Nirvana, and the experience of Nirvana, is one of the most misunderstood terms in the spiritual lexicon. In this post I’ll tackle both the word and the experience, taking extracts from my forthcoming book, COSMOSITY. First the definition, then the experience.

Nirvana is one of the most difficult topics to write about because it is only ever experienced by individuals. It is not a public performance, or a moment that can be shared socially. It does not make news. No one understands someone else’s Nirvanic experience. It is, without exaggeration, the most personal event in the life of a human being. At the same time, Nirvana is the field of gold we all share ~ the very ground and basis of our existence.

Definition
Nirvana : a blowing out, extinction, nirvana: nis-, nir-, out, away + vÆ’ti, it blows. Pali, nibbana; Jap., nehan]:

1. Often Nirvana, a. Buddhism. The ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion. b. Hinduism. Emancipation from ignorance and the extinction of all attachment. …

4. A state of liberation from unhappiness. Illumination, characterized by the merging of the individual, transitory I in consciousness. Nirvana frees one from suffering and fear of death. It is the highest, transcendent consciousness. …

5. The goal of spiritual practice in all branches of Buddhism. In the understanding of early Buddhism, it is departure from the cycle of unhappiness and entry into an entirely different mode of existence. …

6. In Mahayana, Nirvana is an emphasis on the unified nature of the world. Nirvana is conceived as a human experience of oneness with unconditioned consciousness (the Absolute). Which gives insight into the unity of the world (samsara), body, mind and soul. It is a state of transcending conditioned consciousness. It is also described as dwelling in the experience of the intense bliss in cognizing one’s identity with unconditioned consciousness. It is freedom from attachment to the states of unhappiness, satisfaction and happiness.

7. In the West, Nirvana has often been misunderstood as mere annihilation; even in early Buddhism it was not so conceived. Nirvana literally means “The blowing out of a candle”. The fire that goes out does not pass away, but merely becomes invisible by passing into a conscious experience of space (akasha); thus the term Nirvana does not indicate annihilation but rather entry into another mode of existence and experience. The fire that comes forth is the self. From consciously experiencing space the self dissolves momentarily. Self-flame thus returns back, and the conscious experience of space dissolves. Thus Nirvana is a special experience not conceived by the perception of sight, but rather by consciously discarding conditioned brainwave activity. It is an experience that takes place in time but is also a timeless experience. This is the “emptiness” which is referred to in Buddhist Sutras.

Experience
… That this new incident was an advance on the first was immediately apparent in that I found myself seeing as well as feeling, and was distinctly “present” in a form other than that of my body.

Once again I was involved in physical activity, this time some early morning limbering-up exercises. I reflected again that my attempts at contemplation had not borne fruit. There’s only one way to describe what happened next : to say that, in an instant, the world turned inside out.

It was so sudden and dramatic that I could scarcely take in what was happening. I was now oddly separated from my normal chattering thoughts. They hadn’t gone away, merely left me. A larger thought suddenly intruded: not quite a voice, but more than a thought, and with immense authority. “You are not contemplating the world, it is contemplating you.”

I was aware of my body continuing with its exercise regime, but “I” was not in control of it. It was more like a computer automatically running some pre-loaded software. My attention switched away again from the body to the surrounding room. It seemed as if I was swimming underwater. The objects and furniture had become insubstantial, almost transparent. The space around them, though, had taken on a powerful reality. It was totally alive, vibrant and full of intelligence.

“This is the Kingdom,” said the voice, “Amida’s Pure Land.” [I had recently been fascinated by D.T. Suzuki’s account of Pure Land Buddhism and its similarities with faith-based Christianity.]

Each time I looked at an object, the “voice” informed me that it too was in the Kingdom. Nothing was excluded. At this point, the sun shone through the window and with it several dazzling reflections, which seemed to take on the form of demons. “They are in the Kingdom too.” Later I thought of the Book of Job. At once they lost their power and faded.

As the sun streamed through the window, the voice said: “And the Lord is smiling.” I knew that this vast spirit which engulfed me was indeed smiling — though I should stress that there was no “face” or any semblance of a body.

My own body concluded its programme of exercises and went to make a pot of tea, which was the normal procedure. As the tea was poured, I came back to everyday consciousness.

The unexpected feature of this state was that on resuming conventional bodily awareness, I was not in any way exultant, or even remotely excited, at what had passed. It was as if my thoughts and feelings had not been engaged at all. It was clearly not brain activity that was involved, but some other medium beyond it. [I’ve since called this “Nirvanoception” to distinguish it from Perception and Conception].

The overwhelming impression conveyed by this experience was repeatedly made, and unmistakable: that everything is in the Kingdom of God already; no special journey is required, except one of expanded awareness. It was an eminently positive encounter — “The Lord is smiling”, calling to mind Mother Julian of Norwich’s “All things are well. And all manner of things shall be well.” And it took full account of my rather eclectic belief system, culled from many years of reading and practice. Whoever it was giving me the lesson of the Unity of Being, was from a level of consciousness far above the normal human one. Was it God? To say so is presumptuous. “God” is probably a vast field of infinite consciousness. The basis of all there is. Was it a “Guardian Angel”? Well, the words sound a bit fanciful, but this is probably closer to the truth. Many cultures testify to a higher protective presence in our lives. The Hindu phrase for Krishna [same linguistic root as “Christ”] is “the Supreme Personality of Godhead”. In other words, a person who personifies a level of being close to the Absolute. But speculation is pointless.

There is no question in my mind that these were supernatural experiences, beyond the apparent solidities of every-day life, in a place outside the material world, yet containing it.

I hope that clears up many of the false views people have of Nirvana.