attainment of Nibbãna does not alter them in any way. For exam-
ple, those khandhas responsible for thought processes continue
to perform this function at the behest of their boss, the citta. By
nature, the release of vimutti is already freed of any intermingling
with the khandhas, the citta and the khandhas each existing as
separate, distinct phenomena, each one true within its own nat-
ural state. They no longer seek to deceive or disrupt one another.
Both sides exist peacefully in their distinct natural states, per-
forming their specific functions until, at death, each constituent
element goes its own separate way.^11
When the body finally dies, the purified citta attains yathã-
dïpo ca nibbuto: just as the flame in a lamp is extinguished when
all of the fuel is exhausted, so too goes the citta according to its
true nature.^12 Relative, conventional realities like the khandhas
are no longer involved with the purified citta beyond that point.
In truth, nothing of the relative, conventional world accompa-
nies this citta to create a cause for coming to birth in the future.
Such was the essence of Dhamma that arose in Ãcariya Mun’s
citta at the moment it completed the three revolutions expressing
its dynamic character. That was the final occasion when the rel-
ative reality of the khandhas and the absolute freedom of the citta
joined forces before finally separating to go their separate ways –
forever.^13
Throughout the remainder of that night Ãcariya Mun con-
sidered with a sense of dismay how pathetically ignorant he had
been in the past, being dragged endlessly from one existence to
another – like a puppet. He wept as he thought of how he finally
came upon a pool of crystal-clear, wondrous-tasting water. He
had reached Nong Aw,^14 that sparkling pool of pure Dhamma that
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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