The goal of life acording to Buddhism - Nirvana and an important signpost to itEmptiness, Signlessness and Aimlessness are the three doors of liberation in Buddhism. Nirvana arises when we pass through these doors. This article is about Aimlessness. Aimlessness basically means that there is nothing to attain, nothing to strive for, nothing that we are compelled to do. This enables us to be happy in the present moment, to live, to do the experiencing of life. This is the message of the Heart Sutra, which clearly says that there is nothing to attain. This is basically looking at Absolute Truth. I had spoken of Relative Truth and Absolute Truth in an earlier article. Basically Relative Truth is concerned with the world of Form – like your age, name, sex, state of health, financial status etc. Buddhism & Nirvana illustrated through an analogyI think that I can explain better through an example. We are all waves in the ocean. Relative Truth is regarding the size, distance from the shore and all the other factors that make up the form of the wave. Relative Truth is the path that leads to Absolute Truth which is when the wave comes to the simple realization that it is water and that it is part of the ocean; it is one with the ocean and can never – even for a moment – be separate from the ocean.This realization is Nirvana. Buddhism is a path that leads to this fearless and blissful life. Once the wave realizes its unity with the ocean it will know that there is nothing to strive for, it will understand that the external aspects of its being are transient and unimportant, it will be free to live its life and be happy. This is Buddhist Nirvana or enlightenment. Buddhism leads to this state of liberation. It is possible to move towards this carefree and happy state of mind if we start taking the external forms regarding ourselves less seriously. External forms as regards our being are our bodies, mind, feelings, intellect, family, wealth and possessions, age, reputation, relationships etc. This is what all of us worry about obsessively 24 hours a day. It is as if the wave was getting a complex by comparing itself with other waves, its relationships, its position in society as compared to other waves and most importantly its own impending demise that nothing at all can prevent. The wave reaches Absolute Truth when it realizes that that it is water and can never be apart from the ocean. If we were to grow less concerned with external from regarding ourselves we might come to a similar realization. At any rate we would be moving towards Aimlessness of Buddhism. We would be moving towards being carefree and happy in the present moment. There are many meditation methods that will enable you to grow towards Aimlessness. Some of these, that I am familiar with, are: 1) Mindfulness and meditation on Death. This is primarily a Buddhist practice. I would advice you not to try out this practice unless you can do so under supervision. This is a very powerful method and can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety and I would recommend that you find yourself an accomplished master to guide you before you try it out. I am speaking from experience - you will be playing with fire. In Buddhism Nirvana can be achieved through many paths and there are certainly many other meditation practices that you can safely try out. 2) Vipassana Meditation as taught by S. N Goenka with its stress on Impermanence. 3) Paul Brunton's meditation technique that he learned from Ramana Maharshi. This is primarily a Hindu method and stresses Discrimination to enable us to realize that the Body, Mind, Intellect, Feelings and all the other external aspects of our being are not the Self. Further details are on this page on
Hinduism
A different practice leading to Nirvana. Buddhism has many such skillful meansAnother method that I have found useful is if we regard ourselves as a process and not as a self, separate from the rest of existence (this view of our being is advocated by Buddhism). We are a process whose function is simply to experience life. And we might as well Drink to the Full and Dance. Further details are on this page on Being a WitnessAnother concept or practice, which is useful to grow towards Aimlessness advocated by Buddhism, is if we let go of our need to make progress and better ourselves and regard ourselves and our being as cyclical – like the seasons. More details can be found on this page on the Taoist concept of Yin Yang It is possible within a few months to grow towards Aimlessness advocated by Buddhism and learn to take ourselves far less seriously. I myself have made good progress through Vipassana Meditation. I had learned this technique some years back but started meditating regularly only since July 2005. The changes as regards my well being have been dramatic. It is now possible for me to simply live in the moment and be happy. In some ways it is like waking up from a dream. So these are some of the traditional practices of Buddhism. Nirvana is the ultimate goal but even otherwise you will be much happier if you try these out and they work for you. And all you need to do to enjoy this happiness of Aimlessness of Buddhism – regardless of external circumstances – is to learn to take the external aspects of your being less seriously through any of the methods described above. I hope you enjoyed this article and that it will be useful to you. Stay tuned for more in this continuing series.
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