Achieved Is The End Of Craving - Joseph Goldstein

A dharma talk where Joseph Goldstein explains the Buddha's teachings on how craving and grasping lead to suffering.

The Buddha's Song of Victory (Enlightenment):

Through many a birth I wandered in samsara,
Seeking, but not finding the builder of this house.
Painful it is to be born again and again.”

“O house-builder! You are seen.
You shall build no house again.
All your rafters are broken.
Your ridgepole is shattered.”

“My mind has attained the unconditioned.
Achieved is the end of craving.”

[Builder: craving]
[House: body (the five aggregates)]
[Rafters: defilements]
[Ridgepole: ignorance]
~ Dhammapada verses 153-154

The Tanha Sutta (Craving):
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipita...


"Although it might look as if we are following the instructions given in the texts, or we are trying to do the right thing by following the guidance of the teacher, if there is that “me” (ahaṃkara, the “I-making” element) and “mine” (mamaṃkara, the “mine-making” element), then we are in the grip of those presences, of bhava-taṇhā and vibhava-taṇhā. It’s “me” trying to be concentrated; “me” trying to enter jhāna; “me” trying to develop insight; “me” getting rid of “my” defilements; “me” trying to quieten “my” chattering thoughts, “me” trying to become a stream-enterer. Me, me, me, me, me! And that can be so familiar, so common, so ordinary, and so unremarkable that it can take over all the effort being made. The whole effort and intention can be compromised by that I-making and mine-making habit. We’re not aware. We think we are doing all these wholesome things, and carrying out the practice and following the instructions. But unconsciously and unknowingly we are feeding the causes of suffering. We’re feeding the sense of self. We’re building more of a quality of self-view."
~Ajahn Amaro ( The I-Making, Mine-Making Mind: https://link.springer.com/article/10....)
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When perception is stronger than mindfulness, we recognize various appearances and create concepts such as “body,” “cat”, “house,” or “person”… On some clear night, go outside, look up at the sky, and see if you can find the Big Dipper. For most people that is a familiar constellation, easy to pick out from all the other stars. But is there really a Big Dipper up there in the sky? There is no Big Dipper up there. “Big Dipper” is a concept. Humans looked, saw a certain pattern, and then created a concept in our collective mind to describe it. That concept is useful because it helps us recognize the constellation. But it also has another, less useful effect. By creating the concept “Big Dipper” we separate out those stars from all the rest, and then, if we become attached to the idea of that separation, we lose the sense of the night sky's wholeness, its oneness. Does the separation actually exist in the sky? No. We created it through the use of a concept. Does anything change in the sky when we understand that there is no Big Dipper? No.
~Joseph Goldstein
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The gift of the Dhamma excels all gifts;
The taste of the Dhamma excels all tastes;
Delight in the Dhamma excels all delights.
The eradication of Craving overcomes all sorrow.