Can i achieve nirvana

Yet, this cannot be equated to the Theravada belief in the diligent practice of temperance. While the Theravada school supports the practice of temperance so that one can detach from the world, the Mahayana tradition believes that moderation imitates the impartial nature of the Buddha, or the preeminent one who has achieved Nirvana, which in turn can help others attain spiritual emancipation.

To Mahayana Buddhists, Nirvana is not only a state of spiritual flawlessness, but also the reality that all sentient beings are a part of. Furthermore, to Mahayana Buddhists, Nirvana is a state of spiritual perfection in which one realizes that there is nothing outside of Nirvana, and that it is the highest degree of reality one can enter into.

Consequently, the Mahayana Buddhists believe that this can lead one to be disenchanted with Nirvana, which is problematic because feelings of dissatisfaction are contrary to that state of contentment. Hence, this paradox leads the Mahayana, unlike their Theravada brethren, to recommend that those who are in Nirvana assist those who have not yet reached it. The Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna believed that Nirvana was beyond logic.

To him, the closest one can come to describing this level of reality is to understand that it derives from neither existence nor non-existence. Hence, by being an exception to the interactions between being and non-being, Nagarjuna is left to conclude that Nirvana is the all-encompassing totality of reality that all sentient beings reside within. Furthermore, Nagarjuna states that because there is really no definition that is adequate to describe Nirvana, one should discard it from thought so that it does not become a source of vexation.

One may infer, as a result, that to Theravada Buddhists one should try to escape the painful predicament of this life, through only self-denial, which I believe the Buddha, Nagarjuna, and the Mahayana Tradition would not identify with. Ultimately, Nirvana facilitates desire, and since desire derives from Nirvana, there is something good in it, insofar as it can help one to learn valuable life lessons.

Nagarjuna, who claims that the universe is dynamic and not subject to the laws of origination or annihilation, may rightfully be understood as supporting a similar claim that was made by the Buddha in The Parable of the Mustard Seed. According to the Buddha, one must accept that Nirvana is at times a painful condition, which all people are a part of, and that by helping others from a place of genuine compassion can, in turn, help them to realize the preexisiting state of Nirvana. Finally, this too diverges from the Theravada belief that one must achieve Nirvana instead of growing into it as a state of being.

Burtt, E. Astore, R. Astore, Rocco A. The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog. Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines.

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Reset your password ». By Rocco A. Astore , Vol. Cite References Print. In Theravada Buddhism, Nirvana is not only a state of liberation from wants, but also a freedom from the suffering that is associated with them.

In contrast to the Theravada concept of spiritual liberation, the Mahayana school believes that Nirvana cannot really exists until all have reached it. Burtt ed. Ibid Ibid. Rocco A. The Telos of History as Understood by Hegel. Buddhist sects do view them differently, but generally speaking, Buddhists follow the path by approaching the world with compassion, patience and joy, and contemplating the universe through meditation.

The fundamental goals are to cultivate morality shila , meditation dhyana and wisdom prajna. Buddhists who achieve nirvana on their own become buddhas , awakened ones this is different from "the Buddha," the specific buddha who was incarnated as Siddhartha.

Like the Buddha, other buddhas gain omniscience when they are enlightened. Buddhists who achieve nirvana with the help of a buddha guide become arhats , people who are enlightened but not omniscient. While nirvana is possible for any person, in most Buddhist sects only monks attempt to achieve it. Lay Buddhists -- Buddhists outside the monastic community -- strive instead for a higher existence in their next life.

They follow the Noble Eightfold Path and help others, trying to accumulate good Karma. In this sense, they're working toward nirvana because they're setting up a future life in which they might achieve nirvana. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Ideas that chime with Buddhism are being championed by the Royal Society of Arts and the New Economics Foundation , and reported in mainstream media. Before cif belief , I never dreamed I would synchronise my journalistic career and meditation practice, finding national newspaper space to write from a Buddhist perspective.

Buddhism is reaching beyond academia, think tanks and the media. Most GPs are aware of mindfulness-based stress reduction MBSR and cognitive therapy MBCT , well-researched approaches to health problems which feature meditation as their core component.

As Mark Vernon says , "people right now are slowly eating raisins in a workshop somewhere near you. I'm glad they are, because if Buddhist practices are to work, they must be what they say on the tin — practices.

Reading about them or studying them scientifically may be helpful as inspiration, but unless the disciplines are applied repeatedly , the effect will be minimal. It's one thing to decide that compassion is a good thing, that mindfulness could make us healthier, or that there is no separate self, but quite another to develop compassion, mindfulness and selflessness. Our bodies and brains are products of millions of years of evolution that have programmed us to behave in certain ways, and as most of us discover painfully, it is not so easy to change habits we carry from the past.

That is why Buddhism offers a path — a route to clear seeing, well-being and skilful action that has been tried and tested by lineages of practitioners over thousands of years, and which recognises that contentment cannot usually be attained just by seeing what would bring it about. Without a lasting commitment to practice, we may get flashes of insight, and even be able to make some wise choices, but these are unlikely to be sustained, and we will mostly remain stuck in our old modes of operating.

Worse, we may become blindly convinced that our existing viewpoint is the most enlightened one available. I've just returned from three weeks at Dechen Choling , a French retreat centre where the manifestation of Buddhist principles is attempted in social microcosm.