illness, death, separation from objects we love,
association with those who are repugnant, craving for what cannot be
obtained.

123. Q. _Do these differ with each individual?_

A. Yes: but all men suffer from them in degree.

124. Q. _How can we escape the sufferings which result from
unsatisfied desires and ignorant cravings?_

A. By complete conquest over, and destruction of, this eager thirst
for life and its pleasures, which causes sorrow.

125. Q. _How may we gain such a conquest?_

A. By following the Noble Eight-fold Path which the Buddha discovered
and pointed out.

126. Q. _What do you mean by that word: what is this Noble Eight-fold
Path?_ (For the P[=a]l[=i] name see Q. 79.)

A. The eight parts of this path are called _angas_. They are: 1.
Right Belief (as to the law of Causation, or Karma); 2. Right Thought;
3. Right Speech; 4. Right Action; 5. Right Means of Livelihood; 6.
Right Exertion; 7. Right Remembrance and Self-discipline; 8. Right
Concentration of Thought. The man who keeps these _angas_ in mind and
follows them will be free from sorrow and ultimately reach salvation.

127. Q. _Can you give a better word for salvation?_

A. Yes, emancipation.

128. Q. _Emancipation, then, from what?_

A. Emancipation from the miseries of earthly existence and of
rebirths, all of which are due to ignorance and impure lusts and
cravings.

129. Q. _And when this salvation or emancipation is attained, what do
we reach?_

A. NIRV[=A]NA.

130. Q. _What is Nirv[=a]na?_

A. A condition of total cessation of changes, of perfect rest, of the
absence of desire and illusion and sorrow, of the total obliteration of
everything that goes to make up the physical man. Before reaching
Nirv[=a]na man is constantly being reborn; when he reaches Nirv[=a]na
he is born no more.

131. Q. _Where can be found a learned discussion of the word
Nirv[=a]na and a list of the other names by which the old P[=a]l[=i]
writers attempt to define it?_

A. In the famous Dictionary of the P[=a]l[=i] Language, by the late
Mr. B. O. Childers, is a complete list.[1]

132. Q. _But some people imagine that Nirv[=a]na is some sort of
heavenly place, a Paradise. Does Buddhism teach that?_

A. No. When K[=u]tadanta asked the Buddha "Where is Nirv[=a]na," he
replied that it was "wherever the precepts are obeyed".

133. Q. _What causes us to be reborn?_

A. The unsatisfied selfish desire (Skt.,