                                PREFACE
                                =======
  
  
    To study ancient texts is like visiting a foreign city:  Time & 
  inclination determine whether you want a quick, pre-packaged tour of 
  the highlights, a less structured opportunity for personal 
  exploration, or both.  This book on the connotations of the words 
  nibbana (nirvana) & upadana in the early Buddhist texts is organized 
  on the assumption that both approaches to the topic have their merits, 
  and so it consists of two separate but related parts.  Part I, The 
  Abstract, is the quick tour--a brief survey to highlight the main 
  points of the argument.  Part II, The Essay, is a chance to make 
  friends with the natives, soak up the local atmosphere, and gain one's 
  own insights.  It takes a more oblique approach to the argument, 
  letting the texts themselves point the way with a minimum of 
  interference, so that the reader may explore & ponder them at leisure.  
  Part I is for those who need their bearings and who might get 
  impatient with the seeming indirection of Part II; Part II is for 
  those who are interested in contemplating the nuances, the tangential 
  connections & the sense of context that usually get lost in a more 
  structured approach.  
  
    Either part may be read on its own,  but I would like to recommend 
  that anyone seriously interested in the Buddha's teachings take the 
  time to read reflectively the translations that form the main body of 
  Part II.  People in the West, even committed Buddhists, are often 
  remarkably ignorant of the Buddha's original teachings as presented in 
  the early texts.  Much of what they know has been filtered for them, 
  at second or third hand, without their realizing what was added or 
  lost in the filtration.  Although the quotations in Part II, by their 
  sheer length & numbers, may at times seem like overkill, they are 
  important for the context they give to the teachings.  Once the 
  teachings have context, one can have a surer sense of what is true 
  Buddha Dhamma and what are filtration products.
    
    This book has been many years in preparation.  It began from a 
  casual remark made one evening by my meditation teacher--Phra Ajaan 
  Fuang Jotiko--to the effect that the mind released is like fire that 
  has gone out:  The fire is not annihilated, he said, but is still 
  there, diffused in the air; it simply no longer latches on to any 
  fuel.  This remark gave me food for thought for a long time 
  afterwards.  When I came to learn Pali, my first interest was to 
  explore the early texts to learn what views they contained about the 
  workings of fire, and how these influenced the meaning of 
  nibbana--literally, 'extinguishing'--as a name for the Buddhist goal.  
  The result of my research is this book.
    
    Many people have helped in this project, directly or indirectly, 
  and I would like to acknowledge my debts to them.  First of all, Phra 
  Ajaan Fuang Jotiko, in addition to being the original inspiration for 
  the research, provided me with the training that has formed the basis 
  for many of the insights presented here.  The example of his life & 
  teachings was what originally convinced me of Buddhism's worth.  A.K. 
  Warder's excellent Introduction to Pali made learning Pali a joy.  
  Marcia Colish & J. D. Lewis, two of my professors at Oberlin College, 
  taught me--with no small amount of patience--how to read & interpret 
  ancient texts.  Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, Donald Swearer, John Bullitt, 
  Margaret Dornish, Robert Ebert, Michael Grossi, Lawrence Howard, & 
  Doris Weir all read earlier incarnations of the manuscript and made 
  valuable suggestions for improvements.  I, of course, am responsible 
  for any mistakes that may still remain.
    
    Finally, I would like to dedicate this book in gratitude to my 
  father, Henry Lewis DeGraff, and to the memory of my mother, Esther 
  Penny Boutcher DeGraff, who taught me the value of truth, inner 
  beauty, & goodness from an early age.      
  
                      Thanissaro Bhikkhu
                      (Geoffrey DeGraff)
                      
  
  Metta Forest Monastery
  August, 1993
    
  
  
  
  
  
                             ABBREVIATIONS
                             =============
  
  
  Vedic Texts:
       AV        Atharva Veda
       BAU       Brhadaranyaka Upanisad
       ChU       Chandogya Upanisad
       KathU     Katha Upanisad
       KauU Kausitaki Upanisad
       MaiU      Maitri Upanisad
       RV        Rg Veda
       SvU       Svetasvatara Upanisad
  
  Pali Buddhist Texts:
       A         Anguttara Nikaya
       D         Digha Nikaya
       Iti       Itivuttaka
       Khp       Khuddaka Patha
       M         Majjhima Nikaya
       Mv        Mahavagga
       S         Samyutta Nikaya
       Sn        Sutta Nipata
       Thag      Theragatha
       Thig      Therigatha
       Ud        Udana
  
  
  
    References to D, Iti, Khp, M are to discourse (sutta).  The 
  reference to Mv is to chapter, section and sub-section.  References to 
  other Pali texts are to section (samyutta, nipata or vagga) & 
  discourse.
  
    All translations are the author's own.  Those from the Pali Canon  
  are from the Royal Thai Edition  (Bangkok:  Mahamakut Rajavidyalaya, 
  1982).
    
    Terms marked in the text with an asterisk (*)are explained in the 
  End Notes.
  
    Because Pali has many ways of expressing the word 'and,' I have--to 
  avoid monotony--used the ampersand (&) to join lists of words & short 
  phrases, and the word 'and' to join long phrases & clauses.
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