Understanding Hedonism Part 5: Reaching Nirvana

« Understanding Hedonism Part 4: What’s The True Measure of Success? | Home | Understanding Hedonism Part 6: Your Deathbed Review »

August 11, 2008

Nirvana’s a term that’s been flippantly tossed around, so its true meaning has muddled over time.

It’s not a location.
It’s not a band.

It’s a state of mind.

Nirvana is the Buddhist term for the quiet state of peace and pure pleasure that can only be found in one’s own private, innermost theater of experience. It’s a place of escape, where life’s sorrows and tribulations fall away and a state of pure bliss is experienced.

It is glimpsed in fleeting moments by the athlete who executes a flawless play of superhuman proportions, by the dancer whose movements become one with the music, and by the lone monk who (supposedly) achieves absolute stillness of mind and spirit. It is the ideal psychological state of harmony and peace.

…And it’s a real bitch to attain.

Every human on the planet has an innate knowledge of nirvana, perhaps from those carefree days in the womb. The trick is to recapture that delirious feeling of safety and sheer bliss.

As we have seen throughout history, attempts to return to the blessed state have involved a dizzying array of practices, but many of history’s grand schemes and experiments have been far too ambitious. Perhaps permanent nirvana is beyond our grasp, but it’s nice to know that little glimmers and spectacular moments are achievable. Whether you take them or leave them is entirely up to you.

You Can’t Take It With You was a wildly successful play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1936. In 1938, it was released as a film directed by Frank Capra and starring Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, and Jimmy Stewart.

The premise was simple: A sane girl from a nutty family becomes engaged to a rich boy from a stuffy family. Misunderstandings abound as the rigid stiffs clash with the free-spirited loons, discipline vies with conformity, and hilarity ensues.

But the underlying message of the work itself is not so much metaphorical as it is simple fact: Life is there for the living, and the pressure to measure up to someone else’s imagined ideal is a big bag of shit. In the end, you can’t take it with you.

(Special note: I used to mock the idea of “can’t take it with you” by saying “Of course not, I’m not doing all this so I can take anything ‘with’ me, I’m doing it so I can live a better life NOW.” And yes, that’s right, but it wasn’t the point of the original quote. The original quote was meant to apply to people trying to live in order to please others instead of themselves.)

Bottom line is: What are you living for? What is the point of accumulating massive wealth and never enjoying it? What are you building that’s so damn important, anyway? And if you have kids, wouldn’t you be better off leaving them with a deeply rooted understanding that life is a spectacular adventure to be embraced, rather than leading them to believe the standard old party line of “Go to college, get a job, and work for the rest of your life so your kids might have something better?”

Yes, it’s entirely possible to have the money AND be able to enjoy it; but the problem is, most people go about making money all wrong, and end up wasting their lives in pursuit of the big dream that never quite arrives.

Yes, I’ll be the first to say having money makes life easier. Way easier. But if the way you’re making that money compromises your most valuable asset, your time, then it could lead to serious headaches. Money without happiness is meaningless; I have first-hand experience of that.

Happiness begets more happiness and misery draws in more of the same. Like magnets, we draw unto ourselves that which we emit and we repel that which is contrary to our mindset. Focus on the negative, wallow in your own bad basis, and you will draw even more of it into your orbit. Instead, visualize the life you want, keep it in mind EVERY SINGLE DAY, believe it is happening now, and you will slowly begin to move toward it.

So, if you can’t take it with you, it only makes sense to enjoy it while you’ve got it. Do not waste your power, your energy, your youth, your vitality, or the moment at hand. It will all disappear before you even know it.

And to me personally sitting here just having turned 26 last month, those last few words are a truly frightening thought.

10 Things That Are Temporary

1. Youth

2. Romantic infatuation

3. Six-pack abs

4. Your job

5. Your troubles

6. Professional importance

7. Relationships

8. Debt

9. Hemorrhoids

10. Life itself