NIRVANA
I came to this world for my journey on 27th December 1939. I had no choice about when and where it would start. I did not know when, where or how it would end. I was not given any map but all I may have known that it was bound to end someday and sometime in the future.
However, I gathered during my journey that there were many rules that applied to my life and I had to learn them as I progressed. I could not totally control my route and even though many of my people claimed, I did not even know the whole purpose of my journey. All these would become clearer with time and discipline.
All I knew that once I started, I had to continue regardless every day, whether I liked it or not. A lot of it depended on what I did and how I performed my day-to-day events, this was going to be my karma, good bad or ugly.
I started with no possessions and I was told that when at last I finished my journey on this earth, I must return all I had accumulated. I too would march out empty handed and no one would accompany me but my karma. In the end, I would either be rewarded or punished. I now understand that this is life and I could change it with my daily activities and having faith in the Supreme Power.
Therefore, with my determination to move along with all the motivation and some sense of humour I have managed to cushion many of the bumps in my life. I thank the Almighty God for all this and I am still on my journey.
When I was a first year university student, I read a novel by a Nobel Prize winning German author Hermann Hesse titled Siddhartha that had some thematic resemblances to the life and living of Gautam Buddha.
In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man after receiving the necessary religious knowledge from his priestly father becomes totally confused and restless and leaves his family for a more contemplative, enlightening and peaceful life. He later gets in relationship with his Kamla, conceives a son, but is still bored and sickened by lust and greed so moves on again.
Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river, which becomes a symbolism of cleansing for him. Here he hears a unique godly sound of OM. This sound signals the true beginning of his life. The beginning of total libration from all suffering, letting go all attachment and aversion, attaining peace, and finally finding total enlightenment and wisdom for internal serenity and limitless happiness.
Although the theme of the novel is related somewhat to Buddhism, the ideas therein expressed general interest of the conflict between mind, body and spirit. The author showed that a re-examination of the relationship between the various aspects of us was possible by exhorting to finding yourself through self-understanding. Hermann Hesse could only make a simple attempt to clarify the joyous and wonderful ideals of Nirvana through the words, actions, thoughts, character and habits of his character Siddhartha, a protagonist of Buddha. In order to fully understand the whole concept of Nirvana I had to go deeper into the various Hindu and Buddhist scriptures.
Siddhartha was born in a priestly family and grew up in the village with his best friend Govinda. His father was an intellectual thus taught him all the needed knowledge of the priestly class. Siddhartha was able to make everyone happy but himself. The more he extended his knowledge the more troubled and restless he became. So much so that he was very dissatisfied with his routine family life and he announced his intention to opt out and join an opposing religious group known as the Samanas.
Naturally, his father was upset and forbade his departure but seeing that the obstinate youth’s body was in the home but his mind had already departed, Siddhartha’s father acquiesced to his son’s wishes. Siddhartha’s best friend Govinda joins him as they disappear into the forest in search of the Samanas by relinquishing all their possessions and dedicating themselves to meditation, fasting and other methods of mortification.
As a result of this move, the normal human world became anathema to Siddhartha. For him it was all illusory and destined to decay leaving those who treasured it in great pain and suffering. He had one goal and that was to find enlightenment, ultimate joy, total libration from all suffering and letting go all attachment and aversion. This was the idea of Nirvana for him.
Siddhartha was born in a Hindu family and wanted to find the way out of the cycle of rebirth through his karma. Hinduism is an extraordinarily tolerant way of life asserting that there are many ways one can approach Nirvana or to be one with the Divine. Whichever way appeals to each person depend on the person and therefore no path is ultimately better than another.
He was in search of a realization, which was going to liberate him and enlighten his life to lighten up the darkness that enveloped and deluded him. Consequently, Siddhartha believed that if he remained in the priestly class he would not attain peace because in his search no one from his class had ever attained Nirvana. Therefore, he went out in search of the ultimate truth, goodness and beauty of humanity.
After reading the novel, I had an urge to dig deeper in the teachings of Buddhism and other aspects of Hinduism to extract more aspects of Nirvana. In my reading, I was amazed at the neo religious concept of Hinduism. On the one hand I had read a fictitious novel titled Siddhartha but on the other hand there were the teachings of Buddhism and Hinduism that I had to research and then merge the two to comprehend the idea of oneness with the Supreme also known as Nirvana.
My understanding of Nirvana gradually became clearer as I read and researched this complex topic.
I found out that the state of Nirvana was joyous, wonderful and healing to the mind of the one who made an attempt and reached that possible enlightenment. It is neither a euphemism for death nor an annihilation or dissolution. Therefore, I deduced that Nirvana was not the termination of the physical body and the exhaustion of one’s merit but was in fact the dissolution of the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness like the fire that is burnt out or the winds that are stilled.
However, I also gathered from my detailed reading and research that these views were one-sided and perhaps misleading and in actuality, Nirvana and Annihilation were as different as the day and night. ‘What is Nirvana then?’, I kept asking myself.
I constantly asked myself and went to the story of Prince Siddhartha meditating under the bodhi tree. Deep in meditation, he gazed at the starry sky and in a flash of insight; he saw the true nature of things and heard the unique godly sound of OM to become a fully enlightened being. I then understood that this awakening to the truth, beauty and goodness of life and the universe is what is called Nirvana.
I gathered that Gautam Buddha saw through the duality of me versus them and transcended the limitation of time and space to enter into the boundless realm of the body of truth or dharma. These ideas gave me a lot more questions than I could find answers and so I posed another relevant question to myself, ‘why should we be concerned with Nirvana in our life?’ To get some satisfactory answers and valid explanations I had to do a lot more research, reading, and take stock of our lives.
I found out that human existence according to scriptures is limited in terms of both time and space. While our body lives, it has to die as well. Our life span is no more than a century at the most and the body usually grows no more than two metres tall. The biological and scientific composition of our entire body is very simple and destructible but the Aatma or soul is the governing aspect of our life.
The world is not just suffused with the Divine, it actually is the Divine. This is as true of human beings as it is of every other aspect of Nature. The aspect of the Divine, which resides in humans is called Aatma; it is not that this Aatma is an incomplete piece of the Creator, and that if one were to take the sum of the Divine in all things one would constitute the whole of Creator. The Creator or as the Hindus believe, Brahma is indivisible, and so Aatma is just the name we apply to the Creator or Brahma in ourselves.
The phenomenal world which we daily experience is called Maya or an illusion. Ultimately, this world is an illusion, an elaborate costume which covers the essence of Absolute Reality, which, unnoticed, animates everything. Importantly, our subjective selves, our egos, are illusions (Maya) as well. For reasons unknown to us, our Aatma enters the cycle of birth and rebirth, Samsara, advancing through a series of lives, from unconsciousness, to consciousness, to self-consciousness. Self-consciousness results in the development of the ego, but it does not terminate there.
As we are not really our ego but are Aatma, we are not fully self-conscious until we identify ourselves with our true natures. It is this realization, which liberates us from the cycle of rebirth, (liberation or Mukti), which dissolves our individuality and reunites us with the totality of being from which we sprang.
Therefore, my understanding is that Nirvana frees us from such limitations and allows us to break out of our shell of delusion. In Nirvana, life permeates all space, traverses the three realms# of existence and spans all directions. I gather from Buddhist literature that in Nirvana the life pulsates through all time, extends from antiquity to the present without change, lives through myriad kalpas+ and is forever new.
In such a state, the mind encompasses the entirety of the universe, traversing realms as numerous as grains of sand. When we see that ‘self’ and the material world resonate in harmony and when we understand ‘self’ and the ‘other’ as one, then there is no impulse to jealousy and no room for hatred or discrimination.
We are told that ‘to put it simply, by rediscovering our original nature, we dwell in Nirvana and are once more able to see through the duality of subject versus object and the limitation of time and space.’ Though human language and the human brain are limited and hardly conducive to fully understanding Nirvana, we as sentient beings should nevertheless, try to understand it in order to live happily and in peace with ourselves and all around us.
The word Nirvana is therefore really joyous and wonderful for all salient beings because it means becoming free from the suffering brought on by the deluded belief in duality and discrimination. It also refers to the ensuing state of bliss, harmony, and being at ease with the world around us.
We are told in the Buddhist literature that we can define Nirvana by negation and by affirmation. It speaks of Nirvana among other explanations as being without form, limit, outflow, beginning, attachment, end, arising, clinging, decay, loss, equal, obstacles, want and affliction therefore it is unparalleled and immeasurable. It is also explained by affirmation to be absolute reality, permanent, secure, ultimate, hard to come by but perfect, pure and liberating.
Nirvana is also equated to Buddha Nature, the inherent nature of the body of truth (Dharma) and it is explained as the wisdom that knows what reasoning cannot know therefore it is the wisdom that sees the nature of all things as well as the end of all reasoning and the quietening of all disturbances.
While all these descriptions and explanations may look different, the meaning is still the same. Essentially, what they all are saying is that Nirvana is “our pure, original nature and our true, original being.” Through these teachings, we become free of delusions and are able to attain Nirvana by rediscovering our true nature.
Let us see what Nirvana does for the sentient human beings like us.
The Buddhist scriptures describe Nirvana as “the eradication of all sorrow, the extinguishing of the three fires, namely greed, hatred and delusion, the severing of the attachment to the three notions, namely the notion of life and death, the notion of Nirvana and the notion of non-discrimination, and the disassociation from all realms of rebirth.”
As unenlightened beings, we all tend to endow these constructs with a sense of substantiality, which keeps us from Nirvana. Having the notion of Nirvana keeps us from Nirvana, even the attachment to non-discrimination is discrimination in itself.
We often read in scriptures and hear people talk about the impermanence of life, but it is within this very impermanence of life that we find the unchanging nature of Nirvana.
We also hear Buddhists talk about suffering in this world and Nirvana as the ultimate happiness. When we say all suffering is rooted in the concept of self, we are referring to the usual connotation of self as a permanent and separate unit of identity that exists independently of others. When we speak of Nirvana as the ultimate happiness, we are still talking about a self, which feels this happiness. The self in the context of Nirvana is the true self and is different from the day-to-day connotation of self. This self is grounded in oneness and in the total harmony with all causes and conditions.
In addition to defining and understanding the meaning of Nirvana, we can also develop a better appreciation for this state of being through some of the analogies that have been used in Hindu and Buddhist literature to characterize Nirvana.
Firstly, in the religious scriptures or literature, there are many references to lotus blossoms, especially in depicting purity and altruism. The lotus starts to grow in the muck and mire at the bottom of a pool; it passes through the water and blossoms in the clean air, untainted by the mud. Similarly, Nirvana grows out of the trials and tribulations of life, yet remains untainted by them.
Secondly, the literature compares Nirvana to water and states that like water, which extinguishes physical fires, Nirvana extinguishes the fires of delusion. Just as water quenches our physical thirst, the realization of Nirvana eliminates the thirst of desire.
Thirdly, we can compare Nirvana to an antidote when Nirvana according to Hindu and Buddhist scriptures is a sanctuary or medicine for the weary. Like an antidote, Nirvana neutralizes the poison of delusion.
Then we can compare Nirvana to the ocean. The ocean accepts all water regardless of its source. The ocean knows no discrimination. Nirvana is also a state of equanimity, without preference or aversion. Just as we could never measure fully the amount of water in the oceans, we could never fully describe the realm of Nirvana.
When we compare Nirvana to food, we notice that as food keeps us alive and healthy, so those who have attained Nirvana are free from the cycles of birth and death. In Nirvana, one is beyond the limitations of human life. Just as food relieves us of our hunger, the realization of Nirvana frees us from the suffering of affliction.
Then there is a comparison of Nirvana to space in our scriptures. When we speak of space, there is no talk of arising, subsisting, changing, or passing away. The same is true of Nirvana. Once Nirvana is realized, one can never fall away from it. The realm of Nirvana is boundless. It is not to be found at any one place, yet it is everywhere. It is not dependent on any one thing, yet it is the foundation of all things. In Nirvana, one dwells in the midst of all phenomena and is in harmony with the universe.
When the scriptures compare Nirvana to a priceless, gem it makes a lot of sense. Like a priceless gem, Nirvana is radiant and appeals to all.
Finally, when our scriptures compare Nirvana to a mountain peak it gives a much better understanding to us. The steadfastness of Nirvana can be compared to a tall mountain peak, reaching towards the sky, unfazed by the elements of weather. Nirvana stands tall, beyond the reach of all afflictions.
Buddhism speaks of four kinds of Nirvana:
The Nirvana of pure original nature is the seeing of body of truth, the true nature of all phenomena. While delusion may temporarily prevent us from seeing the body of truth, its integrity is never compromised. Dharma or the body of truth has countless wondrous aspects and encompasses all things. It is not the same as all dharmas, yet it is no different. Our body of truth is our pure, original nature. If we look inside of ourselves, we all can see the body of truth.
Nirvana with remainder is attained when one is still alive. In this case, the word remainder refers to the effects of karma. The term “with remainder” means that while no new karma is being created, the effects of past karma have not been entirely extinguished. Because of the presence of the physical body, one still feels the various effects of hunger, temperature, sickness, and aging.
In Nirvana with remainder, one still has to eat when hungry or rest when tired. Even though the body continues to experience sickness, old age, and death, the mind is no longer enslaved by these processes. Regardless of one’s circumstances, one can still go on with life in a calm, reserved manner. This is what is meant by Nirvana with remainder.
The state of Nirvana without remainder is reached when all effects of karma are completely worked out, and the physical body is just a thing of the past. Without the creation of new karma, there is no coming together of the five aggregates* and no new birth results.
In this state, one’s true nature is “dissolved” in all phenomena and becomes one with the universe. Just as sugar dissolves in water without a trace, its presence, though not visible, is indisputable. This total harmony is summed up in the saying, “Time from antiquity to the present is not separate from the present thought. The boundless land that separates you and me is nothing more than the tip of a down feather.”
Nirvana of non-abiding is also known as Maha Nirvana. It is believed that of those who have attained Maha Nirvana, they are no longer attached to life and death because of their wisdom. Out of compassion, they are no longer attached to Nirvana. They see through the emptiness of the cycle of rebirth and continually reappear in this world to guide salient beings through the sea of suffering. They have everything, yet they do not call anything their own. They are always active helping sentient beings, yet they are always at peace. They are not attached to any one way and can skilfully employ all means.
From our entire discussion of the meaning and these various kinds of Nirvana, we can safely deduce that one does not have to wait until the end of one’s life to enter Nirvana. When Prince Siddhartha became a fully enlightened Buddha under the bodhi tree, he entered the realm of Nirvana with remainder.
When the Buddha passed away at the age of eighty between two sala trees, he entered Nirvana without remainder.
During the forty plus years when the Buddha travelled everywhere to teach the Dharma to all those with a willing ear, he lived a life free of attachment.
My assertion is that this kind of life that is purposeful yet without fixation on purpose is free and at ease. This is the realm of Nirvana.
I now believe that Nirvana is the total liberation from suffering. I also believe that those who have realized Nirvana experience unparalleled joy that flows from within.
My belief is that even the way enlightened ones conduct themselves reflects their internal serenity. Therefore, simply by being in their presence, others can also share in this limitless happiness.
The Hindu and the Buddhist scriptures speak of Nirvana as the ultimate happiness that is attainable by the ones who make a genuine effort to do so.
However, those of us who cannot comprehend the meaning of Nirvana, think that the bliss of Nirvana comes from the suppression of all desires. This is a grave misunderstanding, as illustrated by the various scriptures and the exchange between various intellectuals.
I have heard some people ask and state that if the scriptures teach us to realize Nirvana by letting go of our sensory pleasures, which is very hard to do and causes us great pain, so what is the point of realizing Nirvana if it takes all the joy out of living?
My answer as a HR practitioner and after my extensive reading on the topic is simple. “It is incorrect to equate Nirvana with the ‘pain’ of abstention. When the scriptures teach us to refrain from indulgence, it is only a means to an end. When one wants to learn a new skill, one has to first ‘painfully’ practice the basics of that skill before one can excel in it.”
In my presentation, I have repeatedly said that Nirvana is the total liberation from suffering because I firmly believe in that idea. When we let go of all attachment and aversion, we live in harmony with all that is conditioned and in so doing calm the agitation that comes with desire.
I have said that the realm of Nirvana is without arising, without abiding, without attachment to the phenomenal self, and without blemish. In Nirvana, there is no arising and consequently no ceasing and no impermanence. Not only is there no arising of worldly phenomena, there is also no arising concerning the notion of Nirvana itself.
I am convinced that Nirvana is without blemish and is most wondrous and perfect. The serenity and joy that are experienced in Nirvana are not something that can be described in simple words and in a brief essay like this one.
Having said all these, I believe it is also something that we all can experience, and it is available to us at all times.
Now let me go back to the novel to conclude this presentation. In the end, though the lingering question that is left with me is how intertwined are the metaphysical and the ethical proposals of Siddhartha. Should we accept reincarnation, the unity of all Being, and the fiction of time in order to accept Siddhartha’s ethics of self-determination and love of good karma?
This becomes an allegory for all sentient beings, in fact a moral tale and not a philosophical treatise. In the end, we have the choice to follow Siddhartha’s example in determining how much significance we can give to the Hindu way of life and Buddhism regarding Nirvana. I feel this leaves each one of us to come to our own conclusion.
NOTES:
# The five realms are: heaven, human, animal, hungry ghost and hell.
+ Kalpas – a period in which the universe experiences a cycle of creation and destruction.
*Five aggregates are: form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness.
% Triple Gem constitutes Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
