters. Is there something you let go last? Say I let go my eye, ear, tongue etc consciousness.
I think all this is not me, mine myself in terms of mental formations and body.

But "I" still see "I" am sitting here and writing this post.

So how can "I" let go everything and dive into Nirvana? :)
Before Nibanna you get in to cessation to know the order read the Shorter series of answers in the MN.
Even if the flesh & blood in my body dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, I will use all my human firmness, human persistence and human striving. There will be no relaxing my persistence until I am the first of my generation to attain full awakening in this lifetime. ed. AN 2.5
Lombardi4
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Lombardi4 »

Bhante, can we add nekkhamma to the list as possible translations of "letting go?"
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Dhammanando
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Dhammanando »

Upasaka Sumana wrote:Bhante, can we add nekkhamma to the list as possible translations of "letting go?"
Yes. Paṭinissagga is the broad term and then nekkhamma is a more specialised one. Nekkhamma is paṭinissagga with respect to desire for sense-pleasures.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
Lombardi4
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Lombardi4 »

Thank you, Bhante. Are craving and letting go exact opposites? In other words, if we had to find an antonym for craving (in Buddhist terms) it would be 'letting go'? Renunciation seems another alternative. I'm just wondering what word (in English) is the exact opposite of craving.
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Dhammanando
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Dhammanando »

Upasaka Sumana wrote:Thank you, Bhante. Are craving and letting go exact opposites? In other words, if we had to find an antonym for craving (in Buddhist terms) it would be 'letting go'? Renunciation seems another alternative. I'm just wondering what word (in English) is the exact opposite of craving.
The usual oppositions are:

Nekkhamma(-vitakka) vs. kāma(-vitakka).
(Thoughts of) renunciation vs. (thoughts of) sensual desire.

Paṭinissagga/vossagga vs. ādāna (= taṇhā + upādāna)
Relinquishing vs. appropriation (= craving + grasping)

Taṇhā vs. nibbāna
Craving vs. blowing out.

or:

Taṇhā vs. alobha
Craving vs. non-attachment

Alobha and Nibbāna might both be said to be "the exact opposite of craving", but in different senses. Alobha is the wholesome root that's directly opposed to the unwholesome root of lobha (of which craving is one form). Nibbāna is the "exact opposite" in the sense that the third noble truth is the opposite of the second: it's what puts an end to it.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
SarathW
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by SarathW »

There are three kind of craving Sensual , Bhava and Vibhava.
You have explained the opposite of sensual craving.
So what are the opposites of Bhava and Vibhava?
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Dhammanando
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Dhammanando »

SarathW wrote:There are three kind of craving Sensual , Bhava and Vibhava.
You have explained the opposite of sensual craving.
So what are the opposites of Bhava and Vibhava?
Alobha opposes all three kinds of craving; Nibbāna extinguishes all three.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
Lombardi4
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Re: What is the last thing to let go?

Post by Lombardi4 »

Thank you, Bhante. That's great!
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