It is good to hear that you are fully recovered, Yash.
- I will make some comments that could be helpful to the general audience. Some issues Yash raised are common.
Yash wrote: “I was confusing Nibbana as No Self and Annihilation without even realising it!”
1. This is a common confusion, especially since we frequently see “anatta” incorrectly translated as “no-self.”
- “Anatta” is not about a self. It is the third characteristic (feature) of everything about Nature. We pursue worldly things/pleasures with the wrong view/perception of “nicca” (pronounced “nichcha.” That means to engage in actions (with abhisankhara in mind) to pursue worldly pleasures. Such a view (ditthi) arises due to wrong perception (distorted sanna) about things in the world. Such pursuits only lead to more suffering in the future (dukkha). Thus, such efforts/actions are not fruitful and dangerous (anatta; pronounced “anaththa.”).
- That is how the three characteristics are related: anicca nature leads to dukkha, and at the end, when one is reborn in an apaya, one becomes helpless (anatta).
2. Even without the above mistranslation issue, the following is another problem. Whenever they hear that an Arahant will not be reborn, a sense of fear may arise in some: What will happen to me then? Will “I” disappear? Do I want that to happen to me?
- This is why it is better not to initially think about the Arahant stage. It is a step-by-step process.
- First, one must understand that craving for worldly things will only lead to suffering in the end. That may not happen to some in this life (we know drug dealers who live luxurious lives until they die.) That is why one cannot learn Buddha’s teachings without first seeing the validity of laws of kamma and the rebirth process.
- When one starts understanding the Paticca Samuppāda process, one realizes how each rebirth ends in suffering. Death is inevitable for any existence.
- That is when one slowly begins to realize that there is nothing like a “permanent soul.” Each rebirth is according to the types of kamma accumulated and prevailing conditions at the time of death.
- In this life one is human. But in the next life, it could be a Deva, Brahma, animal, or even a hell-being, depending on the type of kammic energies accumulated and the prevailing conditions.
- For example, Angulimala had accumulated enough kammic energy (in his last life itself) to be reborn in an apāya. But the meeting with Buddha changed the prevailing conditions. Within an hour after meeting the Buddha, he became a Sotapanna and that possibility disappeared. Then he became an Arahant within a few more weeks and the conditions for any rebirth disappeared (i.e., all ten samyojana were eliminated from his mind).
3. Thus, in the end it is the comprehension of the “true nature of the world” (yathābhuta ñāna) that leads to breaking the sansaric bonds (samyojana) and eliminating ANY future suffering.
- But getting there is a step-by-step process. It is a mistake to start with “what would happen to me at Arahanthod?” That question would not even arise as one progresses on the path.
- It starts with living a moral life and learning the “nature of the world” per the teachings of the Buddha. Then one would realize that everything in this world is a grand illusion based on “distorted saññā.” The perception of “me” or “I” is an illusion. However, just saying “I” or “me” doesn’t exist is insufficient (and could be dangerous, too). One must “see” that with wisdom (paññā.) It is also called “dhamma cakkhu.”
- It is not easy, but it is the only guaranteed way. One must be patient and follow the path step-by-step.
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P.S. I saw Christian’s comment after posting the above. It is quite correct.
- One must do a deep analysis to understand how “Venerable Arahant Culapanthaka became an Arahant.
