NIRVANA

"Samsara is a process of creating places. Nirvana is the end of this process."

Jesus said that 'Heaven' is within you.

In Buddhism, the rough equivalent of 'Heaven' is 'Nirvana'.

(In Buddhism, the 'opposite' of Nirvana is 'Samsara', a world which can involve suffering.)



The Buddhist scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu says:

"Neither Samsara nor Nirvana is a place.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Buddhist scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu says:

"Samsara is a process of creating places, even whole worlds, (this is called becoming) and then wandering through them (this is called birth). 

"Nirvana is the end of this process."

Nirvana / "Samsara" / Thanissaro Bhikkhu



The Buddhist scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu says:

"If samsara were a place, it might seem selfish for one person to look for an escape, leaving others behind.

"But when you realize that it's a process, there's nothing selfish about stopping it at all.

"It's like giving up an addiction or an abusive habit.



The Buddhist scholar Thanissaro Bhikkhu says:

"When you learn the skills needed to stop creating your own worlds of suffering, you can share those skills with others so that they can stop creating theirs.

"At the same time, you'll never have to feed off the worlds of others, so to that extent you're lightening their load as well."

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

The Buddha taught that what we think of as our permanent 'self' is not permanent.

Our 'self' is being continually regenerated based on prior conditions and choices.

We are 'reborn' psychologically many times within our lives.

Samsara.



Nirvana is said to involve "peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion, and a refined and subtle awareness."

The Meaning of Nirvana

"Nirvana is beyond space, time, and definition, and so language is by definition inadequate to discuss it. 

"It can only be experienced."

Nirvana.



"Samsara literally means 'wandering-on.'

"It's a process: the tendency to keep creating worlds and then moving into them...

"As one world falls apart, you create another one and go there...

"At the same time, you bump into other people who are creating their own worlds, too...

"It would be perfectly innocuous if it didn't entail so much suffering...

"In addition to creating suffering for ourselves, the worlds we create feed off the worlds of others, just as theirs feed off ours."

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

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