Meditation on the Ultimate Truth of Cessation – Key Vocabulary

Purpose of the Meditation

• Prevent satisfaction with only temporary relief from specific sufferings.
• Aim for permanent cessation of suffering and its root (self-grasping ignorance) ⇒ \text{Nirvana}.
• Fulfils Buddha’s advice in the Sutra of the Four Noble Truths: “You should attain cessation.”

Key Concepts

• Temporary vs. Ultimate Cessation
  • Temporary relief is deceptive and finite.
  • Ultimate cessation = irreversible end of all suffering and its causes.
• Cycle of Suffering (Samsara)
  • Endless rounds of sickness, ageing, death, rebirth.
  • Requires strong renunciation, as exemplified by Buddha.
• Supreme Goal
  • “Supreme permanent peace of mind” & “pure, everlasting happiness of enlightenment.”

Motivation for Practice

• Daily activities (wealth, health, environment) solve problems only briefly; new and greater dangers keep arising.
• Human rebirth uniquely combines:
  • Freedom from gross obstacles (e.g.
  animal incapacity for Dharma).
  • Necessary conditions for hearing, contemplating, and meditating on spiritual teachings.

Object of Contemplation

• Develop a firm determination to realize the ultimate truth of cessation through personal experience.
• When this determination becomes heartfelt and stable, it is the object of meditation.

Actual Meditation Technique

• From the heart, reflect:
  “I should not be satisfied with a merely temporary cessation of particular sufferings, which even animals can experience. I must realize the ultimate truth of cessation, the supreme inner peace of Nirvana, through my own experience.”
• Hold this determination single-pointedly, as long as possible.
• Repeat the session continually; translate the resolve into daily actions.

Practical Outcome

• Cultivates renunciation and unwavering pursuit of Nirvana.
• Ensures current human life is used to secure permanent freedom rather than transient comfort.