The value of nibbana

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char101
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The value of nibbana

Post by char101 »

Hi, I have this confusing thought in mind, could anyone please shed some light :smile:

If there is no "I" then how does nibbana matters more than suffering since there is no "one" to save?

Like it does not matter whethere there is a broken car or no car at all if there is no one to drive.
Paññāsikhara
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Paññāsikhara »

char101 wrote:Hi, I have this confusing thought in mind, could anyone please shed some light :smile:

If there is no "I" then how does nibbana matters more than suffering since there is no "one" to save?

Like it does not matter whethere there is a broken car or no car at all if there is no one to drive.
Do you feel as if there is a "I" or not? Probably you do. If so, that is what counts. ;)
My recently moved Blog, containing some of my writings on the Buddha Dhamma, as well as a number of translations from classical Buddhist texts and modern authors, liturgy, etc.: Huifeng's Prajnacara Blog.
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Goofaholix
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Goofaholix »

char101 wrote:Hi, I have this confusing thought in mind, could anyone please shed some light :smile:

If there is no "I" then how does nibbana matters more than suffering since there is no "one" to save?

Like it does not matter whethere there is a broken car or no car at all if there is no one to drive.
A human being is not like a car, a human being does not require a driver, as is the case with all sentient beings.

The value of nibbana among other things is that the "sense of self" ceases to cause problems, cease to cause suffering.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
char101
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by char101 »

I feel that myself as a being have an identity that separates myself from other being and that need to be preseved but nibbana does not seem as a way to preservation other than self-destruction so I am having a difficult time getting motivated towards nibbana. Probably I have too much kilesa to see nibbana as the way out.
char101
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by char101 »

Hi,
Goofaholix wrote:A human being is not like a car, a human being does not require a driver, as is the case with all sentient beings.
That's not actually the point of my analogy :smile:
The value of nibbana among other things is that the "sense of self" ceases to cause problems, cease to cause suffering.
Suffering only matters (to be eliminated) if there is something that suffers, when nibbana (parinibbana) is reached, there will be no more suffering because there is just no-thing that can suffer. I think normally human nature is to eliminate suffering but that does not include eliminating theirselves.
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Guy
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Guy »

Hi Char,

Nibbana is not destruction of self because there is no self to begin with. There is only the habitual tendency to grasp at a self. Usually one of the 5 khandhas (body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness) is what we take to be a self or belonging to a self. When we see that all these things are impermanent then what is there that is worth grasping at or clinging to which we can safely identify as a self?

It is this grasping at a sense of self through the lack of knowledge that there is no self (and taking that which is impermanent to be permanent) which causes suffering.

With Metta,

Guy
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
char101
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by char101 »

Guy wrote:Hi Char,
Hi,
Nibbana is not destruction of self because there is no self to begin with.
But nibbana is the destruction of sankara which are body and mind which are what makes a being. So it's the destruction of a being, isn't it?

I do accept that self is a wrong view but what is the point of the hard practice to achieve nibbana if the end is the annihilation of the being (i.e. the mind and body and the cycle of samsara). People want to achieve nibbana because there is a lot of suffering risk in this cycle of existence. Beings do not life suffering. That is just their (our) nature. But although nibbana is the end of suffering, it is more than that, it also means the end of all (of a being, i.e. their mind and body). It just does not seem to be the solution of suffering to me. Probably if we can say that nibbana is a way of transformation from current dependently arising form (the mind and body in samsara) to some kind of existence which existence does not dependend on other thing and that does not ill, age, or die, and know that at least the previous state of samsara has been eliminated, nibbana can be seen a better way of this suffering in samsara.
There is only the habitual tendency to grasp at a self, usually one of the 5 khandas (body, feeling, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness) is what we take to be a self or belonging to a self. When we see that all these things are impermanent then what is there that is worth grasping at or clinging to which we can safely identify as a self?
So the [englightment] flow goes from [an impermanent-suffering-not I formation (5 khandhas)] -> [complete destruction of the 5 khandhas and the stopping of the cycle] which seems to me that anything is this world is so pointless?

It's like I'm having this conversation with myself
A: what's the point of life?
B: there is no point of life, it's just an impermanent, suffering state with nothing to be called I or mine or myself
A: then is there a better state?
B: yes there is this complete destruction of ourselves both of our wrong view of self and the mind and the body and the cycle of existence
A: how is that any better that the previous?
B: ... ?
char101
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by char101 »

Between this life and nibbana, it feels like having to choose between a rotten apple or no apple to me :?
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retrofuturist
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings char101,

If you really wish to investigate the subtleties of what nibbana is and isn't, I highly recommend...

Bhikkhu Nanananda's Nibbana Sermons
http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Books ... rmon_8.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nibbana is a tricky subject, and hard to do just to in a "Discovering Theravada" environment. Many seasoned campaigners have differing views on nibbana so giving a stock standard clear and succint Theravadin perspective that will be easily understood by the reader is not going to be an easy task.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Guy
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Guy »

Hi Char,
char101 wrote:
It's like I'm having this conversation with myself
A: what's the point of life?
B: there is no point of life, it's just an impermanent, suffering state with nothing to be called I or mine or myself
A: then is there a better state?
B: yes there is this complete destruction of ourselves both of our wrong view of self and the mind and the body and the cycle of existence
A: how is that any better that the previous?
B: ... ?
This seems to reveal to me that you still take the mind and/or body to be a self or belonging to a self (...or containing a self or that the self contains these aggregates). In other words:- As long as you continue to identify with the body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, consciousness as "me", "mine" or "myself" then it will be impossible to see how Nibbana is not the destruction of a self.

Maybe I misread what you said, if so please correct me.

With Metta,

Guy
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
Kenshou
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Kenshou »

char101 wrote:Between this life and nibbana, it feels like having to choose between a rotten apple or no apple to me :?
Perhaps the point is then to realize that you don't need any apples (nor non-apples) in the first place?
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by Reductor »

char101 wrote:Between this life and nibbana, it feels like having to choose between a rotten apple or no apple to me :?
:smile:

My friend, I understand your trouble with this. Once was a time when Nibbana was viewed by myself as 'nice to visit', but not a place I would like to stay. After all, what is the point of something that 'I' couldn't experience? Wasn't it the destruction of everything I was?

I have often thought that the best approach to Nibbana is not by thinking of what Nibbana 'is', because thinking of what it is will throw you into vexation: no matter how you think it out, you will be wrong. The best approach is to look long and hard at what you have right here. What is this? Where from, where to, and did it leaving me feeling or being better, worse or unchanged. Am I satisfied? How long does that satisfaction last?

Only when you have done that for a time with complete honesty will you start to understand deep down that everything you have is indeed not worth having, but that you cannot get away from it completely. You will find that there are so many things you are obliged to do just to survive, to be comfortable. The dependencies that exist are so many and you have very little choice.

When you understand that well, then the escape into Nibbana will lose its unsavory quality.

But if you never find that your heart turns toward Nibbana, at least Buddhism has so many other benefits in making life happier and easier.

And don't forget. Even the higher beings pass away and even their existence has its own requisite conditions to arise to be maintained.
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by jcsuperstar »

char101 wrote:Between this life and nibbana, it feels like having to choose between a rotten apple or no apple to me :?
how about suffering and no suffering? it's your choice though, and many of us choose to suffer, we want something a little bit more than we want nibbana whether it be a wife, or kids to go to college or whatever. no one says you have to realize nibbana, just like no one says just because it exists you have to go to Norway, it's your choice.
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salmon
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by salmon »

char101 wrote: But nibbana is the destruction of sankara which are body and mind which are what makes a being. So it's the destruction of a being, isn't it?
Let's say you are given a $1,000,000 cash cheque to hold on to. For all the while that you are holding onto that cheque, you will worry about dropping the cheque or getting mugged and losing it. But when you give that cheque to the bank teller, you no longer feel the worry of losing it. That cash cheque is like your being. Giving the cheque to the bank teller is like the attainment of nibbana coz you are free from the worries of when you had the cheque in your hands.

Do you (or anyone else reading this) see the cheque as a source of suffering? Chances are, most don't. Most people see it as a valuable item because it represents money. That's the nature of the human mind. :broke:
I do accept that self is a wrong view but what is the point of the hard practice to achieve nibbana if the end is the annihilation of the being (i.e. the mind and body and the cycle of samsara). People want to achieve nibbana because there is a lot of suffering risk in this cycle of existence. Beings do not life suffering. That is just their (our) nature. But although nibbana is the end of suffering, it is more than that, it also means the end of all (of a being, i.e. their mind and body). It just does not seem to be the solution of suffering to me. Probably if we can say that nibbana is a way of transformation from current dependently arising form (the mind and body in samsara) to some kind of existence which existence does not dependend on other thing and that does not ill, age, or die, and know that at least the previous state of samsara has been eliminated, nibbana can be seen a better way of this suffering in samsara.
I suggest you start to practise meditation (if you haven't already). At this point in time, it is clear that you have not fully understood the types of suffering that sankharas bring. When you see that wearing a winter jacket in summer is suffering, you'll naturally take it off. Don't try to force it now. If you do that, you will only scare yourself away from practise. Borrowing a quote from Ajahn Brahm...when you know the bliss of meditation, an orgasm doesn't even come close. And personally, I agree!!

Good luck.
~ swimming upstream is tough work! ~
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Re: The value of nibbana

Post by ground »

char101 wrote: If there is no "I" then how does nibbana matters more than suffering since there is no "one" to save?
That is the reason why nibbana and samsara may be seen as being equal and why "just stopping" amounts to "practice". It seems to require "skillful stopping" however. This "stopping" may be considered synonym for "renunciation".
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