Monday, November 17, 2008

WHAT “NIRVANA” IS…AND ISN’T, Part One

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An Advaita Vedanta philosophy site, focusing on Realization, enlightenment, nisarga yoga, non-duality (nonduality), your original nature, dwelling as your natural state, and the teachings of Maharaj.

FROM A SITE VISITOR: Iam happy that I have found this blog. How can I experience Nirvana? Thank you, Bhadanta

F.: You are welcomed to the site, Bhadanta; however, you are not likely to find here the answer that you either expect or desire.

Begin with this: here, the suggestion to those seeking to know “who (what) they truly are” is to first know all that they are not. If you know all that you are not and then come to know That Which You Are, then you will also know that there is no one to experience anything, including nirvana.

As with the approach used to find who/what You Are by first finding who you are not, so too you must find what nirvana is not before understanding what it is.

Nirvana is NOT the peace that accompanies a “state of mind” that is free of desire and anger, and Nirvana is NOT the “basic, peaceful nature of the human mind.” It is suspected, however, that it is a peaceful mind that you seek.

If you visit the archives on this site, you may come to understand why there is no such thing as a “peaceful mind” and why any “state of mind” is an illusion. Consider:

the brain in that space called “bhadanta” is of the elements; the consciousness which is temporarily manifested via that space is of the Absolute; the “mind,” on the other hand, is of false programming and faulty conditioning.

Parts of the brain store and recall memories and also store learned concepts; however, since a memory is merely a recollection of a past happening that was not perceived accurately at the time, there is no chance for an accurate reminiscence of past happenings in the present.

As far as concepts, all of those are false, so the “mind” is a two-fold repository of falsehoods. A “mind,” filled as it is with false ideas and distortions, and with no ability to recount accurately, cannot be at peace at all. Thus, the book title, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You're Out of Your Mind).

Understand that pain is registered via the body but that misery and suffering are registered via the “mind,” so any belief that the “mind” can be at ease is like all beliefs: false. There is no possibility at all of separating (1) the “mind” and (2) misery and suffering. To be in a “state of mind” is to suffer and to be miserable.

Next, Nirvana is NOT a “re-union with a supreme spirit that is attained through a series of deaths and rebirths and reincarnations.”

Why? You will not likely be thrilled to hear this, either, but you cannot be reborn multiple times because you were not even born once. I was not born so I cannot die, and because I was not born and cannot die, I most certainly cannot be born again.

Recently, site visitor “abhiram” noted the confusion that he has witnessed among seekers which results from the fact that various yogas and religions and philosophies and psychology have been mixed together in ways that distort—rather than clarify—the original understanding.

Tomorrow, further clarification will be offered, but you will only return for that if you can move beyond these pointers that probably challenge many of your beliefs and concepts and ideas and if you can set aside any affront that certain religious or philosophical identities might be “experiencing." Please enter the silence of contemplation.
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  • Click THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “PEACE OF MIND” (There Is Only Peace If You’re Out of Your Mind)

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