REL 320 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Exhalation, Dukkha, Allen Ginsberg
Document Summary
In theravada countries today, one finds three types of beliefs about this question: A minority of people, usually well-educated males, believe that the arhat or buddha who diespasses out of existence. Many theravada buddhists educated and otherwise, say that nirvana is something that we simply cannot imagine or describe from within samsara. Tadpoles cannot imagine what it will be like to be a frog on dry land; likewise, we cannot imagine nirvana from our current state. At the popular level, many ordinary people focus on accumulating merit so as to improve their lot within samsara. Although they accept nirvana as an ideal, they give very little thought to it. When asked to describe it, they depict a condition of transcendent happiness and bliss. All three positions emphasize that nirvana is peace, because it is like getting out of a burning house (samsara).
