This is an essay I did at University, as part of a Philosophy of Buddhism module, it describes the Buddhist account of the ‘true nature of reality’.
“Nothing of sarhsara is different from nirvana, nothing of nirvana is different from sarhsara. That which is the limit of nirvana is also the limit of sarhsara; there is not the slightest difference between the two .(Nagajurna)
The idea that Nirvana is Samsara is pivotal to the Mahayana school of Buddhism. The concept of Nirvana, the liberation from all suffering, logically juxtaposes Samsara, the endless cycle of suffering. The argument dictates that there is one version of the external world which we all experience. When experienced through samsara the world is perceived as full of dualisms, there is ‘me’ and there are distinct ‘things’ around me. This perspective understands these objects as distinct and casually related to one another in space and time. The world experienced through Nirvana is Absolute, every-‘thing’ is causally dependent on everything else for its existence. Upon reaching Nirvana one stops experiencing the world as full of dualisms and the veil of illusion caused by ignorance (Avidya) of the true nature of reality is lifted, and the true nature of the world is revealed. The same reality is being experienced, except the liberated mind experiences its true nature. Loy (1983) identified that the ignorance which leads to experiencing the world as samsara originates due to three main reasons – craving (Tanha), conceptualisation (vitarka) and causality.
Tanha creates dukkha (suffering) because it causes us to crave, cling onto, and attach ourselves to things. These could be objects or concepts in our mind, such as attachment to ones cars, or to being a lawyer, or to being a mother. We attach these concepts and things to our ‘self’, and they become a part of our identity, which causes us to cling onto these ‘things’. Through our misconstrued perception we fail to recognise the impermanence (anicca) of all ‘things’. If your sports car is important to you because it represents your social status, you feel viparinama-dukkha, suffering caused by ignorance of impermanence. These ‘things’ (like cars) and concepts (like social status) only exist in our minds, not in reality. By continuing to attach ourselves to ‘things’ we increase the gap between viewing the world as Nirvana and as Samsara. This is because attachment to objects assumes a duality between them. A dualistic perception of the world reinforces the idea that there are ‘objects that can be clung onto’ (‘things’ in the real world) and ‘things that cling’ (the self). There is an obvious relationship between the two – there cannot be anything to cling onto without someone to cling onto them – and visa versa. Nirvana, the extinguishing of craving, marks the end of clinging, because the perception of the world has changed such that it is no longer viewed as made up of dualities. The Mahayana school of Buddhism exemplifies this by highlighting two types of knowing (Loy, 1983): vijnana and prajna. Vijnana describes the knowledge known through discriminating one ‘thing’ from another, such as the known from the knower. This type of knowledge encourages dualistic perceptions and representations of the world (Samsara). Prajna represents a kind of thinking which doesn’t involve a system that relies on dualisms, but one where the thought is no longer the product of the knower: the known and knower become one.
Perceiving dualistically is an easy mistake because of the way we conceptualise and represent ‘things’ in the world through our thoughts and language systems. The ability to conceptualise objects in our mind, allows us to represent and reinforce them as objects of desire. We cling onto these objects, and the associated desires, and this in itself reinforces the distorted dualistic perception of reality by widening the gap between the object (of desire) and me (the subject of desire). Our mental representations (conceptualising) give us a way to refer and retain the thing, allowing us to cling and grasp even when it’s not present. This delusory system causes us to distort the tataha (true essence of ‘things’) by vitarka, the system dupes us into putting a veil of illusion onto ourselves such that we cannot perceive the true nature of the world.
Conze (1962) summarised apperception into three steps: 1) the object of attention, 2) the basis for recognition and , 3) an occasion for entrancement. In the first step the true nature of the object is noticed. The second step involves recognising the object as ‘that object’ – recognising that that object is a glass, or a pen, and also the connotations which one associates with that label. During the third stage any other connotations attached to that object are noticed, these permeate through into our emotional and volitional response to create an apperception. In the un-liberated mind this three step process occurs rapidly and we think it is one very simple mental event. To reach Nirvana is to experience the first stage by itself – to view the object in the world for what it truly is, without any erroneous labels, attachments and connotations which we have assigned it.
The representational system is refined by our desires because the way which we slice up the world through our language is regulated by our cravings. By knowing the sports car is distinct from an SUV, it is easier to cling to, desire and attach oneself to the sports car, hence why naming distinct ‘things’ is very convenient – it allows us to distinguish and makes it easier to satisfy our cravings. This system aids the transformation of the true nature of the world (Nirvana) into one that is dualistic (Samsara) .
The issue has become clearer, we must not try to transcend reality, only see it for what it truly is. The liberated mind has not unlocked a third eye and with it the true nature of reality, more simply, the liberated mind is able to perceive true reality, free from any conceptions, cravings and dualities. Since our thoughts are used to represent and conceptualise, we do not see an object for what it truly is, but we perceive it as how we want it to be.
Causality is a major contributor to dualistic perception, any two distinct objects or experiences can be understood as the cause or effect of eachother. Nagarjuna describes. ‘Having regard to causes and conditions, we have the phenomenal world (Samsara) ; this same world, when causes and conditions are dis- regarded, it is called the Absolute (Nirvana).’ By understanding the world dualistically we presume that there must be interactions between the distinct objects. They must have relationships with one another, and it seems natural and logical to try and distinguish and label those relationships. Loy discusses Heidegger’s concept of zuhanden (German: utensils). We do not perceive objects as objects, we do not perceive the ‘thing’ as just that ‘thing’, we perceive them as utensils which we can use to satisfy our cravings and desires. The glass is not noticed as or experienced as a glass, but a utensil which I can utilise to quench my thirst. I am too busy using the glass to drink from to notice it, just as I am too busy utilising the water to quench my thirst to notice the water. We divide the world up via our system of language and assign these ‘things’ concepts (uses) and therefore experience the world as full of utensils which have a purpose that eventually comes back to helping me. The utensils are means by which I can satisfy my cravings. If one has attachments to distinct features in the real world, such as having a high social status, one will cling onto that attachment. Since we view the world as made up of separate dualities, such as having a low social status, or a high social status, then one can impose a causal relationship between the two. In order to increase ones social status they need to be able to manipulate the world around it, using utensils. The new and nicer car will be utilised to gain social status, and so the world has changed from being a world of things-in-of-themselves (nirvana), to one of things-as-we-perceive-them (samsara).
By using vijnana, we never allow ourselves to experience the tathata (the-essence-of-the-thing), as only some of our mind is attuned to that object, the rest is attuned to the connotations we prescribed it.
When the world is viewed as Absolute, it is understood as an unbroken stream of skandhas which interact causally but are ultimately not distinct events which occur throughout space and time. Our system of representation dupes us into isolating ‘events’ and ‘things’ in the world, and we representing them dualistically, or as distinct. In attempt to try appease our ontological anxiety we cling to these distinct ‘things’. The use of language to label things as things is mereological reductionism (Siderits, 2007), which we use to label an object as a whole object, rather than using its constituent parts. Describing a table as a table, rather than a rectangular plank of wood which rests on top of four wooden legs, is helpful for our common sense ontology, and much more convenient for real life applications. These convenient designators, also known as ‘emtpy sounds’, mislead us into believing these objects truly exist, and aren’t being perceived as zuhanden. Convenient designators are useful fictions, however they prevent us from distinguishing two types of truths. Ultimate truths – which do not imply any conceptual fictions, and conventional truths, truths which apply to common sense, however are not ultimately true. The ultimate truth about the nature of reality is that it is a causually interdependent unbroken stream of impermanent skandhas. However, through perceiving this continuous stream (Reality) as one made up of individual and distinct objects and events, we perceive the world dualistically and the labels and representations we attach to things leads to us assigning causal relationships between them. The liberated mind views the world as a Whole, one system in which everything is deeply interconnected and dependent on everything else for existence.
Once you stop craving objects or things which make up this unbroken stream, you loose attachment to things as they do not have their own separate nature, you begin to appreciate the true nature of the world as a Whole. By trying to force causal relations between different ‘things’ in the world we transform Nirvana into Samsara. These relationships do not exist in reality, only in our minds, and thus our minds, through belief in false representations, encourage a false understanding of reality and increase the gulf between Nirvana and Samsara.
Before I sought enlightenment, the mountains were mountains and the rivers were rivers.
While I sought enlightenment and gained some knowledge of the dharma, the mountains were not mountains and the rivers were not rivers.
After I reached enlightenment, the mountains were mountains and the rivers were rivers. (Qingyuan Weixin)
This quote shows that Nirvana is not something which involves transcending reality, a simple shift in perception is enough to view the Absolute reality of the world. By understanding the relationships between objects of perception are not causal but dependent, it helps us understand that reality is not made of distinct objects but it is one unbroken stream of non-distinct and interdependent events and objects. We can stop perceiving objects as zuhanden and start appreciating their tataha. The world is no longer a world of substances, but processes, and the barriers between the perceived ‘self’ and object of perception created by dualistic perception have been broken, so we can experience true reality. And thus we realise that Reality is perfect as it is (Nirvana), we have been liberated of our suffering by shifting from perceiving the world as full of dualisms (Samsara), to perceiving its true nature.
Bibliography:
Conze, E. (1962) Buddhist thought in India : three phases of Buddhist philosophy. London: Allen & Unwin.
Loy, D., 1983. The Difference between Samsara and Nirvana. Philosophy East and West, 33(4), p.355.
Siderits, M., n.d. Buddhism as philosophy. [Accessed 1 May 2022]
Na samsarasya nirvanat kineid asti visesanam Na nirvanasaya samsarat kineid asti visesanam Nirvanasya ca ya kotih kotih samsaramasya ca Na tayor antaram kincit susuksman api vidyate (Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka)
