The Identity Of Nirvana In Buddhism

Nirvana is a place of peace, similar to heaven. Benares Sermon was for the followers of Buddha, and was written to open eyes of the followers. Buddha’s words became widespread because they offered guidance to the people. Not everybody had to practice the Eightfold Path, but this did not mean many people chose not to. This showed that the people in this society were afraid to follow the rules in order to get to nirvana. Liberation was the end goal, which is why the people were so willing to obey by these rules. This meant if you followed this got liberated from rebirth. Benares Sermon shows how willing people are to follow somebody's rules.

One of the main objectives in religion is to achieve a certain state where the afterlife becomes a paradise for the soul. This is seen to be true in Catholicism and Buddhism, as both religions have a goal to insure their place with their religion. While the contentions on death may be different, both religions offer a certainty if a certain way of living is followed.

“Hesse used Hindu terms and names with their traditional meanings-Om, Samsara, Nirvana...,”(Timpe 348) The significance of the words Om, Samsara, Nirvana have a large impact inside of the book, and the obstacles Siddhartha had to face to attain his main objective of reaching Nirvana. Samsara, being the cycle of death and rebirth emanates the fear that everyone that does not reach nirvana is doomed because of the materialistic world. The significance of om lead to sidhartha opening his eyes, in a way Om is a concept that signifies the unity and perfection in the universe. Nirvana being the highest state that can be attained, it is evident that the main objective of anyone, including Sidhartha, on the journey of enlightenment is to reach Nirvana.

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

The Buddha traveled all over India and attracted many disciples. After Buddha’s death, 500 of his closest disciples formed a council and created a canon of Buddha’s words. It is believed that the physical appearance of a being has a direct connection to a person’s spiritual attainments. Nirvana is believed to be the final ending of suffering and is a state beyond the cycle of birth and death.

“…through nirvana the Buddha entered the state of bliss, marking his freedom from suffering and rebirth” (Yusuf, 2009, 378). This ‘bliss’ is said to be attained through knowledge. The original Buddha claimed to have discovered the fundamental problem with the human condition: that nothing is everlasting. He also stated that this ‘awakening’ is what led to freedom from samsara. Others attempt to follow the example of the Buddha, using his story and written testaments, or sutras, as spiritual guides to redemption, that is, nirvana.

According to Buddhism, after death one is either reborn into another body (reincarnated) or enters nirvana. Only Buddhas (those who have attained enlightenment) will achieve nirvana ( a state of peace with yourself and the

Emptiness in my own words from the Buddhism prospective would be like imagining a person sitting in their secret place in the lotus position meditating with a basket full of issues or stress triggers. As you sit there meditating with your eyes closed, focusing on your breathing and then you would start to empty your mind of each issue found in the basket one by one. You would continue to do this until the basket is empty, until your mind is empty and until your soul is empty. At that moment is when you should reach nirvana. I imaged it being this way because of my Christian experienced, it will be the same process but instead of sitting, you will be on your knees, instead of sitting quietly, you will be praying and talking to God about each

Buddhism has no creator god to explain the creation of life and the universe. Buddhism teaches that everything depends on everything else. In other words, present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events. Buddhists believe that an old world system had been destroyed and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system. In the beginning, they are spirits floating above the earth happily with luminescence and without form, name or sex. At first, the world is without light and land, but is made of water. Eventually the earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it. Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid, causing separation of the sexes and their bodies to appear beautiful or ugly. When they lose their luminescence, the sun and moon come into being. As the beings fall further into their wicked habits, which causes themselves and the earth to become even more unpleasant. Buddhists believe that everything we do is what molds our lives and the earth into what it is now (The Buddhist universe, 2009).

According to Buddhist cosmology, “there are multiple possible states of existence, including hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and gods” (Fisher, 2014, p. 148). However, these reincarnations are temporary and flawed because they are trapped in a cycle of samsara (Fisher, 2014, p. 149). Buddhist also teaches that “the creation of the universe isn’t known. Instead, they teach that when a universe is destroyed, then another will form and take the place of the previous one (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.). Buddhist believes “the pattern of death and rebirth is eternal, and so it is pointless to single out any one beginning” (Buddhist Belief of the Beginning, n.d.).

- Karma, samsara and nirvana fall under the religion of Hinduism. When all of our actions bring consequences, either in this life or the next is referred as karma. Samsara means the cycle of birth and death. Us humans are basically good, but are caught up in a cycle of pure desire and also of suffering that is a direct result of ignorance and of the go. Nirvana is another word to describe the permanent liberation from life. It is a liberation from the cycle of samsara, in which we cease to exist and become one with the universe.

Critically discuss the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, explaining the reasons or arguments given by Buddhism to support these Truths and discussing at least one objection that could be raised against the first Noble Truth and one objection that could be raised against the second Noble Truth.

Their goal is to end this cycle by achieving Nirvana. Nirvana is the state of existence realized by eliminating desire. Nirvana comes at two moments, awakening and enlightenment, and in the Paris Bilbana, when the person 's fire finally flickers (final death). The way to Nirvana is divided into eight categories of fields to avoid bad karma, leading to the regeneration of dangerous difficult forms.

Buddhism stands as a philosophy and a religion founding itself on the theory of a possible eternal soul. Until awakening is achieved, this eternal soul is locked in the vicious cycle of rebirth (Samsara). According to the Four Noble Truths preached by the Buddha, life is a perpetual suffering caused by desire and attachment, and freedom from suffering is only possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The World is suffering in a succession of temptations and negative experiences from birth to death. Therefore Buddhism advises on searching to go beyond suffering, and only aspire to rest, nothingness, and liberation, into a final state called Nirvana. Happiness or Nirvana can eventually be achieved in a hereafter, another life, if man abandons any desire or perspective of action within his present life, in order to go past suffering.

I want to compare the Hindu concept of moksha to the Buddhist concept of nirvana. Moksha is the main goal of Hinduism, and nirvana is the main goal of Buddhism. Moksha is viewed by Hindus as freedom from the cycle of reincarnation (Narayanan, 37). Nirvana is viewed by Buddhists as having a life that is free from all desire and suffering of the world (Taylor, 249). Both Hindus and Buddhists search to achieve these goals in their religions. They both want to be released from cycles, but they are different cycles. Hindus want to be released from the cycle of reincarnation, and Buddhists want to be released from a cycle of desire and self-interest. They want to be freed from desire because in Buddhism, desire is viewed as the main cause of suffering (Amore, 200). Once Hindus achieve moksha and Buddhists achieve nirvana, then they are truly free from these unpleasant cycles. Both Hindus and Buddhists understand moksha and nirvana as a sort of “superdeath” that ultimately ends the cycle of constant rebirth and death (Taylor, 250).