Reviewing the Third Noble Truth

This talk continues a review of the Four Noble Truths, with a focus on how the mind is liberated from dukkha through dissolving the potency of craving and clinging, the topic of the Second Noble Truth.  Various views relevant to the Third Noble Truth are described, such as sunnata, translated as emptiness, and anatta, the […]

This talk continues a review of the Four Noble Truths, with a focus on how the mind is liberated from dukkha through dissolving the potency of craving and clinging, the topic of the Second Noble Truth.  Various views relevant to the Third Noble Truth are described, such as sunnata, translated as emptiness, and anatta, the absence of an enduring/autonomous self, which is another way to understand sunnata.  Different approaches to the experience of Nibbana, the Unconditioned, are reviewed, either through cultivating highly developed levels of concentration called jhanas, or through what is called “dry vipassana”, insight into the nature of craving and clinging and either liberating the mind momentarily, through letting go, or ultimately, through realizing Nibbana.  The traditional Theravada understanding that four levels of experiencing Nibbana are required for total liberation is also reviewed.

Here are the notes prepared for this talk:  Reviewing the Third Noble Truth

Next week’s talk will begin a step-by-step review of the Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path.