THE FOUNDATION Of BUDDHIST THOUGHT

CHAPTER FIVE THE TRUTH OF CESSATION

page CESSATION, LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT 1/ What is the Cessation of Suffering? 2/ Symbolic, Residual and Non-residual Cessation i/ Symbolic Cessation a/ Moving Towards Complete Cessation b/ Deal With the Strongest Delusion First ii/ Residual Cessation iii/ Non-residual Cessation 3/ Liberation and Enlightenment a/ Are Liberation and Enlightenment the Same? b/ Cessation According to Theravadin Texts c/ Cessation According to Mahayana Texts THE TWO TYPES OF CESSATION 1/ The Two Obscurations 2/ The Two Cessations 3/ The Two Kayas a/ The Dharmakaya, the Truth Body b/ The Rupakaya, the Form Body c/ A Buddhas Form Body is Impermanent 4/ The Connection Between Liberation and Emptiness THE FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE CESSATION 59 60

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67 67 68

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CHAPTER FIVE THE TRUTH OF CESSATION

CESSATION, LIBERATION AND ENLIGHTENMENT
During the study of the third Noble Truth, the Truth of Cessation, there will be a lot of ideas which might seem very intellectual. It is always good to remind ourselves that whatever we are studying intellectually all the knowledge that we gain from the course, from our homework or meditation is to enhance our understanding of reality, how things function in our daily life. Then, through that understanding, to make our heart very gentle, very caring, very sincere, and to care for ourselves as well as others. That is our main aim. By enhancing the positive qualities of a good heart and by understanding the nature of reality, we can reduce those emotions that bring problems and difficulties and slowly come to subdue the mind. 1 What is the Cessation of Suffering? Depending on the books you read or the tradition you follow, there are many different terms applied when talking about the Truth of Cessation. There is however common acceptance of what the Truth of Cessation is. The cessation of suffering is absolute truth or ultimate reality. Different people might use different terms, but this is what they mean. Rahula uses absolute truth and ultimate reality; His Holiness the Dalai Lama quite often uses emptiness or ultimate truth. The terms that are used ultimate truth, absolute truth, ultimate reality, emptiness are quite similar. What is absolute truth? What is ultimate reality? What is emptiness? We need to break the terms down. We also need to look at the degrees of cessation. When they say that the cessation of suffering is absolute truth or ultimate reality, they are talking about the final complete cessation of suffering. But to reach that there are different degrees of cessation, so analysing the degrees might help us understand what the final cessation of suffering is. The Buddha said: The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering is this: It is the complete cessation of that very craving, giving it up, renouncing it, emancipating oneself from it, detaching oneself from it. He did not use all the terms we now use. He did not say the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering is absolute truth or ultimate reality. He simply said it is the complete cessation of that very craving. The root, the origin of suffering is craving. When each of the three types of craving ceases that is the cessation of suffering. Rahula, in What the Buddha Taught (page 35) says the cessation of suffering is the emancipation, liberation, freedom from suffering, from the continuity of dukkha. This is called the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha, which is nibbana, more popularly know in its Sanskrit form of Nirvana. 59

Then he says: The real nature of Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality is Nirvana. Rahula says that the cessation of suffering is absolute truth or ultimate reality. Because he is a great scholar, he goes into quite thorough detail about the different types of cessation, giving explanations from very high sources, such as the Prasangika School, as well as from the lower schools. In one part we warns how the limitations of language can lead to misconceptions about things that are beyond language. For example, when talking about entry into Parinirvana, because of the language, there is the idea that there is some kind of state somewhere, to enter and go to live in. Of course Nirvana is not like that. Language and conceptual thought always go together. As soon as we use language, the thought is there. So when you read his explanations, you should bear in mind he is giving a very broad explanation about the third Noble Truth. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama in The Four Noble Truths, (page 96) describes all the different types of emptinesses according to the different schools in connection with the Cessation of Suffering, he says: As Nagarjuna says, a true understanding of liberation should be based on an understanding of emptiness, because liberation is nothing other than the total elimination, or total cessation, of delusion and suffering through insight into emptiness. The concept of liberation is therefore very closely related to that of emptiness, and just as emptiness can be inferred, so can moksha1. So here the Dalai Lama draws parallels with emptiness and liberation, saying they are almost identical. At the same time he says emptiness can be understood through reason so therefore liberation can also be understood by reason. 2 Symbolic, Residual and Non-residual cessation Liberation, cessation, Nirvana can be put in the same category. They all mean the same thing. If you read very traditional scriptures you will find almost 20 different types of cessation. Like many subjects in Buddhism, there are lists broken up using different ways, depending on how we are looking at that subject. Within the Truth of Cessation, what can cease can be our obscurations to liberation, or our obscurations to enlightenment, which we will look at later. They both have different levels of cessation, usually divided into these three: i/ Symbolic cessation ii/ residual cessation and iii/ non-residual cessation i/ Symbolic Cessation Symbolic cessation is sometimes called temporary cessation. It is called this because the experience can be reversed.

moksha = liberation

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We can all experience symbolic or temporary cessation. Take an everyday example. If we manage to skilfully deal with our anger, within two or three months, there is no doubt we will achieve a state where there is less anger. The question, however, is whether we have used the right method to deal with it. Our anger will be reduced over time if we work on it, but then at a certain stage if we stop using those techniques what will happen? There is a risk that everything might reverse again, we could loose our temper again. That is what we call temporary or symbolic cessation, because although through our efforts we have gained certain achievements, it is not really complete. Traditionally it is said that through single-pointed or shamata meditation, we can temporarily experience complete calmness. We can withdraw all our sense consciousnesses from sensory objects so there is no distraction from external phenomena; our mind is really completely calm. At that stage, that is traditionally called symbolic cessation or temporary cessation. What has happened is that our mind has just withdrawn from the external object but not really dealt with the root of the problem. We feel some kind of cessation the cessation of withdrawing our mind from external objects and as long as we are in that state we feel calm, but that state is not everlasting cessation. As soon as our mind goes out towards external objects, we lose that calmness. There are even certain practitioners who can keep that state of mind right up until death, completely withdrawing their sense consciousnesses from external objects and experiencing that internal calmness. But what happens then is that when they start a new life, all the new sensory consciousnesses will start seeking external objects again. So again that is symbolic or temporary cessation because it is not permanent. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama talks about whether it is possible to attain complete cessation or not he says: If we were to reply that we must accept that liberation is possible on the grounds that Buddha spoke of it in the scriptures, I dont think that is a satisfactory answer. To talk about things like liberation and enlightenment we need to understand if it is possible to attain some kind of cessation. At our present level I find it very helpful to stick with the first cessation, symbolic cessation, to see with our own experience whether that kind of cessation is achievable or not. If we look at how we can reduce or even stop our anger, even for a short time, we can see how we can definitely experience some degree of cessation. a/ Moving Towards Complete Cessation From our experience we can logically draw the conclusion that, if it is possible to achieve temporary cessation, then, by extension, it should be possible to achieve complete cessation. Traditionally it is said there are four steps to achieving complete cessation: i/ seeing delusions and suffering are impermanent ii/ seeing there are methods to deal with them iii/ seeing that those methods are available 61

iv/ seeing that we ourselves can use those methods First we need to look at craving, delusions and sufferings and see if they can, in fact, be reduced or eliminated. The fact is that they are impermanent, therefore they are changeable. If they were permanent we could not do anything about them. So the first step is, by seeing delusions and suffering are impermanent, to understand that they can not only be reduced but can even be completely eliminated. Then the second step, having seen they are impermanent and therefore changeable, is seeing there are methods to deal with them; to investigate whether there are any ways to reduce or eliminate them and see that there are methods or approaches to help. Traditionally we call these antidotes. Then the third step, after realising there are methods of dealing with delusions, is seeing that those methods are available. The final step comes down to the individual. Can I do this? Those delusions are impermanent, they are changeable, they can be reduced and finally eliminated, there are methods for this, so can I myself use those methods effectively? By seeing that we ourselves can use those methods, we then have the confidence to use them. It sounds very intellectual, going step-by-step to rationally explain this but it is very helpful to encourage ourselves to get confidence in what we do. To see if the fourth step Can I do it? will work for us, we have to understand human capability. Human beings are much more capable than other beings, mentally and physically. When we have seen what incredible potential we have as human beings we then need to look at whether those delusions such as craving and confusion are inseparable from our minds or not. Buddhism says while they are certain aspects of our mind, they are not completely integrated with our mind. They are not inseparable from our minds. We need to ask if this is in fact true. Are they completely one with our mind or, although they are of the mind, can they be separated? I find this question quite interesting. We will deal with this later. Sometimes it is very helpful to look more realistically at our expectations as Buddhist practitioners, especially practising so-called Mahayana Buddhism. Everywhere in our recitations we come across the phrase all sentient beings. We recite prayers and do prostrations in order to benefit all sentient beings, and we feel we should be doing something for all sentient beings, and, living in the kind of society we do, we feel guilty because we are not doing enough. I find that kind of frustration understandable but very unrealistic. What we are trying to do is too ambitious, and maybe that is not the Buddhas meaning, to benefit all sentient beings. In our heads, to benefit all sentient beings means to reach everyone and help them, but that is really idealistic. Even if we manage to benefit one sentient being with a pure mind and a pure heart, I think that is enough. Two or three is, of course, better, but still that is okay. I feel we need to lose the unrealistic expectation of all the things we want to do for the environment or for all sentient beings, which realistically we cannot do at this stage. As I said in the previous chapter, we should work on our strongest delusion first. Although we all have anger, hatred, jealousy, attachment, different people have different degrees of these things. Some people have very strong anger but less jealousy than others. Some people have very strong 62

jealousy but less of the other delusions. So try to recognise which is the most urgent and then deal with that. I think it is very helpful to intellectually use these four steps seeing delusions and suffering are impermanent, that there are methods to deal with them, which are available and that we can use them then ask when you come to the last one, "Can I do that?" That is where you have to start. Seeing you can do it, the real practice begins. Although we are talking about the complete cessation of all delusions, here we do not need to apply the four steps to all delusions. Just apply it to the one delusion which we normally feel the most difficult within our daily life such as anger. Deal with that anger by applying these four steps. In time, over a few weeks maybe, we will see that, from being a very angry person, through using the different methods and approaches, we have become less angry. That does not mean that there is less emotion, less mind. The mind is still there, but the anger is less. That is the sign that mind and anger can be separated. By applying skilful methods, anger will start to be reduced but the mind will still be there. If mind and anger were inseparable, then when we started to deal with anger and it decreased, of course the mind would also decrease. I find symbolic cessation is very helpful to understand real cessation. If we really experience that the temporary cessation of anger is possible, we can see there is no reason why we cannot do the same for the other emotions such as jealousy or attachment, although the approach might be slightly different. ii/ Residual Cessation Both Theravadin and Mahayana traditions agree that is possible for a person with a physical body to achieve complete cessation. Through systematic reduction of our delusions we can finally completely eliminate them. What happens then is that we are left with this physical body which has been produced by previous lives delusion and karma. The mind has been cleansed of all delusions but the body will still be subject to the sufferings inherent in its nature. This cessation is called residual cessation, which means that the cessation happens within the container of the body which is still the result of delusion and karma. Residual cessation means the karmic result of the body still remains, although mentally cessation has been achieved. iii/ Non-residual cessation A person can achieve the complete cessation of suffering, even though their present body is the result of previous lives karma and delusion. When that person dies, the body caused by delusion and karma and hence with its residual delusion and karma is gone, meaning that cessation becomes pure cessation as there is nothing which remains. That is called non-residual cessation. In other words, although an individual person might gain complete cessation in this body, the body still has the residue from being caused by delusion and karma. As long as that person is alive that cessation is residual 63

cessation. The demarcation is when that person dies. Then that cessation becomes non-residual cessation. Is there another body after non-residual cessation? One of the theories in the Theravadin tradition is that after the person attains liberation or full cessation of suffering, when they pass away, everything ceases. Not only their physical body and the five aggregates, but the continuation of the person also ceases. But that is not the idea in the Mahayana tradition where they say that after a person has achieved individual liberation as an arhat, when they pass away, the continuation is not stopped. Of course the continuation of samsara and delusions is stopped but the individual does not stop. These beings, wherever they take rebirth, may stay for a very long duration, even aeons, in a meditative state, rather than in an active role benefiting other sentient beings. 3 Liberation and Enlightenment a/ Are Liberation and Enlightenment the Same?

practice

individual liberation vehicle obscurations of defilements liberation

universal liberation vehicle

to be overcome goal

+ obscurations of
knowledge enlightenment

In this chart, you can see on one side: an individual liberation vehicle practitioner must overcome the obscurations of defilements to attain liberation; whereas on the other side: a universal liberation vehicle practitioner must overcome not only the obscurations of defilements (shown as a + sign), but also the obscurations of knowledge to attain enlightenment. This shows that liberation and enlightenment are different. Different in terms of the method that we use to achieve them and different in terms of what obscurations we deal with. People who are seeking mere liberation are mainly dealing with the obscurations of defilements or delusions, whereas for people who are seeking enlightenment, their main obscurations to be abandoned are not the obscurations of defilement, but the obscurations of knowledge. Of course to reach enlightenment they have to deal with the obscurations of defilements first, but then there is this extra element called the obscurations of knowledge, those obscurations which block them from omniscience or Buddhahood. The method is also different, which I find very helpful to talk about. If we base our spiritual journey on Buddhism and not just in name but sincerely practising it then when we start there are generally two types of aspiration. 64

One is wishing to be free from this situation, this conditioned existence. It does not have very much to do with others, just I can't bear this conditioned existence going on life after life. For example, by looking at how the Twelve Links work, in some sense it is really quite depressing there seems no end. Seeing those kinds of things, the practitioner is unable to bear conditioned existence; they really want to break down this chain and to achieve freedom from it. In that aspiration there is not really the wish to do things for other people, but simply for oneself. But some people may take that further, looking at the Twelve Links and seeing that it is not only endless for them but for all other beings as well. Life after life I am experiencing this conditioned existence and so are all these other beings, therefore I must do something for them too. With that kind of aspiration the practitioner starts to practise. So the two main types of practice depend on these two different aspirations. If you read the scriptures and texts that belong to the Mahayana tradition, they say that, regardless of which path we choose, the individual liberation path or the universal liberation path, eventually everybody has to go on to achieve enlightenment. Whether it is true or not I honestly don't know. We can debate and talk about it, but according to the Mahayana tradition, despite the different paths to achieve liberation or enlightenment, eventually those people who have achieved liberation will continue on to achieve enlightenment. Even after liberation, they will never be extinguished, their continuum will not cease to exist, they will continue. But to continue on to pursue complete enlightenment will take a long, long time, because there are no senses or feelings. In order to pursue enlightenment you have to have compassion, and in order to have compassion you have to have feelings. But I really dont know if this is actually the case. I have heard these very Mahayana-based arguments since I was eighteen. Some Theravadin or Pali texts disagree. They say either that a practitioner who has achieved liberation will not necessarily go on to achieve enlightenment, or even that liberation is enlightenment there is no enlightenment other than liberation. But in the Mahayana tradition, it is very clear-cut that there is a difference between liberation and enlightenment. Whether in the end there is a difference or not, or whether the practitioner who achieves their final goal of liberation will eventually go on to achieve enlightenment or not, definitely at this beginning stage there is a difference. So if there is that very clear difference from the beginning, my feeling is, with that initially different motivation, the action must be different, and therefore, I think, the fruit of that action must be different in some way. From our own experience and looking around us when we start our practice, we can see that there is a difference in that, in the Bodhisattva practice, the emphasis is on doing things for all other sentient beings whereas in the Theravadin or Pali texts there is not that kind of emphasis. That does not mean they are telling us to forget all sentient beings, but the emphasis is on the individual attainment of individual liberation. Of course an individual liberation path practitioner has to deal with others. To progress towards liberation, we need patience. How can we practise patience if there are no sentient beings around us? How can we deal with our anger if there is no one that makes us angry? We need love, therefore we need sentient beings we can give that love too. 65

The difference between these two paths is not that one neglects the world and the other does not, but that the emphasis is different. For people who are following the Mahayana path, the emphasis is not on one's own liberation, but on other sentient beings' achievement. In the Theravadin path they are not saying that this is unimportant but simply that to achieve liberation for oneself is the main goal. It is not at all the case that people on the Theravadin path are selfish and those on the Mahayana path are selfless. Not at all. We can have a positive selfish mind and a negative selfish mind. The negative selfish mind wants to achieve one's own goal whilst neglecting others rights and happiness. The positive selfish mind needs a strong sense of selfworth to help others. Without having a strong sense of self, I don't think we can do anything for others. So I don't think that we have to destroy ourselves to achieve liberation. We do have to destroy the negative selfish mind though. b/ Cessation According to Theravadin Texts Even though I have not studied Theravadin texts, I would like to talk a little about liberation, which they also call cessation or Nirvana. They use the term absolute truth to describe Nirvana. Although the term is very similar to the Mahayana traditions terms, emptiness, ultimate truth or ultimate reality, we need to ask whether it really has the same meaning. Within this body which is the result of delusion and karma, we can realise complete Nirvana. Both the Theravadin and Mahayana traditions completely accept this. So what is that Nirvana? In Theravadin tradition, when they say that it is absolute truth or ultimate reality, for me it seems they are saying the individual person is completely free from delusion and karma. After this life that person is never going to take another rebirth, therefore it is absolute, it is ultimate. It is ultimate reality because, although at this stage they have this body, after this body finishes that person will never return to this circle of rebirth, ageing and death. Therefore they achieve absolute truth. On page 41 of What the Buddha Taught, Rahula says: Some popular inaccurately phrased expressions like The Buddha entered into Nirvana or Parinirvana after his death have given rise to many imaginary speculations about Nirvana. The moment you hear the phrase that the Buddha entered into Nirvana or Parinirvana, you take Nirvana to be a state, or a realm, or a position in which there is some sort of existence, and try to imagine it in terms of the senses of the word existence as it is known to you. This popular expression entered into Nirvana has no equivalent in the original texts. There is no such thing as entering into Nirvana after death. There is a word Parinibbuto used to denote the death of the Buddha or an Arahant who has realised Nirvana but it does not mean entering into Nirvana. Parinibbuto simply means fully passed away, fully blown out, fully extinct, because the Buddha or Arahant has no re-existence after his death. On the previous page, page 40, he says: People often ask: What is there after Nirvana? This question cannot arise because Nirvana is the Ultimate Truth. If it is Ultimate, there can 66

be nothing after it. If there is anything after Nirvana then that will be the Ultimate Truth and not Nirvana. A monk named Radha put this question to Buddha in a different form: For what purpose (or end) is Nirvana? This question presupposes something after Nirvana when it postulates some purpose or end for it. So the Buddha answered: O Radha, this question could not catch its limit (i.e., it is besides the point). One lives the holy life with Nirvana as its final plunge (into the Absolute Truth), as its goal, as its ultimate end. So with the ultimate end or ultimate reality in the Theravadin tradition, the individual person who has realised Nirvana or ultimate reality is free from delusion and the karma, and will not take further rebirths. c/ Cessation according to Mahayana texts Mahayana texts use the terms Nirvana or cessation, but when they talk about complete cessation they are referring to emptiness. Of course in the Mahayana tradition there are different philosophical schools, and here I am using the view of the highest philosophical school, the Madhyamika Prasangika. From their point of view, cessation is ultimate truth, but not the ultimate truth that Rahula or the Theravadin tradition are talking about. Although the terms absolute truth or ultimate reality are similar in both traditions, in the Mahayana Tradition ultimate truth or ultimate reality refers to emptiness and emptiness here does not mean freedom from rebirth, but rather the absence of inherent existence. We will talk about that at length in other modules. .

THE TWO TYPES OF CESSATION

1 The Two Obscurations When, through our development of wisdom, our suffering starts to diminish, cessation naturally starts to emerge. The two types of cessation we will finally achieve are liberation or enlightenment. In the same way, we have to overcome two types of obscuration: i/ obscurations of defilements ii/ obscurations of knowledge The first, in Tibetan nyong.mong.pa dip.pa, is what obstructs us from attaining arhatship or liberation. The second, in Tibetan shey.ja dip.pa, is what obstructs us from attaining full enlightenment. We also say obscuration to omniscience. Very generally, the first type of obscuration is grosser than the second gross in the sense of how difficult it is to eliminate it. The second one is the more difficult. Because the chart on page XX separates these two obscurations, it might seem that people dealing with one set of obscurations do not have to deal with the other. In fact, although someone following the path to individual liberation does only need to deal with the obscurations of defilements, someone following the path to enlightenment needs to deal with both sets. The obscurations of defilements have to do with our emotional side. Lessening our anger, attachment, jealousy etc is dealing with our obscurations of defilements. The obscurations of knowledge refers to the very, very subtle obscurations, such as the propensity for the misconceptions of reality. Those 67

who achieve liberation through following the first path still have a certain degree of the obscurations of knowledge. If that is so, what is liberation? Liberation in this sense is liberation from samsara, liberation from taking rebirth due to delusion and karma. If someone does that then surely they are a Buddha, arent they? According to Mahayana tradition, although they are free from cyclic existence, although they have achieved liberation, they are still not a Buddha. To be a Buddha that person must also be free from the obscurations of knowledge. People free from the obscurations of defilements are no longer samsaric beings, having freed themselves from the wheel of life, but they are not Buddhas. They are not gods or beings of the formless realm either, because those realms are still in samsara. Each of these two levels of obscurations, the obscurations to obtain liberation and the obscurations to obtain enlightenment, again has two different levels. The first one arises from the intellectual learning process; the other is innate, in that it is inborn, not through a system of belief, not through reason, but some kind of spontaneous belief which obstructs us from obtaining liberation. There are many methods of dealing with these two levels of obscurations, particularly in the Mahayana literature. They have a different intensity. 2 The Two Cessations Of the Indian philosophical schools important in Tibetan Buddhism, all four accept there are two different types of cessation. They are: i/ liberation from samsara ii/ full enlightenment It may seem quite philosophical, but it is worthwhile pointing out the differences within the schools. The two lower schools believe that through practising and attaining the first cessation they will not go further; they will never attain full enlightenment. Even though they accept that there is a further cessation, full enlightenment, these two lower schools say certain beings will not attain it because they stop at the first cessation. This is one of the big differences. The two upper schools also accept that there are two cessations, but they assert that all living beings, eventually, will attain the second cessation, full enlightenment. The first cessation, liberation from samsara, can emerge from within these contaminated five aggregates and it can happen while we still possess them. We can call it Nirvana with remainder, which is the same as residual cessation, which we talked about earlier. While the practitioner is in that state, according to the lower schools, they make a decision, either to go further or to remain there as the final goal, the end of the journey. If someone makes this latter decision, when they pass away, then it is all gone, nothing exists, forever. In the sutras an arhat, after his death, is often compared with the fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or the flame of the lamp which has gone out when the wick and oil are finished. That kind of analogy indicates everything is gone, nothing exists after that state. Quoting sutras like this, the two lower schools say certain beings will not attain full enlightenment, because, through their own decision, they stop here. When they have finished with their body, nothing is left. I myself dont know what will happen if I attain Nirvana. 68

For these schools, at the time a person achieves this type of Nirvana, they pass into Parinirvana and the five aggregates are extinguished. Not only the form aggregate, but all the mental aggregates are finished, so for them there is no discussion about the continuation of consciousness. For them there is no contradiction, no conflict. If you argue from the point of view of the highest school, Madhyamika Prasangika, however, there is something wrong. They say that it is not the complete end, that the practitioner achieves two bodies, the truth body, which is the enlightened aspect of the mind and the form body, which is the enlightened aspect of the body. This is what realising True Cessation means to the highest school. In the sutra, the Buddha said the Cessation of Suffering should be realised as a Noble Truth. In English, what does realise mean? Does it mean attaining something? Does it mean understanding something? It seems to me it can mean both in English, and, in fact, it is the same with Tibetan. In this context we say gog.den ngon.du.je. Gog.den means cessation. Ngog.du.je means has two meanings. One meaning is to understand it, the other to attain it. In this context I think the Buddha meant both to understand as well as to attain. In order to achieve cessation we must understand it. These two always depend on each other. Without understanding cessation, there is no way to achieve it. And without achieving cessation there is no way to clearly understand it. 3 The Two Kayas a/ The Dharmakaya, the Truth Body According to the Mahayana Tradition, what happens to the being who realises complete cessation after death? If an individual person attains enlightenment, they have not only realised Nirvana or cessation but they have other features as well. In particular, the truth body and form body. If everything is extinguished when a person passes away after realising Nirvana, as the Theravadin tradition states, for me that shows those delusions are completely integrated with the mind. As long as the mind is there, delusion is there. If we extinguish delusion, the mind also has to be extinguished. That is my assumption, but I really dont know. Mahayana Buddhism believes neither obscuration is completely one with our mind. They are not completely integrated, they are temporary. And moreover the nature of the mind is never integrated with the delusions. The nature of the mind is pure. So now here is the truth body, in Sanskrit, dharmakaya. In other words the truth body is emptiness. When we achieve enlightenment, our mind full of compassion and all the other realisations and free of delusions is absent of any intrinsic existence, nothing more than that. That is the truth body. As soon as we realise that fundamental nature by ourselves then that nature becomes the truth body, that individual person becomes an enlightened being. Sometimes we call it the wisdom body because that nature has been realised by wisdom. b/ The Rupakaya, the Form Body 69

For me the concept of the form body is one of the big differences between the Theravadin tradition and the Mahayana Tradition. When an individual person realises liberation, the state is not exactly the truth body but similar to it. In the Theravadin tradition the form body is never talked about, but in the Mahayana Tradition we put equal emphasis on it. The form body (rupakaya) does not necessarily mean our material form. It really refers to a Buddhas wisdom, compassion, omniscient mind and how those qualities manifest into different forms. A Buddhas body can either be an emanation body, nirmanakaya in Sanskrit, or a complete enjoyment body, sambhogakaya. These two bodies are a Buddhas omniscient mind manifesting as different kinds of form body, depending on the capability of the sentient beings to see them. Some sentient beings have the capability to see some higher forms of a Buddhas body such as a complete enjoyment body and they can communicate with that Buddha through that and receive teachings. In fact the sambhogakaya aspect of a Buddha is constantly teaching. These beings realised enough to receive teachings are arya beings, those already on the path of seeing, which we will look at in the fourth Noble Truth. It is possible for some ordinary beings to see and receive teachings from the other kind of body, the emanation body, the nirmanakaya. From a Mahayana point of view, the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, was a supreme emanation body, because ordinary sentient beings saw him and received teachings from him. What they saw was actually the manifestation of the Buddhas omniscient mind into an emanation body. A Buddha is able to continuously, simultaneously emanate in many different forms, in many different places. When they started their main aim was to benefit others, so of course when they achieve the result they must do that, otherwise they would be cheating! So the Mahayana Tradition says that when an individual achieves enlightenment, the two bodies, truth and form body, manifest simultaneously. The truth body is the state free from obscuration and the form body is the way that individual person is perceived by others. Therefore, there is strong emphasis on practising wisdom and method together. Practising the wisdom side produces the truth body and practising the method side produces the form body. Bodhicitta, generosity, morality, patience and tolerance all belong to the method side which leads towards the form body of a Buddha. Trying to realise the wisdom realising emptiness and impermanence is the wisdom side which leads towards the truth or wisdom body. c/ A Buddhas Form Body is Impermanent In Mahayana Buddhism we talk about the form body but the form body is a being and if it is a being that means it is impermanent. Does that then mean it is in samsara? The answer is no. Look at the four seals, the fundamental tenets of Buddhism. They are: 1. All compositional phenomena are impermanent 2. All contaminated phenomena are, by nature, suffering 3. All phenomena are empty of self-existence 4. Nirvana is true peace 70

Again we can see a slight difference between the Theravadin tradition and the Mahayana tradition, when they look at the second one. In the Theravadin tradition they are almost saying that if something is impermanent it is contaminated, therefore it is suffering. But the Mahayana tradition says all contaminated things are suffering but not all impermanent things are contaminated. There is that distinction. In other words, things and events which are produced by afflictive emotions and karma are suffering because they are contaminated. Other impermanent things, such as a Buddhas form body, are not necessarily suffering. 4 The Connection Between Liberation and Emptiness The fundamental nature of a table is emptiness. There is no difference between the fundamental nature of the table and the fundamental nature of my mind. Both are empty of inherent or intrinsic existence. There is absolutely no difference in them objectively. But subjectively there is a big difference. A famous quotation of Chandrakirti says: Whether the Buddha comes into this world or not, emptinesses already exist. It makes no difference whether the Buddha comes into this world or not, all things and events, including our existence, are empty of inherent existence. What does make a difference is that, when the Buddha came into this world and showed us by his teachings, it helped us to realise that objects do not have inherent existence. Understanding the emptiness of the table and the emptiness of the mind, objectively, is the same process. There is no difference between these emptinesses. But when I look conceptually at my mind, when I try to understand the true nature of my mind, it doesnt seem as simple. Subjectively there are big differences. My mind has all the adventitious delusions, such as anger, jealousy, fear, all the things caused by self-centeredness and self-cherishing which the table does not have. As long as my mind is covered with all those things, it is very difficult to penetrate that fundamental nature which is the absence of inherent existence. That makes the difference, but it does not mean it is impossible. There is a strong connection between liberation and emptiness. As Rahula points out, to understand liberation, we have to understand emptiness, otherwise we cannot see where we are caught up. Liberation means we are free from somewhere, from something. The understanding of emptiness will show us what we are bound to. That is the second ignorance, not the ignorance of the law of cause and effect, but the fundamental ignorance.

THE FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE CESSATION

Like the other Noble Truths, the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering has four unique characteristics. They are: i/ cessation ii/ pacification iii/ superb iv/ definite emergence 71

They help clearly explain about True Cessation. For example, the first one, cessation, has a quality of cessation, the cessation of delusion, a state where delusions and ignorance have been abandoned. There is some kind of quality which assures that suffering will no longer be produced, that the causes and conditions have ceased, have been really extinguished. The second one explains it has the quality of pacification because it pacifies the torments of suffering. Cessation has a feature of completely pacifying suffering. The third one, superb, again is a quality, here of being superb, being the source of health and happiness. It is true happiness. It is a really trustworthy quality, never changing, never turning into another form. The fourth one, definite emergence, says cessation has the quality of definitely emerging out of samsara. It means to be totally released from samsara. It arises when we are totally free from sufferings and delusions. These are the four characteristics which can help us understand True Cessation.

This Chapter is an extract from Four Noble Truths, Module 1 of The Foundation of Buddhist Thought taught by Geshe Tashi Tsering. http://www.buddhistthought.org

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