What is Nirvana?

[francis]

How do we give it a rest?

 . . . the ceaseless desire for a promised future state?

Sit and be works for me. The more I sit. The more I am.

. . . what I am . . . or even if I am . . . not really of interest . . . 

Hi Lobster, that sounds good, but it seems a contradiction. 

Would like to explain what it means?

Thanks

[Spiny le Norman]

How do we give it a rest?
 . . . the ceaseless desire for a promised future state?

Sit and be works for me. The more I sit. The more I am.
. . . what I am . . . or even if I am . . . not really of interest . . . 

I see what you mean.  Desire for things to be different is usually a source of suffering, while full acceptance of the way things are is actually very liberating.

Spiny

[Lobster]

Hi Lobster, that sounds good

We constantly hear here of positive mind states.
What happens if you are sitting in boiling water
or as happens to me, sitting in a state of fury?

You sit and accept.
When people first sit they want to change the externals.
They want to sit in a monastery or in silence.

Stillness is however a state of mind monkey calmed.
It is the first achievement of practice.

Then you may examine the conditions of disquiet.
Hunger, thoughts, emotions etc - arisings.
Again by just sitting and calmly acknowledging they begin to
join the calmed monkey . . .

We know this.
It is simple. It is basic Buddhism and it works.

The sitting continues.

[francis]

Hi Lobster.

Thanks for the explanation. 

If you are boiling, you could try to develop positive mind states by incorporating Metta, and the other Brahma-viharas,  into your mediation.  The brahma-viharas represent the most beautiful and hopeful aspects of our human nature. They are mindfulness practices that protect the mind from falling into habitual patterns of reactivity which belie our best intentions. 

With metta

[Lobster]

Many thanks Francis and Friends of the Metta Ray (Maitreya) 

I have done Meta Bhavna with the FWBO as well
as the more chaotic practices of YinYana

http://youtu.be/F0FTWp-7pjk

Regular practice will placate the arising of anger bubbles
but then I believe the flaws are Nirvanic (just less skillful) 

As Rabbi Zen Cohen asks:

Does my anger contain Buddha Nature?

. . . which reminds me of an orange story you have probably heard . . .

Oranges

There's this wonderful story about the first meeting between Kalu Rinpoche and Zen master Seung Sahn:

The two monks entered with swirling robes - maroon and yellow for the Tibetan, austere gray and black for the Korean - and were followed by retinues of younger monks and translators with shaven heads ...

The Tibetan lama sat very still, fingering a wooden rosary (mala) with one hand while murmuring, 'Om mani padme hung,' continuously under his breath. The Zen master, who was already gaining renown for his method of hurling questions at his students until they were forced to admit their ignorance and then bellowing, 'Keep that don't know mind!' at them, reached deep inside his robes and drew out an orange. 'What is this?' he demanded of the lama. 'What is this?'

This was a typical opening question, and we could feel him ready to pounce on whatever response he was given.

The Tibetan sat quietly fingering his mala and made no move to respond.

'What is this?' the Zen master insisted, holding the orange up to the Tibetan's nose.

Kalu Rinpoche bent very slowly to the Tibetan monk next to him who was serving as the translator, and they whispered back and forth for several minutes. Finally the translator addressed the room: 'Rinpoche says, What is the matter with him? Don't they have oranges where he comes from?'