Concept of Nirvana

Concept of Nirvana

November 3, 2013

About 2500 years ago, a man named Siddhartha Gautama made his decision to leave the Vedic religion which could not supply him with answers he was so desperate to find. Gautama saw four sights that changed his path forever; an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and a beggar. Gautama realized what the Vedic religion lacked- the answer to human suffering and pain. These extremes were no good, there had to be something in the middle. While contemplating these questions under a Bodhi tree, Gautama finally found the answers he so desperately longed for; the composition of these answers he named the Four Noble Truths. Prince Siddhartha Gautama had now reached Nirvana; he was now the “enlightened one” identified now as Buddha.

Reaching Nirvana is the goal of all Buddhists. Nirvana is the ultimate state of all being during which the cycle or rebirth comes to an end. Nirvana is the end to suffering; there are no longer those thirsts or desires. Through mediation, one is able to reach this enlightenment by realizing these Four Noble Truths. Once one reaches the final Noble Truth, one has achieved the ultimate reality, which releases one from life’s pains and desires.

The first Noble Truth is dubbed Sarvam Duhkham, meaning that ‘there is suffering’. There are three parts to this noble truth; the ordinary risks, transitory goodness, and ontological. Ordinary risks included the parts of life such as disease, fear, anxiety, and betrayal. Transitory goodness says that even what’s good in life will eventually pass away; pleasure is always tinged with sorrow and moments of pain. The final part of the first Noble Truth, ontological, includes death, old age, and everything contingent and conditioned. Once we realize these pains, we can then move on to realize what causes them.

The second Noble Truth is called Duhkham Sumudaya. It states that suffering and pain have an origin which result from life’s desires, thirsts, cravings, and...