What happens to people when they acheive Nirvana? Can anyone acheieve Nirvana?
2006-10-27 07:31:23 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the Buddha’s enlightenment is the direct result of this combination of meditation and wisdom - concentration and insight..
Nirvana is an ancient word. In Theravada scriptures, which are the most ancient, nirvana means the same as enlightenment. Sometimes you also find this in the Zen tradition (and Chinese Buddhism in general) because although Chinese Buddhism is Mahayana, its roots are also very ancient. However, in later Mahayana as it developed in India, enlightenment is a more advanced experience than nirvana. It's developed after nirvana - it follows on from nirvana. (So you can see that "nirvana" doesn't refer to an experience that happens only at death! There is life after the experience of nirvana, but now the person is not an "ordinary" person; he or she is re an Arya being, a Bodhisattva on the path to full enlightenment.)
Awakened is the translation of Bodhi. The Buddha - any Buddha - is "an awakened being". Depending on whether you follow Theravada or Mahayana, "awakened" will refer to nirvana or to full enlightenment. In the meditation traditions (like Zen) you also find the words "awakened" and even "enlightened" used for the deep experiences that arise in meditation as you're following the path. So in these traditions you can talk about a series of "enlightenments" or "awakenings" which eventually culminate in full and complete enlightenment.
Often in Mahayana we talk about Bodhi Mind (bodhicitta in Sanskrit) which means an advanced state of mind that is absolutely dedicated to achieving full and complete enlightenment in order to be able to benefit all sentient beings. Some translators translate this as "enlightening mind", meaning a mind that is not yet completely enlightened but is steadily progressing towards that state.
Emptiness means "lack of inherent existence". It's the way everything - ourselves and all phenomena - actually exist. Nothing has a permanent unchanging nature. Everything we experience arises because of causes and conditions, and is thus constantly changing. To "realize emptiness" is to experience this true nature of existence directly. In some texts, this experience is described as nirvana or even enlightenment. But it's not full enlightenment. However it's a prerequisite of full and complete enlightenment. In fact none of the higher realizations can arise until the meditator has a direct realization of emptiness.
Emptiness is a very interesting and subtle subject, well worth studying in depth. You need to study it, to understand intellectually what emptiness really is, before you can achieve a realization of emptiness.
Cessation generally means the complete stopping of mental defilements. This can only happen when you have a true realization of emptiness. However you can experience the partial ceasing of defilements before that, and if you keep practising steadily, your defilements will become weaker and weaker so that when you do realize emptiness, you'll be able to follow the rest of the path quite easily.
I hope this is some help. Naturally I've explained the terms from a Mahayana perspective, and in particular, from the viewpoint of the full flowering of Mahayana in India. Other people might explain some of these terms slightly differently.
2006-10-27 08:18:25 · answer #1 · answered by sista! 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It can be described as a spiritual awakening. The point where enlightened self realisation is achieved and the soul perceives that all desire is meaningless, all materialism has no permanence, only truth and love have meaning for eternity. And yes everyone can achieve Nirvana-there was nothing inherently special about Buddha.
2006-10-27 07:34:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nirvana's awesome but I'm not looking to join any bands... Good Luck though!
2016-05-22 01:12:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nirvana is like "a state of perfection".
Its also a punk band from the 90's
2006-10-27 07:33:40 · answer #4 · answered by Shane 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ask Ven.Siri Samantha Bhadra Arhat
2015-08-14 06:54:13 · answer #5 · answered by Lakshan Amarasinghe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nirvana is a state in which the human conciseness transcends it's earthly bounds and achieves ultimate peace of mind. yes anyone can.
2006-10-27 07:35:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
NIRVANA IS THE MOST AWESOME BAND EVER, TAKE THAT BAKE SILVERBITCH
NIRVANA FOR EVER
2014-06-05 05:43:21 · answer #7 · answered by Rachel Pelany 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the state of perfect blessedness achieved by the absorption of the soul into the supreme spirit
and no we can't
by the way-I am a Christian-hope I wasn't beating around the bush
2006-10-27 07:36:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
grunge band in the 90's lead singer Kurt Cobain
2006-10-27 07:36:08 · answer #9 · answered by akasha 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana
2006-10-27 07:37:18 · answer #10 · answered by aathrey 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋