Liberation - Philosophy Versus Buddhist Scriptures

Buddhist Truth 3; the Experience of Liberation

The four "noble truths" are prominent in Buddhism, and often quoted in short summaries to the religion. They are -

1. The reality of suffering, unsatisfactoriness. (dukkha)
2. The cause of suffering (samudaya dukkha)
3. The experience of Freedom, the end of suffering (nibbana, dukkha nirodha)
4. The Way to Freedom, the Way of Being Free (magga)

From my many years experience of Buddhism, daily meditation and the spiritual path, it seems to me that this four fold theme is significant to those interested in spirituality and being a better person, with fewer problems, less addictive behavior and more satisfaction. These themes are worthy of attention.

In my article "Suffering - Philosophy vs Buddhist Scripture", I explored truths 1 & 2, comparing traditional scripture with more useful ideas about suffering and its causes, and discussed scripture and references. Truth 3?

The Experience of Freedom

This is set up as the Goal and Purpose. We learn to reconnect with the inner wisdom within us that intuitively knows Freedom, the Way to Freedom and the Way of Being free in daily life. How do you experience this Freedom? What experience do you have in restoring it to your life? What has worked for you and what has not worked?

The Freedom we seek is uplifted with hope, cleansed with forgiveness, radiant with joy, opened with good will, guided by clarity and wisdom, driven by dedication and energy, strengthened with confidence and competence, well regarded with the right attitude, cultivated with diligent patience, praised from experience, and filled with gratitude for its blessings. And it has many more such blessings and qualities. What else can you think of?

In my article introducing satipatthana practice, I list the Qualities of Freedom at length.

Traditional Buddhist Scripture

"The Word of the Buddha", by Ven. Nyanatiloka, 1970, was a core text for my studies at the Buddhist Society of Victoria, and at Bodhinyana Monastery, near Perth, W.A. It comprises key Buddhist scriptures that quote the historical Buddha. It is available online at the buddhasociety website, for your study.

I have selected and condensed the key message of each scripture so quoted, based on my Buddhist training. I find the message of these scriptures chosen by Nyanatiloka best describes the underlying thinking of Buddhist monks; that I discovered from my monastic training.

It quotes the historical Buddha from eight different scriptures, to describe the end of suffering - "The end of suffering is the end of desire, the abandonment of desire and Freedom from desire. (DN 22 and especially SN 56. 11)

Overcome suffering by regarding all worldly pleasure and delight as miserable (dukkha), unreliable (anicca) and not your own (anatta). (SN 12. 66)
When desire ends, so also does clinging. The situation does not recur (bhava), and so suffering is avoided. (SN 12. 43)

Freedom from suffering (nibbana = nirvana) is true Peace, the Highest. It is the end of desire and attachment. (AN 3. 32)

Greed, hate and delusion causes ruin and suffering. Their extinction is nibbana. (AN 3. 55 & SN 38. 1)

Freedom from suffering is being quite unmoved by sensory delight, and there is nothing more to do in life. (AN 6. 55)

Where there is nothing solid, fluid, warm nor moving, where there is no sun nor moon, where there is no birth nor death; this is the end of suffering." (Udana 8. 1)

Comment

It is true that the desire to get something that's unavailable, or the desire to get rid of something that's unavoidable (SN 56.11; 1st truth), is a common cause of suffering. But this is misdirected desire. It is the misdirection that is the problem, not the desire itself.

The pedantic will say that the scholars use the word craving, not desire to translate suttas DN 22 and SN 56. 11. But from my extensive experience of Buddhism, I know that to choose the word desire in this context better explains Buddhist thinking on this matter.

True, grasping too tightly or too loosely to our ties and relationships can also cause problems. But again, the problem is the wrong grip to your anchor rope, not the grasping itself.

It is hardly wise to view freedom from suffering as the end of desire or death. Desire is the driving force behind all human interest and endeavor. And craving is just a more urgent desire because the need is more real.

Problems are often caused by inadequate determination, commitment, or interest in either building up some positive, supportive thing, or facing and resolving problems. They also can be caused by lack of connections and ties to the outside world, so that the necessary help is not available.

To teach that paradise comes after death can exclude it from life.

To think that there can be effective determination, commitment and interest without desire, or there can be effective ties and connections without attachment is just confusion.

This issue of encouraging detachment in mediators is important. Such people often turn to meditation in a big way because they lack sufficient ties and connections to other people and the outside world.

We could choose to ignore these dangerous traditional ideas, and just enjoy the peace and quiet of Buddhist meetings, venues and meditation, especially meditation retreats. Let those who hold strange ideas keep them!

Or we could consider some pertinent questions about the Experience of Being Free.
What needs to end for our Liberation to become real? What is the unconditioned, the immortal, the unmanifested? What has the Christian concept of God got to do with this? Can nibbana (= nirvana) be permanent? What about contemporary wisdom?

According to tradition, the first thing the historical Buddha said about freedom was : "The experience of Liberation is to be realized. It does not come from what we have read or heard. Rather, understanding and vision of it arises within the core of your being. The light of its finding arises within." (The First Sermon, SN 56.11)

Nibbana = nirvana; The Source of Freedom

The Unconditioned, The Unmanifested, The Unborn The Undying.
To those on the spiritual path, it is clear that there is more to happiness and the end of suffering than just conditions and skills that one has succeeded in attaining and retaining. This 'something else' goes beyond skills and conditions, and is at the heart of spirituality.

The special qualities of forgiveness, determination, clarity, hope, good will and the many others might seem to originate from external conditions and our skills. But just suppose that these very Qualities actually arise from somewhere else, somewhere deep in the very core of our Being. A place quite independent of conditions and skills. From the unconditioned, the unmanifested, the unborn, the undying?

Suppose our spiritual practice does not actually cultivate these Qualities of Freedom, but rather removes the obstacles that block our access to them.

Suppose the Source of Liberation was unconditioned i.e. not effected by external factors. If so, then we only need to withdraw our attention from external factors and the noise making of the mind, and we can reconnect with this Source. Many people do this. Some write of it.

Perhaps this Source is not just in the 'chosen few', but resides in all people?. Perhaps it is not even limited to the human form as well.

If the Source of these beautiful Qualities was unmanifested to the busy mind, then all we have to do is to train the mind to cease being the Ruler, and return to its proper state of useful servant. Then we can easily free ourselves from the perpetual noise making of the mind which drowns out these very Qualities and our understanding of their Source.

If the Source of these important Qualities was the undying, the unborn then they will not depend on age nor be effected by the aging process. They will be in us when we are very young and very old, if only we can reconnect to them. Consider the happy playfulness of the child which is uninhibited by social prohibitions, and their lack of well educated opinions on doctrine. The Christ points to children, and declares they do have a place in the Realm of Liberation (Matt 18:4 & 19:14)

If we adopt the perception that our True Nature was this Source of Freedom, would this not assist our spiritual practice?

True, we have basic needs of food, water, shelter, territory, procreation just like animals. We do have an animal side to us, but is there not more than this?

There is only one way to find out for yourself. Take on the training and go through the necessary transformation.

God

Nibbana also means the unconditioned. The historical Buddha talked of something that is the unconditioned and the unborn (Udana 8,3), and that is the solution to the problems of the mortal of the conditioned.

A monotheist calls the Source God. This God is immortal, and largely independent of worldly affairs. Nearly all westerners who are monotheists are Christian. Christian description of the Source is quite clear, and summed up in the Nicene or Apostolic Creed. This Creed is the foundation of Christianity, and each clause is profoundly important to the belief system.

"We believe in one God, maker of heaven and earth, the Father the Almighty ...
"We believe in Jesus Christ, of immaculate conception, whose crucifixion brings Salvation, who descended to Hell but arose on the third day ..."

These are clear cut ideas, but unfortunately only supported by Christians. So they are inherently divisive, thus defeating the Founder's original intention : to unite the community with his Teachings.

This divisiveness is aggravated by the first Christian Commandment - "Thou shall not have any other Gods before me. For I am your Lord and a jealous God, and shall punish ..." (Exod 20)

It is wise to use the word 'God' only sparingly. "The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse." (p 13, Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle)

Be Still

The Old Testament says "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psm 46:10)
If the "I Am" means consciousness and our true nature, and "God" means the Source of spiritual liberation, then the above passage rereads "Be still, and know that your True Nature is the Source of Freedom."

What happens when you cease to identify with your thoughts, emotions and your body, and start to identify with consciousness instead? Put your attention on that ability you have to impartially observe the very thoughts and emotions that seemed so compelling and significant? Try Being that ability, instead of being caught up in thoughts and emotions. Does this still your mind and give a sense of release?

Our True Nature and Shakti Gawain's Teachings

Shakti Gawain teaches us to recognise our many selves in her book 'Awakening,' 1991. In the third chapter, which is entitled March, she presents these as the protector, the pleaser, the perfectionist, the pusher, the critic, and healing these imbalances. But in April she talks of the inner child, who is vulnerable, playful, magical and wise, and how to uncover your inner child. In May she talks of being in Nature, and attending to the needs of our body; breath, nourish, exercise and sleep, and listening to these real needs of our body. She says we have an 'animal nature' too. In June she talks of relationships, including sexuality and relations between the sexes in August. She talks of addictions and nourishment in July.

This illustrates how multifaceted our True Nature is, as human Beings. Shakti is contemporary, and a pioneer in the field of personal growth who travels the globe leading workshops. Millions of copies of her books have been sold worldwide.

A Permanent Nirvana?
The ego always wants to appear impressive, worthy of praise and emulation, when it encounters other egos. It wants to appear to be generous, clever, strong, respectable, confident. So it is always trying to hide its defilements, and appear liberated. I discuss the ego at length in my article on Impermanence and Not-self.

The reputation of being permanently enlightened is extremely attractive to the ego. If not for oneself, at least for the man in charge of your organization, or even his teacher or his collaborators.

Buddhist tradition implies that Buddha's enlightenment is permanent. This elevates the directors, and lends status to the belief system. But it also puts enlightenment beyond the reach of the ordinary members. Can you honestly say that it is possible for you to feel liberated all the time?

The tradition that nibbana is permanent is a vital control tactic for the elite. They take the Goal of the Spiritual Path out of the hands of the ordinary people, and invest this precious Goal securely with the senior monks. This builds dependency. The senior clergy are very careful to never get upset when unquestioning supporters are present, and this suggests a kind of vacuum of emotions, implying some kind of permanent nibbana.

Even Christian tradition claims that the nourishment (called food and water in the scripture) provided by the Christ will quench thirst and hunger permanently, for it gives "eternal life" (John 4:13 and 6:34.)

But the notion that enlightenment could be permanent goes against the essential nature of the human being. Sometimes we feel forgiving and confident that we see things clearly, but these very Qualities of Freedom will pass, will fluctuate. As conditions change, so will the strength of these Qualities.

For this reason, Buddha wisdom points to the movement of emotions and other Qualities of the human being, trying to help us accept how these Qualities will move and change. This is the teaching of anicca or impermanence. Paradoxically, the more we can accept the passing of a quality like tolerance, the quicker it may return, provided we retain our True Goal and Purpose.

Nyanatiloka quotes from 11 different suttas to define and describe nibbana. But none of these quotes support this elitist notion that nibbana is permanent.

The Fourth Truth ; The Way of Being Free.
Having discussed the nature and source of liberation, we also should consider the Path or Way of Being free in or daily life. I will discuss this in my articles on satipatthana practice.