Chapter 38 Chapter 4 Nirvana Beyond the Concept-1

Nirvana, Enlightenment, Liberation, Freedom, Heaven - words that many people love to say but few take the time to examine.What would it be like to be in this situation?Although we may think of Nirvana and Heaven as very different, we have similar images of the properties of both.Heaven/Nirvana, is where we go after we die after years of paying dues, doing spiritual homework, and being a good citizen, where we will meet many old friends, because it is where all the "good" dead people gather , while all the not-so-good dead suffer below.We will finally have the opportunity to unlock the mysteries of life, complete unfinished business, make up for missing things, and perhaps see our past lives.A group of little babies without sex organs flew around in the air, helping us iron our clothes.We have homes for every need and desire, located in a well-behaved community of Nirvana residents.We'll never need to lock our doors and windows, and probably won't need a police presence.If there are politicians there, they are all honest and credible.Everything was exactly as we hoped; like a very comfortable retirement home.Or some of us imagine extremely pure white light, vast spaces, rainbows and clouds, upon which we rest in blissful states, exercising psychic and omniscient abilities.The only possible concern we have is to worry about some relatives and friends who cannot travel with us.

Siddhartha found these versions of the afterlife to be fantasies.On closer inspection, the typical vision of heaven is not all that appealing, nor is enlightenment much better.Retirements, honeymoons, and picnics are fun—but not fun if it stays that way forever.If our dream vacation lasts too long, we start to get homesick.A perfect life can become boring.In this mundane world, we can watch detective films, thrillers, and pornography.After a hard week of work, we can celebrate on a Friday night.We can appreciate the changing of the seasons and install the latest software on our computers.We can turn to the morning paper, read about all the tragic events happening in the world, and imagine what we would do if we could switch places with the world leaders.Although many times, these "simple pleasures" are actually our problems.

In contrast, we imagine enlightenment as a problem-free zone that never changes.Can we handle the state without difficulty at all?Many of the elements that we believe constitute happiness, such as surprise, achievement, entertainment, etc., we no longer have.Fans of rapper Eminem, who are sure to tire of heavenly harp music -- will want to hear his new profanity-laden album.If we accepted the book's definition of enlightenment, it would be impossible to enjoy a suspense movie; our ability to know everything would ruin the surprise of the ending.There will be no more violent video games or the excitement of the racetrack because we already know which horse will win.

Immortality is another quality that is often used to describe enlightenment or heaven.Once we reach our new home in the clouds, we can never die again, so we have no choice but to live forever.We are trapped with no escape.We have everything we dream of except an outlet, surprise, challenge, fulfillment, and free will because we don't need it anymore, looking at all of these situations, from our current point of view, enlightenment is the ultimate state of boredom . But most of us don't rigorously examine descriptions of life after death; we prefer to keep it vague and imagine it roughly as a perfect final resting place.The enlightenment we desire is the eternal return of a deity-like or higher being.They will enjoy angelic immunity, like diplomatic suits with special passports.And because of immunity and high status, they think how to arrange visas and lead relatives to follow them back.But here's the question, if these newcomers have their own set of ideas - maybe they want to wear some kind of attention-grabbing socks that cause other heavenly beings to look sideways - does Heaven care?And if all the "good guys" get a membership card for Heaven or Nirvana, whose happy version is the standard?

No matter how we define it, the ultimate goal of every living being is to be happy.No wonder happiness is a necessary part of the definition of heaven or enlightenment.A good afterlife should involve finally getting what we've been trying so hard to want.Generally speaking, people's vision of heaven is living in a system similar to the one we are in now, only it is more sophisticated and everything goes much smoother.