Refusing nirvana

About being here and bodhisattvas

I don’t want to be here.

That’s what I think, now and then, when I ponder the state of the world and, especially, the things that people do to animals. Though I'm grateful for my privileged position, this planet in those moments seems some kind of hell to me. And I will say to some imaginary god: I don’t belong here. It’s too much. Please take me away.

Or, maybe not.

One of the most beautiful and comforting concepts I know is that of the bodhisattva. In Buddhism, bodhisattvas are beings who are on the path to enlightenment, but who have vowed not to leave this primitive plane of existence until all beings are liberated. The bodhisattva is moved by endless compassion and wants to help everyone cross over to a better place. Here are some moving verses that express this idea - taken from the 8th-century text The Way of the Bodhisattva, by the Buddhist monk Shantideva:

Thus, for every single thing that lives,
In number like the boundless reaches of the sky,
May I be their sustenance and nourishment
Until they pass beyond the bounds of suffering.

And

And now as long as space endures,
As long as there are beings to be found,
May I continue likewise to remain
To drive away the sorrows of the world.

In Buddhist lore, wild tales are told of these moral superheroes who leave no one behind. One of them is a being (sometimes a he, sometimes a she) called Avalokitesvara. According to one version, Avalokitesvara was so overcome by the suffering of sentient beings that her head literally split open, into eleven pieces. In response, the deity Amitabha gives Avalokitesvara eleven heads, so she will hear the cries of the needy much better. When Avalokitesvara again reaches out to them, her arms shatter into pieces. Amitabha responds by giving Avalokitesvara a thousand arms, to better help those in need, with an eye on each hand, to better see them still.

Compared to true bodhisattvas, mere mortals like myself and - presume you too - are very limited. We have no superpowers or a thousand arms. We have to deal with our ego, our bugging thoughts, our envy and our anger… and with our desire to binge the next Netflix series…

And yet.

And yet, if I’ll ever have the opportunity to enter nirvana or any paradise, while billions would continue to suffer in these earthly realms, I believe I would refuse it, and stick around to help. And I believe many readers would make the same choice.

This would mean that, even if occasionally we desire to get away from here, you and I are right where we need and want to be.

We can make this choice every day again, here and now. By helping.

And blooming where we are planted.

P.S. You may appreciate this video of the late Thich Nhat Hanh (he was vegan) and the monks of Plum Village singing this mantra about Avalokiteshvara (the bodhisattva of compassion).