Nirvana

No doubt the Buddhists will pile in on this one but from what I understand any "attainment method" would be self defeating.

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Re: Nirvana

pseudokinetics wrote:

How do you attain Nirvana? Has it been attained since Siddhartha Gautama?

People claim they get it when they eat PIZZA. I am one of them. :wink:

.... Jokes apart but I dont think anybody has acheived it yet since Buddha.

There is one guy who is trying for the same.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/graphics/2005/11/21/wbuddha21.jpg

Read abt him here ...

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Quote:

No doubt the Buddhists will pile in on this one but from what I understand any "attainment method" would be self defeating.

I'm no Buddhist but I've read through Buddhist stuff... :wink:

Some hold that at first, you would look to "attain" enlightenment, but as you learn or understand more, you would realize that you have to discard this thought of achieving enlightenment. In other words, once you've gone deep enough, attaining enlightenment or not would not matter to you anymore.

Am I right?

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Ray,

That makes sense to me. It is the observation of the futility of "becoming" which allows it to dissipate...... so bang goes the "American Dream" Smile

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You might also mention that too much focus on enlightenment, or in other words, the ultimate goal, we end up focusing too much on the future and not nearly enough on the immediate. In so doing, we wonder off into the wilderness, far away from any path towards "enlightenment"...

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Any further news on this Buddha boy, a hoax surely?? It goes beyond my head stuff like that, how those circumstances even transpired confuses me, such a different world I inhabit. Laughing

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There are lots of Buddhist stories about people that attained enlightenment, some of the most amusing come from the zen tradition.

The only one I can think of right now is Shariputra, and Avalokiteshvara (The First Dalai Lama)

Also, your eye is scary.

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Re: Nirvana

pseudokinetics wrote:

How do you attain Nirvana?

Let go of everything... including the desire to attain and the desire to let go.

(Let me know if it works.)

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Re: Nirvana
the concept called nirvana was plagiarised from the hindu concept of moksha.

buddha used the word nirvana to mean the same thing as moksha.

echi wrote:

pseudokinetics wrote:
How do you attain Nirvana?

Let go of everything... including the desire to attain and the desire to let go.

(Let me know if it works.)

as for what you wrote, if i know right, the part in bold is the reason why Steve Jobs formed Apple computers. Cos he was in Varanasi, india, as a hippy, hell bent to while his life away and do nothing in life. Which is when a "sadhu" (priest) pointed out to him that he hasn't actually managed to give up attachment or desire... since he was so hellbent (or attached) to the desire of doing/achieving nothing. He went back to usa asap.

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Nirvana:

1. Buddhism. The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion.
2. Hinduism. Emancipation from ignorance and the extinction of all attachment.
3. An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy.

My own understanding of Nirvana has always been 'unity with God'.

I think they all come out to the same thing, at least from personal experience.

Ray said:

Quote:

In other words, once you've gone deep enough, attaining enlightenment or not would not matter to you anymore.

I think this is true.

I think people attain Nirvana and true enlightenment all the time--it is the goal of our existence, IMO.
The thing is--those that get to that point have absolutely no desire or need to advertise their state of 'being-ness.'

Humility/modesty/discretion comes naturally with the letting go. Because it is a release of ego and self-orientation. That relieves the misery of being human, I think--but reserves the pleasures (in an improved format that makes them passive and truly pleasure--no ties no risks) and enables the requisite compassion and empathy for all other souls.

Nirvana is the state when the last brick has been taken away from where the wall of 'self' used to be.

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I found Nirvana HERE

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I wondered who would be the one to do that.

hee hee

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queen annie wrote:

Nirvana:

1. Buddhism. The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion.
2. Hinduism. Emancipation from ignorance and the extinction of all attachment.

HINDUISM - no word called Nirvana (actually the word is "Nirvan" not nirvava) exists in hindu terminology, though the sanskrit word nirvana exists.

MOKSHA (hinduism) - overcomming of all "worldly attachment" AKA "maya" (the concept of "maya" is very often mistranslated to mean "illusion", but in reality it means "attraction/desire that one feels to/for worldly objects [which are ofcourse, in the long run, fleeting and/or illusory] "), and becomming one with Brahman, the one god of the universe (hinduism shredded down to its barebones is monotheistic - but hindus believe in many manifestations of the one whole). Moksha also means "overcomming of the cycle of birth-life-death" (hindus believe that as long as a paeron has not overcome "maya" he will have to suffer the birth-life-death" cycle repeatedly, which is why breaking the cycle and overcomming Maya imply the same result).

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queen annie wrote:

I wondered who would be the one to do that.

hee hee

Yeah, I knew it was cliche but I just couldn't help it.

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brahmin wrote:

MOKSHA (hinduism) - overcomming of all "worldly attachment" AKA "maya" (the concept of "maya" is very often mistranslated to mean "illusion", but in reality it means "attraction/desire that one feels to/for worldly objects [which are ofcourse, in the long run, fleeting and/or illusory] ")...

Attraction and desire are as illusory as anything else. Isn't it all illusion?

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Indeed. A persistent one, but still just an illusion.

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yes, which is why one has to give up the desire/attachment of giving up desire/attachment as well, to really overcome desire/attachment (refer "steve jobs" incident)

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echi wrote:

Attraction and desire are as illusory as anything else. Isn't it all illusion?

hehehe, read Richard Bach's "Illusions"...

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brahmin wrote:

HINDUISM - no word called Nirvana (actually the word is "Nirvan" not nirvava) exists in hindu terminology, though the sanskrit word nirvana exists.

I was just copying my dictionary--thanks for sharing this, because what you said basically is the same as what I understand, personally.

I have a Zen book that says:
Nirvana: extinction of craving, frustration, and ignorance. (sanskrit)

Also, it says one that has 'come to truth' is a tathagata.

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nirvana = buddha's word for moksha with subtle changes in meaning.

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Nirvana

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