The Tree of Enlightenment

also more than that, and here it differs from the other religions
in question. Not only does Buddhism promise happiness and
prosperity in this life and the next, it also offers liberation – nirvana,
or enlightenment. is is the total cessation of suffering.
It is the ultimate goal of Buddhism and it is also attainable here
and now.
When we speak of nirvana we encounter certain problems
of expression, because the exact nature of an experience cannot
be communicated merely by speaking about it – rather, it must
be experienced directly. is is true of all experience, whether
it be the experience of the taste of salt, sugar, or chocolate or
of one’s first swim in the ocean. All these experiences cannot
be described exactly. To make this point, suppose I have just
arrived in Southeast Asia and am told of a very popular local
fruit called durian. I can question people who live in the area
and who regularly eat and enjoy durian, but how can they ever
explain to me precisely what it is like to eat it? It is simply not
possible to describe accurately the taste of a durian to someone
who has never eaten one. We might try comparison or, alternatively,
negation; we might say, for instance, that durian has
a creamy texture or that it is sweet and sour, and add that it is
something like jack fruit and not at all like apple. But it remains
impossible to communicate the exact nature of the experience of
eating durian. We find ourselves confronted with a similar problem
when we try to describe nirvana. e Buddha and Buddhist
teachers through the ages used similar devices to describe nirvana
– namely, comparison, and negation.
e Buddha said that nirvana is supreme happiness, peace.
He said that nirvana is immortal, uncreated, unformed; beyond
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