MJ34 - 38 Blessings - Attaining Nirvana (35 Of 39)

This is the thirty-fifth session of the Buddhist path of practice leading from the mundane to the transcendental based on the 38 Blessings of the Mangala Sutta. This thirty-fourth blessing what Nirvana is and how it can be attained along with some of the debates surrounding the nature and meaning of enlightenment.

Transcript

Last time you saw me,

We looked at blessing number 33 on seeing the Four Noble Truths.

With the dumb talk today,

We'll continue on our journey through the 38 blessings to the final blessing in the practice for the eradication of defilement subsection,

That is number 34 on the attainment of Nirvana.

According to Buddhism,

Nirvana is the ultimate attainment to aim for in one's practice.

It's something which amongst the world religions is a distinctive feature of Buddhism.

We all know that attaining Nirvana is a major feat,

But even to understand the concept of Nirvana is also a huge challenge,

As it requires steadfast understanding of almost all the preceding blessings,

Especially those found in groups 8 and 9.

So to recap slightly,

In blessing 29 on the sight of a true monk,

We saw that those limited to a mundane level of knowledge tend to be held back from understanding transcendental matters.

It's hard for them to make a paradigm shift in their worldview.

It's like trying to describe the colours of a garden to someone who's only ever known black and white.

And you will remember when we heard the story about the turtle and the fish.

Making that leap in conceptualization is particularly important when it comes to studying Nirvana.

Next in blessing 30 on the regular discussion of the Dharma,

We recognize that laterally in the blessings it's become increasingly hard to explain the subject matter in material terms.

Especially when enumerating guidelines for the discussion of the Dharma,

We discover that often we have to give new Dharma ideas the benefit of the doubt when we come across them for the first time.

Similarly we need to be broad-minded towards different approaches to Buddhist practice as a skillful means to encourage people to do wholesome deeds in a way that is familiar to them,

Whether it be practicing the Noble Eightfold Path,

The Three Trainings,

The Six Directions,

The Three Modes of Merit-Making,

Or avoiding the Roads to Ruin.

We should give support and encouragement to anyone who is inspired to engage with any practical aspect of Buddhism,

Rather than squabbling over points of philosophy which might serve only to distract them from continuing with their practice.

Even though different schools may differ in opinion concerning the higher philosophy by referring to different parts of the scriptures or of differences of interpretation,

Surely we would be better to agree to disagree on these subjects rather than to let these differences cast doubt on what we are practicing.

And we come back to that expression again about not letting perfect be the enemy of the good.

All Birchow cultivators are rather like long-distance travelers in the cycle of rebirth.

Even though we might differ in our expectations about our destination,

We still get encouragement by having some company along the way,

Even if our companions have slight differences in the way they practice.

For as long as people stay with the middle way of practice,

They continue to make progress,

And one day when they reach their destination,

They will each be able to see first-hand the nature of our destination without recourse to competing interpretations anymore.

On the other hand,

If we fight amongst ourselves before we've even got there,

It does nothing but waste valuable time and energy.

Moreover,

A mind seeded with doubt may cause us to backslide by despairing about the point of keeping precepts or meditating.

This is why philosophers and practitioners tend to gravitate to different groups and never twain shall meet.

Two blessings ago in Blessing 32 on practicing the Brahma Firing,

We came across the equivalence between states of mind and realms of existence,

And as we shall see in a few moments,

The same principle holds true in the present blessing.

Just as angelic states of mind have their equivalent heavenly realm of existence,

Liberated states of mind,

Represented by the Arahant body of enlightenment,

Have their own equivalent realm known as Nirvana.

In the most recent blessing on seeing the Four Noble Truths,

We learn that they have to be seen with the eye of the Dhammakaya,

Because they cannot be seen meaningfully by the human eye.

If the Noble Truths could be seen with the naked eye,

Surely funeral directors would get enlightened before anyone else,

Because they deal with death every day.

On the contrary,

Our lives are surrounded by birth,

Old age,

Sickness and death,

But we fail to appreciate the Four Noble Truths.

This is not surprising,

Because even the angels,

Brahmas or formless Brahmas,

With all their extra wisdom,

Are unable to fathom the Noble Truths,

Unless they practice meditation to the degree they can attain the Dhammakaya.

The reason why Dhammakaya can see the Noble Truths,

While the mundane inner bodies can't,

Is because the Dhammakaya is no longer tainted by any defilements,

And consequently its aggregates are of a completely different kind,

Called Dhammak aggregates,

Or Dhammakanta.

Only using such pure vision can one clearly see the Four Noble Truths.

The previous blessing was not the end of the Thirty-Eight Blessings,

However,

Because simply to see the Four Noble Truths is not enough.

You have to remove the defilements from all the bodies that are still defiled,

So that they are as pure as the Dhammakaya,

Something which is not easily accomplished.

To attain the Dhammakaya is only like someone who has succeeded in passing their college entrance exams.

Acceptance doesn't guarantee that you'll graduate.

There are plenty of people who drop out during college.

It's the same for your practice of meditation.

If you are able to attain the Dhammakaya,

But you don't continue to pursue your practice,

You may slip back into your old ignorant ways.

You have to keep up your practice until you can not only see the Four Noble Truths,

But become unified with them.

This is why we cannot rest until Nirvana has been attained.

Before embarking on academic study of things like Nirvana,

I should probably give a quick heads up on the best approach to studying higher teachings,

Because Buddhist teachings can generally be separated into two levels.

The first level are teachings for practice,

Which would include teachings like the Noble Eightfold Path,

The Threefold Trainings,

The Four Bases of Sympathy,

The Six Directions,

The Three Modes of Merit-Making,

And the Four Foundations of Success.

These sort of teachings make up most of the 38 blessings,

Because they are straightforward to understand and put into practice.

The second level of teachings on metaphysics,

Sometimes known as Abhidhya,

Would include more metaphysical teachings beyond what meets the naked eye,

Such as cosmology,

Nirvana,

The supernatural,

And the logic of karma.

No special advice is required when discussing the teachings for practice,

Apart from making sure the right practice is applied to overcome the right problem.

However,

When asked questions about subjects of higher philosophy,

Especially the so-called unfathomable questions or ajintayā,

Such as eschatology,

Whether the Tathāgata still exists or not after death,

Often the Buddha would intentionally avoid giving a direct or comprehensive answer,

Not because he had nothing to say,

But because he knew if the listener had not practiced to a sufficiently high level,

They would misconstrue the answer.

He realized that on balance,

A comprehensive answer might do more damage than good.

As students of Buddhism,

It is therefore necessary for us to accept that the Buddha never gave detailed descriptions of subjects of metaphysics.

He would simply leave us with the implications.

In other words,

It's up to us to fill in the details through the results of our own practice.

This lack of detail is a two-edged sword,

Because although it ensures a little bit of dogmatism amongst those who have not directly experienced the metaphysical,

It also leaves room for interpretation.

But although we try to avoid dogmatism,

It's also a mistake to avoid guidelines completely.

In the majority of the Buddhist textbooks,

The highest stages of practice are rarely described in detail,

Because all of these things are taken to be merely the outcomes of meditation.

It's all very well leaving the student to discover things by themselves,

But for some people the uncertainty might lead to discouragement.

They might worry,

Does Nirvana really exist,

Or is it just a fairy story?

For such practitioners,

Some guidelines are useful,

If only to inspire them with the confidence to practice further until they can know Nirvana for themselves.

On the other hand,

Giving too much detail may be counterproductive,

Especially for those who tend to think,

Now I know Nirvana is a reality,

There's no point in trying to prove it for myself,

Better go back to bed instead of meditating.

When studying Nirvana,

It's therefore necessary to take as some form of guidance the little scriptural evidence the Buddha did offer us.

When speaking of Nirvana,

The Buddha did assert that Nirvana exists,

But his description of the characteristics of Nirvana consist of a series of negations rather than confirmations,

For all the reasons I've already mentioned.

As a result of this lack of detail,

We can make no firm conclusion about certain characteristics of Nirvana from the scriptures,

As we shall see later when we consider the characteristics of Nirvana.

However,

What we can say about Nirvana for sure,

Is that it does exist.

This is why,

Whatever we believe about the detail of Nirvana,

As Buddhists we should take confidence in the Buddhist assertion that Nirvana exists,

That it is the end of all suffering.

As such,

It remains the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice.

The word Nirvana or Nibbana in Pali language has a variety of meanings.

Nirvana can be translated literally as extinguishing or it can mean escape.

Where it means extinguishing,

It means the extinguishing of defilements or of suffering.

Where Nirvana means escape,

It means escape from the triple world.

Without these additional shades of meaning,

The whole of Buddhism becomes indistinguishable from nihilism,

As often happens with excessive discussion of the meaning of the words emptiness or sunyata in Buddhist philosophy.

As with states of mind and realms of existence,

The word Nirvana can have two levels of meaning.

Firstly,

It can mean Nirvana as a state of mind of a person with no further defilements.

Or secondly,

It can mean Nirvana as a place where those who have freed their mind from all defilements can go to partake of eternal bliss.

Given that the word Nirvana leaves room for interpretation,

Usually in the study of Buddhism,

Some clarification is achieved through the addition of prefixes.

So if we are talking about Nirvana as a state of mind,

Which uses the technical term Sa Upatishesat Nibbana,

It means we don't have to die first and be reborn to attain it,

Because it is the living experience of Nirvana.

While still in the human realm,

We touch upon Nirvana in our meditational experience when we have purified our mind of all defilements,

But our five aggregates have not yet broken up.

While still alive,

The attainment of Dhammakaya will manifest inside us,

Imparting the same happiness as if we were really inside Nirvana as a realm of existence.

Nonetheless,

We are still alive in our human body.

Secondly,

We might talk about Nirvana as a realm of existence,

In which case we would use the term Anu Upatishesat Nibbana.

So the previous term started with the prefix Sa,

While this one starts with the prefix Anu.

Here we are talking about Nirvana in a sense that it exists as a realm outside our body and mind.

Sometimes it is referred to as posthumous Nirvana because we can only go there after the final breaking up of our five aggregates.

So we will not be reborn again.

The Dhammakaya,

Which one has attained by becoming unified with Sa Upatishesat Nibbana,

Will be drawn through the center of the body and enter upon Anu Upatishesat Nibbana.

Nirvana as a realm is an empty area outside the triple world which is beyond the reach of suffering.

This place is the abode of all the bodies of enlightenment,

Of all the fully enlightened Buddhas,

The Jeta Buddhas and Arahants who have attained enlightenment in the past.

In that place there is only happiness because no suffering can reach there.

There is no rebirth,

Aging,

Sickness or death because everything is made up of Dharmamuktas.

This place cannot support people or angels or Brahmas because they are not composed of the Dharma aggregates.

Only Dhammakayas can access it.

When an Arahant,

Pachaka Buddha or fully enlightened Buddha passes away from this world for the last time,

When the final aggregates of their physical body break up at death,

Their Dhammakaya will be attracted directly into Nirvana.

Another term related to Nirvana as a realm is to talk about Nirvana as the location of Nirvana which is distinguished by the technical term Ayatana-Nirvana.

According to the Udana's Patamani-Bhāna Sutta,

Ayatana-Nirvana is the location of Nirvana.

Ayatana-Nirvana actually exists but it is not made up of the normal elements like earth,

Water,

Wind and fire in the same way as things that we can see with the naked eye.

It is neither in this world nor in other worlds.

It is not the sun,

The moon or the stars because all of these things are still within the three spheres,

Bhava,

And are hence mundane or lokiya.

Nirvana is outside the three spheres and is transcendental or lokuttara.

In Nirvana there is no movement,

No coming or going.

Those who have attained Ayatana-Nirvana will be able to see past Buddhas sitting deep in meditation or nirota-samāpatti,

More numerous than all the grains of sand in all the four great oceans.

All the remains of those enlightened ones are their Dhamma bodies.

The Dhamma body is more exquisite than any Dhamma body you can perceive within yourself.

Dhamma bodies that are self-sufficient with boundless happiness,

Independent of any outside influence,

Because the mind of those Buddhas has transcended all suffering completely.

Finally,

If we are talking about Nirvana as our final destination,

We use the technical term Amlini-Bhāna.

This term is sometimes used as a verb to indicate the action of entry into Anupātise Sātnibhāna for the final time by Narahant or by the Buddha.

At other times,

It is used as a noun to indicate the occasion of the final entry of a Narahant or Buddha into Anupātise Sātnibhāna at death.

Although in the Itthi-Uttaka scripture a clear distinction is made between the terms Sāhupātise Sātnibhāna and Anupātise Sātnibhāna,

Most of our knowledge of the difference between these terms comes to us only courtesy of the commentary by the great Abbot of Vāpātnā Sāsītīrā and Pātmukhaṃ Tebbanī.

Without understanding this distinction,

The more you read about Nirvana from supposed experts,

The more confused you will become,

Because most of the experts base their opinions on the interpretation of previous experts rather than on first-hand experience.

Some texts even go as far as to say Nirvana doesn't exist.

Some say it's just a metaphor for having come to an end of defilements.

Some go as far as to say that animals can go to Nirvana,

Which is no real surprise because even the existence of heaven and hell,

Let alone something as lofty as Nirvana,

Has been called into doubt by recent generations of Buddhologists.

Some believe heaven and hell are nothing more than states of mind,

Explaining that when you do good deeds you feel relieved and fulfilled,

Just as if you were in heaven.

When you do bad deeds you feel guilty and anxious,

Just as if you were in hell.

So just as subjective interpretations have been applied to heaven and hell,

Nothing has been left of Nirvana but its Sāhupātise Sātnibhāna connotation.

We are therefore fortunate still to live in a historical era when the testimonies of those who have actually seen Nirvana are still within living memory,

So that our inspiration to cultivate ourselves until being able to attain Nirvana can be supported by something more substantial than a mere legend.

So there is time for a quick scriptural story that highlights the difference between Nirvana and the realms of the triple world.

Once in Rajagaha in ancient India there was a Brahmin by the name of Wangisa who practiced the form of necromancy by which he could tell the afterlife destination of a cadaver simply by tapping its skull.

The Brahmins were very proud of Wangisa and paraded him from village to village so that people would flock to him and pay handsomely to find out where their various dead relatives had been reborn.

On one occasion Wangisa and his party visited a village not far from the Jetavana monastery where the Buddha was residing.

They met many of the Buddhist supporters there so the Brahmins invited them to consult Wangisa about their relatives' afterlife destinations.

The Buddhist supporters were indignant however and protested,

What does Wangisa know?

Our teacher is the one without a rival.

He alone is the enlightened one.

As a result there was a heated argument between the Buddhist supporters and Brahmins.

Eventually some saw sense and said,

Let's settle this once and for all.

Wangisa was the only one who could speak to the Buddha and they can have a showdown.

So they went together to the Jetavana monastery and the Buddha knowing their intentions instructed a monk who gathered together five skulls,

One from a person reborn in hell,

One from a person reborn as an animal,

One from a person returning as a human,

One from a person reborn in the Deva world and one of an Arahant.

The five skulls were placed in a row and when Wangisa was shown the skulls he could immediately tell where the owners of the first four skulls had been reborn.

But when he came to the skull of the Arahant he was at a loss.

The Buddha said,

Wangisa,

Don't you know?

I know where the owner of that skull has gone.

Wangisa then urged the Buddha to teach him the skill by which he would have the ability to tell where the Arahant had been reborn.

The Buddha told him that the condition of learning such a skill was that he would have to become a Buddhist monk.

Wangisa reluctantly agreed and told his Brahmin friends to come back for him later when he had mastered the skill.

As a monk he was instructed by the Buddha to meditate on the 32 parts of the body.

He diligently practiced meditation as instructed and within a short time attained Arahantship.

Later when the rest of the Brahmins came back one asked him whether he had mastered the skill.

Wangisa said,

If that's all you have come for you had better leave me right now.

There's no need for me to learn that skill anymore.

I will no longer be going along with you.

On overhearing this the other monks asked the Buddha whether he was claiming to have attained Arahantship.

The Buddha confirmed that Wangisa knows the death and rebirth of beings.

He is an Arahant.

So the moral of the story is that Nirvana is not just a higher version of heaven,

It is actually completely outside the triple world system.

If it were just another level of heaven,

Wangisa would have been able to find the afterlife destination of that Arahant without special training.

So to return to our subject matter for today,

We continue by looking at some of the debate around the characteristics of Nirvana that we are trying to attain.

From the passage I quoted to you from the Pattomani Bhanasutta I mentioned concerning Milyatana Nibbana,

We can see that there are three major characteristics of Nirvana that contrast with the characteristics of all matter still within the grasp of the three universal characteristics or Sammānyā-laksana.

Normal phenomenon or dhammas with a small d such as the five aggregates are marked by impermanence,

But Nirvana is permanent.

Conditioned dhammas such as the five aggregates are of the nature of suffering,

But Nirvana is of the nature of happiness.

Conditioned dhammas such as the five aggregates are of a nature of not-self or no-self,

But Nirvana ought to be of a nature of true-self,

Although the scriptures do not go as far as to say this.

Nirvana is asserted to be outside the influence of the three universal characteristics,

Because it is said in the Jūlīnī-desa that aksaṃ hīraṃ pasaṃ guṃpaṃ,

Which means it cannot be taken away or changed.

And in the Iyad-anīca Sutta of the Samyutta-Ikāya,

The Buddha used the words,

Iyad-anīcāṃ taṃ dukkhaṃ kiyam dukkhaṃ pātā-nattā,

Which means,

Whatever thing is of a nature of impermanence is also of the nature of suffering.

Whatever thing is of the nature of suffering is also of the nature of no or not-self.

So by elimination,

The Buddha taught that anything that is permanent is no longer subject to suffering or not-self.

When speaking specifically of Nirvana,

At Dhammapada verse 57,

The Buddha specifically said nibbānaṃ paramaṃsukhaṃ,

In other words,

That Nirvana is of the nature of happiness.

This is why Nirvana is specifically said to be of the nature of happiness and permanence.

However,

It is only by implication that Nirvana can be said to be of the nature of self or not of the nature of not-self.

The debate concerning the characteristics of Nirvana concerns whether it is of the nature of self,

Bhattā,

Or not-self,

Anattā,

Has been going on continuously since shortly after the passing away of the Buddha.

Even in the present day,

There are both Western and Eastern academic scholars who still debate this issue.

In fact,

There are several separate issues that are under debate,

Namely,

Whether true self is a teaching acceptable to Buddhism,

Without the real meaning of the word anattā,

And the scope of the words dhammas,

Spelled with a small d.

To deal with each of these debates,

In turn,

Let's start with the debate on the existence of the true self,

Or attā,

In early Buddhist teachings.

There are proponents of both sides of the argument.

Although accepting true self in the early teachings is often considered unorthodox,

The advocates include two former presidents of the Pietech Society,

Caroline Rhys-Davies and Isselin Blue Horner,

Who are cited respectively in Stephen Collins' 1997 textbook Selfless Persons,

And in Peter Harvey's 1995 textbook The Selfless Mind.

They were supported in their view by both Christmas Humphreys and Edward Konse.

The argument put forward by these pioneering scholars were that they firstly,

The Buddha never categorically denied the existence of a true self on any level of the truth,

And secondly,

That the original teachings of the Buddha imply that the true self exists in a state that is higher than the level of the five aggregates,

Or conditioned phenomena.

They argue that the only reason the Buddha never referred directly to the existence of a true self is because those who have not attempted to practice meditation for themselves might misunderstand that the true self in Buddhism was the same as the one mentioned in the Upanishads.

References for these arguments are found in Tipitaka texts in versions as diverse as the Pali,

Sanskrit,

Chinese and Tibetan,

To mention but a few.

In fairness,

Though,

I should acknowledge that many scholars who assert that any mention of a true self in the teachings of Buddhism is heterodox or an outlier,

And they too have their own scriptural citations for their arguments.

The second bone of contention concerning Nirvana is over the real meaning of the words Atta and Anatta.

Confusion can arise in academic circles when scholars fail to contextualize technical terms in the scriptures.

Those unfamiliar with the literature assume that any given word will have the same meaning irrespective of where it appears in the scriptures.

However,

Since the Buddha was known to adapt his teaching to the character and needs of the listener,

Often identical words in the scriptures can have hundreds of different shades of meaning.

The technical terms Atta and Anatta are no exception.

Some say that the word Atta means self in the same way that Atman means self in the Upanishads.

Hindus teach that there is a self inside every one of us,

Which will ultimately be reunited with the Great Being or Param Atman.

And Buddhologists are afraid that if self is accepted as a legitimate Buddhist teaching,

It will be a concession to Hinduism.

In fact,

These fears are ill-founded because the word Atta has many possible meanings.

It can mean the ego,

Or equally the pronoun me or the possessive my.

It could also refer to the higher concept of me and my for an angel or a god.

The word Atta can also mean true self in an ultimate sense.

In the Digha Nikaya's Mahaparinibbana Sutta,

It is used in the sense that the Buddha declared Atta di pa viharati atta sarana ananya sarana Dhamma di pa dhamma sarana ananya sarana and I translate literally,

Take yourself as your island.

May you take yourself as a refuge.

Take no other thing as your refuge.

May Dhamma be your island.

May Dhamma be your refuge.

Take no other thing as your refuge.

In this case,

Atta obviously has a different meaning from the word Atta as used in the case of ego or the word Atman used in the Upanishads.

This is why in the study of the Tipitaka,

It is essential to distinguish the definition of the vocabulary we meet contextually for each occurrence.

For the word Anatta,

We need to be no less careful.

Here are those who believe the word Anatta means no self,

In other words selflessness,

And others who believe that it means not self,

In other words that which is not a self.

To compare it with the equivalent term Manuso,

Which means person,

The word Amanuso also exists.

Should it mean no person,

In other words personlessness,

Or not person,

In other words that which is not a person.

This gives a different angle when we look at the usage of the word self.

For example,

When the Buddha taught that the five aggregates or Khanda are not the self,

The implication is that the real self is elsewhere outside of the five aggregates.

This is why the Buddha taught us that the real self is our refuge,

And that you can attain that true self by the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness or Satipatthana,

By seeing the body in the body,

Feeling in the feeling,

Mind in the mind,

And the Dhamma in the Dhamma.

The third and final bone of contention is the interpretation of the words Sapetamma Anattā,

In other words all phenomenon are Anattā.

The debate is about the scope of the words Vamma or phenomena.

Some commentaries such as the Mahajula Royal Institute edition of the Jhulenitesa include Nirvana amongst the phenomena,

While others do not.

In those sources that don't include Nirvana as one of the Dharmas,

The scope of phenomena extends to nothing more than the five aggregates.

So depending on whether you include Nirvana amongst the Dharmas with a small d,

Nirvana will or won't be of the nature of non-self.

For each of the debates I've mentioned,

There are many supporting references from the primary sources in various languages.

There is analysis of each in comparison with the principal teachings of Buddhism.

There are conclusions of possible implications and conclusions from each side of the argument.

For example,

If there happens to be no self,

How can we explain the operation of the laws of karma between one lifetime and the next?

There's no consensus of opinion to the contrary,

But the lack of clarity does nothing to quench the ferocity of the debates.

For sure,

If you want to attain Nirvana,

Either as a state of mind or as a final resting place,

You have to practice the Noble Eightfold Path perfectly.

You need to perfect all eight components at the same time,

Whether it be right view,

Intention,

Speech,

Action,

Livelihood,

Effort,

Mindfulness or concentration.

Another way,

You need to uphold the precepts,

Which will give you right speech,

Action and livelihood.

You need to practice meditation,

Which will give you right effort,

Mindfulness and concentration.

You need to attain perfect wisdom,

Which will give you right view and intention.

Just like when you're cooking,

You need to add all the ingredients to turn your recipe into a meal.

In order to attain the Dhammakaya at the initial level,

In other words,

Dhammakaya Kodrabool,

You need to practice the precepts perfectly,

Even if your meditation and your wisdom are not so well developed.

If you develop your meditation further,

You will soon be able to see the Four Noble Truths,

For which you need precepts and meditation that are perfect,

While leaving your wisdom with a little room for improvement.

Once you get to the point where all three,

Precepts,

Meditation and wisdom,

Are perfect,

Only then do you have a chance to attain Nirvana.

So the practicality is that as your wisdom improves,

You'll be able to attain the Dhammakaya of an Arahant.

When an Arahant passes away,

Their physical body goes to the funeral pyre,

But their Dhammakaya will enter upon Anupati Sesa Nirvana,

And there will be no further rebirth for them.

In conclusion,

If you want to attain Nirvana,

You have to attain Nirvana that is inside yourself.

Only those who have practiced all the blessings up to this point,

With special emphasis on the strict practice of the Noble Eightfold Path,

Will have a chance of attaining Nirvana.

That said,

Buddhism is not an exclusive religion.

Anyone who has cultivated as many good deeds as the Buddha or the Arahants can,

Like them,

Enter upon Nirvana.

Anyone who practices the Noble Eightfold Path properly,

Will eventually attain Nirvana for themselves.

This is why,

Once we know Nirvana exists,

And know the method,

We should focus on attaining it,

In accordance with the guidelines laid out in this session,

By practicing good deeds,

Incorporating the Noble Eightfold Path,

Keeping the precepts,

Practicing meditation and accruing wisdom.

To finish off with a short but relevant scriptural story today,

About the degree of focus in meditation that may be required to attain Arahantship.

There was once a young man called Tissa,

Who inherited from a wealthy Kutumbiya or land-owning family in Savatthi.

He renounced a legacy of 400 million and became a monk dwelling in the forest.

His younger brother's wife,

Who had inherited the wealth in his place,

Was afraid that Tissa might change his mind and come home,

Asking for his fortune back.

She could not sleep in peace and therefore decided to send a gang of thugs to murder him.

The thugs went to where Tissa was meditating in the forest and surrounded him.

Tissa asked them what they wanted.

The thugs replied that they had been sent to kill him.

He didn't resist,

But begged them to spare his life for one further night,

To give him enough time to strive for enlightenment.

The thugs asked who would guarantee that he would not run away in the night.

Because there was no one else to play as his witness,

He picked up a stone and used it to break both his own thigh bones,

As a token that he would not attempt to escape,

Asking them whether that would be a sufficient guarantee.

Thugs grudgingly agreed to his conditions,

But they still built a fire nearby to keep an eye on him until dawn.

During the night,

He overcame his pain and,

Reflecting on the purity of his own self-discipline,

Meditated for the whole of the night until he was able to become an Arahant at dawn,

At which point he no longer cared whether the thugs killed him or not,

Because he had overcome suffering at its root.

So this session I have introduced to you Blessing 34 on the attainment of Nirvana.

You might wonder if there is anything left to study after attaining Nirvana.

And indeed what remains of the 38 blessings is mostly to do with the benefits accrued to those who have already got there.

So for my next session we'll move on to the first blessing of the final subgroup,

Number 35 on a mind invulnerable to the worldly vicissitudes.

Hopefully as a result of today's session you will feel better informed about Nirvana and how to attain it.

So this is me,

Buran Nicholas,

Signing off for today.

So long folks and stay safe.