If we compare Moksha, Nirvana, and Enlightenment, what do we see? All three are different names, but they essentially mean one and the same thing. Some people even call this Mukti or Freedom, some Salvation or Unication with the Divine. Whatever we may call this state of being, it is about living a life of Peace and Joy, which was at the outset our primary goal of life and is the goal of every human being alive on earth.
In India, water is known as Pani in the northern parts, just as it is called Tanni or Niru in the south. In France, it is called Eau and in China, it is called Shui. Though the names are different, all the names refer to the same product – water. Moksha, Enlightenment, and Nirvana maybe different concepts from the outside, but they refer to the same thing. There is no difference. The principles involved in all the three are the same.
All three concepts talk about spiritual enlightenment through acquiring the wisdom of the Spirit, the Soul or the Life Energy within. Enlightenment focuses on eradicating the darkness of ignorance that we all live in. This is agreed to by the doctrine of Moksha and Nirvana.
The Buddha, the awakened one, who is the founder of Nirvana was himself a Hindu prince. His belief of Nirvana is no different from Moksha. The only difference is that it removed all the unnecessary myths from the macro principles involved.
These 3 concepts are quite different from the concepts of 'heaven and hell' known to the modern world, disseminated by monotheistc Abrahmic religions and also, they do not fall in line with the present day Hindusim that talks about Heaven - Swarga and Hell - Narkha because of the dilution of the pure Hindu Faith, Sanatana Dharma. Do we really go to heaven or hell after we die? These 3 concepts Moksha, Enlightenment, and Nirvana – MEN, question the reality of death and try to help us realize: who dies? Are we the body that dies, or the mind that we can't nd or are we the Divine Soul? All three concepts help us to be enlightened with the Truth, compared to other concepts that continue to let us live in ignorance, believing in the myth, in rituals and superstition. All this makes us live with fear and anxiety as we continue to be ignorant of the Truth.
What other option do we have if our common sense makes us realize that after we are dead, we cannot go to heaven because the body is right here on earth, to be buried or cremated? Further, there is no doubt that as a human being, the body will die and the Law of Karma, of action and reaction tells us that we cannot escape from our sins, just as our good deeds will denitely come back to us. Putting all this together, what are the available options we have to believe in? We know our life is not just meant to live and die, there is a purpose for us human beings here on earth. It makes no sense to believe that this world has no Creator. It seems beyond doubt that an intelligent Power controls everything that happens here on earth. The 3 concepts of Moksha, Enlightenment, and Nirvana, seem to be practical concepts which help us live meaningfully and take us towards our Ultimate Goal. They show us a way to live with peace and bliss, every moment, every day of our life. They eliminate fear, worry, anxiety and stress, as they make us realize the Truth.
It seems quite obvious that there is no doubt that a Divine Power, the Creator, is in control of this universe. How else would the earth rotate on its own axis precisely once in 24 hours? How would it be possible for the earth to revolve around the sun once in 365 ¼th days? There are many universal laws like the Law of Gravity and the Law of Karma which we know to be true through inference. All this should make us accept that our Ultimate Goal is to realize the Divine. Once we do, we will be liberated from misery and sorrow, just as we would be blessed with Everlasting Peace and Eternal Happiness.
Even today, many people around the world continue to live in ignorance due to their blind faith. There is nothing wrong with having faith in a Divine Power or God. However, if we truly love our God, we must go beyond traditional belief and use our intellect to realize the Truth. Just blindly believing in something because it is written in the scriptures or is taught to us by our parents, will not help us achieve our Ultimate Goal of life. We must learn to ask questions and investigate until we realize the Truth.
After all, the Truth is the Truth and there can be nothing other than the Truth. Unfortunately, we human beings have limited comprehension and we have not been given that comprehension to dene or decipher God. If I tell you to close your ears and listen to me through your eyes, can you? Just like the eyes cannot comprehend sound, we human beings cannot comprehend the power that we call God. We don't know who God is, where God is or what God is, but God is.
Since there is no doubt that a Power - we call God, exists, our goal is to realize God. God-Realization is a state where we realize the Truth about God and become one with the Divine. God-Realization is not possible without Self-Realization. Both of the above happen when we investigate and realize the Truth. We know that death is certain and whatever be our religion, we all experience death of the body. If we contemplate death, we will get many of our answers. Who dies? The body lies in front of us, but we know that this is only the dead body, not the one who was alive. Where did the one who passed away go? We say he departed or expired, but where? Up to a point, we are able to verify the Truth with what we see, but beyond that, we can only realize the Truth by inference. Not realizing the Truth, and blindly believing in superstitions is not the answer that will lead us to our Ultimate Goal. Unless we delete all untenable concepts and investigate what is tenable, we will never realize the Truth.
Even today, there are people around the world who believe that we will go to heaven or hell, although they are absolutely sure that the dead body disintegrates here below the soil. Then who is it that goes to heaven or hell? When we go on a quest to realize the Truth, we nd answers that will lead us to our Ultimate Goal of Peace, Joy, and Bliss.
Of course, we have a choice of believing that God rides on a tiger or a cow, or sits on a lotus somewhere in outer space on a planet unknown to man. We can continue to believe in these fantasies born out of mythological tales, but these will not help us realize the Truth. Even the scriptures of all the concerned religions have subtle statements embedded in them that reveal the Truth that God who lives within our heart is present in every Soul. Because less than 1% of humanity goes on a quest to realize the Truth, very few of us are blessed to realize our Ultimate Goal. Most of us are spiritually blind because we blindly follow religion, rather than evolving spiritually. Of course, we all need religion to begin our belief in God, but as we grow up, we must go beyond our belief-system to achieve our goal.
The concepts of MEN, Moksha, Enlightenment and Nirvana, take us closer to the Truth. The Divine Truth in all the 3 seems to be the only practical thing to believe in. However, this is not for everybody. Only a few seekers of the Truth are fortunate to realize the Truth, that all the 3, Moksha, Enlightenment, and Nirvana advocate.
The Truth is one, not different, but the myths are many. We must ignore the blind beliefs of this world if we want to achieve our Ultimate Goal of happiness and live without any suffering. The Ultimate Goal will be achieved when we realize the Truth as we overcome the ignorance and the myth that the world believes in.
What is this realization of the Truth? Unfortunately, we human beings don't even realize that we don't know the Truth. We don't know who we truly are and why we are here. In fact, it is because of this we suffer misery and pain. In our pursuit of happiness, we zoom through life seeking success, achievement, and pleasure, but we reach our tomb with regret, anxiety, misery, and pain. A rare fortunate minority that goes on a quest, is graced with the gift of realization, a gift that liberates them from all misery and transports them to a life of Joy, Bliss, and Peace. Isn't it time to realize the Truth?
What is the path that will take us home?
All our life, will we drift and roam? When we
realize there is no difference in these concepts three,
Then we will realize the Truth and be free.