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So this isn't Nirvana...

TalismanTalisman Veteran
edited December 2010 in General Banter
I thought I was close to attaining Nirvana. I had found equanimity and peace. I recognized the oneness and emptiness of all phenomena. I recognized the face of truth, and had forgone all fetters of mundane existence.

I tried telling someone that, "Yes, I think I've almost got it!"

Then a person told me that this cannot be Nirvana. These are not the symptoms. That no enlightened person would ever proclaim themselves to be so. That there is nothing to get and nothing to attain. So I guess I was wrong.

Comments

  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited December 2010
    Wow... nirvana in Kalamazoo. Who'd a thunk it? It sure didn't seem like nirvana when I lived there ;) Waaaaaay too much snow for that!
  • TalismanTalisman Veteran
    edited December 2010
    You're telling me! How is anyone supposed find inner peace driving on these roads?! Yesterday it was sunny autumn. Today ... well ... [checks the window] ... it's still snowing.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited December 2010
    So I guess I was wrong.

    Well you know what you did get. Wasn't it nice? Who cares if it wasn't Nirvana. I know thats a bit loaded. It was only thinking mind hoping it was nirvana, I imagine.

    I remember my aunt's golden retriever and walking in the park in Kzoo.. I am in Grand Rapids! I love your photo. Great pumpkin looks like a happy time :)
  • cazcaz Veteran United Kingdom Veteran
    edited December 2010
    Nivarna = Permenant Liberation from suffering, Having eliminated all mental fetters from Big delusions to small ones, Never again to be reborn If one wishes In samsara...
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited December 2010
    caz namyaw wrote: »
    Nivarna = Permenant Liberation from suffering, Having eliminated all mental fetters from Big delusions to small ones, Never again to be reborn If one wishes In samsara...
    For this you need to remove that pesky "permanent" part, or rather make it "Enlightenment = realization of Nirvana = liberation from suffering".

    Nirvana itself is timeless and unconditioned; we do not acquire/attain Nirvana, we only realize Nirvana.

    Thus we could say that Nirvana itself is permanent in the same sense that No-Self and Impermanence are permanent laws, or Dharma, but we can't say "permanent liberation" because there is no "self" to be permanently liberated. The temporary formation that consists of the aggregates can be liberated from suffering, but they are not self and will disperse at some point.
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