(These notes for Lecture 6 are humbly offered by watthai.net in place of Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi's original notes which have been lost).

Key to reaching end of Dukkha - eliminate tanha (craving).
Conflict between desire and reality.
Illusory nature of happiness thru fulfilling desire.
True approach to happiness is eliminating desire
Extinguishing the flame of craving, escape from the forest of craving (as written in the Pali scriptures)

Does Nibbana signify only the extinction of defilement and liberation from Samsara (the round of rebirths), or does it signify some reality existing in itself  ?

Key words used in the Suttas to designate existing reality :-

1. Dhamma
• Conditioned Dhammas - arising, transformation, falling away phases.
• Unconditioned Dhammas - only one actuality, the supreme Dhamma Nibbana.
2. Ayatana - a realm or sphere.
3. Dhatu (element) - Amatadhatu - the deathless element Nibbana
4. Pada (state) - Amatapada - the deathless state Nibbana
5. Sacca (truth) - The supreme noble truth Nibbana

Distinction between Nibbana itself and the attainment of Nibbana :-

Nibbana itself is unproduced, unoriginated, always in existence - but by following the path, by reaching enlightenment you realize Nibbana, you discover something already existing.

Terms used by the Buddha to refer to Nibbana :-

• Negative expressions (what it is not) - to show that Nibbana is :-
1. transcendental, beyond all conditioned phenomena
2. desirable, the end to all states of suffering
3. to be attained by eliminating the defilements
• Positive expressions
1. the unexcelled, the final goal, the ultimate
2. the supreme happiness
3. other terms stressing the uniqueness and profound nature of   Nibbana
• Poetic and metaphorical terms
1. the island
2. the cave, the shelter, the refuge
3. the further shore

The 2 Nibbana elements and the experience of the Arahat in Pali literature :-

1. element with a residue remaining
• Concerned for both his own welfare and all living beings
• Immeasurable loving kindness and boundless compassion.
• Has sovereignty over all the workings of his mind.
• His acts are not Kamma, they are mere activities
• He enjoys perfect understanding, complete realization
2. element without a residue remaining
• Attained with his passing away, the breakup of the body.
• Passing away of the Arahat is a final and complete passing away of the conditioned existence, does not lead to a new birth, is not the death of a self
• No more rebirth, his mind freed from craving and clinging.
• Khandhaparinibbana - Nibbana consisting in the extinguishing of the 5 aggregates
• State of the Arahat after death ? - invalid question according to the Buddha