FREE ESSAY ON HEAVEN VS NIRVANA

HEAVEN VS NIRVANA

Indian and Christian religions have different goals. The goal of Christian religions is to
go to Heaven. The goal of Indian religions like Buddhism and Hinduism is to attain
Nirvana. Heaven is a place. Nirvana is a state of mind.
The word Nirvana comes from the root meaning 'to blow out' and refers to the
extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion. When these bad emotional and
psychological things are destroyed by wisdom, the mind becomes free, radiant and joyful
and at death a person is no longer subject to rebirth. Buddha said One thing and only one
thing do I teach, suffering and the cessation of suffering. Cessation means 'a temporary
or final ceasing'. Buddha also said that Nirvana is ultimate happiness. (nibbanam paramam
sukham). Some people have asked If desire, wanting, and craving, causes rebirth, then how
could one ever attain Nirvana because in wanting to attain it one would be strengthening
the very thing that prevents it from being attained? Johnansson , The Psychology of
Nirvana, Garden City, 1970. This question does not recognize the fact that Nirvana is not
something that a person gets by wanting and then pursuing, rather it is the state of
being utterly without wanting.
Another criticism is that Nirvana takes so long to accomplish, that very few people can
do it. The Buddha did not agree with this view. He said that anyone can attain Nirvana.
If the person follows his instructions sincerely and carefully, a person could attain
Nirvana in this lifetime.
Nirvana is beyond the world of mind and body. Nirvana is composed of 'ni' and 'vana'. In
Sanskrit 'ni' implies 'to be free from' and 'vana' means 'weaving or craving'. When a
person manages to extinguish all his desires, he escapes from the cycle of birth and
death and attains Nirvana. Now the person is free from lust, hatred and ignorance and has
reached supreme peace. 
Nirvana is different from the Christian belief of Heaven. Nirvana is a state of
desirelessness; Heaven is a state of an person reaching his most fundamental desire.
Christians believe that Heaven is a place where a person meets God face to face. Nirvana
is a place of ultimate lack of emotion and indifference. Heaven is a place of ultimate
joy and fulfillment. Nirvana also differs from Heaven because it suggests a person will
loose his body and identity forever. Christians believe they will keep both of them
eternally. 
As a Catholic person, I have always thought of Heaven as a very difficult place to get
to. If I was to die today I would probably go to Hell. This is not because I am a bad
person, but because the rules are so strict that it seems as if only nuns living in a
monastery, a newly baptized infant, or someone who went to confession very recently would
be free of sins and would go to Heaven. The people who I know that go to confession at
all, only go once every year or two. If a person dies with a mortal sin on their soul,
they go to Hell. There are a lot of very simple things that are mortal sins, such as not
going to church on Sunday, coveting thy neighbor's wife or thy neighbor's goods. It seems
to me as if 99.99% of the human race would go to Hell. Hopefully I am wrong.