Chapter 39 Chapter 4 Nirvana Beyond the Concept-2

Most of us believe that the ultimate achievement of the spiritual path comes only at the end of this lifetime.We are trapped by these impure surroundings and bodies and therefore must die in order to be fully successful.The state of divinity or enlightenment can only be experienced after death.So in this life, the most we can do is to prepare. What we do now will determine whether we will go to heaven or hell in the future.Some people feel that they are hopeless. They think that they are inherently evil, not good, and not worthy of going to heaven-they are destined to go to the next world.Similarly, many Buddhists know intellectually that all beings have the same potential and the same nature as Gautama Buddha, yet emotionally they feel that they do not have enough character and ability to be admitted to the golden gate of enlightenment, At least not in this lifetime.

For Siddhartha, the ultimate refuge, whether heaven or nirvana, was not a place at all—it was liberation from the outer reaches of ignorance.If you had to point to a real location, it's probably where you're sitting right now.For Siddhartha, it was on a flat stone slab with some dried nelancholia under a linden tree in the Indian province of Bihar.To this day, anyone can visit the site.The freedom Siddhartha spoke of is unconditional and unlimited.It can be attained in this lifetime by virtue of one's courage, wisdom and diligence.There is no one who does not have this potential, including all beings trapped in hell.

Siddhartha's goal was not happiness.His path does not lead ultimately to happiness.Rather, it is a direct path leading to liberation from suffering, from delusions and delusions.Nirvana is therefore neither happiness nor unhappiness - it transcends all dualistic concepts.Nirvana is silence.The purpose of Siddhartha's teaching of Dharma is to completely liberate people like Jack who suffer from fear of snakes.This means that Jack must move beyond the consolation of thinking he is no longer threatened by the snake.He had to understand that from the beginning there were no snakes at all, only Armani ties.Siddhartha's goal was to remove Jack's pain and then help him understand that there was no inherent cause of pain in the first place.

We can say that simply realizing the truth brings about the achievement of enlightenment.According to the degree of understanding of the truth, we can progress on the stage of enlightenment, which is called the realization of the bodhisattva. If a child is frightened by the horror monster of the play, we can take him backstage, to see the actors after the makeup is removed, and remove him. of fear.Similarly, if you can see behind all phenomena and realize the truth, you will be liberated.Even if the actor only removes the mask, the fear is relatively reduced.In the same way, if one realizes the truth partially, there will be a corresponding degree of liberation.

A sculptor can carve a beautiful woman out of marble, but he should know enough not to fall in love with his work.Yet, like Pygmalion in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own statue, Galatea, we create our own friends and enemies and forget how they came to be.Due to lack of focus, what we create ourselves turns into solid and real, and more entangled in it.When you fully realize that all this is only your creation, not just intellectual understanding, you are free. Although happiness is considered to be just a concept, Buddhist texts still use terms such as "great bliss" to describe enlightenment.Nirvana can indeed be considered a state of bliss, because the absence of confusion, ignorance, happiness and unhappiness is bliss.Like in the case of the snake, it is better to see that the source of confusion and ignorance never existed.When you wake up from a dream, you feel relieved, but great bliss is like never having a dream at all.From this perspective, bliss is different from happiness.Siddhartha emphasized to his followers that it was completely useless to seek peace and happiness in this life or in the next if they really wanted to be free from samsara.