PATICCA NIRODHA - The Extinguishing
Of "Self"
In Section II, we followed the Second Noble Truth (samudaya)
by looking at how the neurosis of modern consumer man constructs
itself, specifically through the lens of paticca samuppada.
Paticca samuppada in its entirety, however, also entails
the Third Noble Truth (nirodha), or the state beyond the
problems that we are confronting.
The twelve links of paticca samuppada from Ignorance through the Maturation of the "Self" and Aging & Death which we have looked at represent only half of what the Buddha presented when he taught this system in its entirety. These first twelve links can be referred to as the Arising or samudayavara. The Buddha on numerous occasions explained the cessation of this birth of "self" through a negative terminology in which the extinguishing of Ignorance leads to the extinguishing of Craving and so on until Birth and Aging & Death are extinguished.1 The Buddha, however, also described a twelve link, process of positive states leading away from the Maturation of the "Self" and culminating in Nirvana. This half of the system is known as the Extinguishing or nirodhavara. As with the samudayavara, the Buddha offered different renditions as the situation deemed appropriate. The below, therefore, is the general systemization of it.
From Aging & Death concocts:
1. FAITH/CONFIDENCE (saddha)
-MORAL CONDUCT (sila)
-WISE REFLECTION (yoniso-manasikara)
2. JOY(pamojja)
3. RAPTURE (piti)
4. CALMNESS & TRANQUILLITY (passaddhi)
5. HAPPINESS (sukha)
6. CONCENTRATION (samadhi)
7. KNOWLEDGE & INSIGHT (yathabhutananadassana)
8. DISENCHANTMENT (nibbida)
9. DISPASSION & FADING AWAY (viraga)
10. LIBERATION (vimutti)
11. KNOWLEDGE OF LIBERATION (khayanana)
12. NIRVANA (nibbana)
In short, from the suffering and
bitterness experienced in the Aging & Death of the concocted
"self", our minds may begin to turn away from spinning
in the samudayavara again and instead turn towards the
hope that there is an end to this constant suffering. This is
man's basic religious instinct, the desire and energy to search
for deeper meaning and release from the barbs of human existence.
In the Buddha's teaching, this change in direction begins with
saddha. Saddha can be translated as faith. In English,
the word faith has very strong inherited meanings from the monotheistic
religious traditions, especially Christianity. In this way, saddha
is perhaps better understood as confidence. This is a confidence
in the power of systematic inquiry which is inspired by goodness
and assured by virtue.2
As we have noted, the Buddha often presented variations on this
theme of nirodhavara. In general, saddha is the
common step for beginning the nirodhavara. However, we
can also find passages in which skillful moral conduct (sila)
and systematic reflection (yoniso-manasikara) form the
beginning of the nirodhavara.3 As we will see later in
a deeper exploration of saddha, this initial component
of the nirodhavara offers a comprehensive and systematic
method which can be practiced. It is also significant to note
that in this way the Buddha presented various doors for entering
the path to Nirvana. Confidence (saddha), skillful moral
conduct (sila) and systematic reflection (yoniso-manasikara)
encompass the core methodologies of the world's great religious
faiths. Therefore, the skillful use of Christian or Muslim faith
or the skillful use of western scientific reflection may also
form components of the path towards Nirvana. In this way, the
Buddha's teachings represent a non-exclusive and naturally existing
method of spiritual cultivation which does not demand the abandoning
of our individual cultural tradition.
In the samudayavara , we have seen how the internal dynamics
of the links most often create a prison of mutually enforcing
energy like in the Law of Inertia. In the same way, the nirodhavara
has an internal reinforcing energy so that once we enter the stream,
skillful consideration and skillful action deepen and lead us
ever away from Dukkha and towards Nirvana. This is very simply
seen in the terminology of the stages of attainment along the
path. The first is called Stream Enterer which implies that once
initial critical awareness is formed, a state of non-retrogression
is attained. There is the saying,"Ignorance is bliss",
yet there is also the truth that once we become aware of something,
we cannot return to the initial state of ignornace. Once we become
consciously aware of the falseness of our "self", it
becomes impossible to carry on one's life in total ignorance of
this truth. In this way, the stream has been entered, and it is
up to us to apply ourselves further.
Outside of the Japanese Pure Land schools, Buddhism is generally
seen to lack the concept of grace. Buddhism emphasizes individual
effort and debunks the idea of a creator God which intervenes
on the behalf of the morally upright and spiritually pure. The
nirodhavara and this sense of non-retrogressing awareness,
however, show a state of grace existing in natural truth. The
Buddha himself pointed out this natural grace:
Bhikkhus, this (samudayavara & nirodhavara ) can be compared to a heavy rain falling on the mountain tops. The rain flows into the lower places and naturally builds the gorges, crevices and streams. Once the gorges, crevices and streams are full, they naturally fill the bogs; once the bogs are filled they naturally fill the marshes; once the marshes are full, they naturally fill the small rivers; once the smaller rivers are full, they naturally fill the large rivers; and once the large rivers are full, they naturally fill the oceans.4
In nature, we can see a reflection
of our minds and spirits. Nature is ever destructive and hard
to bear in the same way that we concoct Dukkha from attachment
(upadana) and Ignorance (avijja). Nature, however,
is also eternally bountiful and there is a natural progression
of sentient forms reaching their perfection, that is the full
capacity of their potential. In the same way, we may come to understand
the natural unfolding of our perfection, our ultimate potential,
that is already taking place and seek to fullfill it in this life.
This potential, though, needs support and clarity to develop.
The nirodhavara is simply a vision. It shows what the state
of being is like along this path of natural grace, yet it does
not show us how to attain these states. This is the methodology
of the Fourth Noble Truth, encapsulated in the Noble Eightfold
Path to which we will now turn our attention.
NOTES:
1 Majjhima Nikaya, Bahudhatuka Sutta: The Many Kinds of Elements,
115:11 (III.63-65).
2 Phra Prayudh Payutto, Buddhadhamma: Natural Laws and Values
for Life, trans. Grant A. Olson (Albany,NY: State University
of New York SUNY Press, 1995), 200-223.
3 for sila, Anguttara Nikaya V. 311 and for yoniso-manasikara,
Digha Nikaya, Dasuttara Sutta: Expanding Decades, 34:2.2 (III.288-91).
4 Samyutta Nikaya, Nidanavagga - the Book of Causation (II), Nidanasamyutta
- the Connected Discourses on Causation (12), The Ten Powers (III),
Proximate Cause 23 (3) [32].