Every person is within moksha. Man’s real self and real goal is Moksha itself. But due to impurities of mind he is deluded that he is far away from moksha. Only the body consciousness and selfishness are distancing a person from his self. Due to misdeeds and misconceptions man is not able to experience the eternal bliss. The Eternal bliss that moksha brings is as pure as the Ganges from heaven (akasa Ganga) it has no impurities.
Nirvana is another name for moksha. It implies going beyond body consciousness.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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Yogi Ananda Saraswathi
ReplyDeleteNIRVANA: Here and there the terms ‘moksha’ and ‘nirvana’ are interchangeably used to add confusion to the respective concepts. Briefly, in Hinduism desire and action are said to be the source of reincarnation. Beings are in continuous ‘rotation’ through endless lifetimes in this earthly life, in heaven, in the middle regions or in hellish realms. Their status depends on karma. This rotation of reincarnation is called ‘samsara’ and the ultimate goal of life is to break the cycle. This is done through process of yoga and freedom or liberation from the cycle is rebirth is called ‘moksha.’
‘Nirvana’ on the other hand is not really moksha. Its version differs. Nirvana means ‘extinguishing’ one’s material existence. The Tamil version ‘nirvanam’ means to ‘be without.’ In Hinduism, nirvana is the emancipation from ignorance and extinction of all attachment. In Vedanta ‘nirvana’ is ‘nirvikalpa-samadhi.’ It is the transcendent consciousness referred as ‘brahman-nirvana’ in the Gita. The Upanishads refer as ‘turiya’ and in yoga it ‘nirbija-samadhi.’ Thus it is a far cry from Buddhist notions of nirvana.
The Buddhist implication, briefly, is that it is freedom from what-ever that binds you, from the burning passion of desire, jealousy, and ignorance. Once these are totally overcome, a state of bliss is achieved, and there is no longer the need the cycle of birth and death. All karmic debts are settled. It is an emphasis on the unified nature of the world. It is conceived as a human experience of oneness with unconditioned consciousness, the absolute, which gives insight into the unity of the world-samsara, body, mind and soul. It is also described as dwelling in the experience of the intense bliss in cognizing one's identity with unconditioned consciousness. It is freedom from attachment to the states of unhappiness, satisfaction and happiness. The Buddha described Nirvana as the ultimate goal, and he reached that state during his enlightenment. After Him the various schools Hinayana, Sautrantikas, Vatsiputriya, Mahayana, the Madhyamikas and the Yogacharas or Zen Buddhism have their own versions of ‘nirvana’ in form without usurping the philosophy of the Great One. Om