"People talk about the 'real world,' but the real world that they talk about is not real;
it is only conventional appearance. It's the way it seems to be, according to the way one
has been conditioned to perceive it."
-Ajahn Sumedho
Once we can see and confront the reality, or parts of reality, which we do not like, we can then learn how to become free from suffering. How much anguish is caused by our craving for permanence or continuance of some kind? Do we not think, know, or believe that death will end our lives? We may console ourselves with metaphysical speculations of one sort or another, but that consolation does not necessarily help one see clearly. We are all bound to die, at least physically. And as to spiritual and religious ideas about life after death, all we really can say is that we don't definitively know. Thus it is best to work with what we can see and feel now, in the present moment, instead of getting bogged down in metaphysical abstractions and hypotheses. Life is too short to wait to die in order to see if your theory is correct. Be honest. We really don't know about life after death. All we can know is that death is the end of this life. We can see it arise and cease just like we can see directly everything else arising and ceasing. There is no great mystery in perceiving things this way, yet strangely, being this open allows one a sense of mystery greater than any theory or belief could ever contain. We may find that life is so much more than anything we could ever imagine or think it could be. And that can be very inspirational, but we stop there...at the inspiration, without any need to explain it according to some preconceived notions or beliefs.
The ultimate aim of Buddhism is not the annihilation of desire, contrary to what many believe. Desire is seen within a context of awareness as simply another collection of conditions that arise, crest, and then dissolve as with all conditions. Attachment is seen for what it is. That is why we use words like 'non-attachment' and 'non-desire' instead of 'anti-attachment' and 'anti-desire'. It is neither the belief that attachments and desires must be destroyed nor the belief in their essential-ness. In the conversion of the flames of desire into awareness, one begins to suffer less. When you can clearly see that many attachments and desires which cause suffering are not essential, you can let them cease on their own accord. Suffering is quenched in the cool relief of a heart at ease.
Nirvana is often poorly understood to be some realm of bliss. That is why some schools of Buddhism have developed the theory of the six realms, in which one is like a heaven, one is like a heaven that is torn asunder by greed, one is a realm of incessant desire, one is like a realm of complete suffering (a hell), one is like a realm of animalistic instincts without any recourse to consciousness, and one is very much our own realm of humanity which contains possibilities for all of these states, yet also the possibility to become awake. A good way to approach the idea of the six-realms is to see the whole picture as a representation of mental and emotional states - sort of like a psychological chart. The gods that exist in the blissful realm are no more permanent than any other thing, thus one's sojourn there, no matter the cause or accomplishment, is temporary. One way to approach nirvana is to see it as the taste of freedom one gains from realizing that none of these states are permanent. Thus you can start to get off from the wheel of going around the six-realms. The previous energy of your actions still propels you along in that circular motion, but instead of being a simple two-dimensional character going around in circles, you become a multi-dimensional character in a 'spiral-type' motion. This spiral up beyond the realms is one way of seeing nirvana. You still go through the experiences but you can no longer be attached. You start to grow up beyond the endless repetition of habitual states.
That said, one can experience nirvana here and now. In fact if you can't experience nirvana here and now, there is no other time for it. It is hard to conceptualize nirvana, but it can be pointed to by saying it is an embodied experience of life that must be touched in the present moment. An unconditioned happiness is a side effect of this open-ended approach to living, so nirvana is often equated with bliss. But the two are not really the same.
The Vajrayana outlook boldly states that you must experience samsara in order to know nirvana and vice versa. To say that one attains nirvana is like saying one attains 'reflection', or some other experience. You don't really attain experiences, to be honest. You experience them. When you eat something, you don't attain the taste of it. So maybe it is helpful to think of nirvana as something that is tasted. Those who have tasted nirvana are said to no longer be capable of lapsing for long into the repetitve habits of the six realms. It is as if one catches an embodied glimpse of unconditioned freedom...how can one go back into their former cocoons after that?
-Irreverend Hugh, KSC
(This version on December 25th, 2005, from an old journal entry)
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