Stuck in the middle

Some stray reflections on Buddhism.

"Everything is suffering" might be a bad translation or interpretation of the concept of dukkha, which has a much broader meaning in Pali or Sanskrit. Dukkha means that the world is fundamentally imperfect, not that literally everything in samsara is "suffering" in the strong sense often conveyed by that English word. We tend to think of cancer patients in constant pain, or Jesus being tortured on the cross, or genocide. But this obviously cannot be what dukkha means, since samsara also include heavenly realms where humans reborn as "devas" can spend thousands of years before they have to start all over again on Earth (where a human only spends at most 100 years each time). But this, too, is dukkha. Most ordinary mortals (pun intended) would consider it a pretty neat deal!

Also, what exactly is nirvana? The standard take is that you have to empty your mind completely in order to "reach" nirvana. Essentially, you will cease to exist. Which admittedly would solve all dukkha-related problems once and for all, LOL. But what if it means something else? Apparently, there are meditative states known as dhyanas, which are said to be bad or unnecessary according to "orthodox" Theravada, but which may have been part of Buddha´s original teachings according to others. The dhyanas are sometimes described as blissful, and hence not completely "empty". The idea of permanent bliss being the solution to the world´s imperfections doesn´t sound completely weird or nihilistic...

Note also that the Buddha taught "The Middle Way". On the one hand, he opposed the Jains and other extreme ascetics. On the other hand, the "Vedic" or Brahmanical religion, with its this-worldliness, and Very Important Rituals connected to a strict caste system. Buddhism combines a kind of this-worldly orientation among the lay people (it was a merchant caste religion in ancient times) with an other-worldly ascetisism among the monastics (compare Manicheanism and Catholic or Orthodox Christianity). Jains and certain Hindu sects are the crazy ones.

Or maybe not, since Buddhism does contain some extreme practices, such as meditation while sitting next to a corpse, skeleton or perhaps plastic skeleton to remind oneself of the transient nature of existence...

Perhaps Buddhism, like all other religions, contain different layers and hence contradictions.