Sunday, April 01, 2007

Nibbana


"The third Noble Truth, which is Nibbána (Nirvana), being at present beyond our experience, is never greatly discussed in Buddhist texts, for it is to be experienced for oneself and not only to be discussed. The ancient texts describe it in largely negative terms: 'It is the complete fading-away and extinction of this very craving, its forsaking and giving up, the liberation and detachment from it.' All the grasping at 'I' and at 'mine', all the defilements of mind which lead one to grasp, such as greed, aversion and delusion, all must be given up. When the wise person relaxes his hold upon what is not really his own, that is, he does not grasp at ownership of either mind or body, then that is the attainment of Nibbána. With the relaxation of the grasp upon things not really possessed there comes the attainment of both wisdom and compassion."

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