Nibbana - the pleasurable lay life!

November 2023 edition

Nibbana - the pleasurable lay life!

Article summary

Those who have even a tiny sense about deep Buddhist teachings, may have already noticed that there are many replicas of Buddhism teachings. There is this quite popular opinion about Buddhism that "One can do anything without clinging to anything after the awakening or Nibbana!" and do all the stuffs which includes in the rat race!

When someone says "One can do anything without clinging to anything after the awakening or Nibbana!" and keep encouraging you to keep continue the rat race by the name of deep Buddhist teaching, you should at least investigate the facts of Buddhism!

Various opinions about the "Liberation - Nibbana - Moksha - Salvation" were always there and will be there.  A Samma Sambuddha is a one who happened to this world once a time and explaining about the actual liberation by opening to the path of real "Truth".  And this becomes a very difficult and very deep teaching to understand for most of the beings.  So, what happen is that we keep continue to believe what we believe all those time as the "truth" and mistaken it for the actual "TRUTH".  We just believe Samma Sambuddha also shown another version of what we believe as "truth".  That's why it says in the Buddhist teachings "one should have a deep investigative nature, and develop certain level of wisdom to understand beyond what we believe as truth!"  Then only, you could dive in to the deep teachings!

So, as a beginner we must at least develop our investigative nature by going through the facts.  Remember, just as a beginning only! Then what we get about the character named "Siddartha Gauthama" who introduce the Buddhist teachings to the world in this Buddha Sasana?  A prince who gave up all the luxurious life style as a prince... and his extremely beautiful wife and the kid... and gave up everything pleasurable as a lay person. 

As the person who introduce the real liberation for those who have mistaken it for something else, is the best person to say this phrase of "One can do anything without clinging to anything after the awakening or Nibbana! and keep encouraging you to keep continue the rat race" isn't it?

But did the blessed one do so?  Have you ever seen anywhere that the blessed one encourage anyone by saying "I can do anything because I am awakened... so, I'm planning to go back to the kingdom and do the needful as a king... I prefer going back to the royal meal as I now have no attachments to anything... I can wear anything now coz I'm free from attachments... I can go back to work as a husband and a true father because now I can love anyone without attaching to them... So, let me explain that path of liberation where you can enjoy all the pleasures in lay life and at the same time can enjoy the awakening... let's do the needful to have a pleasurable lay life... let's keep doing what we can easily do as lay people... let's makes kids... let's have some sex... let's have some political views and build a better place for everyone..."

Have you ever heard of such a Buddhism?  Yes, currently this kind of a Buddhism is getting quite popular!

If this is the kind of liberation one could achieve, the blessed one could have NOT recommended the precepts or the Disciplinary rules to those who have entered to the monkhood or practicing the path of nibbana right?  The blessed one could have said; "Oh bhikkhus, please do build proper places and keep maintaining them... ask for the lay people to support for what you are doing and ask for money and other donations because you can do it without any attachments... please do share the extra things with lay people and keep support them by pleasing them... and do actively advice the politicians and keep doing the political stuffs to make a better place because you can do anything without attaching to it with this kind of a deep understanding... etc... etc.."  Do you think the main root of Buddhist teachings, the blessed one have encouraged others like this?

NO!!! Not even a single true disciple of Buddhism has encouraged such a method.  Not even the true lay disciples have encouraged such stupidity!  Because anyone with a tiny wisdom have the true sense of the true nature of this rat race.  They know how exhausting and how meaningless is this.  They have a sense of a trap called the existence!

The blessed one said "If there is a desire for life and living, this thing called liberation is impossible for such"!  The blessed one did not encourage anyone to have a pleasurable life and maintain the life style perfectly, so that one can think about liberation after solving all the problems in life.  So, be wise my dear dhamma friends!

Do not try to fall for the easy awakenings!  Because that will definitely awaken you for another deep sleep.  There is nothing like "having a pleasurable lay life call nibbana" in true Buddhism.  It's true a worm enjoys his pile of dung as a treasure.  That's its pleasure.  and that's the liberation for it!  In another way "freedom of desires” not the Freedom from desires!

The wise beings don’t do things just because that's the easy way or that because seems right thing to do.  The wise beings always look deeper in to the matter no matter how difficult it is to understand and explore what is unknown for them.  So, defilements are one of the most difficult subject to understand. But the wise beings never give up on understanding them profoundly.  coz that's the root of existence filled with loads of suffering and reasons to suffering in various ways!  Defilements creates the various possibilities of suffering and drag us deep in to the pit hole!  So, even when you decided to overcome these you again trap by the name of liberation like we discuss here. 

There are these differences one should realize as "staying in certain life style and becoming a one" For example; you can stay in the lay life but not becoming a lay being.  you have to become an ascetic or a priest in your mind and act like one even as a person who chose to spend the time in the lay life style" You can become an ascetic or enter to the monkhood as a priest, monk or nun by changing in to robs and alms bowl but you can still be a lay being by doing and encouraging the lay stuffs.  So, you have to become an ascetic or a priest in your mind even though you chose to spend the time in the monastic life as a monk or nun"

So, there is this difference of changing the outer appearance and life style but still clinging and attracted to the worldly meaningless lifestyle. So, one should be careful not to become such a being who fight for freedom of desires!  Always remember to be a wise disciple! Have a blessed time by exploring what type of a "freedom fight" you have within!    

Rajitha Viduransi | Kelaniya, Sri Lanka