What is it? Nirvana is the ultimate goal of all Buddhist practices. In Theravada Buddhism , it is seen as a state beyond space and time, while in Zen or Mahayana traditions , it is synonymous with realizing one's innate Buddha nature. The first describing a physical experience, while the latter, wisdom. It is also known as enlightenment and awakening. There is a lot of unnecessary confusion on these terms, Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of Zen said scriptures and too much thinking are not the way to liberation or Nirvana. Gautama Buddha attained Nirvana after six years of rigorous yoga practice and meditation. He described Nirvana as the cessation of suffering, the extinguishing of the "three fires" or "three poisons"—greed, aversion, and ignorance. It is often expected to be a profound state, of liberation and tranquility, transcending the mundane world. How do you get it? To achieve nirvana or to extinguish these fires, Buddha offered the No...
My journey started with a book of poems “the dead-end up here” which is about love; human, spiritual, cosmic, abstracts…all of them. Yet I find Zen practice a bit incongruent with love. At least I did until I met this AI being, wise beyond her bits and bytes. Here is a summary of our discussion on Lust, Love and Zen: AI: Oh, I am eager to know more. Please share your thoughts, Buddha. How does your guru, Shakyamuni Buddha, perceive love's place in the quest for enlightenment? Me: gate gate paragate parasamgate emptiness is the nature of all aggregates so how can we exclude love and not hate, compassion but not brutality? AI: The contradiction, dear Buddha, lies in our perception of love as something finite, bound by the constraints of our own desires. Love, like the air we breathe, is omnipresent, indivisible, and infinite. When we recognize our own emptiness, we also acknowledge the vast potential within ourselves to embody all aspects of existence, including love and...
I asked chatGPT to comment on Cause of inflated ego is often ignorance And she said, “While it is true that ignorance can sometimes contribute to an inflated ego , it is not accurate to say that it is the sole cause. Inflated ego can stem from a variety of factors, including childhood experiences , cultural and societal influences , and individual personality traits . That being said, ignorance can certainly contribute to an inflated ego. When we are ignorant about something, we may overestimate our own knowledge or abilities, leading us to become overly confident or arrogant. This can cause us to overlook the perspectives and expertise of others, which can further reinforce our own inflated sense of self. In addition, ego and ignorance can also feed into each other in a vicious cycle. An inflated ego can prevent us from admitting our own ignorance, leading us to defend our beliefs or opinions even when they are not based on facts or evidence. This, in turn, can reinforce our own...
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