The third noble truth in the Buddha’s four-fold strategy of problem solving is the truth of cessation of suffering (སྡུག་བསྔལ་འགོག་པའི་བདེན་པ་). This offers the solution to the problems outlined in the first two truths. Having recognized the problem of suffering and traced its causes, the Buddha highlights the solution he has realized, i.e., the state of freedom from suffering. The Buddha realized this state of freedom from suffering under the Bodhi tree after adopting the Middle Way and through seeing the nature of things with penetrating insight. According to the Buddha, this state is characterised by bliss, non-conceptuality, clarity, and a deep sense of peace.
In Buddhist literature, this state is attributed with various names, each with a particular nuanced meaning. It can be the state of nirodha (འགོག་པ་) or cessation of suffering, mukti (གྲོལ་བ་) or liberation from existential bondage, mokśa (ཐར་པ་) or freedom from suffering, bodhi (བྱང་ཆུབ་) or enlightenment, śanti (ཞི་བ་) or peace, and nirvāṇa (མྱང་འདས) or transcendent state of being ‘snuffed out’ like a candle. The state of liberation, nirvāṇa, is described as being tranquil, blissful, enlightened, and transcendent. When one is fully released from the clutches of craving, ill-will, and ignorance, one stops the cycle of rebirth, thereby bringing an end to suffering.
Mahāyāna Buddhist classics present the state of nirvāṇa in three forms. First, when a person cultivates insight enough to overcome the three poisons of craving, hatred, and ignorance, he or she reaches the state of an arhat (དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ་) and attains what is known as nirvāṇa with remainder (ལྷག་བཅས་མྱང་འདས་). Such a person has eradicated the causes of suffering and will not engender further rebirth and suffering but will still undergo the results of the actions committed in the past. The second form is when that person dies and goes through the dissolution of aggregates, s/he reaches nirvāṇa without remainder (ལྷག་མེད་མྱང་འདས་) as there is nothing left from the past actions and no further existence is produced. When a person reaches the state of perfect enlightenment or Buddhahood, which transcends both existence and ordinary nirvāṇa, the person is said to have reached the third form, that of non-abiding nirvāṇa (མི་གནས་པའི་མྱང་འདས་).
The state of cessation of suffering—popularly called enlightenment—is associated with many qualities, including tranquility, composure, mental stability, clarity, joy, clairvoyance, mental pliability, purity, knowledge, and insight, as well as a lack of mental confusion, agitation, turmoil, or stress. The perfect enlightenment of the Buddha is further attributed with great compassion, omniscience, great powers of miracles, strength, and confidence. In brief, enlightenment is when a person eliminates afflictive emotions and negative actions and actualizes the full positive potential of the human mind.
Among the many values associated with the third noble truth, the idea of freedom is considered the most outstanding value and that which Buddhists seek as their ultimate goal, just as do followers of many Indic traditions. As followers of the Buddha, it is important to aspire for and cultivate freedom, which includes economic freedom from basic needs like hunger and thirst, cultural freedom from unhealthy inhibitions and taboos, social freedom from injustices such as racism and caste-based biases, political freedom from subjugation and oppression, psychological freedom from negative emotions and thoughts, and existential freedom from the cycle of craving for existential becoming. The third noble truth, thus, epitomizes the Buddha’s solution to problems in life in the form of freedom and liberation from negative and undesirable things and thoughts. It is both a virtue and a spiritual state, which one must seek as the ultimate goal.
Karma Phuntsho is the Director of Shejun Agency for Bhutan’s Cultural Documentation and Research, the President of the Loden Foundation and the author of The History of Bhutan. The piece was initially published in Bhutan’s national newspaper Kuensel in a series called "Why We Do What We Do."