Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Nirvana and Buddhist Cosmology

In my post today I first want to start with a short paragraph talking about a question I had concerning reaching nirvana. Then I'll go into some thoughts I had about the orderliness of the Buddhist cosmological framework.

My question about nirvana came while reading in Gethin's Foundation's of Buddhism. On page 118, Gethin states that every being during his or her cycle of samsara will be reborn into each of the 31 classes of beings. However, on the next page, it is stated that nirvana can be attained at any level of being (barring the four lowest realms). So my question is, is it possible to skip a level of being? Could an individual attain enlightenment "early" so to speak, and end up skipping some level? Or is it, due to the nature of being and of nirvana, simply impossible?

As I was reading Gethin's descriptions of Buddhism's understanding of the nature of the cosmos, I was struck by how organized and symmetrical the framework was. As complex and ever changing as the Buddhist cosmology is, it remains relatively orderly, at least when examining it on a surface level. That's why when, on page 126, Gethin brings up the "curious fact" that the cosmological scheme has 31 levels rather than 32, I was a little surprised, as the number 32 is a number that represents completion and wholeness in the Buddhist tradition . In my experience with Asian culture, (which has predominately been of East Asian, and more specifically Chinese culture) the symbolism of numbers is very important and extremely reinforced. For example, the number 9  appears frequently in Chinese art and architecture, especially when the subject is that of an Emperor, as the pronunciation of "9" is the same for the word meaning "long lasting". And instances in which a number is used without consideration for its meaning are very rare. The Rg Veda selections we were given to read at the beginning of the year also stress the importance of numbers and their role in riddles, specifically in The Riddle of the Sacrifice (p. 71).

This brings me back to my thoughts on the use of the number 31 in Buddhist cosmology, and also gives me reason to believe that there is a deeper meaning behind it. Gethin implies that there is something "missing" from this framework, namely nirvana. He then goes on however, to reinforce that nirvana absolutely cannot be considered a level of being, as one is never reborn into nirvana, and neither will one eventually attain nirvana just by being. My own thoughts on this are that, even in this seemingly orderly and organized framework of the world, dukkha still exists not only in the very literal sense of being in the world, but also perhaps in the symbolic sense as well. While dukkha is normally defined as "suffering", it can also have the meaning of being "out of place" or "uncomfortable", which is exactly what I might feel when I see a number that is just 1 away from being perfect (obsessive compulsive tendencies notwithstanding). It becomes even more fitting that nirvana is not included in these 31 levels, as nirvana is precisely the absence of dukkha.






No comments:

Post a Comment