On Nirvana

Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhism. Nirvana literally means, in English, "blow out." Many people believe that Nirvana is the blowing out of desire. Imagine that desire is a flame, and that Nirvana is sort of blowing out the flame.

There is a sort of problem here in the English translation and interpretation of Nirvana. "Blow out" is not quite the proper term. One does not "blow out" desire from one's life. But, rather, one "lets go" of desire. I will elaborate.

If one were to "blow out" the flame of desire, then that would be rather tedious. Nirvana is not achieved easily. It takes a life-time of spiritual meditation and devotion. The flame of desire burns with blazing intensity, and it is not easily "blown out." Now, imagine yourself constantly trying to "blow out" the flame of desire. You would run out of breath quickly and become exhausted. 

The path to Nirvana should be an effortless one. What do I mean by that? If one were to try to blow out the flame of desire, one is consciously trying to get rid of desire. If one consciously tries to get rid of desire by blowing it out of one's self, one will never attain Nirvana. Why? Because when one makes a conscious effort to rid oneself of desire, one is also desiring not to desire. Do you see the problem? It's sort of like an infinite loop. 

So instead of "blowing out," one should "breath out." Let go of desire. Do not even think about desire. Do not even think about getting rid of it. Rather, loosen your grip, relax your mind, and breath out. Little by little, the flame of desire will burn out naturally, since there is no longer anyone that fuels the flame. 

So the secret to Nirvana is not to fight the flame, not to try to blow it out. But instead, one should breath out and let go of one's desire, not kick it out, but let it go. That's what Nirvana really is, letting go.