Adonis Diaries

Nirvana or Samsara: Wrong interpretations to living?

In the Sanskrit language nirvana means a state of bliss or grace; samsara is a life of toiling and worries.

In the Arabic language, samsara conveys the meaning of bargaining; you may think of a middleman going back and forth with new proposals for the two parties to reaching an agreement.

Maybe the Arabic language borrowed the term samsara from Sanskrit and gave it a practical meaning for their trading activities.  Is it not samsara our real life? As we struggle to balance better internal spiritual state and better external conditions for our comfort and pleasure?

There is this Buddhist saying: “If you make a difference between nirvana and samsara then, you will remain in the samsara state“.

This saying means that there is no difference between nirvana and samsara; but the second part of the sentence gives the connotation that samsara is actually a lower quality state of living.

It is common in languages to create opposite meaning to every word for rhetorical reason.  People tend to learn and assimilate the negative terminologies far better than the positive counterpart.

So what is good in a nirvana state or the highest quality of living?

Is living liberated of wants, anguish, suffering, fear of death, and of illusions better than striving, struggling for what you desire, and confronting difficulties?   Is keeping a state of bliss (salvation) worth total dissociation from the turmoil of living and avoiding potentially difficult situations (in order to retaining the state of bliss)?

What is wrong with bargaining endeavors for a better life?  Is living a state of grace and bliss a better state than struggling and challenging our potentials?  I can back the idea of training for more frequent and more durable moments of complete relaxation of the mind and body; but to staying in a nirvana state feels counterproductive to a rich and challenging life. Maybe nirvana is not after all a long stay in a state of bliss or life after death could be the equivalent  meaning.  Anyway, people are curious of the mysterious and exotic experiences and will try hard for a nirvana stage of relaxation.

Am I living to satisfying the never-ending moral constraints of “don’t do that?”

Am I a machine to figuring out what I can do?

If there is a kind of nobility abiding by social moral set of values then, am I not to be a happy nobleman too?

Actually, abiding by morale is a necessity when abiding by the ethics (that the ultimate virtue is learning to share the happiness of others) comes to be difficult to realizing.  If we were able during our tumultuous life to sharing and enjoying the pleasure and happiness of others then, there will be no need for any moral set of restrictions.

We are not told of that wisdom, or not that frequently, or it was never transpired to us by members of our family and community.  The community found it easier to nurture us by “don’t do that” instead of performing what is the secret of joy and happiness:  Mainly, learning to share and enjoy the pleasure and happiness of others:  That is the real meaning of solidarity.

Have you made it a habit distinguishing between hell and paradise; between eternity and duration; between the absolute and the relative; between salvation and damnation; between bliss and living in miseries?  What!  Are you trying to sound a sane person who can discriminate among good and bad tastes; true and false behaviors and sacrificing your life to pleasing others?

For how long are you intending to work on comprehending these differences?  All you need is awareness that infinity and eternity go hand in hand:  Everything is or converges to the present moment.

As long as you are making a difference between blissful moments and your current difficult moments then, you will never discover bliss. Your life is the bliss, the grace, and paradise. Cut down on your pains and suffering.  The time you saved in cutting down on unwanted conditions you need to invest it to appreciating and enjoying the power of the present moment.

The present moment is the real, the truth, and the eternal. 

All the opposite extremes are one in the present moment.

Note:  You are encouraged to read the follow-up article https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2010/09/25/second-truth-the-moment-is-eternal/