The Path to Nibbana

by David C Johnson

  But, just continue and be patient with this sublimely quiet mind. Continue to observe without even caring about what comes up anymore. You have realized now there is nothing that “you” can do about it. "Patience leads to Nibbāna."

  This path is not just one step after another until you reach the goal. You will have doubts; you will get out of balance with your observational power. Then you will figure it out. Two steps forward and one step back.

  If you are not progressing further and you seem to hit a wall, you should ask yourself, your intuition, “What is stopping my meditation from going deeper?” The answer may come the next hour or the next day. Sometimes there are blockages that are hidden and simply not discoverable by the teacher if you are working with one, or by you.

  Hopefully, an answer will come back. You may be applying too much energy. You may need to back away further from everything. Or you may not be observant enough in seeing how the links arise, how you take things personally and identify with them. You may be leaning into the process too much.

  Bhante Vimalaramsi speaks about one student who asked himself this question. He just posed it to himself. Later, the answer came back that he was “waiting.” Waiting for what? “Waiting for Nibbāna.” The waiting was the problem. There was craving there, and that had to be released.

  Whatever is stopping you will eventually yield as your knowledge deepens. Sometimes this blockage can go on for a long time. Gradually, even if it takes years of retreats, you mature your technique and knowledge of how to do the practice.

  Some people will understand easily, follow the instructions, and apply them. In only a matter of days or weeks, they break through to awakening. They fall into the stream of the Noble Ones. Patience, and following the instructions precisely, does lead to Nibbāna!

  Let’s go to the Majjhima Nikāya to see even more clearly how the Buddha described this process in sutta 148, “The Six Sets of Six.” In the first 80 percent of the text, the Buddha describes the impersonality of each sense base as it arises and passes away. Nothing is you, consciousness is not you, your body is not you, and so on. Toward the end, he tells the students that as they observe, they will come to understand certain insights as well as why they arise.

  Liberation (from Sutta MN 148)

  MN:148 Section 40: “Seeing thus, monks, a well-taught disciple becomes disenchanted with the eye, disenchanted with forms, disenchanted with eye-consciousness, disenchanted with eye-contact, disenchanted with eye-feeling, disenchanted with eye-craving.”

  It says that now the student starts to pull away, starts to understand there is nothing in this arising and passing show in which to delight. What does the student really see here? The sutta tells us:

  MN148: Section 39: “Students, dependent on mind and mind-objects, mind-consciousness arises; the meeting of the three is mind-contact; with mind-contact as condition there arises a mind feeling felt as pleasant or painful or neither-pleasant-nor-painful.

  When one is touched by a pleasant mind-feeling, if one does not delight in it, welcome it, and remain holding to it, then the underlying tendency to lust does not lie within one.

  When one is touched by a painful mind-feeling, if one does not sorrow, grieve, and lament, does not weep beating one’s breast and become distraught, then the underlying tendency to aversion does not lie within one.

  When one is touched by a neither-pleasant-nor-painful mind-feeling, if one understands it as it is — the origination, the disappearance, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in regard to that mind-feeling — then the underlying tendency to ignorance does not lie within one.”

  As you watch mind and mind objects coming and going, you are interested in this process; you are delighting in this observation — in seeing how it all works. The feeling of delight is so subtle you may not understand it as such, but you do like watching it and trying to figure out why the process arises and what this all means.

  At times mind is kind of fun to watch. Through this “gratification” (which is defined as “source of pleasure”), you watch and try to get to the goal but you can’t. There is the tendency to lust after these arising and disappearing objects. Or you push them away as interfering with your calm — or you have indifference and don’t care about them. It is the craving mind that takes this indifference personally. It is your indifference. It is not a clear, pure mind.

  In other words, you see the arising and passing of many objects, and you are attracted. Then only if you see that these objects are sources of pleasure or aversion will you see the danger to your mind by chasing and lusting after them, as this leads to suffering, old-age, and death!

  When disenchantment arises, the Buddha goes on to say:

  MN:148 sections 35-39. “Monks, that one shall here and now make an end of suffering by abandoning the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant mind-feeling, by abolishing the underlying tendency to aversion for painful mind-feeling, by extirpating {up-rooting} the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-pleasant-nor-painful mind-feeling, by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge — this is possible.”

  By giving up your tendency toward delighting in this or that, and your tendency to lust after these delights, by seeing the danger in it and so on, you come to the end of desire.

  You no longer want to keep chasing these feelings as they only lead to suffering. And it’s not because you are forcing restraint on yourself, it is because you are no longer delighted by this “passing show.” You no longer care.

  Thus, dispassion to all phenomena arises through the knowledge of craving (the Four Noble Truths) and how craving leads to suffering. Freedom from the wheel of saṃsāra is experienced. All that had to be done is done. The door to Nibbāna is opening.

  Entering the Stream

  Now, we arrive at the attainments and how Nibbāna is experienced. First, I will describe the four levels of “noble attainments” to be experienced. You must go through all four to be fully awakened and free of craving. Craving drops away in stages.

  In total, there are four “stages of sainthood:” Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmī, Anāgāmī, and Arahant. Each of the four stages has two components. The Path Knowledge (magga) and the Fruition Knowledge (phala).

  Path Knowledge is the first glimpse of Nibbāna but still may be lost if precepts are not followed. Once the Fruit Knowledge is gained the attainment is locked in and cannot be lost.

  There are eight attainments in all to final awakening, two for each of the major stages of sainthood (path and fruit). At the last one the last fetter of all ten “fetters of craving” is destroyed.

  Three are eliminated at Sotāpanna, two more are loosened at Sakadāgāmī, and finally, all of the first five fetters are let go at Anāgāmi. The balance of the ten is eliminated at Arahant.

  What are the fetters? With awakening, the hindrances are abandoned once and for all. But there remain subtler, innate unwholesome tendencies in all of us that are born from craving. The word “fetter” is defined as something that restrains us. These are the final chains that bind us to this endless round of existences. The fetters are the last potentials of unwholesome states. I will list them as we go through the noble paths and note where they are eliminated.

  Chapter Fifteen: 1st Stage of Awakening — Sotāpanna

  MN:111 section 19. “Again, monks, by completely surmounting the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, Sāriputta entered upon and abided in the cessation of perception and feeling.

  Attaining Nibbāna – Path Knowledge (Magga)

  Finally, after staying with this quiet, energetic, imperturbable mind of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and 6Ring every tiny movement until mind is barely moving at all, you let go of the last condition, the last link of ignorance, and all activity ceases. Everything stops and an unconditioned state arises.

  There is the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness, for a few moments or minutes. You don’t know you’re in that state until after
you come out. Some will say they experienced a “blank spot” or a “gap” in consciousness. This is nothing like any of you previous jhāna experiences. It isn’t a gap with a sense of time because there is nothing missing — time doesn’t exist when nothing is happening — there is just the stopping of the stream of consciousness, a halting. You only know it after you come out of it. The world stops, you are no longer in saṃsāra — and it will last as long as it’s going to last.

  Does life still exist? Vitality and your life continuum still go on. Your autonomic functions like your heart beating and blood pumping continue. But your mental process has stopped completely.

  Before, there just existed slight movements of mind. But now with this temporary cessation of all mental activity there arises right after that a powerful clarity of mind. You have just had the deepest “rest” of your life. When you come back you are now seeing the subtlest movements, deeper than you have ever experienced. Mind appears like a totally erased blackboard. Nothing is on it. Then, when mind turns back on, the first mental process is clearly seen against this inky black background.

  Coming out of cessation, mind is radiant and observant. You have arrived at full stop. The effect of the cessation is so powerful that whereas before the pond of your mind had tiny little ripples on it, now it is so still and placid that you can see anything there — you can see to any depth what is below. There is no craving at all. There is no “dust” to obscure vision. Mind is so pure that you see the smallest detail of anything that starts to arise in crystal clarity. What you are about to see is the first arising of consciousness — the first moment of mental activity.

  As your mental processes begin again from this still point, the next thing that happens is that you see the links of dependent origination arise and pass away very quickly. These are sometimes in the form of vibrations or little lights, flashes, or electrical currents. You will see this in your mind and sometimes even see it in the air in front of you. You won't know what it is, very likely, and will not expect it. This is the first conditioned mental process in which your mind starts to vibrate again and come back “online.”

  When this happens, the eye of wisdom (mind without craving) sees the total impersonality of the process. There is no self there. Your deep observation understands that there is nobody home, that what “you” are is just a process of moments arising and passing away. As a result of this profound insight, the supra-mundane unconditioned Nibbāna arises.

  This experience will be followed by a momentary sense of relief like a burden was lifted off. You have just experienced Nibbāna! You have become a Sotāpanna.

  Nibbāna will not come when you want it — it will come when you are ready — when the seven factors of awakening all line up in perfect balance, like passing through the keyhole of the door. You didn’t think it could be possible, yet it happened.

  You see that, in this seemingly permanent and eternal psychophysical process, when mind stops, there really is nothing between each thought moment that persists. That knowledge leads you to understand that an impersonal underlies everything. There is nothing that is continuous between each moment, nothing that survives. Not even God. Nothing. Everything is absolutely void of self or soul.

  MN:111 section 19 cont. “And his taints were destroyed by his seeing with wisdom.”

  The word here is wisdom. So, what is wisdom? After the cessation of perception, feeling, and consciousness — and it's going to last as long as it will last — when feeling, perception and consciousness start up again, you have the opportunity of seeing exactly, clearly, with very sharp mindfulness, every one of the links of dependent origination. You will see how when this doesn't arise, that doesn't arise; that each link is dependent on the previous link. You will see that everything has a cause for arising. You have uncovered the last link of ignorance.

  You will also see that if it arises, it will come to an end. You will see impermanence clearly. All that arises will pass away whether it be pleasure or pain.

  This is wisdom. It is the knowledge that you gain by directly seeing the links of dependent origination arise and pass away and by seeing that there is no enduring self. This wisdom is not some sort of conceptual philosophy, some religious tenet or dogma — it is the result of seeing directly. When you see the word “wisdom” in the suttas, you should understand that this always means seeing the links of dependent origination directly and seeing everything that arises as impersonal. It isn’t learning a philosophy, it is directly observing reality.

  With the next mental process that arises, you will see the whole arising and passing away of all of the links of dependent origination for the duration of one instant. Then there is the final letting go of ignorance and seeing the Four Noble Truths; that is when Nibbāna occurs.

  It is just a momentary event and just one group of links firing. The links are seen with Wisdom's Eye. This takes place at a deeper level than normal awareness.

  People will say they don't know what they saw, but they will know. Their mind, to a greater or lesser degree, will be having insights arise into how there is a cause that creates a result. This constant arising and passing away of conditioned existence is the content of who we are — and that’s all there is. They will now understand at an intuitive level how dependent origination works.

  Each link is conditioned by the previous link. Each process is conditioned by the passing away of another process — like a candle flame that lights another candle. One candle burns down, but the next candle lights up, being ignited by the previous candle.

  Bit by bit “you” arise and pass away. You are changing little by little over time. Like a great city that arises from an empty piece of land. Each building arises one at a time. Each shovel of dirt carried off and dumped one at a time. With the constant arising and passing away of causes, this great city is built. The next shovelful of dirt taken away changes it once again. No one person has built it — just many shovels and people shoveling. It’s a process with no real beginning and no real end.

  We give cities names, but these are just concepts to label these groups of buildings. The perception aggregate of the five aggregates is part memory and part labeling. Perception is what puts a name on this group of buildings. It labels it either New York or San Francisco depending on what, for example, visual forms arise.

  In our own case, we are given a name, like John, and then we personally identify with that name as if some underlying entity were controlling everything. But it isn’t. It is just a concept.

  The city itself is not one solid thing. It is the result of all these causes that make it what it is — but in this instant only. In the next moment, it has changed to something else.

  In the same way, “you” are a completely impersonal process — there is no one or soul behind it. It is automatically happening and will continue forever into the future until you become fully awake and exit the wheel of saṃsāra. This is so profound that after these links pass away, Nibbāna arises just for an instant. In the suttas it says, “..and his taints were destroyed with wisdom,” meaning that Nibbāna arises right after you see the links of dependent origination, and it destroys a certain measured amount of craving. It destroys the first three, what are called, fetters.

  Step-by-Step Attainment of Nibbāna

  The cessation of feeling, perception, and consciousness occurs. This means that everything we consider a person stops. There is a blank state, a blackout or voidness. All mental activity stops. On an EEG one would guess the indicator flatlines for just a moment.

  Following the cessation, because of the incredible clarity created by the experience of cessation, the first mental activity — a set of twelve links — arises and passes away. They might be seen like bubbles or little flashing lights.

  Wisdom’s Eye observes utter and total impersonality in this first mental process as the links arise and pass away. With no craving to cloud mind, the links are seen as just an impersonal process with no inherent self. Just a group of neurons
firing! That is all “you” are!

  After the last link of ignorance passes away, Nibbāna arises.

  There is a feeling of Relief for a moment — a unique feeling in the mind that there has been a great burden thrown off.

  Joy starts to arise — all-pervading joy that can last for up to several days. It may continue longer, but sometimes you just get used to the state and don’t notice it anymore. Note that the Relief and the Joy that follows are different feelings. You should notice this difference.

  The first time Nibbāna occurs, many people will not recognize or see the twelve links, but they will have the experience of Nibbāna regardless. At the next level called Fruition, it is likely they will witness more clearly the links arising and passing away; fruition knowledge is much deeper. It happens in this way, for many people, when they experience the first path. The Sotāpanna Path Knowledge can have the cessation with the relief, but the links themselves just are not clear. They may report more often a blackout where they just “disappeared” and then came back.

  The Fruition will be attained later after they have practiced some more. This will cement in the attainment in a deeper way.

  Again, when wisdom arises, the first three of the ten fetters are eliminated in the First Path attainment. All of the fetters are fully abandoned after the attainment of full awakening, which is Arahantship.

  What is Nibbāna? Nibbāna is described in the Pāli texts as a dhātu or “element” (earth, air, fire, water, space and consciousness are elements as taught by the Buddha). The Nibbāna dhātu is also an element, and its other qualities are described by Bhikkhu Bodhi here:

  “The Buddha also refers to Nibbāna as an 'āyatana.' This means realm, plane, or sphere. It is a sphere where there is nothing at all that corresponds to our mundane experience, and therefore it has to be described by way of negations as the negation of all the limited and determinate qualities of conditioned things.