nirvana

[Apathia]

When I am angry, I am VERY aware of my body. Not sure how being aware of the body is supposed to control anger.

It's not about control. But just at that point focus on your body. Report to yourself what you are feeling. Follow where that takes you to understanding.

 

[Dancing David]

Sho nuff BDZ! (Hi there.)

I could have phrased it something like : The body still has the experience of pain but there is no self to add to the pain. However having had severe tooth abcess six years ago, I would say that my ability to detach from that experience of pain in the body is rather limited.

 

[Bodhi Dharma Zen]

I would say that my ability to detach from that experience of pain in the body is rather limited.

Ouch. Thats why you have to stop being a human being first. Nirvana is that, transcend the humanity in us (without dying this is).

 

[Glen.Nogami]

Can buddhists really transcend a "severe tooth abcess"? I mean, my mouth hurt just from reading that phrase.

 

[Bodhi Dharma Zen]

Lol! mine too.

I believe the answer is yes. But it is nevertheless a "correct" answer for a wrong question. Not that YOUR question is irrational, its more than what is wrong are OUR assumptions of what we are.

We are used to see the world from a clear (and small) perspective, the one of the little consciousness that we label as "us". Buddhism teaches that this label has, somehow, the appeareance of a "real entity" but that, in reality, it has no ontological existence. There is nothing that you can call "yourself".

So, if one becomes "ONE" with "THAT" (understanding it as "the universe in itself" or maybe "the noumena"), there is nothing but "something" like a pain, without anyone to suffer it, and so, in this sense, the "pain that is experienced by an individual" can be truly transcended.

 

[SirPhilip]

the asians believe we are on earth to achieve the state of nirvana, or non-thought.

Nirvana, or Moksha, is central to eastern philosophy with origins in pre-history. It means absence of craving. As an example, two people enjoy ice cream, but for one, it's a crutch, and they eventually become overweight and enjoy it less because of the penalty. The same is for substance abuse; the person tries to resolve an intangible, existential issue with the inessential, but no matter how hard they try, they cannot escape, and fall into hell. Some, completely obscured by this ignorance, commit suicide, thinking death is an escape.

And like they claim, when people get rich they begin to get frustrated because nothing in the material world can fully satisfy them.

Worldly things are satisfying, but they aren't a refuge, as they don't last and carry no inherent meaning. In a Christian context, this is what "atheism" refers to, although it's difficult, if not impossible for them to recognize it because the way they approach guilt.

The alternative seems to be to seek that state of non desire called nirvana cause desire is the creator of all thought and our ego can only exist in desire.Thats why the rich suffer. However as far as I know there is no scientific evidence of this nirvana. Do you know anything on this topic?

Nirvana refers to the unfettered state of the human will when the five senses and their corresponding retributions are overcome, the law of increasing returns turns upright, and the sixth becomes unobstructed. To use a more tangible example, the conscious and unconscious minds becomes ever increasingly balanced; balance being a special characteristic of nature, and the person becomes secure and happy. Contrast this to Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, who has no control over the senses, takes the inessential to be inherently meaningful, and consequently has no sense of the world or others, despite being articulate and intelligent.