How do you know if you have attained Nibbana?
score:1
Nibbāna is a state of 'deathlessness' (amata)- the "unconditioned". “This is immortality, that being the liberated mind/will (citta) which does not cling (after anything)” (Majjhima Nikaya 2.265; SN 5.9).
It is "bhavanirodha” (The cessation of becoming / "subjugation of becoming"). Nibbāna is “no longer coming (bhava) and going (vibhava)", It is "liberation (vimutta)". Nibbāna is not a place nor a state, it is an absolute truth to be realized, and a person can do so without dying. When a person who has realized Nibbāna dies, his death is referred as his pari-Nibbāna, his fully passing away. What happens to a person after his PariNibbāna cannot be explained, as it is outside of all conceivable experience. A definition of Nibbāna can only be approximated by what it is not. It is not the clinging existence with which man is afflicted. It is not becoming. It has no origin or end. It is not fabricated. It has no dualities. It cannot be described in words. It is not conditioned on or by anything else. In SN43:14 it is said:
“the far shore, the subtle, the very difficult to see, the unaging, the stable, the undisintegrating, the unmanifest, the unproliferated, the peaceful, the deathless , the sublime, the auspicious, the secure, the destruction of craving, the wonderful, the amazing, the unailing, the unailing state, the unafflicted, dispassion, purity, freedom, the unadhesive, the island, the shelter, the asylum, the refuge...”
Calling Nibbāna the "opposite" of samsāra or implying that it is apart from samsāra is doctrinally incorrect. It is probably best to understand the relationship between Nibbāna and samsara in terms of the Buddha while on earth. Buddha was both in Samsara while having attained to Nibbāna so that he was seen by all, and simultaneously free from samsara.
Upvote:2
If the mind has reached final Nirvana, nothing in the whole world can bother it and make it suffer.
The mind will completely cleansed of greed, lust, anger, hatred, irritation, delusion, attachment, fear, worry, hurt, sorrow, self-view, etc.
Upvote:2
Simple answer: They see that there is no greed, anger or delusion arising in the mind anymore.
Long answer: You might wonder how someone can know they have no greed, it is possible that they haven't experienced greed for several months but they are not yet free from greed.
To answer this I think you have to ask a more basic question first: How does an enlightened know anything? or What does it mean for an enlightened being to know something?
Imagine that an enlightened person is looking at a bird in a tree and the thought arises "There is a bird", now we might say that they "know" that there is a bird. They make use of this information and scatter some seed for the bird to eat. But perhaps they had poor eyesight and the bird was actually a brown leaf, when they see that it is a leaf they do not suffer because they knew that the sight of the bird was impermanent and they didn't attach significance to it. They also knew that the thought "There is a bird" is something which just arises and passes, they didn't insist that the idea had to be true, if they had insisted that the bird existed then they would have suffered. Despite this they were still able to use the information and scatter some seed.
Likewise, if somebody is enlightened and they see evidence for nibbana (such as a year passing without greed, anger or delusion) then they have thoughts like "This mind is awakened" arising. They don't insist that these thoughts are true- just like the bird.
More post
- 📝 Does breeding dogs fall under right livelihood?
- 📝 How does Piti relate to Jhana?
- 📝 Gomchen Lam Rim Text Request
- 📝 Is gender a result of Kamma?
- 📝 Did the Buddha believe in the existence of soul?
- 📝 Four Nutriments in the context of Satipatthana?
- 📝 Oral sex and s*m*n swallowing
- 📝 Sanditthika Sutta: Visible Here-&-Now
- 📝 Vipassana meditation in day to day life
- 📝 Meditation on floor vs bed
- 📝 When a man life becomes complete
- 📝 How does a monk address parents and relatives?
- 📝 In the top left corner there is a Tibetan Buddhist praying. Can you translate this prayer?
- 📝 Why does Guan Yin ride a dragon?
- 📝 a reason for long-lasting defilements
- 📝 Proficiency in teaching Dhamma
- 📝 What puts together composites according to Buddhism?
- 📝 The cognitive process: the stage of investigating consciousness
- 📝 What did the Buddha mean by "no truth can be spoken?"
- 📝 Sequece of Meditation and Side Effects
- 📝 Is 'Neo' the Buddha?
- 📝 How to avoid subtle biases and inclinations to influence phenomena when doing vipassana?
- 📝 Is there common ground between the Tao Te Ching and Buddhism?
- 📝 Thai chanting in roman letters and translated
- 📝 Is smoking tobacco acceptable in any school of Buddhism?
- 📝 How to deal with exhaustion?
- 📝 How important are incense and candles to a meditation practice?
- 📝 What is the purpose of using a wand to hit a monk in Zen meditation?
- 📝 Why do the Noble Truths talk about 'craving', instead of about 'attachment'?
- 📝 Finding a Sangha in London
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How do you know if you have attained Nibbana?
- 📝 How do you know if you have bad/good karma?
- 📝 I want to pray and meditate like a Buddhist, but I do not know how because I am Arab and I have not found sources in Arabic so can you guide me
- 📝 How do I become a Saddhanussari or Dhammanussari and know if I have attained it?
- 📝 How do you have a relationship
- 📝 Gods realm, how do you get out? Achieve Nibbana in this realm?
- 📝 How could the Buddha know that he had attained enlightenment when he didn't know what it was?
- 📝 How could one know that Nibbana is the cessation of consciousness if there is no consciousness?
- 📝 How do you know if you are competent in your job?
- 📝 How do you know which mantra suits you the most?
- 📝 How can you know that meditating isn't selfish?
- 📝 How do you tell a 4-year-old who the Buddha was?
- 📝 Do you have to follow a monastic lifestyle to attain enlightenment?
- 📝 As a Buddhist with a Muslim family, community, and background... how do you integrate/cope?
- 📝 If anatta is a reality, then how do you explain Volition or Will?
- 📝 How can I know that I am clear of thoughts while I am meditating?
- 📝 Meditation, compassion: How to handle people who dominate you in the office?
- 📝 How can you see suffering in the breath?
- 📝 How would I know if I was suffering from spiritual materialism?
- 📝 Is it okay to leave your suffering family behind when you have an instinct to attain Nirvana?
- 📝 How do you trade a career for a life geared toward becoming awakened?
- 📝 How is Nibbana unconditioned?
- 📝 My interests have changed. I wonder how to keep my previous life?
- 📝 Plants may be sentient beings like animals so how do you decide what to eat?
- 📝 How do you repent in Chinese Buddhism?
- 📝 Does anybody know the composition of the 6th council and how the delegates were chosen?
- 📝 How to Know the Knowing of Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta
- 📝 What is a Sangha? Do you have to be a Buddhist to join a Sangha?
- 📝 How do you "meditate on" a saying or subject?
- 📝 How can you translate nibbida?