What is the meaning of enlightenment?VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH. In a conversation with an old brahmin, the Buddha once correctly explained the meaning of a Buddha, an enlightened being: What we have to know, we know. What must be given up, I have given up. What must be accomplished, I have accomplished. So, Brahmin, I am a Buddha. These are not only the three characteristics of a Buddha but the same three goals we aim for when living according to the Buddha's teachings. We practice according to the Dharma in order to fully know what we should know; give up what should be given up; and what achievements should be achieved. These are the goals of the Buddhist path and are the three marked achievements of enlightenment. What is " must know what should know" ? What we have to know, what we have to understand, that's what's closest to us, is what is often called our selves. What we refer to as ourselves is a complex of body and mind. For most people, from birth to death, our minds turn outward, engaged in a tireless quest for pleasure and sensory satisfaction, to lift self-elevation, to establish our consciousness, of the ego. Very few people stop and turn around to consider the question: "Who am I? What call me "?. However, if you think for a moment, you will find that this is the most important question we can ask. Therefore, our first task in living according to the Buddha's teachings is to examine, check what we call "I", "what is I", "mine". We often take these terms to refer to a kind of persistent entity, a self. A substantial ego possesses a true identity, but what Buddha asked us to do is see what is found when we seek reference of the terms, "I", "with me", "mine". When we search, investigate, what we find are only components of physical and mental experience, which the Buddha classified into the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formality, consciousness. They are called the five sets of clinging because they are the things that we often cling to like: "This is me", "This is mine", "This is my self". Our task in following the teachings of the Buddha is to understand the true nature of these five aggregates. Hence, we know that that constitutes our identity. From birth, through adulthood, through old age, until death - this whole process of life is just a procession of the five aggregates. The meaning of enlightenment The second task that the Buddha posed to us is " giving up what should".What should give up is defilement. The Buddha uses the word kilesas as a term that encompasses all the mental states that cause suffering and unhappiness in our lives. Unwholesome mental states are called kilesas. These words can be translated as defilement because they bring suffering. It can also be translated as defilements because they defile and degrade the mind. The Buddha analyzed the nature of defilements and beautifully explained the three basic defilements which are greed, hatred and delusion. Our task in obeying the teachings of the Buddha, in the practice of the Dharma, is to overcome, eliminate, and give up the defilements of greed and hatred that give rise to many other defilements. But greed and hatred ultimately come from ignorance or ignorance. And therefore in order to eliminate all defilements, we must eliminate ignorance. Ignorance is what covers the five aggregates, which need to be known. Therefore, the way to overcome ignorance is through the first "Know what to know" task. When we know what we have to know, ignorance disappears - and then greed, hatred, and all other defilements disappear. However, just by wanting to do it, it is impossible. We cannot simply think, "I want to know that must know" and it is immediately known. That is why the whole Buddhist practice is a journey on one path. The wonderful gift that the Buddha gave to the world is not simply a profound philosophy, not simply a very deep mentality, but a practical, systematic step-by-step path that we can practice in order. To cultivate the path means "accomplishing what must be accomplished". That is the third thing that the Buddha said in his verse: "What must be accomplished, I have been accomplished". So what the Buddha accomplished is what we must accomplish. The path is structured in such a way that it proceeds not suddenly, and in a step-by-step manner to help us climb the ladder to ultimate freedom of enlightenment. One must begin by keeping the coarser manifestation of impurity under control. This is done by observing the precepts, the Five Precepts or the Eight Precepts. They control the more gross manifestations of defilements, how defilements erupt or erupt in the form of unwholesome actions. We must then pay attention to practice. When we try to observe the mind, we gain insight into the workings of our own mind. By understanding the workings of the mind, we gradually change the form of the mind. First, we are starting to scrape off the soil where the unwholesome roots have been removed. This process is not quick or easy, but requires gradual, persistent and conscientious effort. When one practices consistently, the mind will eventually settle into steady concentration. It acquires the skills necessary to remain stable on an object, without wavering, and this provides opportunities for wisdom to arise. Wisdom is the third quality that needs to be developed. Wisdom comes through examination, through investigation. When one has developed a strongly concentrated mind, one uses that mind to observe the five aggregates. When observing, he looks directly at their true nature, at the true characteristics of the phenomenon. In general, he sees the arising and disappearance of the five aggregates for the first time, seeing their impermanence. The person finds that because they are impermanent, they cause dissatisfaction. There is nothing worth holding on to them. And because they are impermanent and unsatisfied, one cannot identify with any of them as an actual being or self. This is the empty or non-self nature of the five aggregates. This marked the arising of true wisdom. With insightful wisdom, he cuts deeper and deeper into the roots of ignorance until he fully understands the nature of the five aggregates. In doing so, the person may say that he "already knew about what to know". And by fully knowing what to know, "renounce" afflictions , and "must be accomplished" paths . One then realizes that it is necessary to realize, the extinction of suffering right here and now. And in the words of the Buddha, it is the mark of an enlightened being.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.13/4/2021.