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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31161 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 16, 2023

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Eastern ideas of Nirvana

Could you explain? I admit to being baseline extremely disinterested in the topic, but my understanding of nirvana is nonexistence, which…I dunno, it seems hard to get very detailed on nonexistence.

At least in Mahayana Buddhism, there's the idea that Nirvana is Samsara. That being free from the cycle of rebirth is the same thing as being trapped in world in a cycle of rebirth. Or that there is no essential difference between the two states, and the enlightened mind realizes the emptiness (sunyata) of both Nirvana and Samsara.

I don't think it really ties into /u/Esperanza's use of the term, but it might be important context for how some Buddhists view Nirvana.

there's the idea that Nirvana is Samsara

Isn‘t nirvana precisely the liberation from samsara according to Buddhists?

The latter bits all make some sense if I take it from a more East Asian perspective perspective, where there‘s less of a focus on getting out of samsara as a goal of existence, but I still thought it was the thing to do.

I do wonder how the theravada schools approach this. Nirvana probably doesn‘t just mean obliteration and emptiness (and enlightenment, etc etc) to them?

I believe the teaching is something like: If Nirvana and Samsara were independent existences with their own free-standing essences, there would be no way to move from one state to the other. It is because they are both empty (sunyata) of independent existence that we are able to achieve Nirvana. Within conventional language, there is a distinction between Nirvana and Samsara, but an awakened mind realizes there is no essential difference between the two states, and can begin to experience the world in the mindset of Nirvana as a result.

I'd Google "Nirvana is Samsara" if you want a more in depth explanation, since it's been a while since I've studied it.

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