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Truth & stuff
Hi, its my first time posting.
I was just reading through a couple of the threads and i noticed some similarities between them. Mainly, this idea of "attaining Nirvana", or the "quest for enlightenment."
I think there's a big part of the picture that some people are missing.
The truth is, "Nirvana" and "Enlightenment" are just words. They are little squiggles on this computer monitor. Think about that for a second. absorb it. accept it. Repeat the word "Nirvana" out loud until it looses its meaning, until it becomes just another sound, fading into the same categories of a car horn or cat's meow: just another SOUND.
Being merely a sound now, you can begin to describe it in any way you truly desire. Instead of calling a tree a "tree", call it a "Nirvana". It's autumn, the Nirvanas are changing color and look beautiful. Get it?
Realize that reality, enlightenment, limits, the journey, the path, suffering, buddha, nature, and every single word ever uttered or written is simple that: a word, a sound, a symbol. Do not mistake the symbol for the actual thing.
The Diamond Sutra explicitly says multiple times that words are to be used like a raft to get across the stream. Once you have gotten to the other side of the stream, get rid of the raft: it is useless.
Do not mistake the hand for the moon.
Buddha was not enlightened, he did not attain Nirvana. He realized the emptyness of words. You can "attain Nirvana" right now, sitting in your chair, looking at this screen. You don't need to follow an 8 fold path or meditate 9 hours a day or fast or anything. In fact, the more you try to do to "attain Nirvana," the further you will get away from it. If you try to attain Nirvana, you are trying to reach for a symbol. Simply do not do anything. But don't try to not not do anything.
Buddha did was not in some blissful state. He suffered and loved and lived and enjoys and empathized just like you and me. HE WAS NO DIFFERENT.
Buddha is not even a real person. He never was and never will be. Buddha is the indescribable infinity. I mean, YOU CANNOT DEFINE HIM. Even the word "him" shouldn't be used, but you gotta use the raft to get across the river, right?
Look at your own hand. Go ahead, do it right now. Memorize every little detail, every little curve and wrinkle. Now describe to me that hand WITHOUT using words or symbols.
It's so hard to understand Buddhism because the only way to describe it is by saying what it is not. Do not mistake a system of symbols for the real thing.
Well, that's all I got.
I was just reading through a couple of the threads and i noticed some similarities between them. Mainly, this idea of "attaining Nirvana", or the "quest for enlightenment."
I think there's a big part of the picture that some people are missing.
The truth is, "Nirvana" and "Enlightenment" are just words. They are little squiggles on this computer monitor. Think about that for a second. absorb it. accept it. Repeat the word "Nirvana" out loud until it looses its meaning, until it becomes just another sound, fading into the same categories of a car horn or cat's meow: just another SOUND.
Being merely a sound now, you can begin to describe it in any way you truly desire. Instead of calling a tree a "tree", call it a "Nirvana". It's autumn, the Nirvanas are changing color and look beautiful. Get it?
Realize that reality, enlightenment, limits, the journey, the path, suffering, buddha, nature, and every single word ever uttered or written is simple that: a word, a sound, a symbol. Do not mistake the symbol for the actual thing.
The Diamond Sutra explicitly says multiple times that words are to be used like a raft to get across the stream. Once you have gotten to the other side of the stream, get rid of the raft: it is useless.
Do not mistake the hand for the moon.
Buddha was not enlightened, he did not attain Nirvana. He realized the emptyness of words. You can "attain Nirvana" right now, sitting in your chair, looking at this screen. You don't need to follow an 8 fold path or meditate 9 hours a day or fast or anything. In fact, the more you try to do to "attain Nirvana," the further you will get away from it. If you try to attain Nirvana, you are trying to reach for a symbol. Simply do not do anything. But don't try to not not do anything.
Buddha did was not in some blissful state. He suffered and loved and lived and enjoys and empathized just like you and me. HE WAS NO DIFFERENT.
Buddha is not even a real person. He never was and never will be. Buddha is the indescribable infinity. I mean, YOU CANNOT DEFINE HIM. Even the word "him" shouldn't be used, but you gotta use the raft to get across the river, right?
Look at your own hand. Go ahead, do it right now. Memorize every little detail, every little curve and wrinkle. Now describe to me that hand WITHOUT using words or symbols.
It's so hard to understand Buddhism because the only way to describe it is by saying what it is not. Do not mistake a system of symbols for the real thing.
Well, that's all I got.
0
Comments
Hey, shoot me a pm letting me know where I can get some of whatever it is that you are smoking please.
To the people who think I am on drugs or need a teacher: make sure your own hand is clean before you go pointing your finger at me.
You don't need teachers. Buddha didn't have a teacher. I don't need a teacher. There is not a single thing that differentiates me from Buddha, spiritually speaking. There is not a single thing that separates you from Buddha, or you from me.
You can look to teachers for advice, but in order to "enter" the state of Buddhahood, you need to do it alone, on your own terms. You need to look at the world out of your own eyes. Or, rather, let the eyes simply look.
It is all very simple. Just let go of all conceptions in your mind. Release the feeling of a single self within you, and realize it is the flowing image of thousands of selves. Then realize that there are no selves, there are no concepts, there is nothing and there is no everything. Realize everything is a part of everything and nothing can be separated. Realize you're realizations cannot even be separated. Do it right now. Do not try, and do not not try. Duality is an illusion, a construct of the mind. And it is all a part of everything as well, so accept it. Do not disregard anything. Don't stop, move along with the river. The only way to see everything clearly is if you swim at the same pace as the river. By trying to stand still, everything flows past you in a blur.
The verb "attain" is not quite accurate. It implies that you work towards something and are awarded at the end. This is false. This is an illusion.
This is Nirvana. You have attained it right now. Become aware of this. Sitting in your chair, reading this words, you are in Nirvana. When you get up to use the bathroom, you will also be in Nirvana. When you go to sleep tonight, you will be in Nirvana.
This is Samsara. You cannot escape it. You will wake up, you will fall asleep. You will eat, and you will be hungry. You will use the bathroom, you will put your shoes on. Accept it.
The point is the world you perceive changes depending on how you perceive it. The reality that exists outside of your head as no heat or cold, light or dark, it is all in the same. So, if you want to treat this world as Samsara, or Nirvana, or a path to enlightenment, go ahead. THE CHOICE IS YOURS.
I've been there a few times and thought I was in the Matrix or some Fairy Wonderland - it was that beautiful and was catering to me like I was the king of the world. Sometimes it lasted a few seconds sometimes a few days.
Nirvana is Heaven...
The only bad part about it was that it was accompanied by a slew of demons trying to stop me from entering it.
Shame really... what's the point of being in Heaven if you can't enjoy it fully?
So these days... it's the Middle Path for me. F**kin Mara man... ugh!
It was on a beautiful day just like today... I was in the forest meditating and I had that moment. You know... that moment - Nirvana. It was it.
Then this black shadow steps from behind a tree and cracks a branch. CRACK! It made my navel chakra hurt so bad. This is what he looked liked. I saw him... ! Why does he have to exist? sigh....
The Toltecs spoke of a being just like this. They didn't call him Mara though... they called him the aliado or the ally. According to them we all have one waiting somewhere out there in the deserted places where it will reveal itself to the man. Then, we must grapple or wrestle with him so that we can enter the other world OR the separate reality. Interesting ey? Could Nirvana really bloom fully after this face-off? The story doesn't end there... if we do enter Nirvana or the separate reality fully we will encounter the phantoms - normal people who are now attracted to you by your new powers or luminosity.
So Nirvana is a real place... except it is a very rare commodity. I try not to go there anymore because well... the phantoms really scare the heck out of me. The rainbows don't though.
Demons are all part of everything, just like you, me and Nirvana. A demon is only a demon because it exists in relation to Nirvana. It's duality. Same as hot and cold, up and down. Buddhism is about accepting and absorbing EVERYTHING. Demons are a part of everything, you cannot escape them: accept that.
Return to your Nirvana, face the demons. You have no need for fear. "Becoming Enlightened" does not release you from fear, and nothing ever will. The trick is to realize that there is no NEED for fear, because everything is part of the same thing. Next time you are faced with a demon, don't run away from the fear. Do you think you will die? You won't die. Absorb the fear, really become aware of it.
Become aware of everything, become aware of the feelings of your fingers on your keyboard, the sound of the wind outside. Absorb all that you can. Do not label the sound as loud or the feeling as soft.
Simply feel.
I am still convinced that Nirvana is not some place where you can go. It is a view of the world. It is a conscious choice, by you, to view the world as Nirvana. Realize the great glory that is existence.
Like I said, you are in Nirvana right now. There is no birth and death. It all depends on how you view the world.
Now, it is vital that you do not try to hold onto Nirvana. Because the more you grasp for it the harder it will be to obtain. Simply say to yourself "OK, so THIS is Nirvana.." and then watch the world with clear eyes and hear the world without filters on your ears. Feel the wind, smell the flowers.
but
can not agree to the suggestion of 'not to practise Noble Eightfold Path'
because different individuals have been developing their characteristics differently
so
different patients need different dose of medicine
My thanks to all.