Q27. When people are satisfied with Nibbāna, how do we speak of that satisfaction?

~ By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~

We Buddhists teach that we ought not to go about liking and disliking, finding satisfaction in this and dissatisfaction in that. So if someone finds satisfaction in Nibbāna, what are we to call that?

Concerning satisfaction in Nibbāna, we have terms like dhamma-rāga (passion for Dhamma) or dhamma-nandi (delight in Dhamma). There may be some alarm in hearing the use of a Pāli word like rāga (lust) together with the word ‘Dhamma.’ Here we must understand that the rāga in dhamma- rāga isn’t the kind that desires visual objects, sounds, odors, tastes, and tactile stimuli. Dhamma-rāga isn’t sensual lust. Though it means satisfaction as intense as that which ordinary householders find in sensuality, in this case the satisfaction is found in emptiness, in deathlessness, in Nibbāna.

Currently, many of us fear and hate Nibbāna, not wanting to go near it. Just hearing the word we shake our heads. So we have no desire for or delight in Dhamma or Nibbāna. Our desires are all directed towards sensuality: colors and shapes, sounds, odors, and tastes. To be fair and just, we ought to find as much satisfaction in Nibbāna as we now find in colors and shapes, sounds, odors, and tastes. Then our practice for transcending suffering will go easily. These words dhamma- rāga and dhamma-nandi were used by the Buddha in this sense.

(From “Buddha-Dhamma for Inquiring Minds”)

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Buddha-Dhamma for Students (title of original translation) was composed of two talks given by Ajahn Buddhadāsa in January 1966 to students at Thammasat University, Bangkok. It was translated from the Thai by Rod Bucknell, and revised in 2018 by Santikaro Upasaka. To read/download as free ebook (pdf).

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For all English retreat talks, visit Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu.

For more information and free ebooks, visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation.

Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives E-33