What is Nirvana? Complete freedom!

Bhikkhu Bodhi (beyondthenet.net); Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha says that he teaches only two things, disappointment (dukkha, suffering) and the end-of-disappointment (nirvana).

That is, he only finds two kinds of questions important. "What is suffering?" and "How do we achieve the end of suffering?"

In the First Noble Truth the Buddha deals with the problem of disappointment. But this truth is the first word, not the final word, of the Buddha's Teaching, the Dharma.

It is the starting point. Here the Buddha begins by talking about the unpleasant, the miserable, which many of us might feel is hopeless or pessimistic.

Yoga Rave (artoflivingla.org)


• "Hey cheer up, Buddha, and party with us -- not that you would know anything about 'partying' having spent 29 years as a prince living in three massive party palaces full of dancing girls, fabulous food and drink, musicians, minstrels, and the surfeit of princely trappings. It was a right royal rave in your private kingdom somewhere between Egypt and India. Never mind about that then. Hey, Buddha, teach us! We want to be free! We want to be liberated from this lack-of-fulfillment, this misery without end. Show us the way!"

The Buddha begins with suffering because Buddhism is designed to bring about an end to ALL suffering. The Dharma, the Teaching, leads those who practice it to liberation.

Hey, A, please no Buddha selfies (AK)

In order to get us there, the Buddha gives a reason for seeking freedom. For example, if a person does not know that the roof is on fire, one lives in that house enjoying oneself, playing, joking, and laughing. To get someone to come out, that person must first become aware that the house is burning, a dangerous smoldering mass soon to collapse and engulf everyone inside.

In the same way, the Buddha announces that our lives are burning. They are burning with rebirth, old age (decay), sickness, and death -- full of loss, separation, weeping, doing anything we can to never think about it, to divert ourselves with addictive sensual delights which we lose, which are hard to come by, and which we are often willing to kill for, to steal, to engage in misconduct, to lie, and to become intoxicated to get. We find temporary relief through them but never gain release.

 

Meditation Barbie: breatharian Amatue

Our hearts/minds are aflame with greed (craving), hatred (fear and aversion), and delusion (confusion). It is only when we become aware of these perils that we have any chance of beginning to seek a way to release and freedom.

In the Second Noble Truth, the Enlightened One points out that we can do something about one of the causes of suffering and thereby undo all suffering. This weak link we can undermine is our craving, which we have been depending on for relief like drug addicts do their drug of choice.

Novices full of devotion (Dietmar Temps)

It is our insatiable desire for a world of sights, sounds, fragrances, flavors, touch sensations, and ideas. Since one of the causes of disappointment is craving (along with aversion and delusion, spelling out as the key in the 12 links of the dependent origination of suffering), the key to reaching the end of disappointment is to undermine this very painful craving.

In the Third Noble Truth the Buddha, therefore, explains nirvana (nibbana) as the extinction of craving because it results in enlightenment and the end of suffering. [To break the chain of dependently arisen suffering only takes breaking one link, and the Buddha saw that it was here with this link, this obsessive craving, that we could make a complete end of suffering].

In the Fourth Noble Truth, the Buddha explains how, namely, the Noble Eightfold Path.

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, what is Nirvana? What is the end-of-all-suffering? (Angelina K)

• Psychological Dimension of Nirvana
• Philosophical Dimension of Nirvana
• Nirvana is an existing reality
• Is Nirvana conditioned by its path
• Is Nirvana mere annihilation ?
• The story of the Turtle and the Fish
• Two elements of Nirvana
• Experience of an Enlightened Person
• State of an enlightened person after passing away
• Mind Stilled

Nirvana (definition) and the Turtle

Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanatiloka Thera (Anton Gueth) A Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines; Bhikkhu Bodhi "As It Is" (CD)

(Nathapol Boonmangmee/happySUN/flickr.com)

  

Awakening to knowing and seeing (happySUN)

Nirvana is hard to conceive or speak of because it is unlike anything in our conditional universe, but it can be directly experienced.

Once upon a time there was a turtle who lived in a polluted pond with many fish. For a long time the fish did not see the turtle. When they finally did they exclaimed, "Friend, turtle, where have you been? We have not seen you and were concerned!"

"I have been walking on dry land, friends!" the turtle answered.

"'Dry land'? What is this 'dry land' you speak of, turtle?

The wise eat the fruit of direct knowledge.

The turtle struggled for a comparison.

The fish were eager to help, "So this 'dry land' of yours, turtle, is it wet?"

"No, friends, it is not wet."

"Is it cool and refreshing, can you swim in it?"

"No, friends, it is not cool and refreshing, and you can't swim in it. And it's not polluted. Come and see for yourselves..."

Many are the dangers to conforming in "school" like the freshwater Ganges shark.

 

"Wait, turtle, it's not wet, not cool and refreshing, and you can't swim in it? And you say it's not polluted? Then we take it that this 'dry land' must be pure nothingness, nonexistence, annihilation, or complete fantasy!" the fish reasoned out loud each agreeing with the other. 

Pollution-free in the Allegory of the Pond

They did not go to see for themselves.

"That may, friends, that may be," the turtle replied and again went walking on dry land.

In no long time the water in the pond became so shrunken and polluted that a legend arose about the turtle and the wise instructions he had left behind to help them. But still no one went to investigate and see if the legend could be true.
  

DEFINITION

Buddhist Dictionary

Nirvana (Pali nibbāna) literally means to blow out (nir+ va, to cease blowing, to become extinguished), "extinction," the end of all suffering.

According to the ancient commentaries, it means "freedom from desire" (nir+vana). 

It constitutes the highest and ultimate goal of all Buddhist aspirations, namely, absolute extinction of greed, hatred, and delusion that clings to illusory separate or independent existence apart from the constituents of being (skandha, khandha, the Five Aggregates of Clinging). Final nirvana (parinirvana) is ultimate and absolute deliverance from all future rebirth, disappointment, old age, disease, and death, from every kind of suffering and misery.

 

"Extinction of greed, extinction of hate, extinction of delusion -- this is called nirvana (S. XXXVIII. 1).

 

This freedom has two aspects necessary to avoid confusion. (1) The full extinction of defilements (kilesa-parinibbāna), also called sa-upādi-sesa-nibbāna (see Itivuttaka 41), is "nirvana with the aggregates of existence still remaining" (see upādi). This takes place at the attainment of full enlightenment or sainthood. (See noble ones, ariya-puggala).

The Buddha by night with throngs of devotees and monastics, Thailand (happySUN/flickr)

 

(2) The full extinction of the aggregates of clinging (khandha-parinibbāna),also called an-upādi-sesa-nibbāna (see It. 41, A.IV.118), is "nirvana without aggregates remaining." 

In other words, the latter is the coming to rest, or rather the "no-more-continuing," of this psychophysical process of illusory existence. This takes place at the final passing of an arhat.

• The two terms defilement- (kilesa-) and aggregate- (khandha) final-nirvana (parinibbāna) are found only in the commentary; their corresponding two aspects sa-upādisesaand anupādisesa-nibbāna, however, are mentioned and explained in a sutra (Itivuttaka 44).

Sometimes both aspects take place at one and the same moment, as when one is passing away and practices very diligently, attaining full enlightenment and immediately passing away (see sama-sīsī). While this may sound strange or unusual or very technical, it is apparently sometimes easier to practice very close to death when everything clears away and there is a strong intention rooted in wisdom to finally be free of this endless cycle of rebirth.

Crossing over into the opposite of nirvana -- Bangkok -- Bhumibol Bridge (happySUN)

  
"This, O meditators, truly is the peace, this is the highest, namely the end of all formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving, detachment, extinction, nirvana."

(A. III, 32)

 

"Enraptured by lust, enraged by anger, blinded by delusion, overwhelmed, with mind/heart ensnared, one aims at one's own ruin, at the ruin of others, at the ruin of both, and one experiences mental pain and grief.

"But if lust, anger, and delusion are given up, one aims neither at one's own ruin, nor at the ruin of others, nor at the ruin of both, and one experiences no mental pain and grief. Thus, is nirvana visible in this very life, immediate, inviting, attractive, and comprehensible to the wise."

(A.III.55)

 

"Just as a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the wind, even so neither visible forms, nor sounds, nor fragrances, nor tastes, nor bodily impressions, neither the desired nor the undesired, can cause such a one [an arhat] to waver. Steadfast is one's mind/heart, gained is deliverance." 

(A.VI.55)

 

"Verily, there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed. If there were not this unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed, escape from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the formed would be impossible."

(Ud.VIII.3)

 

Wisdom dawns from behind clouds of obscuring delusion (happySUN/flickr.com)

  

But if there's no self? (HS)

One cannot too often and too emphatically stress the fact that not only for the actual realization of nirvana, but also for a mere theoretical understanding of it, it is indispensable to first grasp fully the truth of the impersonal nature of things, the egolessness and insubstantiality of all existence ("not-self," anattā). Without such an understanding, one will necessarily misconceive of nirvana -- according to one's materialistic or metaphysical leanings -- either as the annihilation of an ego, or as an eternal state of existence into which an ego or self enters or with which it merges. So it is said in an ultimate sense and not paradoxically: 

"Mere suffering exists; no sufferer is found. 

The deed [karma] is, but no doer of the deed is there.

Nirvana is, but not the one who enters it.

The path is, but no traveler on it is seen."

Path of Purification (Vis.M. XVI)

• Anattā and Nibbāna (Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Wheel 11)
• The Buddhist Doctrine of Nibbāna (Ven. Dr. P. Vajiranana and Francis Story, Wheel 165/166)

Huxley: Buddhism in the future ("Island")

Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Velma Lush (huxley.net), "The Influences of Eastern Philosophies in Aldous Huxley's Island"

The Parable of the Raft: No man is an island (dipa), so be a lamp (dipa) unto yourself, make a raft of the Dharma, and paddle to the further shore of nirvana (danitadelimont.com)

  

Aldous Huxley (biografieonline.it)

Aldous Huxley's utopian final novel, written in the 1960s and set on the fictional Buddhist island of Pala, offers psychedelic drugs ("moksha medicine") and tantric sex, but otherwise isn't fun.

In his last major work, Island, the evils Aldous Huxley has been warning us about in his earlier works -- over-population, militarism, coercive politics, mechanization, the destruction of the environment, and the worship of science will find their opposites in the gentle and doomed utopia of Pala (Woodcock 18).

 

Huxley [author of Doors of Perception] used his books to explore his struggles against personal tragedy and to search for the meaning of human existence. His interest in eastern philosophies and mysticism began in the early twenties with the study of Blake and Bohme.

 

His fascination with Eastern religion was one of the reasons he departed on a world tour in 1925. The island of Pala is probably one of the islands of the [historically Buddhist] Indonesian Archipelago.

 

In Island, Huxley's portrayal of the Palanese beliefs demonstrate principles of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. The beliefs, values, and struggles of a lifetime are combined to form this culmination of his life's work.

 

The Palanese culture, as described in the book, started with the mingling of Western science and Oriental philosophy, in the characters of Raja of the Reform and the Scottish physician, Dr. Andrew MacPhail. 

 

The Raja had hired Dr. MacPhail to remove a tumor from his face during the early 19th century. The Raja and Dr. MacPhail and their descendants worked together "to make the best of all the worlds -- the worlds already realized within the various cultures, and beyond them, and the worlds of still unrealized potentialities" (130).

 

Will Farnaby, a journalist whose boss also owns Southeast Asia Petroleum, finds himself shipwrecked on this island. Under two motivations, Farnaby asks and is given permission to stay for a month. Farnaby, or Huxley, is genuinely interested in learning the culture, not only for literary reasons, but to find out more about himself.

His second motive is to negotiate a lease between Southeast Asia Petroleum and the Palanese government, for which he will earn a large sum of money. At several points throughout the novel Farnaby feels guilty about betraying his guests. Farnaby comforts himself with the thought that if he didn't do it, somebody else would. The forces of history are working (84).

 

As in the Hindu philosophy outlined in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna explains to Arjuna that he is an instrument of the action; it is his fate or destiny to fight. The same holds true for Farnaby; his destiny has brought him to Pala for a reason.

Dr. Robert MacPhail, the grandson of the Dr. Andrew, suggests "to have a better understanding of what was actually done to develop the Palanese culture, you start by knowing what had to be done, what always and everywhere has to be done by anyone who has a clear idea of what's what" (34).

And so Farnaby begins his learning about Pala by reading the underlying principles of its existence, the Notes on What's What. The Palanese are described as Mahayanists Buddhists "shot through and through with Tantra" (74).

 

The first principle "Nobody needs to go anywhere else. We are all, if we only knew it, already there" (35) shows an element of Taoist philosophy.

 

The fictional version of Tantra can be interpreted as Taoism, since being a Tantrik means you don't denounce the world and try to escape into nirvana. You accept the world and everything about it. 

 

The Mahayanist Buddhist philosophy of the Palanese aims at the passage beyond suffering into the Clear Light of the Void [shunyata] of all living beings (nirvana), while living according to the Tao, appreciating and working with whatever happens during a person's life on earth.

Nirvana is a blissful state or freeness of mind. You can see the true essence of things; you can see their reality. The Palanese are taught to understand and appreciate life by being constantly aware of who you are in relation to all experiences. Over a thousand birds inhabit the island mimicking the word "attention," reminding people to pay attention to everything they do. From the beginning, children are taught to do things with a "minimum of strain and maximum of awareness" (145).

 

By the time children are 14, they've learned to get the best objectively and subjectively out of any activity (146). The Palanese make use of everything they do, everything that happens to them, all the things they see and hear and taste and touch, as a means of liberation (74).

 

By being fully aware of what you're doing, work becomes the yoga of work, play becomes the yoga of play, everyday living becomes the yoga of everyday living (152). One of the means of becoming aware of yourself in relation to the universe (being enlightened) is through "meditation." 

 

Meditation is considered "Destiny Control" since it opens your mind to an intuitive level to a greater understanding and awareness. The Palanese believe in the Buddhist philosophy that suffering is universal [i.e., that all conditioned phenomena are unsatisfactory], but one-third of it is sorrow inherent of the human condition and two-thirds is homemade as far as the universe is concerned (85).

 

Life is full of "changes and chances...beauties and horrors and absurdities" (26). Destiny Control cannot take away all the pain of suffering in bereavement, for that would make a person less than human (98). 

 

With meditation your mind can be "blue, unpossessed and open" (86), understanding that "man is infinite as the Void" (185). The body is merely a covering. The (Hindu and Buddhist) karma and (Taoist) mind of your loved one lives on [after death].

 

In their initiation into adolescence, Palanese youth climb a dangerous rock precipice to remind them of the presence of death and the essential precariousness of all existence. At the end of the climb, the children are introduced to moksha [liberation] medicine or revelation of life. 

 

Artist's rendering of the coming Future-Buddha Maitreya shrine (maitreyarelictour.com)

 

As outlined in the [Eastern] wisdom of China and India, enlightenment or nirvana, means divesting oneself of the illusions of the sensory world and constantly rising to a higher conception of an ideal world (Yutang 550).

The moksha medicine is described as the banquet of enlightenment, while meditation is considered dinner. During the moksha ceremony, the Lord of the Dance, Shiva-Nataraja, dances in all worlds, the world of the senses, the world of matter, the world of endless coming and passing away, and the world of Clear Light (170).

The flame can be considered representative of the "Tao" or thread that holds all the universe together. With the ceremony, the people understand the nature of their existence, the "One in plurality, the Emptiness that is all, the Suchness totally present in every appearance" (170). More

Nirvana and psychedelics

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, special thanks to Oliver Hockenhull

The Buddha smiling in stone (smiledesigners.co.in/osmanalar.girlshopes.com)

  

"Neurons to Nirvana"

Nirvana is a Sanskrit term (Pali nibbana). But the special meaning the Buddha gave to the word is confined to Buddhism. The word existed before the advent of Buddhism. The Buddha used it as a verb (action or occurrence), not as a noun (person, place, or thing). It means to liberate (moksha), the freedom following enlightenment (bodhi, "awakening").

Nirvana is also very technically called "the unconditioned element," indicating its special standing among all the myriad of conditioned (composite) elements that form heaps. The Buddha was taking particular aim at the illusion of "self" or "ego" that arises from clinging to the Five Aggregates (explained by Bhikkhu Bodhi).
 

Nirvana literally means "quenching" or "slaking" as of thirst or "blowing out" as of the painful fires of craving (tanha, literally "thirst"). The principal analogy spoken of is the "blowing out" of a dependently-originated candle flame.

 

In addition to "the end of suffering or disappointment," nirvana may also be defined technically as "the end of greed, hatred, and delusion." It is often confused, confounded, or misinterpreted with Brahminal/Hindu and even Mahayana notions of enlightenment as "pure or original consciousness."
 

It is in this sense that the makers of "Neurons to Nirvana" are using the term. Many ancient Indian philosophical/religious groups now loosely use the term nirvana, assigning to it their own definition. It is understood as being involved in yogic processes and may even be used as a synonym for the goal of Patanjali's "eight limbs" (ashtanga) of yoga, namely, moksha.
  

(zigzagzen.com

The makers of the film are understanding and placing the use of psychedelics in the arena of natural medicine, as ancient technologies of consciousness, as yogic and/or tantric practices.

Further information is available in the book ZigZag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics, which provides a fuller discussion of the intersection of the two. The essay by Dokushô Villalba Sensei -- a Soto Zen master, the founder and spiritual director of the Spanish Soto Zen Buddhist Community and of the Luz Serena ("Serene Light") -- is particularly excellent.

 

Zig Zag Zen
[This book is] a treasure trove -- inspiring, frightening, powerful, funny, eye-opening, and a source of great wisdom on a subject that our society finds endlessly confusing. - Mark Epstein

"[It is] a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of Buddhist practice." - Robert Thurman

"[It] touches all the high points... it is an important book." - Laura Huxley
 
"[It] challenges Western Buddhists to acknowledge their closeted psychedelic legacies, while confronting users with the troubling duality undermining any chemically dependent spiritual path." - Douglas Rushkoff

• READ NOW: FOREWORD by Stephen Batchelor, PREFACE by Huston Smith, INTRODUCTION by Allan Hunt Badiner.
• Edited by Allan Hunt Badiner; images edited by Alex Grey (30 color images, 240 pages).