The Buddhist Purpose of Human Life
The goal of human life according to Buddhism is Nirvana.
This word means simply to blow out, as extinguishing the flame of a candle.
Nirvana can be understood as the blowing out of desire.
It could also be the blowing out of ignorance, or you could see it as the blowing out of life itself.
How could it be that the goal of human life is the blowing out of life itself? Nirvana comes at two moments in the Buddha's life.
At the moment of his awakening, when he understood that he was no longer adding fuel to the fire that fed his personality; and at the moment of his Parinirvana, his passing, when the fire of his personality finally flickered out.
It may seem for us that the concept of Nirvana is very negative.
I met many people who react pretty negatively to the concept of Nirvana.
To flame out generally isn't a positive concept.
However, here we have a religious tradition where the ultimate goal of human existence is to allow the fire that creates this infinite process of lives after lives to extinguish itself.
How can we make sense of this idea? I think that the first thing that you have to say about it is that the concept of Nirvana forces us to take seriously the negative Indian evaluation of the doctrine of reincarnation.
Often, for Western people, when we encounter the Indian doctrine of death and rebirth, our first impulse is to consider it as a pretty good idea.
We don't mind to come back many times.
There are many things that maybe we couldn't do in this life and we want another chance.
It doesn't work like that in the Buddhist tradition.
The concept of Nirvana shows us that in classic Indian Buddhism, the cycle of deaths and rebirths is something that we should want to stop.
Why is that? Because they see this process as one which involves millions and millions of life times without a visible end or goal.
Everything that you achieve in this life or in the millions of your lives, is nothing.
It doesn't mean anything.
Nirvana is an image of cessation.
It is sometimes difficult to Western people to understand this, as the goal of most of the religious traditions in the West is a totally opposite concept, that of abundance: eternal life, eternal happiness, many women, etc.
The goal of human life according to Buddhists is the cessation of activity.
This is a major shift in what is valuable and important in our human experience.
This word means simply to blow out, as extinguishing the flame of a candle.
Nirvana can be understood as the blowing out of desire.
It could also be the blowing out of ignorance, or you could see it as the blowing out of life itself.
How could it be that the goal of human life is the blowing out of life itself? Nirvana comes at two moments in the Buddha's life.
At the moment of his awakening, when he understood that he was no longer adding fuel to the fire that fed his personality; and at the moment of his Parinirvana, his passing, when the fire of his personality finally flickered out.
It may seem for us that the concept of Nirvana is very negative.
I met many people who react pretty negatively to the concept of Nirvana.
To flame out generally isn't a positive concept.
However, here we have a religious tradition where the ultimate goal of human existence is to allow the fire that creates this infinite process of lives after lives to extinguish itself.
How can we make sense of this idea? I think that the first thing that you have to say about it is that the concept of Nirvana forces us to take seriously the negative Indian evaluation of the doctrine of reincarnation.
Often, for Western people, when we encounter the Indian doctrine of death and rebirth, our first impulse is to consider it as a pretty good idea.
We don't mind to come back many times.
There are many things that maybe we couldn't do in this life and we want another chance.
It doesn't work like that in the Buddhist tradition.
The concept of Nirvana shows us that in classic Indian Buddhism, the cycle of deaths and rebirths is something that we should want to stop.
Why is that? Because they see this process as one which involves millions and millions of life times without a visible end or goal.
Everything that you achieve in this life or in the millions of your lives, is nothing.
It doesn't mean anything.
Nirvana is an image of cessation.
It is sometimes difficult to Western people to understand this, as the goal of most of the religious traditions in the West is a totally opposite concept, that of abundance: eternal life, eternal happiness, many women, etc.
The goal of human life according to Buddhists is the cessation of activity.
This is a major shift in what is valuable and important in our human experience.
