[beckercpa]

...my understanding that life was like a cycle with births and rebirths until one reaches enlightenment and the cycle is broken; Nirvana was a recurring theme in the textbook that I read. I understood the process as you live and die and repeat the cycle until you attain enlightenment and proceed to live in Nirvana thus breaking the cycle of lives. Is this completely wrong or not?

hi

as mentioned, there are two levels of understanding, one which encourages non-harming (morality) and another which encourages enlightenment

kind regards

Two Kinds of Language

There are two languages: Dhamma language and everyday language. Everyday language is based on physical things and on experiences accessible to the ordinary person. Being based on the physical rather than the spiritual, it serves only for discussion of physical, worldly matters and situations. It serves only for the tangible things perceived under ordinary everyday circumstances.

By contrast, Dhamma language has to do with the mental world, with the intangible, non-physical world. In order to be able to speak and understand this Dhamma language, one must have gained insight into the mental world. Consequently, only people who have seen Dhamma, the Truth, speak the Dhamma language, the language of the nonmaterial mental world which is above the physical.

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Now, going a little higher, we come to the word "birth" (jati). In everyday language, the word "birth" refers to physically coming into the world from the mother's womb. A person is the born physically only once. Having been born, one lives in the world until one dies and enters the coffin. Physical birth happens to each of us only once. This birth from the mother's womb is what is meant by "birth" in everyday language.

In Dhamma language, the word "birth" refers to the birth of the idea "I" or "ego" that arises in the mind throughout each day. In this sense, the ordinary person is born very often, time and time again; a more developed person is born less frequently; a person well advanced in practice (ariyan, noble one) is born less frequently still, and ultimately ceases being born altogether. Each arising in the mind of "I" in one form or another is called a "birth". Thus, birth can take place many times over in a single day. As soon as one starts thinking like an animal, one is born as an animal in that same moment. To think like a human being is to be born a human being. To think like a celestial being is to be born a celestial being. Life, the individual, pleasure and pain, and the rest-all these were identified by the Buddha as simply momentary states of consciousness. So the word "birth" means in Dhamma language the arising of the idea of "I" or "me," and not, as in everyday language, physical birth from the mother's womb.

Two Kinds of Language Two Truths Doctrine

The Awakened One, best of speakers,
Spoke two kinds of truths:
The conventional and the ultimate.
A third truth does not obtain.

Therein:
The speech wherewith the world converses is true
On account of its being agreed upon by the world.
The speech which describes what is ultimate is also true,
Through characterizing dhammas as they really are.

Therefore, being skilled in common usage,
False speech does not arise in the Teacher,
Who is Lord of the World,
When he speaks according to conventions.

Khathāvatthu Aṭṭha kathǎ Mn. i. 95 [Theravadin Commentary] The Leash

The Blessed One said: "Monks, from an inconstruable beginning comes samsara [cycling]. A beginning point is not evident, although beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are roaming around & wandering on

Just as a dog, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way, an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.

He assumes feeling to be the self...

He assumes perception to be the self...

He assumes (mental) fabrications to be the self...

He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.

He keeps running around and circling around that very form... that very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications... that very consciousness. He is not set loose from form, not set loose from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... not set loose from consciousness. He is not set loose from birth, aging & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses & despairs. He is not set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.

But a well-instructed disciple does not assume form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.

He does not assume feeling to be the self...

He does not assume perception to be the self...

He does not assume fabrications to be the self...

He does not assume consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.

He does not run around or circle around that very form... that very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications... that very consciousness. He is set loose from form, set loose from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... set loose from consciousness. He is set loose from birth, aging & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses & despairs. He is set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.

Gaddula Sutta: The Leash