his Parinibbãna. Ãcariya Mun began by paraphrasing the Buddha’s
instructions: Monks, heed my words. All sankhãra dhammas are sub-
ject to change. They arise, evolve, decay, and then pass away, so you
should always remain diligent in your practice. He then explained
the essential meaning of this passage.“The word ‘sankhãra’ in the Lord Buddha’s pacchima ovãda refers to
the highest Dhamma. He gathered together all conditioned things
in the word ‘sankhãra’, but he wished at that time to emphasize
the internal sankhãras above all others.^11 He wanted the monks
to see that these sankhãras are important because they are samu-
daya – the cause of dukkha. They are the factors that disturb
the citta, causing it to languish in a state of delusion where it
never experiences a tranquil, independent existence. If we inves-
tigate such sankhãras – being all of our thoughts and concepts
from the most vulgar to the most refined – until we fully com-
prehend their true nature, they will then come to an end. When
sankhãras come to an end, nothing remains to disturb the citta.
Although thoughts and ideas do still arise to some extent, they
merely follow the natural inclination of the khandhas – khandhas
that are now pure and unadulterated. They no longer conceal any
form of kilesa, taõhã, or avijjã. Comparing it to sleep, it is equiva-
lent to a deep, dreamless sleep. In this case, the citta is referred to
a ‘výpasama citta’; that is, a tranquil citta completely devoid of all
remnants of the kilesas. The citta of the Lord Buddha and those of
all the Arahants were of just such a nature, so they harbored no
aspirations to attain anything further. The moment the kilesas are
extinguished within the citta, a state of purity arises in their place.
This is called sa-upãdisesa-nibbãna.^12 That is the precise moment