UNDERSTANDING NIBBANA (Part 2) -- Jeffrey Po

Several issues came about concerning the subject of Nibbana.

One concerns the position of the liberated saint after death?

The often-asked questions:

a. Hoti Tathagata parammarana (does the Tathagata exists after death?)

b. Na noti tathagata parammarana (does He not exist?)

c. Hoti ca na tathagata parammarana (does He both exist or not exist after death?)

d. Neva hoti na ca hoti (does He neither exist nor not-exist?)

The Lord Buddha Gotama remains silent over them. He considers those questions invalid (na-upeti). In other words, those questions do not arise under the context of Buddhist traditions. It is said that, in the highest sense (paramattha), the Tathagata cannot, even during the lifetime, be discovered and identified. How then can He be identified after death? In so far as the liberated saints are concern, neither the 5 Aggregates of Existence (panca khandha) are to be regarded as the Tathagata, nor can the Tathagata be found outside these corporeal and mental phenomena. All this implies that there exists only the ever changing corporeal and mental phenomenon that arises and vanishes from moment to moment and that besides this phenomenon, no separate entities or personalities exists. Hence, the Lord Buddha Gotama considers those questions as "meaningless".

The Majjhima Nikaya I -140 mentions:

"When one has freed the mind, the gods cannot trace him, even though they think: "This is the consciousness attached to the Tathagata". And why? It is because the Tathagata is untraceable. Although I say this, there are some recluses and Brahims who misrepresent me falsely, contrary to fact, saying: "The recluse Gotama is a nihilist because he teaches the cutting off, the destruction, the disappearance of the existing entity". But this is exactly what I do not say. Both now and in the past, I simply teach suffering and the overcoming of suffering".

Another issue surfaces because some Buddhist texts tend to offer the impression that Nibbana is a sort of ultimate reality. In the Udana - 80, Nibbana is described as:

1. Ajata - unborn

2. Abhuta - unbecome/ unoriginated

3. Akata - uncreated/ unmade

4. Asankata - unconditioned/ uncompounded

Actually, the passage mentions:

"There is an Unborn, an Unbecome, an Unmade, an Uncompounded. If there were not this Unborn, Unbecome, Unmade, Uncompounded, then there would be no escape from the born, the become, the made, the compounded. But as there is an Unborn, an Unbecome, an Unmade, and Uncompounded, then there is an escape from the born, the become, the made, the compounded."

It is said that Nibbana is "ajata" because nothing springs up. It is "abhuta" because arising no longer exists. It is "akata" because the situation has yet to be originated. It is "asankata" because there is non-becoming and non-airing. Those notions would indicate that Nibbana could be seen as some sort of transcendental reality. Further, the translation would imply that Nibbana could only be achieved after death. This is however incorrect because it is viewed that Nibbana can be obtained during one's lifetime.

In the proper context, thus:

1. "ajata" cannot be interpreted as "unborn". Rather it has to be understood as the "cessation of birth"- (jatinirodha).

2. "Abuta" cannot be interpreted as "unbecome". Rather it has to be understood as "the cessation of becoming"- (bhavanirodha).

3. "Akata" cannot be interpreted as "uncreated". Rather it has to be understood as "the cessation of kamma"- (kammanirodha).

4. "Asankata" cannot be interpreted as "unconditioned". Rather it has to be understood as "absence of sankhar"- (sankharanirodha).

Nibbana is therefore an internal awakening within the person, achieved when the three unwholesome roots (akusala mulas) are totally extinct. Though Buddhism recognizes "the deathless state" (amatta), Nibbana does not imply a state of immortality simply because, besides the 5 Aggregates of Existence, no immortal entity or personality exists. This has to be understood. Although by common usage Buddhists often mention, "...going to Nibbana"; "...trying to achieve Nibbana"; "...one must aim towards Nibbana"?and so forth - really, one needs to comprehend that Nibbana is not "something that one aims to possess." There is neither empirical nor metaphysical tangibility in Nibbana. Nibbana is to be viewed as the unconditioned aspect of the world of phenomenal experience. Nibbana can be likened to the absence of darkness upon the presence of light.

Perhaps, the Jataka verse 21-23 can summarize:

"Where there is pain, pleasure is to be strived for. In the same way, where there is becoming, non-becoming is to be desired."

"Where there is heat,there must be cool. In the same way, where there are the three fires, there must also be Nibbana."

"Where there is evil. There is also the good. In the same way, where there is birth, non-birth can be inferred."