One of the Buddha's important teachings is that of cosmic change
and discontinuity. According to Buddhism, everything in the world is changing
and impermanent. There is nothing that lasts and lasts forever (forever).
Things arise and pass away.[1] All things are subject to change and decay.
Since everything originates from some state, it disappears when that state
ceases to be. Whatever has auuu beginning has an end. The Buddha therefore
says: 'he knows that whatever exists arises from causes and conditions and is
impermanent in every respect. That which seems eternal shall perish, that which
is high shall be low; where there is meeting, there will be parting; where
there is birth, there will be death”. Later, the Buddha's followers developed
this doctrine of impermanence into the theory of the momentary (kshanika-vada),
meaning not only that everything has a contingent and therefore impermanent
exuuuistence, but also that things do not last even for a short time. , but
they only exist for one integral moment.[2] It is important to note that the
doctrine of universal change or impermanence follows logically from the
doctrine of dependent origination, the foundation of the Buddha's teaching.
Nirvana (as an ineffable experience):
The term nirvana literally means "burned out",
"extinction" or "extinction". This meaning is the source of
the negative interpretation of nirvana as the destruction and extinction of
existence. Some people claim that by teaching the path to nirvana, the Buddha
showed people the way to extinguish themselves. While we readily acknowledge
the complexity of the concept of nirvana, we should point out that such an
annihilationist interpretation of nirvana is simply absurd. For Buddha, who
himself attained nirvana, certainly did not throw himself out of existence; nor
could his teaching be understood as an exhortation to men to extinguish
themselves; nor is it correct to equate (equally considered) nirvana with
death.
According to the Buddha himself, nirvana is to be attained here
and now while one is still alive, not a paradise to which one looks forward
after death. Therefore, Nirvana is the state in which one is freed from all
bondage and attachments, overcomes and removes the source of suffering. It is
also a state of perfect insight into the essence of existence. He who has
attained nirvana has once and for all been freed from all the bonds that bind
man to existence. A man who attains nirvana is a man of knowledge, peace,
discipline and non-attachment. As a man of perfect wisdom, he desires nothing
for himself, but always works for the welfare and liberation of his fellow men.
It is true that when the Buddha was asked whether one who
attains nirvana exists or ceases to exist after death, he simply refused to
answer the question and instead remained completely silent. The Buddha's
silence must be interpreted as indicating the inappropriateness of the question
itself: the question is inappropriate in that not only asking the question, but
any attempt to answer this question will only lead one into a quagmire of
futile metaphysical speculation and futile philosophical debate. Further, and
more importantly, the Buddha's silence is due to his awareness that nirvana is
a state that transcends all worldly experience and is therefore unspeakable;
for all speech is possible only in the realm of perception and concepts fully
governed by the Doctrine of Dependent Origination, while nirvana is beyond
sense, language, and thought.
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