Tranquillity
The method of entering a state of tranquillity of the mind through meditation was known to the Indian yogis even before the Buddha. There were eight deep levels of tranquillity that the yogis had reached during the time of the Buddha. The Buddha went only one step further and temporarily stopped all activities of the mind by entering a state of quiescence which was similar to hibernation. This state was called sañña vedayita nirodha, which means, “cessation of sensation and feeling.” It was when rising from this state that the Buddha “awakened from the dream of existence.”
These levels of deep tranquillity were practiced, in order to rest the mind temporarily, not to remain in them permanently. This temporary tranquillity was not Nirvana. It was only a means to Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of inner tranquillity that could never be disturbed under any circumstance, even in the face of death. It is a state of tranquillity that lasts throughout the normal life. This imperturbable serenity of mind is gained by awakening from the dream of existence and death. It is immortality through freedom from the “delusion of existence.”
In order to achieve this, supernormal and extremely high level of development, called Nirvana, which is extremely rare in the world, both ancient and modern, one has to give up the experience of existence of a “self” in the world. It is the “self-consciousness” that stood as an obstacle to imperturbability. This “self-consciousness” becomes a problem even when we try to control our impulses, because we tend to identify with our emotions and personalize them, and thereby become unable to let-go of what is a part of oneself. It is only when one is able to “awaken from the dream of existence” that the self- consciousness disappears. This was the special attainment of the Buddha, by which he went beyond the other yogis. He did this by attaining to the ending of all mental activity and returning again to the normal state. In doing so, he saw how the mind created the “world” and the “self” in it. He also saw how the “self” gets involved with the “world” in emotional relationships, and how all the painful experiences result, including meeting the unpleasant, parting from the pleasant, frustration, aging, disease, death, and the grief, lamentation, pain, depression, and exhaustion that follows. This attainment is rising above the normal to the supernormal state, which is freedom from all suffering.
This supernormal state, however, is not what we are aiming at in this paper; it was mentioned only to indicate what the teaching of the Buddha aims at, ultimately.