Realizing Cessation
February 08, 2023
The duty with regard to the third noble truth is to realize it, to realize that there is a dimension totally free of suffering. It’s unchanging, blissful, a type of consciousness that has no object, no restrictions: what the Buddha calls unrestricted awareness. And it’s the best thing there is. As Ajaan Maha Boowa once said, if you could take nibbana out and show it to other people, they wouldn’t want anything else. We don’t talk much about the duty with regard to this truth because it depends on doing the duties with regard to the other noble truths. In other words, you have to comprehend suffering, you have to abandon craving, and you have to develop the path before you can finally reach a realization of the third noble truth. In particular, the act of abandoning craving is part of the definition of the third noble truth itself
