Nirvana In Buddhism

What does it mean to be a human being? It seems that there’s various ways that it can be addressed. Depending on religious faith, societal factors, and personal goals people can be a true human being in a variety of ways as there is no true definition of a human being on a psychological level. Buddhism, like other religions or ways of life, has a different spin on life which can be translated to their idea of being human. In Buddhism, there is a large focus on following the eightfold path which establishes a way to reach nirvana. This idea involves a state of pure happiness and peace. This is the goal of Buddhists can be achieved within one lifetime using practices of meditation and doing no harm. The ideas and stories of Buddha (Siddhartha

Hinduism has certain aspects that are focuses of the tradition. Similar to nirvana in Buddhism, Hinduism has an end goal of attaining to reaching moksha. Being a human being identifies someone as a spiritually advanced individual as Hinduism encompasses all living things as on a path of rebirth. Humans are the most spiritually advanced being on the path to moksha with many rebirths. The path to ultimate reality is the real emphasis of the religion or way of life. Being fully human in the context of what westerners interpret it is much different. The symbol of being fully human in the eyes of westerners seems to encompass the idea of full spirituality and a selfless person, but ironically, a Hindu would define the principles of fully human as not human at all. Moksha involves spirit as more than a body, but fully submerged in self and fully aware without being aware at all. The idea of being being being, and is is is, is an essential aspect of the Hinduism culture and is the main goal of a Hindu when attempting to be fully human or a fully advanced

In the protestant service that I attended, I was able to identify that vocalizing experiences with the group in the setting of the ritual allowed them to be more connected and appreciative of god’s presence of everyday life. The open environment that encouraged appreciation on a personal level was the real focus of the service and seemed to be the most effective way to vocalize and share their acknowledgment of god. This seems to be the way that the Protestant Christians in the service I attended, felt the most connect to god and understood what it meant to be a human being. The Jewish Passover Seder that I attended had a large focus on the verbalization of stories that discussed the history of Jews and the persecution that they endured. Remembering and telling the stories of the Jews enslaved in Egypt and showing appreciation helps them keep sight of what is important. In the Seder, we discussed the 10 plagues from a modern and traditional perspective. By understanding these plagues and addressing how to help solve them in everyday life as a group, it seems that being human involves a stress on helping others in the eyes of the Jews. This idea and drive to help others is shared vision by most other religious traditions and individuals. Margaret J Wheatley writes, “the sense of a purpose beyond ourselves is a universal