乾县铁佛寺移动版

QUESTION: But how does wanting and craving lead to physical suffering?

ANSWER: A lifetime of wanting and craving for this and that and especially the craving to continue to exist creates a powerful energy that causes the individual to be reborn. When we are reborn, we have a body and as we said before, the body is susceptible  to   injury  and  disease;   it  can   be  exhausted   by  work;   it  ages  and eventually dies. Thus, craving leads to physical suffering because it causes us to be reborn.

QUESTION: That's all very well. But if we stopped wanting altogether, we would never get anything or achieve anything.

ANSWER: True. But what the Buddha says is that when our desire, our craving, our constant discontent with what we have and our continual longing for more and more does cause  us  suffering, then we should stop doing  it.  He  asked  us  to  make  a difference between what we need and what we want and to strive for our needs and modify our wants. He taught us that our needs can be fulfilled but that our wants are endless - a bottomless pit. There are needs that are essential, fundamental and that can be obtained and we should work towards this. Desires beyond this should be gradually lessened. After all, what is the purpose of life? To get or to be content and happy?

QUESTION: You have talked about rebirth, but is there any proof that such a thing happens?

ANSWER: There is ample evidence that such a thing happens but we will look at this in more detail later on.

QUESTION: What is the Third Noble Truth?

ANSWER: The Third Noble Truth is that suffering can be overcome and happiness attained. This is perhaps the most important of the Four Noble Truths because in it the Buddha reassured us that true happiness and contentment are possible. When we give up useless craving and learn to live each day at a time, enjoying without restless wanting the experiences that life offers us, patiently enduring the problems that life involves without fear, hatred and anger, then we become happy and free. Then and only then, are we able to live fully. Because we are no longer obsessed with satisfying our own selfish wants, we find we have so much time to help others fulfil their needs. This state is called Nirvana.

QUESTION: What or where is Nirvana?

ANSWER: It is a dimension transcending time and space and thus is difficult to talk about or even to think about, words and thoughts being only suited to describe the time-space dimension. But because Nirvana is beyond time, there is no movement, no friction and so no aging or dying. Thus Nirvana is eternal. Because it is beyond space, there is no causation, no boundary, no concept of self and no self and thus Nirvana is infinite. The Buddha also assured us that Nirvana is an experience of great happiness. He said:

‘Nirvana is the highest happiness.’ Dhp.204

QUESTION: But is there any proof that such a dimension exists?

ANSWER: No, there is not. But its existence can be inferred. If there is a dimension where  time  and  space  do  operate  and  there  is  such  dimension  -  the  world  we experience - then we can infer that there is a dimension where time and space do not operate - Nirvana. Again, even though we cannot prove Nirvana exists, we have the Buddha's word that it does. He told us:

‘ There is an  Unborn, a Not-become, a Not-made, a Not-compounded. If there  were  not  this   Unborn,  Not-become,  Not-made,  Not-compounded, there  could  not  be  an  escape  from  what  is  born,  become,  made,  and compounded. But since there is this Unborn, Not-become, Not-made, Not- compounded, there is an escape from  what is born, become, made and compounded (责任编辑：admin)