Samsara and Nirvana

[Blessed2]

Samsara

 

word that means "world"

 

"cyclicality of all life, matter, existence"

 

"cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence"

 

"suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end"

 

"beginningless time"

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saṃsāra

 

 

 

Nirvana

 

literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp

 

"blown out, extinguished"

 

"the liberation from duḥkha, suffering, and saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and rebirth"

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana

 

 

Like a turntable playing the music engraved on the vinyl record... Samsara is the music, and engraved on the vinyl is a thought of separation.

 

Never beginning and never ending, it keeps reading the same engraving... And the same music keeps playing. "Over and over", the same theme. Seems like the world changes, evolves, progresses... But maybe it doesn't.

 

Just a little detour of believing one mad thought.

 

 

Take a look around. Birth. Aging. Sickness. Death. Separate selves in bodies. Past. Future. Insufficiency. Lack. Separation. Never-ending search for something. Never enough. Constant hardship. Every problem you solve brings about new problems.

 

Doesn't it smell fishy? Isn't it obvious that something is a bit off?

 

 

Can I say, Nirvana is a very beautiful word. It touches something in me.

[Phil]

Who would’ve guessed what it’s all made of. 🙂 Is. 

Am. 

[Blessed2]

26 minutes ago, Phil said:

Who would’ve guessed what it’s all made of. 🙂 Is. 

Am. 

 

😳😳

 

[Blessed2]

There's a great part in Disapperance of The Universe:

 

"ARTEN: Now we come to another one of the ego’s favorite devices for maintaining its vast illusion. Tell me, Gary, since you have a show-business background; what does an illusionist do to trick the audience at a magic show?

GARY: One thing is to hide the illusion by diverting the attention of the audience someplace else while the trick is being done.

ARTEN: Yes! The ego is a master illusionist, and one of the ways it diverts your attention, from the moment you’re born, is by giving you—and this calls for another drum roll, please—problems. These problems are usually right in front of you, and the answers to these problems have to be found out there in the world and utilized. It doesn’t matter if it’s your own survival that’s the problem, or something as seemingly lofty as attaining world peace. The problems and the answers are always somewhere out there in the world or the universe. “The truth is out there,” says your generation. It doesn’t matter if they’re talking about extraterrestrials, or any of the ego’s other substitute mysteries and problems. For the real truth is not out there—because the real problem is not out there."

 

 

 

Yes! I really like that. Life and the world seems to be constant stream of problems. If I really take a look at what has been going on my entire life and where my focus mostly is, it's just all sorts of problems to be solved! Whatever it is. Relationships, money, work, spirituality... All just problems and trying to solve & figure out!

 

And don't get me started with society and politics! Oh my lord, all of it is just PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED 😂😂

 

Sounds pessimistic but really it feels quite aligned!

[Phil]

🙏🏼 🥹

[James123]

9 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

 

Can I say, Nirvana is a very beautiful word. It touches something in me.

You is samsara.

 

Nirvana is what is nirvana or what is what?

Edited April 4, 2023 by James123

[Blessed2]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:23 PM, Blessed2 said:

There's a great part in Disapperance of The Universe:

 

"ARTEN: Now we come to another one of the ego’s favorite devices for maintaining its vast illusion. Tell me, Gary, since you have a show-business background; what does an illusionist do to trick the audience at a magic show?

GARY: One thing is to hide the illusion by diverting the attention of the audience someplace else while the trick is being done.

ARTEN: Yes! The ego is a master illusionist, and one of the ways it diverts your attention, from the moment you’re born, is by giving you—and this calls for another drum roll, please—problems. These problems are usually right in front of you, and the answers to these problems have to be found out there in the world and utilized. It doesn’t matter if it’s your own survival that’s the problem, or something as seemingly lofty as attaining world peace. The problems and the answers are always somewhere out there in the world or the universe. “The truth is out there,” says your generation. It doesn’t matter if they’re talking about extraterrestrials, or any of the ego’s other substitute mysteries and problems. For the real truth is not out there—because the real problem is not out there."

 

 

 

Yes! I really like that. Life and the world seems to be constant stream of problems. If I really take a look at what has been going on my entire life and where my focus mostly is, it's just all sorts of problems to be solved! Whatever it is. Relationships, money, work, spirituality... All just problems and trying to solve & figure out!

 

And don't get me started with society and politics! Oh my lord, all of it is just PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED 😂😂

 

Sounds pessimistic but really it feels quite aligned!

 

Before this, the book talks about Samsara more extensively:

 

"We’ve already established that the universe you see is symbolic of the one thought that you have separated yourself from God—presented in many forms—and that you feel secretly terrified and enormously guilty over the separation. On this new level of the world of bodies, the thought of separation has been projected, seemingly outside yourself. Now the substitute causes of sin, the projected responsibility for guilt and the many imagined reasons for fear of any kind can be found somewhere outside of you—and of course, other people see everything as being outside of them.

Once you understand that, it isn’t too hard to see the acting-out of separation and the projection of unconscious guilt at work in the world every day. The ego has set up people and groups against each other for its entire script of the history of the universe—guaranteeing the acting-out of separation in individual relationships in some way. Only when everyone has awakened from the dream will the thought of separation be over.

Even in joining, there is still separation in this world. To bring this about, the ego made special relationships. As mentioned before, with duality you have special love and special hate. Love is now selective rather than all-encompassing, and so it is not really love, but passes for it. When you appear to enter an incarnation, you are immediately part of some kind of family—which means you are not a part of other families, economic classes, cultures, ethnic groups and countries. You are already different than others in many ways. You even have competition between families, parts of families and individuals within families.

The special relationships within your family, whether biological, adopted, or in a foster home, may be good or bad, loving or hateful—resulting in either special love or some kind of victimization. Everyone who dreams their way into this world sees themselves as a body from the beginning, and thus a very special body indeed. Thoughts of victim and victimization cannot help but be seen from this point of view, resulting in the unaware projection of your sin and guilt—which are hidden by walls of forgetfulness—onto someone or something.

Now all the secret sins and the hidden hates you have about yourself are seen elsewhere; the fact that you are experiencing an unreal dream projection from your own forgotten mind is completely shut off from your awareness. Other people and outside events, or your own body and brain’s misguided and thus seemingly guilty actions, are the perceived cause of the endless series of fears and situations—big and small—that you call your life."

 

 

Not sure how much copyrighted text is appropriate to share online. I just wanted to share it cause it's sooo eye-opening. Sorry Gary R. Renard, I hope you'll forgive me.

[Blessed2]

Brings in mind how The Buddha left his home and the title as heir to the kingdom. Makes sense when you look at Samsara for what it is.

[Blessed2]

That seems to be also one of the "tricks" or illusions of the ego. Speciality, levels and degrees.

 

"This relationship is more important than that one."

 

"It's harder to make a million bucks than twenty."

 

"This act has more impact that that act."

 

etc.

 

In the very first paragraph of the very first chapter ACIM says:

 

There is no order of difficulty in miracles. ²One is not “harder” or “bigger” than another. ⁴All expressions of love are maximal.

[Blessed2]

It might be good to also contemplate how the ego might interpret stuff like what's shared in this thread.

 

It might see it as a threat, like waking up / Nirvana means losing something. Or that there is a need to sacrifice something.

 

That's the very house we're here to burn down! You don't lose anything. You don't need to sacrifice anything. You don't need to do or to be anything different. That's exactly how the ego thinks! 😂

 

Literally nothing but good news here. Wholly and purely good news seem to be hard for the ego-mind to grasp. Maybe impossible even. "Too good to be true" it says. Maybe that's the whole shebang.

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Blessed2

[Blessed2]

WOAH!

 

Samsara is really one with the thought of separation! It's not really like a thing that follows!

 

Dropping the thought of separation does not mean that it undoes the samsara...

 

In dropping the thought of separation there never was samsara!

 

[Mandy]

@Blessed2 🔥❤️ 

[Blessed2]

Like I already mentioned in this thread, I've come to hear that in samsara there is at least two big "distraction makers" which is meant to keep your gaze and focus fixed on the veil and drama of experience basically.

 

One is problems. Financial problems, health problems etc. Something to fix and figure out.

 

Another is special relationships. Everything in the egos world is measures in degrees and levels to create drama. Some relationships are more important and special than others. Friends, family, intimate partners etc. Or your special arch nemesis etc.

 

From the moment you are born you are a part of family which seems more important than others. And you are a part of a tribe, race, nationality etc. which also creates immersive drama and illusion of speciality.

 

It's fun and mind-opening to contemplate on this subject.

 

 

Any other popular forms of distraction making / focus fixing / drama immersion come to mind?

 

No need to believe that it is the truth that there is such ego's tricks, just contemplating for fun.

 

@Phil @Mandy

 

[Phil]

@Blessed2

Need is a really good one. 

And life purpose / overlooking life is the inherent purpose. 

[Blessed2]

8 hours ago, Phil said:

Need is a really good one. 

And life purpose / overlooking life is the inherent purpose. 

 

Ouch. I'm falling for these. 😂

 

Meaning, purpose, value. 🤔

[Blessed2]

The thought of separation wasn't thought somewhere in the past.

 

It's being thought right now.