Causes of suffering- 5 skandhas, tanha and ignorance
Arising of suffering is outlined in the Paticca Samupadda
Dukkha is the outcome of a process that starts with ignorance and ends with death and rebirth
When free from ignorance, we see into the causes of dukkha and the cycle of dependent origination goes into reverse with wisdom as an outcome
When we have attained nibbana, we are awakened to the truth and are free from dukkha
Nirodha is the stopping of tanha and the relinquishing of desires
It is like blowing out a candle
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Nibbana
Beyond ordinary human experience
It is ineffable- 'like describing colours to a blind person' (Cush)
They avoid saying anything positive about nibbana as this limits what cannot be limited
They often use negative descriptions for example tanhakhaya (extinction of tanha), deathless ( free from samsara) and unconditioned (free from the chain of conditions of Paticca Samupadda)
Described as an Island, a refuge/shelter and a medicine
It is the quenching of the fires of passion- an enlightened being no longer grasps at things and so craving has ended
Therevandin- arahant, Mahayana- bodhisattva
Buddha gained enlightenment and kept teaching for 45 years until his death
Having destroyed all causes of rebirth they cannot be born again
'Beyond rather than after death' Harvey
Buddha- the mind of an arhant is as 'deep, immeasurable and hard to fathom as is the great ocean'
Unborn, unconditioned, blissful reality participated in during life and continued in after death
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