So the topic for this week is going to be on Nibbāna.
The word Nibbāna is the Pali language way of saying Nirvana which is the Sanskrit word that you may be familiar with.
And this is a topic which is pretty central to the teachings of the Buddha.
It's one of the stated goals of practice to attain Nibbāna.
But we have to look at it carefully,
What it means and what this experience is like.
First of all the idea of the word Nibbāna is a metaphor.
But later after some time of the Buddha perhaps became more of a technical word in other traditions.
But the Buddha started using the word as a metaphor and with a variety of different meanings.
So we'll look at the meanings of this word and we'll explore it over the next two weeks together.
So we're going to let it unfold for us and understand it.
It's a topic that I avoided for many years as a teacher.
I have somewhat of an ambivalent relationship to using the word Nibbāna or Nibbāna.
Partly because it can be a confusing topic.
It lends itself to an idea of sort of a transcendental goal that's a part of,
Like that's kind of separated from our daily life.
And often there can be a lot of conceit about who has it and who doesn't have it.
Who has the experience of Nibbāna and who doesn't.
And with the confusion there's a lot of comparative thinking.
A lot of striving that goes into it.
And so it just seems better not to talk about it.
But it's come up enough in our recent years together that I don't want to shy away from it anymore.
It's important.
It's an important part of this tradition and it's an important part of our potential.
So one of the kinds of tensions in this history I have with this word Nibbāna is there's two general ways of emphasizing the practice.
Most of my teachers would emphasize the practice as just about being fully present in this experience without any concern for a goal.
And if we start talking about enlightenment or Nibbāna or Nirvana then we're talking about something which is not here.
It's somewhere else in the future.
Some potential.
And if we're leaning into the future we're really missing the experience of here.
So the point is to really just be present for this experience in a full,
Full way.
In a deeply unconditional accepting way.
Just experiencing here.
And then there are other teachers who emphasize that there is something very different than just being here.
And that's Nibbāna.
This is a liberation.
This deep release.
This freedom that's possible.
And it's presented as an experience that you have.
So how do these two different kinds of emphasis work together?
And a really simple kind of pithy way of saying it is the most effective way of getting from A to B is to be fully in A.
So yes there's a goal but the way to attain the goal of Nibbāna is not to be leaning into a future.
Not to be striving but to settle in and unconditionally accept this moment.
Just as it is.
Simple or uncomfortable,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
You know wonderful gardens or barren wilderness.
It doesn't really matter.
What matters is the practice which allows you to settle into how it is.
So Nibbāna is kind of being present.
It's being fully in A.
Just like many people might experience mindfulness.
Like ah I'm fully here.
But it's fully here with this sort of release.
This freedom,
This ease.
So the tradition,
This Buddhist tradition describes Nibbāna in many different ways.
There's one list that I came across of like 33 synonyms for this experience.
And I'll read some of them to you so you get a sense of the value that the Buddha puts on this experience.
He called it peaceful and sublime,
Happy,
Calm,
Wonderful,
Amazing,
Healthy,
Not troubled,
Purity,
Freedom,
The island,
The shelter,
The refuge,
The destination.
So these are all very positive words that suggest that this is held up as a high value.
And it's not quite as some people think that the word Nibbāna or Nibbāna,
It's not like an extinguishing of everything.
Some kind of barrenness.
But there's something about the release,
This freedom.
It's like a bird flying through the air.
So the association with this word is very positive.
It's a freedom that is,
It's vast.
So one very ordinary way of understanding the meaning of it is about,
Is like really understanding,
Becoming peaceful and tame.
One description is of a well tamed,
Peaceful horse.
It's described as being a horse that has Nibbāna.
Another way in which I learned and often referred to is that there's the meaning of Nibbāna is a fire going out.
Not because it's been blown out,
But because the fuel that keeps it burning has finished.
There's nothing more to burn.
Another idea is that of a fever,
Like when a fever breaks when you are ill,
And the fever has broken.
There's no more fever that's burning us.
Another metaphor for this experience of Nibbāna is called the other shore.
So there's the shore that we're on and on the shore that we're on,
There's a lot of danger and a lot of suffering.
And the other shore is a place that's free of danger,
Free of the floods of life and free of the winds of distress.
So it's sometimes presented as a location,
A place in this metaphor.
So Nibbāna is a qualitatively significant way of really being present for an experience right here.
And one which brings a tremendous feeling of well-being and sets us on a course,
A new course of practice.
We understand the level of possibilities of well-being and peace in a radically different way.
Where it comes,
This peace comes from the inside out in a powerful way,
Rather than the world towards us.
So the Buddha said that Nibbāna is the greatest happiness.
And it's also described as the release from all suffering.
So this release,
Sometimes that teaches us the full potential of mindfulness,
The full potential of being present here for this experience.
So we'll continue on Thursday to pull apart one of these ancient metaphors that was the the way in which I learned about Nibbāna.
So thank you for your kind attention.
If you have any questions about this,
Take them now.
