Liberation of The Destruction of Craving

On seeing a form with the eye, he does not crave after it if it is pleasing; he is not averse to it if it is unpleasing. He resides with mindfulness of the body established, with an immeasurable mind, and he understands as it actually is the liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom wherein those evil unwholesome states are eliminated without remainder.

Having thus abandoned favoring and opposing, whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant or painful or neither painful-nor-pleasant, he does not seek excitement in that feeling, welcome it, or remain holding to it. As he does not do so, excitement in feelings is eliminated in him.

With the elimination of his excitement comes elimination of clinging; with the elimination of clinging, elimination of existence; with the elimination of existence, elimination of birth; with the elimination of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure and despair is eliminated. Such is the elimination of this whole mass of discontentedness.

On hearing a sound with the ear… On smelling an odor with the nose… On tasting a flavor with the tongue… On touching a physical object with the body… On recognizing a mental object with the mind, he does not crave after it if it is pleasing; he does not become averse to it if it is unpleasing. With the elimination of his excitement comes elimination of clinging; with the elimination of clinging, elimination of existence; with the elimination of existence, elimination of birth; with the elimination of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair is eliminated. Such is the elimination of this whole mass of discontentedness.

Monks, remember this [discourse] of mine briefly as liberation of the destruction of craving.

(Reference: MN 38)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares “liberation of the destruction of craving”.

Craving/desire/attachment/wants/expectations/grasping/holding/clinging are words that we use which relate to the mind’s mental longing with a strong eagerness - the cause of discontentedness.

A primary goal of this Path to Enlightenment is to eliminate mental longing with a strong eagerness (craving/desire/attachment/wants/expectations/grasping/holding/clinging) from the mind in order to eliminate discontent feelings allowing the mind to reside peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy permanently - the Enlightened mind.

As long as the mind still has mental longing with a strong eagerness, it will experience pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings that are neither painful-nor-pleasant - discontentedness.

Craving through The Six Sense Bases, the mind is discontent but if the mind “does not crave after it if it is pleasing” seeking pleasant feelings and is not “averse to it if it is unpleasing” the mind can work towards liberation through eliminating, extinguishing, eradicating, and the complete destruction of craving.

In The Buddha’s Teachings on Dependent Origination, The Buddha explains how a being comes into existence and birth experiencing “this whole mass of discontentedness”. Dependent Origination is shared in detail in Chapter 14 of the book “The First Stage of Enlightenment (Stream-Enterer)” (Volume 5) where you can learn this important Teaching.

Here in this Teaching, Gotama Buddha is pointing to a portion of his Teachings on Dependent Origination explaining that when one eliminates feelings that craving does not come to be….then, “with the elimination of his excitement comes elimination of clinging; with the elimination of clinging, elimination of existence; with the elimination of existence, elimination of birth; with the elimination of birth, aging-and-death, sorrow, pain, grief, displeasure and despair is eliminated. Such is the elimination of this whole mass of discontentedness”.

This is a portion of his Teachings on Dependent Origination explaining the unraveling or destruction of birth, aging-and-death, through the elimination of craving which ultimately eliminates discontentedness where the mind is liberated, has attained Enlightenment, and there is no longer any rebirth.

There were four (4) observations that Gotama Buddha saw that led him to be motivated towards understanding the solutions to sickness, aging, and death. He also observed a roaming Ascetic where he ultimately decided to leave the royal palace and embark on a journey to understand the problems faced by human beings.

He discovered the truth through his independent journey to Enlightenment and shared these Teachings through dedicating the last 45 years of his life to guiding beings who chose to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings to attain the results of a liberated mind.

The Buddha solved the problem of the discontent mind figuring out exactly why the mind is discontent and the solutions to remedy the discontent mind. In solving the discontent mind, the solution that he also came to understand is sickness, aging, and death is caused by birth. If we are not born, we will not experience sickness, aging, and death. He observed The Cycle of Rebirth and how beings are trapped in a cycle of continuous wandering hindered by ignorance (unknowing of true reality).

It is only when we understand what we do not understand through acquiring wisdom in these Teachings that the mind can come to deeply understand the problems of the human mind through The Natural Laws of Existence, then skillfully implement the solutions as a prescription to the discontent mind. In applying The Teachings through dedicated training, the mind is liberated through the destruction of craving to eliminate discontentedness in the mind and at the same time, having eliminated craving the fuel that leads to rebirth, a being is no longer reborn into a new existence, thus, eliminating birth into a new existence.

A Practitioner who has attained Enlightenment has solved the discontent mind but has also solved the more significant problem that each being is facing in that one will no longer need to roam and wander through the five (5) realms of existence continuing to experience discontentedness and the misery therein.

Instead, the mind can experience complete peacefulness through the elimination of craving that leads to the elimination of discontentedness. An Enlightened being will no longer experience sickness, aging, and death also referred to as “The Deathless”. All “sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair is eliminated” and one can enjoy the remaining time of their last existence without any discontentedness and understand there will be no more rebirth to experience discontentedness ever again.

To accomplish this goal, one needs to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings to acquire wisdom. The mind is liberated through wisdom.