In buddhism how does one achieve nirvana

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From small farming communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou B. E , Qin B. We will cover the traditional viewpoint on nirvana in Buddhism, and offer our personal thoughts from a more modern and Western perspective. First, we have to look at samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth in Buddhism.

Although reincarnation is a topic often left out in Western Buddhism, it is an important Buddhist teaching. Samsara in Buddhism is the cycle of suffering and rebirth that we all experience. The cycle, at its most basic, consists of birth, living, death, and new life. The Buddha taught that we wander through our cycles of life and death with ignorance. Samsara, like nirvana, is caused by karma. Karma is the Buddhist law of cause and effect, and teaches us that we reap what we sow.

As we cultivate wholesome qualities, we move out of this cycle of suffering over lifetimes. So this brings us to nirvana, or nibbana in Pali. Specifically, we are extinguishing the fire of suffering and samsara. Like freedom, it is a state. There was once a verb in Pali, nibbuti , to describe the act of extinguishing.

This is just pointed out to help us understand that achieving nirvana is a process. The Buddha mentioned that nirvana is impossible to describe to somebody who has not achieved awakening themselves, but also pointed toward nirvana as freedom from suffering. This suggests we need not ponder what it feels like, but rather the way it is achieved.

Freedom from suffering is the purpose of the path. But, it is helpful to keep this in the back of our minds. Instead, we no longer create suffering in our lives. The Buddha himself experience unpleasant things after his awakening, but did not suffer.

As such, nirvana is a state of non-clinging, non-aversion, and clarity into the nature of reality. So, we know that nirvana is what we are working toward. But, how do we actually reach nirvana? We awaken by ending suffering and the cycle of samsara.

In keeping with this reluctance on the part of the Buddha to elaborate on the question, the early sources describe nirvana in predominantly negative terms. Certain passages suggest that nirvana is a transcendent reality which is unborn, unoriginated, uncreated and unformed.

In the last analysis the nature of final nirvana remains an enigma other than to those who experience it. What we can be sure of, however, is that it means the end of suffering and rebirth. Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle!

As a nonprofit, we depend on readers like you to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available. Subscribe now to read this article and get immediate access to everything else. Tricycle is a nonprofit that depends on reader support. Not Helpful 4 Helpful One of the tips on this page says, "Find what you enjoy and do more of it," but isn't that just indulging one's desires and, therefore, increasing suffering? Finding what you enjoy more and doing more of it does not lead to nirvana.

You need to free yourself from all defilements. The main cause for suffering is craving, which happens due to greed, ignorance and hatred. The best way to attain nirvana is meditating.

Not Helpful 14 Helpful Achieving Nirvana will probably not be easy. It may take a long time. Even if it feels impossible, keep trying. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0.

You can practice Buddhism on your own, but you may benefit from going to a temple and having a teacher. Don't rush to decide on a group or teacher. Always trust your own instinct with this and take your time. There are great teachers out there and some very unpleasant ones. Do your homework. The eightfold path is not a linear path. It is a journey that you travel every day.

Your path to enlightenment will be different from everyone else's, just as every snow flake takes a unique route through the sky. Try different methods of meditating, they're just tools and methods to use along the way. A varied set of tools is useful at different times. Nirvana is attained when the misconception of the way the self and everything else exists ceases permanently. There are many methods to cause this can happen. None are right or wrong, better or worse. Sometimes Nirvana occurs spontaneously and sometimes it takes a lot of time and effort.

Nobody else knows your path see the snowflake analogy above yet rarely will a teacher tell you to go to a different group and not their group. The irony shouldn't be lost on you along your journey. Autonomous practise is essential in attaining nirvana.

A teacher's role is to help you grow and become spiritually autonomous. Their role is not to create co-dependency and regression to an infantile state, yet this is very very common. Keep going, reflect on the benefits you get, even the slightest ones and remember them. They will be your motivation tools. Focus on the practise and the goal may come.

Focus on the goal and the practise won't sustain. Use the internet to find groups of awakened meditators. They are out there with resources to help you. Nirvana can be attained via any spiritual path within any religion, that is whether the religion or group believes in and teaches about Nirvana or not.

There are many examples of this happening. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Related wikiHows How to. How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: July 15, Categories: Buddhism. Article Summary X To attain Nirvana, you'll need to follow the noble eightfold path, which includes 8 practices you must follow to achieve Nirvana.

Italiano: Raggiungere il Nirvana. Bahasa Indonesia: Mencapai Nirwana. Nederlands: Nirwana bereiken. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. Thank you! Rated this article:. More reader stories Hide reader stories.

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