Swedish: svensk version hittas under “Nirvana”.
by Lama Anagarika Govinda.
Nirvana, as the title of the essay suggests, is not an ideal of quietude for the sake of individual liberation from suffering. It is important to know the concept of Nirvana is interpreted differently within Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hinduism Nirvana is rather seen as a metaphysical concept.
Samâdhi means a process of total integration, oneness and wholeness during a short moment, on the other hand Nirvâna in Buddhist interpretation means a psychological expression for the experience of that state of being when hate, greed and delusion have been eliminated. Yet greed and hate are just these two extreme feelings determinating our attitudes and behaviour towards things and other beings. Either we feel drawn to them or we want to reject them.
A wrong way of perception fools us into believing that we would have an “eternal” self or own-being or I, totally isolated from others. Nirvana is the overcoming of these hindrances, that is the false imagination of an I and all delusions resulting out of the false imagination that we would be able to really possess or reject anything.
The Bodhisattva-ideal developed by taking the Buddha as an example. This ideal went a step further than the idea of a somewhat static state of Nirvana, because the Bodhisattva may not stand still when realizing Nirvana. As long as Nirvana is seen only as an ideal of quietude for the sake of individual liberation from suffering, we may talk about the Bodhisattva’s “renouncing” of entering a final state of Nirvana.
But if we stick to the Buddha’s definition of Nirvana – which means we overcome hate, greed and delusion – it has nothing to do with metaphysical speculation or a state of sheer quietude. Then we cannot talk about “renouncing Nirvana” because this wouldn’t mean anything else than the deliberate maintenance of that ignorance that hate, greed and delusion consists of.
The Bodhisattva does not renounce complete insight or realization. To the contrary! What he does is to renounce individual liberation for the sake of complete Enlightenment. Exactly that did the Buddha and the Buddhas before him. They did it in order to let all sentient beings take part in their Enlightenment and light the spark of Enlightenment (Bodhicitta) in them.
The word Nirvâna is not to be found in the oldest preserved sermons of Buddha Shakyamuni. Instead we find the concept of “highest and most complete Enlightenment” (anuttara sammâ sambodhi). It is just that which everybody should strive for, if he/she is willing to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha; not concerned about if this state of mind can be realized in this life or in another life. Even if it would be impossible to reach that ideal it should nevertheless – like a beacon – become a lodestar that gives us direction in our life. But it is possible to realize this ideal. The existence of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and many of his enlightened successors are the best guarantee for it.
(from the magazine Der Kreis, Nr. 257, Spring 2003. Translated from German by Dharmavajra)
Buddha Ways 