When the Lord Buddha had finished his explanation of the origin of suffering, he continued with an explanation of the cessation of suffering. The essence of what he taught, based on the Pali is that the extinguishing of craving in the mind is by means of practising the Noble Eightfold Path, that craving is to be removed by means of the Noble Eightfold Path and that liberation from craving is to be achieved by having no further attachments. All of these are elements are of what the Lord Buddha called the 'cessation of suffering'.

The root of suffering is craving

The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering [dukkha-nirodha] concerns the extinguishing of craving. There are those who wonder why this Noble Truth should deal with the extinguishing of craving rather than dealing directly with the extinguishing of suffering. However the Lord Buddha wished to extinguish not only the symptoms of suffering, but suffering at its roots. If the practitioner wishes to remove all forms of suffering (from the suffering of birth onwards) he must not forget that the suffering experienced in life is but the branches and twigs of a tree which has already grown up, but to get rid of the suffering in a way that it will not grow up again, it is not enough simply to cut off the branches and the twigs - the tree must be completely uprooted - that is craving, the root of suffering, must be extinguished first.

Extinguishing Suffering means Extinguishing Craving

The necessity of dealing with craving as the origin of suffering instead of dealing with suffering alone can be compared to a clever lion, continuously hunted down by a hunter with a gun. The lion could ensure its safety by seizing the hunter's gun - but the safer alternative is to seize the hunter. For as long as the hunter is still alive the lion is at risk. It is no use for the lion to waste his time with the bullets or the gun. Similarly, the explanation of the cessation of suffering by the Lord Buddha deals entirely with uprooting craving. The Lord Buddha could be compared to the lion and craving to the hunter with his gun. Suffering was like the bullets from the hunter's gun. Thus the practitioner who wishes to be liberated from all suffering in the cycle of existence should follow the Buddha's example, dealing with suffering at the root and extinguishing craving.

Every Buddha who has arisen in the world has had the mission to uproot craving - but where the Buddhas are said to conduct themselves like lions, other persuasions of ascetics are said to conduct themselves no better than dogs. The nature of dogs is to scavenge and to seize anything they find without any consideration for what the owner might think. In the same way, ascetics who practice various sorts of self-mortification only add to their own suffering - they sleep on the ground, on thorns, some sit surrounded by fires, some stare at the sun until dusk - all with the belief that such practices will lead them to an end of suffering - but without realizing that it is only adding to their suffering. Thus it is compared to a dog who seizes whatever it likes from the owner without taking any interest in what the owner may throw at it.

Buddhists who practise properly, with earnest and perseverance, will eventually be able to remove craving by its roots. In this respect, it can be compared to a gardener who must remove weeds in his garden, not just picking the stems and leaves but pulling the weeds up by their roots so that they cannot regenerate. In this parable, the gardener can be compared to practitioners who strive in Buddhist practice. The garden can be compared to the six senses and their sense objects [aayatana] which are the breeding ground of craving.

Thus the Lord Buddha taught that craving is the root of all suffering - if craving can be extinguished then all forms of suffering (from the suffering of birth onwards) can be extinguished too.

How can Craving be extinguished?

The Lord Buddha taught that if we can overcome our greedy attachments to the things we love in the world, craving can be overcome too. Thus we can see that the target for our practice is to uproot the state of attachment - if we can succeed in uprooting attachment, we can uproot craving too. Craving is engrained at all levels of the sensory processing of our mind. There are a total of ten stages in the sensory process and six sensory channels - giving a total of sixty places (a group of mental phenomena known as the 'Objects of Sensual Delight and Pleasure' [piyaruupa saataruupa] where craving can lurk!

Our sense organs [ajjhattikaayatana] are implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. If we want to extinguish the craving arising because of attachment to visual temptations, then we have to extinguish them at the eye. In the same way, if you want to overcome the attachment to pleasures coming via the other senses (sounds, perfumes, tastes, touches and inner experience that falls short of enlightenment) then you have to overcome them at their respective sense organs (ears, nose, tongue, body and mind).

Moreover, the sensual objects [baahiraayatana] are implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. As attachment to things has roots in the objects themselves, we have to extinguish them also, at the object itself. If we are attached to certain pleasurable sights then we have to extinguish attachment at that visual object too. In the same way, if you want to overcome the attachment to pleasures coming via the other senses (sounds, perfumes, tastes, touches and inner experience that falls short of enlightenment) then we have to overcome them at their respective objects (sounds, perfumes, tastes, touches and inner experience that falls short of enlightenment).

Moreover, our consciousness [vi~n~naa.na] is implicated in our attachment to sense pleasure. By consciousness, we mean the awareness of the objects arising in the senses. Each of the senses has its own channel of consciousness - therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - visual consciousness [cakkhu-vi~n~naa.na], auditory consciousness [sota-vi~n~naa.na], olfactory consciousness [ghaana-vi~n~naa.na], gastatory consciousness [jivhaa-vi~n~naa.na] tactile consciousness [kaaya-vi~n~naa.na] and mental consciousness [mano-vi~n~naa.na].

Moreover, the contact [samphassa] between the three previous factors - senses, sense objects and sense-consciousness - is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sense-contact therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - visual contact [cakkhu-samphassa], auditory contact [sota-samphassa], olfactory contact [ghaana-samphassa], gastatory contact [jivhaa-samphassa] tactile contact [kaaya-samphassa] and mental contact [mano-samphassa].

Moreover, the pleasurable feeling [vedanaa] arising from the aforementioned contact is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sense-feeling therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - visual feeling [cakkhu-vedanaa], auditory feeling [sota-vedanaa], olfactory feeling [ghaana-vedanaa], gastatory feeling [jivhaa-vedanaa], tactile feeling [kaaya-vedanaa] and mental feeling [mano-vedanaa].

Moreover, the perception (sensory registration) [sa~n~naa] arising from the aforementioned feeling is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sense-perception therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - visual perception [ruupa-sa~n~naa], auditory perception [sadda-sa~n~naa], olfactory perception [gandha-sa~n~naa], gastatory perception [rasa-sa~n~naa], tactile perception [pho.t.thabba-sa~n~naa] and mental perception [dhamma-sa~n~naa].

Moreover, the volition concerning our sensual objects, or our choice of sensual objects or our will directed at sensual objects [sa~ncetanaa] arising from the aforementioned sensory registration is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sense-volition therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - volitions concerning visual images [ruupa- sa~ncetanaa], volitions concerning sounds [sadda-sa~ncetanaa], volitions concerning perfumes [gandha-sa~ncetanaa], volitions concerning tastes [rasa-sa~ncetanaa], volition concerning bodily sensations [pho.t.thabba-sa~ncetanaa] and volition concerning of the mental objects [dhamma-sa~ncetanaa].

Moreover, the craving [ta.nhaa] concerning our sensual objects arising from the aforementioned sensory volitions is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sense-craving therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - craving concerning visual images [ruupa-ta.nhaa], craving concerning sounds [sadda-ta.nhaa], craving concerning perfumes [gandha-ta.nhaa], craving concerning tastes [rasa- ta.nhaa], craving concerning bodily sensations [pho.t.thabba-ta.nhaa] and craving concerning of the mental objects [dhamma-ta.nhaa].

Moreover, the thought-conception [vitaka] concerning our sensual objects arising from the aforementioned sensory craving is implicated in the attachment we have to sensual pleasures. Again, each of the six senses has its own channel of sensory thought-conception therefore there are a further six areas in which the practitioner needs to extinguish craving - thought-conception concerning visual images [ruupa-vitaka], thought-conception concerning sounds [sadda-vitaka], thought-conception concerning perfumes [gandha-vitaka], thought-conception concerning tastes [rasa-vitaka], thought-conception concerning bodily sensations [pho.t.thabba-vitaka] and thought-conception concerning of the mental objects [dhamma-vitaka].