In Montana on September 27th, 2015 I tried to see the ”super moon” which was combined with a lunar eclipse. I figured I should try because this combination of events won’t happen again for 18 years and by then my eyesight won’t be nearly as proficient and this body may be gone long before 2033!
And even though I couldn’t see this special moon event at bedtime I knew it was there- behind the clouds, obscured for a time. So I went to bed and awoke at 3am. And there it was, perhaps not as big as earlier in the evening but there it was nonetheless. This is similar to the state of our own innate awakened nature. The clouds of craving, anger, fear, and resentment obscure it for a while, but then we practice and wait patiently and it emerges from the clouds and manifests (at the least expected moments, sometimes).
We don’t really believe that the moon is gone while clouds obscure it. Then why do we think our basic kind and compassionate Buddha nature is gone sometimes? Perhaps it is because we don’t consider the possibility as a reality. The clouds are just passing through the sky; in the same way our lack of mindfulness hides our inherent clarity and goodness.
Buddha taught Four Noble (ennobling) Truths as as a foundational teaching. The Third Noble Truth is the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (when we cease craving, anger, and ignorance). He said it should (and can ) be realized. And, in fact we experience this cessation of suffering in our own direct experience quite often!
The cessation of suffering (Third Noble Truth) occurs on many levels. You may have noticed from your own spiritual and mindfulness practice that you have experienced some degree (however small) of contentment, peace, less reactivity, patience, less worry and resentment. Is that the case in your own direct experience? That’s wonderful! How joyful!
That is the “truth of cessation of suffering” on a level that many people have realized. It has made your life more at peace. It’s a wonderful way to live. It’s real. You don’t need to believe anything; you have experienced the truth of it for yourself.
But there is another deeper level of Cessation of Suffering. It is the complete cessation of all greed, hatred and delusion. Buddha called it Nibbana in Pali (and Nirvana in Sanskrit).
So here is a simple exercise for understanding the Third Noble Truth:
First, reflect on the benefits you have experienced as a result of your spiritual practice. Place that lessening of greed, and anger that you have experienced on a trajectory of time and imagine that line is sloping toward the baseline of a graph where the baseline is complete absence of any craving or anger- zero in numerical terms. You can supply the units of the vertical (craving/hatred/ignorance x-axis) I call them “chim units”. (for craving, hatred, and ignorance moments).
Now, one more rule to this exercise.—Suspend time as a limiting factor. Your graph can go off the page. It’s OK! Maybe your graph goes into the next life? Who knows?
Can you see that your line is gradually sloping to zero craving and anger (zero chims)? It will arrive there eventually if the same effort and mindfulness is applied. It will get there! It will!
So it’s possible theoretically right?
Now, imagine what it would be like to be completely free of all anger, craving, fear, worry, resentment and delusion.
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine what that experience would be like? I can’t.
That’s the point of this exercise. Now, you can understand why Nibbana (the complete absence of all craving, hatred and delusion) can’t be described.
But we can imagine it as a real possibility and know the way to realize it (keep up our effort – our trajectory),even though we cannot imagine the experience or describe it. It’s the uplifting message (I would use the term “good news” but it’s taken already) of The Third Truth of Cessation of Suffering. There is the possibility of Cessation of Suffering, when all greed, hatred and ignorance are let go.
So that, dear friends, is the Third Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering. In pure and simple terms! It is said there are only two mistakes one can make on a spiritual path; not starting; and not going all the way. What’s stopping you?
May you be well, happy and peaceful. Floyd
