How Nirvana Is the Goal of Buddhist mysticism - Essay Example

How Nirvana is the goal of Buddhist mysticism The word nirvana is linked with Buddhism, its known offshoot1. In Buddhism, this term means a higher status of being. However, although nirvana is used in both Buddhism and Hinduism, the two religions view it in a completely different way. However, nirvana is highly associated with Buddhism than with Hinduism, thus the reason why it can be viewed as the main goal of Buddhism mysticism. Buddhism uses the term nirvana to refer to a perfect, happy, and peaceful place such as heaven. 2In Buddhism, it is referred to as the highest status that an individual can attain in the world. It is mainly an enlightenment state, meaning that an individual who gets what he or she desires with no suffering. As scholars of religion would have it, Buddhism may not merely be a pact of religious doctrines, but also is seen as a pact expounding on the best of life. In this pact, it is seen as a whole civilization concerning its historical background in tandem with its literature, philosophy, and the art. The religion of Buddhism explores all the facets of human life3. To understand humanity, and the aspects of his socialization, his ethics, his intellectual, his spiritual and economic status as well as mental development, Buddhism religion seem to provide a promising state. The ultimate result of Buddhism leads to an enlightenment of the being and this is the core in experiencing the state of nirvana. The goal of Buddhism is the aspect and practice of nirvana. Everyone who understands Buddhism well, he, or she can agree that nirvana is one of the goals of the religion. According to how Buddha preached about nirvana in India, the human being comes to life from nowhere. This is due to a combination of elements and things. Human beings have no creator and most of Buddhism followers believe that. They believe that human beings just fall from nowhere to earth through a mysterious process and they find themselves in phenomenal universe that is full of inanimate and animate objects. Therefore, personality, beingness, and existence all manifest from an emptiness (sunya) state or nothingness or non-existence through an aggregation process. In its simplest terms, nirvana is the state of perfect peace and happiness that a follower of the religion actualizes as the long-term goal. Nothing is above its experience. This noble realization of nirvana, makes the religion seem practical. As a result, many would agree that the Buddhism religion is more likely alive in understanding the complex nature of humanity. It helps humanity become more deeply involved in all the aspects of humanity and society. Nirvana is the goal of Buddhism, be it Mahayana, Zen, Tibetan, or Theraveda remains as the enlightenment called nirvana, a mystery that, unless one is a follower of the religion cannot comprehend. It is thus the pure teaching of the nobility of the mind. Once human beings come into existence on earth, they start admiring earthly things and involve themselves in striving and seeking which in turn results in further, delusion, aggregation, deaths, births, accumulation, and karma. Through the desire of earthly things, human beings find themselves in a process of being, changing, and further becoming. Therefore, desires, bondage, beingness, and becoming are all states of living and existence. All these states, according to Buddhism are impermanent. For instance, we all acknowledge that the existence of human beings on earth is impermanent. There is no state of beingness or soul that passes through birth and born again “rebirths”4. This process continues until all aggregates disperse through detachment, renunciation, and purification. At the end of the entire journey, all human beings return to the non-becoming, non-existence, emptiness, or non-becoming state, which Buddhism refers to as nirvana. Therefore, according to Buddhism studies, existence is less or more like a bubble. Nirvana is the bubble’s bursting. No one knows where bubbles come from and they then disappear to nowhere. What one can see in the center is a mirage, drama, flux of seeking that is temporary, a mere illusion, suffering, and striving. The main intention of Buddha was to make all his followers to have an experience of nirvana, rather than debating and speculating about it. Therefore, nirvana can be viewed as the main goal of Buddhism mysticism. However, we are not aware of whether the nirvana’s state is also a conscious state and all awareness. At some level, one would not fathom on what nirvana concerns all about. The aspect of nirvana has thus been equaled to the imaginary heaven that the Christian believers hope to someday. It is simply a cessation. It is the (cessation) ending of passion, aggression, and ignorance from the side of the human race5. The Buddhism teachings advocate that humanity should terminate the struggles in their life as well as to prove their existence into the world since as a human race, nothing is there for any to prove. The understanding in all this is that, the human race had already overcome such struggles. In the noblest of its teaching, nirvana, as the core of Buddhism religion portrays that since everyone had already survived, the struggles that have become part of people’s life comes as just an extra hurdle that people have added into their lives since they lack the confidence to live in the way things are already6. Assuming this supreme state of nirvana in Buddhism perceptions, one no longer distorts his vision of life because all the challenges of human life can be reduced into one simple problem, that of dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or conflicts). Nirvana advocates for such supreme actualization hence the probable reason as to why nirvana may come as the end goal of Buddhism religion7. The course of nirvana in Buddhism is the reason as to why Buddhism comes as a very down-to-earth religion. For all these reasons, because of the pursuit of the higher state of nirvana, the religion does not delve itself in explaining on metaphysical speculation about the initial causes, theology, or even the worship of a deity. Unlike the other religions, which would have their end goal in worshiping a certain deity, in teaching of this religion, Buddhism does not even consider clarification of the Buddha. This is the core difference, all brought by their end goal, which is the practice of nirvana. In nirvana, there is a straightforward insight into the human conditions, hence doing away with any wishful thinking. Consider this, where other religions operate largely on wishful imaginations, getting attached to the state of hoping so much, in Buddhism, because of nirvana, that virtue is not their way of seeing life and humanity. Largely, nirvana gets its roots from the way Buddha taught his ways since he relied so much on how things were and the belief that everything that he taught gets verification from the way one would perceive the natural existence of nature. As the end goal of Buddhism, nirvana aims at making individuals create concern in their life. The life of people is cornered by frustrations and pain, a thing that the Buddhism religions explain as resulting from the human nature pursuing a connection with the ‘world out there’8. Many would attempt all these in order to solidify their experiences in some tangible way. For instance, when people meet for the first time and engage in dating odyssey, one assumes the very best of his feelings at that time. As everything runs just as people’s imaginations would have it, many begin to fantasize about what else could be done to solidify the incumbent feeling. In the event that the attached friend goes missing in the process of dating, one develops frustrations and pain, as the fantasized plans seem to go through the window. As nirvana would have it, this is not the call of human living. The challenge many would not understand is that the ‘world out there’, keeps on changing, as every aspect of human life is impermanent. It does not then come as a surprise as the teachings of nirvana do not advocate for such unrealistic pursuit in human life9. The call of Buddhism relates that the attempt of human nature to try to connect with the world experiences is an impossible endeavor, as no one can assume that permanent relationship with anything, at all. Nirvana in Buddhism has become core since it tries hard to demystify the troublesome marks of existence, such as pain, impermanence, and egolessness. Understanding nirvana thus becomes a much higher individual actualization default in many-practiced religion in the world. For instance, if one examines carefully the idea of impermanence, one would swiftly conclude that it pervades every aspect of human nature. It is at this level that one needs to be reminded as to why nirvana is such a key principle in Buddhism religion. Its final goal is the deliverance of the mind, hence assuming the supreme peace. Unknown to many, even individuals’ eternal consciousness, or the higher self is a temporal mental process and events that cannot override the achievements of nirvana10. Such standards expose human race’s higher self as speculative at its best as well as imaginary pursuit. In this, the human race is thus prone to pain and frustrations something that if one achieve the state of nirvana, such cannot happen. History has indicated to what extend has the human race tried to secure themselves and cement their relationship with whatever attachment they create. However, this has with time seemed counterproductive, as many have felt uneasy and anxious even during the moments of their best. In Buddhism, such feelings are a sense that one is not there yet, close to the state of nirvana11. The assumption of nirvana thus creeps in when an individual completely abandons clinging from the impermanence state many yearn to create, and not until then, would relief from the state of queasiness overcome the human mind. At such a level, one would thus have achieved the state of nirvana as per the Buddhist teachings. Nirvana is thus the end goal, the final treaty and the cessation of all sufferings and conflicts that a Buddhism believer could possibly realize. Another reason that makes nirvana an end goal in the believers of Buddhism, which is a mystery to many, is its promise of liberation. In the doctrine of Buddhism, it is termed as the release from samara. One of commonest practices is the eightfold path. In following the Noble Eightfold Path, the human mind is completely brought into rest. All these culminate in the practice of dhyana, a sacred way towards individual achievement of nirvana12. The practice aims at extinguishing the burning desire in a human heart such as the fire of passion and hatred as delusion ceases through one’s use of insight. There is a huge connection with this practice and nirvana. The individual’s liberation from all these confrontations of life because of sought attachment ends one in that desired state of nirvana. Consequently, the other liberation is the end of rebirth cycles. Life in Buddhism perspective is perpetual wandering, hence nothing-physical transfers to the next world. They would rather have rebirth, but not reincarnation. Rebirth is thus dependant originality. At this, the Buddhism religion seems to contrast the reincarnation concept of the Christians and other religions. In this practice, when one gets over the fires of attachment, ignorance, and aversion, the liberation of rebirth is at his disposal13. As shown in its teaching, Buddhism points out that as long as one remains entangled in craving, they still are bound in the vicious cycle of birth and death. The arbitration of all this craves one then assumes the state of nirvana. This is because one has already uprooted the volitional dispositions hence becomes a neutral person, who should perform neutral actions14. As Buddha would have, the practice of such cleansing from such fires would pave way for one achieving his destiny, nirvana. As it would remain, the extinction of greed, hate, and delusion is indeed the base of nirvana. It is such mystery underlying the Buddhist religion and until one gets unearth its uniqueness, it remains illogical from the word go. The observation of these practices is the primary goal of Buddhism, breaking free of the wheel of samsara hence reaches the new level of Nirvana. The philosophy of nirvana, from the context of an outsider, is the most misunderstood mystery in Buddhism religion15. The western world equates nirvana to mean heaven, heaven on earth, while others relate the term to the famous rock band of nirvana. Nevertheless, these might not help to dissolve the mystery therein as Buddha described nirvana as definitive objective as he reached that state during his enlightenment. In Buddhism, there is no wait for another place that one may get reprieve for the suffering they get on the physical earth. It is, thus, through Buddha teaching of locals, that one may as well experience such a fruitful realization while still on physical earth. In their belief, when Buddha passed on, forty-five years later, Buddhists belief he passed through pari nirvana, hence he completed his nirvana. Buddha thus advocated that his followers would still assume that unbinding freedom. The implication in this is that whatever bound anyone, the burning passions of desire, ignorance, and jealousy, as indicated earlier, would cease no more. Overcoming these propels the believer in that state of bliss, when no cycles of birth and death come along and even all karmic debts get settled. However, looking at these explanations, Buddha does not expound on what would happen after achieving the state of nirvana. The resolutions given to this question were that nirvana could not be explained by word and it had no boundaries. May be this explains part of the mystery of the Buddhism religion on nirvana as Buddha saw it from a much different state from the incumbent generation? One of the Buddha’s most considerable teachings on people to aim reach individual level of nirvana is that everyone is different. Because of the conviction Buddha possessed, the individual’s path to enlightenment was seen as unique. This reasoning compels the Buddhists to acknowledge that they ought to take inspiration from a multiplicity of sources in order for one to complete his personal journey to nirvana. The belief in the concept of enlightenment comes thus as an important aspect within the Buddhists community16. For instance, despite different branches and schools of thought advising on varying emphasis to the various teachings of Buddha, as others believe in Bodhisattvas as their source of motivation, all and sundry lean more on shaping their personal efforts in order to reach closer towards the goal of enlightenment, which is later nirvana17. Therefore, nirvana or enlightenment is such a supreme state. It is the level that as a believer one is free from suffering. It is the ultimate reason why the religion exists and the main target for its believers, unlike other religions, which believe in the power of their being another ‘rest’ place. Those who practice Buddhism work on towards improving their individual existence and taming all worldly concerns such as hate, greed, and ignorance. The goal towards such a realization is even emphasized in Theravada Buddhism (the doctrine of the elderly in Buddhism)18. The latter teaches that wherever the human capacity refrains from all sorts of evil, and work towards purifying their mind, that same individual would eventually reach the state of perfection and enter the long-sort nirvana state, the core of Buddhism religion. It is not only the purity of the mind, which necessitates the crossover to the state of enlightenment but also the desire to possess the thirst for knowledge. The knowledge stems from the Tipitaka (the three baskets). The closest of Buddha’s accounts and his pursuit to enlightenment and later nirvana, as well as his stay with his disciples captures the context of these scriptures. It is of no surprise that the Theravada Buddhists observe that due to the dictates of enlightenment requirements, monks, and nuns in their circles are more likely to attain that state of nirvana. It is the realization that Buddha was committed to discover about the end of suffering, and his later achievement of suffering. The teaching of Buddhism towards the individual journey to nirvana also foretells the events after the suffering ends. One should understand all this happens while still on the physical earth, as the religion does not believe in life after death rather that eternity can be realized while still living. Buddha taught that there is complete and supreme happiness. As the believer works on the right path of enlightenment, every step of the way becomes another leap in removing the causes of unhappiness19. It is the sense of unrelenting joy that then creeps into one’s life. The path to the end of suffering, a way that Buddhists may spend their whole life perfecting, lays the levels of happiness and the ultimate end on cravings and ignorance. Nirvana advocates such steps as the way to the bliss of life. It might look incomprehensible to non-believers, but the Buddhist follower known exact the value of moving towards nirvana state. In that state, when one starts to experience the state of enlightenment, there comes the initial scenes of happiness like having better material possessions, better spiritual conditions, far much better contentment in whatever one does, or even more peace and enjoyment of life20. The ultimate state of nirvana cuts-off the believer from the crafty heart, a reason why the Buddhist community can live so happily without greed in today’s generation. Looking at the devotions from the corrupt human ways to the end of suffering, one does not fathom anything else but rather a way of people trying to reach their primary goal in their religion and that is the state of nirvana21. The Buddhist believer, having attained the road end towards his suffering, can live in full contentment with people in most corrupt and indecent societies or even without anger amongst people harboring ill will. Such a life breeds that sought out happiness and make the life of the believer more rewarding and hence they enjoy a sense of freedom and joy, the cream of nirvana state22. Furthermore, it is as for one to claim that coveted state of nirvana, the process of suffering, resultants in the end of suffering, and later the enlightenment status are a must course. The second fruit on the end of suffering (the enlightenment) serves as the cornerstone towards realizing nirvana. One may be of the opinion that the end justifies the means in Buddhism religion and goal23. Among the qualities of enlightenment, wisdom and great compassion come as the noblest of all. They get such a position in the enlightenment state since there are the extraordinary qualities that Buddha perfected during his journey to nirvana. The root cause of such a quality in a Buddhist is in his total cut off from all the cravings hence one assumes an unprecedented transformation of his ordinary earthly world. It is what Buddha exemplified. In his best wisdom, there was an understanding of the real nature of all things. On the virtue of possessing great compassion, the Buddhist believer is able to overcome their suffering. One would then perceive that the religion of Buddhism is not just an assembly of worshiping a deity or clinging into some hope, but rather a people with a goal to meet, the nirvana state just like their predecessor, Buddha. The mystery of nirvana in Buddhism is a reality. It is an experience of such a height that achieving it may require more that assembling in a temple, church, synagogue, or even a cathedral to perceive it24. Just like trying to explain to blind person how a blue sky looks like, so is the essence of expounding on the experience of nirvana in Buddhism religion to the most civilized non-believer. When the believers equate it with wisdom, or even ultimate happiness, one can confirm that they are not even explaining an iota of this state25. Therefore, in showing by example, Buddha lived the experience and routed out for one to grasp the feel and experience of enlightenment or nirvana, every believer had to stroll down the road of perfection alone. Not until one is there would the state of nirvana ever make sense. Nothing supersedes and can attempt to be above the goal of Buddhism religion apart from the experience of nirvana. It for this cause that the believers of Buddhism acknowledge that Buddha sermons would lead them to such a realization since he accomplished it individually. Just as Buddha would have described it, having nirvana experience is the possession of the uncreated, unformed, and the unfathomable state in the human state. The purpose of enlightenment is to claim the human perfection. It is the equivalent to Christian immortality nature. In Buddha’s own diction, nirvana experience was beyond the sun, the moon, beyond the waters, air, that immeasurable state of accomplishing as a human nature while still living on earth26. Following the Buddha’s creed, nirvana is realistic, that freedom from selfishness to the wander life of already eradicated troubles and blissful living is a goal that confines a Buddhist believer into these doctrines. Buddhism believes that nirvana is the end of all suffering one goes through on earth. They believe that Buddha was teaching them the immortality path (the perpetual birth and death cycle ended in nirvana) and no one gets reborn again after death27. Human beings exist, but they do not exist forever, they eventually die in nirvana. The focus of most Buddhists has been on nirvana forever. They believe that if one follows the teachings that Buddha gave to his followers, he or she becomes ‘Arahant’28. Nirvana means crossing the sea of challenges, suffering, and landing on the other side of the sea, thus being thought as the main goal of Buddhism mysticism. As per Buddhists believers, nirvana life means the end of suffering. No one gets a rest unless he or she suffers first. It is thus logical to argue that nirvana is the vital goal of Buddhism, their third noble truth29. The sufferings together with desires that cause suffering end in nirvana, as the birth and death cycle. Sometimes, Buddhists refer nirvana to unconditioned or unborn. This is in contrast to the world that human beings experience in their unenlightened state30. Buddhists believe that human beings just fall from nowhere to earth through a mysterious process and they find themselves in phenomenal universe that is full of inanimate and animate objects. It is such a state that Buddha advocated the need to find an accord with self through working your way out to the experience of nirvana31. It is indeed a noble idea, for all the Buddhist practitioners to realign themselves in their aim to attain nirvana. Some mystery arises along between the Buddhists in the Buddhism religion and the Buddhist practitioners in the same religion. The attempt of seeking nirvana is a difficult task that only few Buddhists try to attain. Therefore, there being some followers within the doctrine of Buddha unable to seek nirvana explains how noble the experience of nirvana is to the religion32. It is the acme of their life and the only reason for living preserved for willing few. The rest of the believers only end trying to live a good life so that they can have a good rebirth. The contradiction comes as there those who believe being just a good person is the most important thing to live for as a Buddhist. For instance, those who do not tire themselves with the pursuit for nirvana believe in life after death, and that they would be reborn again with all their faculties in place33. This is practice of the Asian Buddhists. For these followers, Buddhism means going to temples and engage oneself in merit making activities. Their pursuit is not for attaining nirvana but rather the believers who hold the proposition that just being a good person is the ultimate thing to do as a Buddhist. It is such a contradicting believes given the superior goal that Buddhist practitioners aim at, nirvana. Many would find then the attempt to gain what Buddha had as a mystery. In trying to resolve such a deadlock, it is thus noble to understand that seeking nirvana, the believers do not only try to be good people but they also seek for astuteness. Therefore, to achieve nirvana, one has to cultivate all the virtuous qualities of life while trying to crush down the vices34. Nirvana is thus a mystery to every non-believer yet it is the core of Buddhism religion. Every virtuous deed, spiritual path, and even perceptions have to come from wisdom and better understanding. This noble acting is born of wisdom through practice in meditation. Therefore, as for the Buddhist practitioners, such a tradition has to be the way towards nirvana. They always try to be beyond morality, meaning that any believer is not constrained by moral standards of behavior. It is such a unimaginable level of sanctity in achieving nirvana that the case of Buddhism being mysterious cannot escape the diction of many scholars. In conclusion, for one to comprehend the concept of Buddhism religion, understanding the experiences of nirvana as a state must come in the forefront. In the pursuit of nirvana, the mystery of this noble religion lays. One would also understand that Buddhists believe that actions should relate to cause and effect. Therefore, whoever possesses a positive mind would automatically portray wholesome behavior in his being35. As for the Buddhist, they have confidence that only Buddha found the way to the end of suffering and as a result, zealous following of his teaching and practice would bring back the same experience. As the core of Buddhism, the state of nirvana is devoid desires, ill will, and ignorance. The presence of these vices brings in the human suffering, hence unable to experience the absolute happiness, perfect wisdom, peace and every other quality of enlightenment. As the research paper would put it, the path towards nirvana, also the middle way describes the best protocols in order to reach nirvana. Therefore, through disciplined moral conduct, concentration, and wisdom, nirvana is practical. As Buddha would have it, to describe nirvana is an uphill task on paper, but it is indeed the mysterious concept in Buddhism that is only understood by those who had an experience of it. Bibliography Top of Form A. B. James, Stairway to Nirvana, London, SUNY Press, 2008. B. David, The Feeling Buddha: A Buddhist Psychology of Chracter, Adversity, and Passion. New York: Palgrave, 2002. C. Kate, Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, Internet resource. E. Mark, Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2007, Internet resource. H. Peter, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, New York, Cambridge University Press, 2013. H. Peter, The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism, New York, Routledge, 2013. H. Soonil, Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The Doctrinal History of Nirvana, New York, Routledge, 2006. J. P. Nolan, Understanding Buddhism. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006, Internet resource. K. F. Paul, Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, Richmond, Oneworld, 2013, Internet resource. L. S. Sonya, Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010. L.P.Vallée. The Way to Nirvana. Altenmünster: Jazzybee Verlag, 2012, Internet resource. M. L. David, Buddhism in the Modern World, London, Routledge, 2012. Morgan, Diane. Essential Buddhism: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice, 2010. N. A. Harold and K. E. Yandell, Buddhism: A Christian Exploration and Appraisal. Downers Grove, Ill: IVP Academic, 2009. S. M. Rachelle, Nirvana for Sale?: Buddhism, Wealth, and the Dhammakāya Temple in Contemporary Thailand, Albany, SUNY Press, 2009. S. Richard, The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life, NewYork, Simon and Schuster, 2006. T. Kevin, Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide. New York, NY, Oxford Univ. Press, 2004. T.Wayne, The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the Worlds Religions. Novato, Calif, New World Library, 2009, Internet resource V.T, Understanding Buddhism, London, V.T, 2014. W. K. Anthony, Indian Buddhism, New Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 2000. Y.Hsing, Opening the Minds Eye: Clarity and Spaciousness in Buddhist Practice, India, Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2004. Bottom of Form Read More