Search results for: "Nibbana"
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- To Have a Purpose… There’s only one thing and one possibility in human experience that doesn’t have a purpose, and that’s nibbāna. That’s because your purpose has been achieved. But up until that point, you have to make sure that your purposes are in line with what will actually bring happiness, because our problem, as we’re born, is that we have many purposes …
- A Divine Seat… Then the question is, do you want to continue it? Why? Part of the mind says, “I want things to get settled, to come to closure.” But there’s no closure in the world, aside from entering into nibbana. Still, you can have some measure of closure when you say, “Okay, I just don’t want to go back and forth on this anymore …
- Developed in Body & Mind… There is one pleasure we go for, for its own sake, and that’s nibbana. Everything else has to be viewed as a means, as a tool. So when the pleasure comes up in the meditation, you don’t simply satisfy yourself with it. You ask yourself, “What’s the best use of this?” And here you use it to get the body refreshed …
- In the Elephant’s Footprint… And from the four noble truths, he was able to awaken to nibbana. What are the four noble truths about? They’re about karma. They’re about action: the actions you do that lead to suffering, and the actions you can do that lead to the end of suffering. You have a choice. And the fact that you have a choice is very important …
- Hedgehog Knowledge… This is why the Buddha used the image of fire for nibbana, because in those days they believed that a burning fire was both clinging to its fuel and trapped by the fuel because it was clinging. Once it let go and went out, it was freed. It’s the same with the mind. Once you learn how to let go of the places …
- Three Levels of Refuge… We’re all used to hearing nibbana as being* the* name of the goal, but it’s only one of many names that the Buddha gave to it. There are others like: the island, security, the secure, shelter, harbor, refuge. The goal is a place of total safety. There are no more defilements; there’s nothing in your mind that can create suffering anymore …
- Stand Your Ground… The Buddha entered nibbana a long time ago. As for the Sangha, they may not be around when we need them. What we need is a refuge inside that goes with us everywhere we go, and that’s what the Buddha meant when he talked about taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. In other words, we take the Buddha, his …
- Faith in Karma… Still, the idea that you could really be practicing seriously for the sake of nibbana, that’s something people even in those societies regard as going against the grain. So wherever you are as a practitioner, you’ve got to maintain your values. And confidence in the power of your actions is an important value to maintain. Now, the contemplation that all beings are …
- You Can Make a Difference… That’s what his teachings are all about, why he called his goal *nibbāna, *which means the extinguishing of the fires of greed, fires of aversion, fires of delusion. The fires are burning, and we can put them out, so don’t just sit there burning away. Adjust the flame. That’s what the image of jhāna is for. *Jhāyati, the verb for doing …
- Dependable Friends… After all, nibbana is the most dependable thing; the path is dependable in a sense that it’ll take you there. If you look after it, it’ll look after you. So is with the sense of ease with the breath: If you learn how to develop it, it’ll really help you along. Some people complain that you shouldn’t fiddle with the …
- Inner Wealth Management… After all, nibbana is the ultimate pleasure. Right concentration is a very strong form of pleasure. It’s going to require a lot of work to get it. But if you’re not willing to enjoy pleasure and then you see other people enjoying it and you decide it’s a bad thing, it’s hard to develop empathetic joy, it’s hard to …
- Teachings to Rahula… This is a principle that has taken people all the way to nibbana. So try to keep it firmly in mind. That’s one of the things we hold in mind. That’s one of the things we’re mindful of as we practice. The most important thing happening in the present moment is what we’re doing, so do it well.
- Constructing & Deconstructing… You can’t hop your way to nibbāna, so learn how to walk with some skill.
- How to Talk to Yourself… That’s one of the meanings of the word nibbana: freedom. That’s what we’re here for, and it is possible. So talk to yourself in a way that helps make that possible. Don’t talk to yourself in a way that gets in the way.
- One Thing Clear Through… Unbinding, nibbana, is a state where there’s no feeding, no attachment at all. As the Buddha said, feeding, attachment, clinging: It’s all suffering. For a lot of us, that’s our pleasure in life: taking things in. But the practice of the Dhamma is going to be turning us around, so that we start finding pleasure in giving things away, radiating goodness …
- Disconnecting… But it makes you think about nibbāna, where the Buddha says there’s no need to feed at all. There’s no hunger, no nostalgia, no regret. Because that’s the other part of having relationships: No matter how much you love one another, there’s always regret in one way or another: over things you said, things you did, things you didn’t …
- Happiness is a Skill… The Buddha says there is such a thing as nibbana, but we don’t know. He says suffering is to be comprehended, and he says suffering is the five clinging-aggregates, but we’re not sure about that yet as we start out. Still, we’re willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then it’s through our conviction that this could …
- Balanced Meditation… And the recollection of the peace of nibbana. These are good topics to know for when you’ve got specific problems coming up. In other words, when you’re discouraged in the practice, it depends on what you’re discouraged about. If you’re thinking that you don’t have it, you’ll never make it, then think about the Sangha: all the different …
- For Goodness’ Sake… Stingy people, he said, can’t attain jhana, can’t attain nibbana. In other words, it’s the kind of peace that’s available only to generous people, virtuous people. So, yes, we are looking for peace of mind, but we’ve got some extra conditions. We’re doing it for the sake of happiness, and we’re also doing it for goodness’ sake …
- To Discern Suffering… The path is not identical with nibbana, it’s not identical with awakening, but it gets you there. It doesn’t cause awakening—it takes you to the awakened state. It helps bring about the moment when you see “Okay, there is this deathless element, there is this deathless dimension.” And at that moment, you let the path go. That’s your first taste …
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