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SUAN MOKKH BANGKOK
Ajahn Amaro : « We Need to Talk about Nibbāna » (2019)

หอจดหมายเหตุพุทธทาส อินทปัญโญ -BIA-
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Dhamma talk with Q&A session offered by Venerable Ajahn Amaro,
abbot of Wat Amaravati in England, a monastery in the Thai forest
tradition of Ajahn Chah
https://www.amaravati.org

‘We Need to Talk about Nibbāna’
11th June, 2019 (18.00 - 19.30)
Meditation Hall
Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives, Bangkok

[Q&A session starts at 52:30]

To download freely “The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings of Nibbāna” by Ajahn Pasanno & Ajahn Amaro:
https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-book…

For other teachings by Ajahn Amaro, please visit:
https://www.amaravati.org/speakers/aj…
https://www.abhayagiri.org/talks/teac…
http://www.bia.or.th/en/index.php/tea…

About Ven. Ajahn Amaro (Phra Videsabuddhiguna):
Born in England in 1956, Ven. Amaro Bhikkhu received a BSc. in
Psychology and Physiology from the University of London. Spiritual
searching led him to Thailand, where he went to Wat Pah Nanachat, a
Forest Tradition monastery established for Western disciples of Thai
meditation master Ajahn Chah, who ordained him as a bhikkhu in 1979.
Soon afterwards he returned to England and joined Ajahn Sumedho at the
newly established Chithurst Monastery. He resided for many years at
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, making trips to California every year
during the 1990s.

In June 1996 he established Abhayagiri
Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he was co-Abbot with
Ajahn Pasanno until 2010. He then returned to Amaravati to become Abbot
of this large monastic community.

Ajahn Amaro has written a
number of books, including an account of an 830-mile trek from Chithurst
to Harnham Vihara called ‘Tudong: The Long Road North,’ republished in
the expanded book ‘Silent Rain.’ His other publications include ‘Small
Boat, Great Mountain’ (2003), ‘Rain on the Nile’ (2009) and ‘The Island:
An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana’ (2009) co-written
with Ajahn Pasanno, a guide to meditation called ‘Finding the Missing
Peace’ and other works dealing with various aspects of Buddhism.

In December 2015, along with Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Amaro was honoured by
the King Rama IX of Thailand with the ecclesiastical title ‘Chao Khun.’
Together with this honour he was given the name ‘Videsabuddhiguna.’

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§ 3. To Live in Nibbana is Dhamma

1. “Nothing can give real happiness as [can] Nibbana.” So said the Buddha.
2. Of all the doctrines taught by the Buddha, the doctrine of Nibbana is the most central one.
3. What is Nibbana? Nibbana as taught by the Buddha has a totally
different meaning and content than what has been given to it by his
predecessors.
4. By Nibbana they meant the salvation of the soul.
5. Thus there were four ways in which Nibbana was conceived of: (1)
Laukik (material, eat, drink and be merry type); (2) Yogic; (3)
Brahmanic, and (4) Upanishadic.
6. There was one common feature
of the Brahmanic and Upanishadic conceptions of Nibbana. They involved
the recognition of a soul as an independent entity–a theory which the
Buddha had denied. The Buddha had therefore no difficulty in rejecting
the Brahmanic and Upanishadic teaching of Nibbana.
7. The Laukik
conception of Nibbana was too materialistic to appeal to the Buddha. It
meant nothing but the satisfaction of man’s animal appetites. There was
nothing spiritual in it.
8. To accept such a conception of Nibbana the Buddha felt was a gross wrong that can be done to a human being.
9. For the satisfaction of appetites can result only in creating
more appetites. Such a way of life could bring no happiness, he thought.
On the contrary, such happiness was sure to bring more unhappiness.
10. The Yogic conception of Nibbana was a purely temporary state.
The happiness it brought was negative. It involved disassociation from
the world. It avoided pain but gave no happiness. Whatever happiness it
may be said to bring lasted as long as the yoga lasted. It was not
permanent. It was temporary.
11. The Buddha’s conception of Nibbana is quite different from that of his predecessors.
12. There are three ideas which underlie his conception of Nibbana.
13. Of these, the happiness of a sentient being as distinct from the salvation of the soul is one.
14. The second idea is the happiness of the sentient being in
Samsara while he is alive. But the idea of a soul and the salvation of
the soul after death are absolutely foreign to the Buddha’s conception
of Nibbana.
15. The third idea which underlies his conception of
Nibbana is the exercise of control over the flames of the passions
which are always on fire.
16. That the passions are like burning
fire was the text of a sermon which the Buddha delivered to the Bhikkus
when he was staying in Gaya. This is what he said:
17. “All things, O Bhikkus, are on fire. And what, O Priests, are all these things which are on fire?
18. “The eye, O Bhikkus, is on fire; forms are on fire;
eye-consciousness is on fire; impressions received by the eye are on
fire; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent,
originates in dependence on impression received by he type, that also is
on fire.”
19. “And with what are these on fire?”
20.
“With the. fire of passion, say I, with the fire of hatred, with the
fire of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation,
misery, grief and despair are they on fire.”
21. “The ear is on
fire; sounds are on fire; the nose is on fire; odours are on fire; the
tongue is on fire; tastes are on fire; the body is on fire; ideas are
on fire; and whatever sensation, pleasant, unpleasant, or indifferent,
originates in dependence on impression received by the mind, that also
is on fire.
22. “And with what are these on fire?”
23.
“With the fire of passion, say I; with the fire of hatred; with the fire
of infatuation; with birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation,
misery, grief, and despair are they on fire.”
24. “Perceiving
this, O Bhikkus, the learned and noble [person] conceives an aversion.
And in conceiving this aversion, he becomes divested of passion, and by
the absence of passion he becomes free, and when he is free he becomes
aware that he is free.”
25. How can Nibbana give happiness? That is the next question which calls for explanation.
26. The common notion is that man is unhappy because he is in want.
But this is not always true. Man is unhappy even though he is in the
midst of plenty.
27. Unhappiness is the result of greed, and greed is the bane of life of those who have, as well as of those who have not.
28. This the Buddha has made clear in a sermon delivered to the Bhikkus in which he said:
29. “Excited by greed (lobha), brothers, furious with anger (dosa),
blinded by delusion (moha), with mind overwhelmed, with mind enslaved,
men reflect upon their own misfortune, men reflect upon the misfortune
of others, men experience mental suffering and anguish.
30. “If,
however, greed, anger and delusion are done away [with], men reflect
neither upon their own misfortune nor on mental suffering and anguish.
31. “Thus, brothers, is Nibbana visible in this life and not merely
in the future–inviting, attractive, accessible to the wise disciple.”
32. Herein lies the explanation of what consumes man and makes him
unhappy. By using this analogy of burning fire to the working of human
passions, the Buddha has given the most forceful explanation for the
unhappiness of man.
33. What makes man unhappy is his falling a
prey to his passions. These passions are called fetters which prevent a
man from reaching the state of Nibbana. The moment he is free from the
sway of his passions–i.e., he learns to achieve Nibbana–man’s way to
happiness is open to him.
34. These passions, according to the Buddha’s analysis, fall under three groups.
35. First: that which refers to all degrees of craving or attachment–such as lust, infatuation, and greed (lobha).
36. Second: that which refers to all degrees of antipathy–hatred, anger, vexation, or repugnance (dosa).
37. Third: that which refers to all degrees of ignorance–delusion, dullness, and stupidity (moha or avidya).
38. The first and second fires relate to the emotions and [range]
over the whole scale of one’s attitudes and feelings towards other
beings, while the third fire relates to all ideas that are in any way
removed from the truth.
39. There are certain misunderstandings about the Buddha’s doctrine of Nibbana.
40. The word Nibbana etymologically means outblowing, extinguishing.
41. Taking hold of this root meaning of the word, critics have tried to make nonsense of the doctrine of Nibbana.
42. They hold that Nibbana means extinction of all human passions, which is equivalent to death.
43. They have by this means tried to throw ridicule over the doctrine of Nibbana.
44. That such is not the meaning of Nibbana is quite clear if one examines the language of the fire sermon.
45. The fire sermon does not say that life is burning and death is extinction. It says passions are on fire.
46. The fire sermon does not say that the passions must be extinguished completely. It says, do not add fuel to the flame.
47. Secondly, critics have failed to make a distinction between Nibbana and Parinibbana.
48. As the Udana says: “Parinibbana occurs when the body becomes
disintegrated, all perceptions become stopped, all sensations die away,
the activities cease and consciousness goes away. Thus Parinibbana means
complete extinction.”
49. Nibbana can never have this meaning.
Nibbana means enough control over passion so as to enable one to walk on
the path of righteousness. It was not intended to mean. anything more.
50. That Nibbana is another name for righteous life is made clear by the Buddha himself to Radha.
51. Once the venerable Radha came to the Exalted One. Having done
so, he saluted the Exalted One and sat down at one side. So seated, the
venerable Radha thus addressed the Exalted One: “Pray, Lord, what for
[=for what] is Nibbana?”
52. “Nibbana means release from passion,” replied the Lord.
53. “But Nibbana, Lord,–what is the aim of it?”
54. “Rooted in Nibbana, Radha, the righteous life is lived. Nibbana is its goal. Nibbana is its end.”
55. That Nibbana does not mean extinction is also made clear by Sariputta in the following sermon:
56. “Once the Blessed Lord was staying at Shravasti in Anathpindika’s Ashrama where Sariputta was also staying.
57. “The Lord, addressing the brethren, said, ‘Almsmen, be ye
partakers not of the world’s goods but of my doctrine; in my compassion
for you all I am anxious to ensure this.’
58. “Thus spoke the Lord, who thereupon rose and passed to his own cell.
59. “Sariputta remained behind, and the brethren asked him to explain what is Nibbana.
60. “Then Sariputta in reply to the brethren said, ‘ Brethren, know ye that greed is vile, and vile is resentment.
61. “‘To shed this greed and this resentment, there is the Middle
Way which gives us eyes to see and makes us know, leading us on to
peace, insight, enlightenment, and Nibbana.
62. “‘What is this
Middle Way? It is naught but the Noble Eightfold Path of right outlook,
right aims, right speech, right action, right means of livelihood, right
effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration; this, almsmen, is
the Middle Way.
63. “‘Yes, sirs: anger is vile and malevolence
is vile, envy and jealousy are vile, niggardliness and avarice are vile,
hypocrisy and deceit and arrogance are vile, inflation [=boastfulness]
is vile, and indolence is vile.
64. “‘For the shedding of
inflation and indolence there is the Middle Way–giving us eyes to see,
making us know, and leading us on to peace, insight, enlightenment.
65. “‘Nibbana–which is naught but that Noble Eightfold Path.’”
66. Thus spoke the revered Sariputta. Glad at heart, the almsmen rejoiced at what he had said:
67. That the idea underlying Nibbana is that it is the path of
righteousness. No one will mistake Nibbana for anything else.
68. Complete annihilation is one extreme, and Parinibbana is another extreme. Nibbana is the Middle Way.
69. So understood, all confusion about Nibbana will disappear.