[Buddha-l] Nirvana

[Ngawang Dorje]

Hi,
 
Correct me if I am wrong.
 
>"Nirvana is an eternal state of being.<
 
Nibbana is described as without end / eternal (ananta) at DN 11 (Kevatta Sutta). So, the statement should be correct.
 
However, Bhikkhu Thanissaro, in the article wrote, "It's not eternal because eternity is a function of time." So,where do I go from here?
 
And, is Nibbana a state? A condition? 
 
>It is the state in which the law of karma, and the rebirth cycle come to an end. It is the end of suffering, <
 
Correct.
 
Dhammapada 153-154

 

Through many a birth in samsara have I wandered in vain, seeking in the builder of this house (of life). Repeated birth is indeed suffering!

 

O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. For your rafters are broken and your ridgepole shattered. My mind has reached the Unconditioned; I have attained the destruction of craving.

 

Nibbana, is indeed the end of dukkha. It;s the third noble truth, dukkha nirodho ariya sacca.

 
> a state where there are no desires <
 
Help me out, please. It sounds correct to me, but Buddhas and Arahants do have desire to teach, to eat, to help, to meditate etc., don't they. Also, if we don't have desire to end suffereing, we'll never do anything about it, right? 
 
Ajahn Chah once said: 
 
" For most of us, when we first start to practice, it's nothing other than desire. We start to practice because of wanting. At this stage our wanting is wanting in the wrong way. That is, it's deluded. It's wanting mixed with wrong understanding. 
 

If wanting is not mixed with wrong understanding like this, we say that it's wanting with wisdom (Pañña). It's not deluded -- it's wanting with right understanding. In a case like this we say that it's due to a person's Parami or past accumulations. However, this isn't the case with everyone. 
 
Some people don't want to have desire, or they want not to have desires, because they think that our practice is directed at not wanting. However, if there is no desire, then there's no way of practice. 
 
We can see this for ourselves. The Buddha and all His Disciples practiced to put an end to defilements. We must want to practice and must want to put an end to defilements. We must want to have peace of mind and want not to have confusion. However, if this wanting is mixed with wrong understanding, then it will only amount to more difficulties for us."

 
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/bodhinyana.html
 
> and the individual consciousness comes to an end. <
 
It does not become annihilated. That article ny Bhikkhu Thanissaro answers this well.

"If, however, the passion can be removed, there's no more "there" there. One sutta illustrates this with a simile: the sun shining through the eastern wall of a house and landing on the western wall. If the western wall, the ground beneath it, and the waters beneath the ground were all removed, the sunlight wouldn't land. In the same way, if passion for form, etc., could be removed, consciousness would have no "where" to land, and so would become unestablished. This doesn't mean that consciousness would be annihilated, simply that — like the sunlight — it would now have no locality. With no locality, it would no longer be defined."
 
Comments and critques are much appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Rahula


		
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