SarathW wrote: ↑Sun Apr 25, 2021 10:18 am
Nibbana. Are we chasing a mirage?
Personal opinion.
Yes and no.
In my opinion, Nibbana is a state of dispassion or
vairāgya which enables you to see things as they are. The 8 FP is for initiating that state of vairāgya and sustaining it lifelong.
Reaching Nibbana for few moments is perhaps not very difficult. But soon enough feelings and emotions begin to overwhelm us. We feel hungry, become irritated at a fly that is buzzing around, become distracted or concerned about something or someone.
Hence, if you believe that Nibbana is a state where you will have a halo around your head and there would be a rainbow when you die then you are chasing a mirage. No devas are coming down to escort you to the other side.
OTOH, if you believe that Nibbana is perfect stillness of the mind and absolute control over sense doors, then it is not a mirage.
oatsandmilk
“This doctrine is profound, hard to see, difficult to understand, calm, sublime, not within the sphere of logic, subtle, to be understood by the wise”. – Majjhima Nikāya