#175 NIRVANA: Nothing holy about it May 22th 17
Nirvana: nothing holy about it
What does the Internet say about Nirvana?
Nirvana is an ecstatic state in which there is no suffering, no desire, nor sense of self. It represents the final goal of Buddhist practice. The synonyms are: paradise, pleasure, heaven, bliss, ecstasy, peace, and serenity enlightenment. This definition is totally misleading. The true meaning of the word has nothing to do with this divine and ecstatic description. Zen Buddhism is concrete, down to earth and more practical.
Like anybody else, Zen practitioners do have desires, emotions, suffering and get the karmatic effects of their intentions and behavior. The difference is in their intensity and duration by the way practitioners are controlling the main culprit behind suffering that is our ego-driven mind.
The Sanskrit word Nirvana means literally “to extinguish”, or “to blow away”.