For anyone interested who doesn't want to take either an American Witch's or an Australian Christian's word about Buddhism I offer a genuine Buddhist perspective from this site:
http://www.buddhanet.net/nutshell.htm
Quote:
http://www.buddhanet.net/nutshell10.htm
It should not be understood that Nibbana is a state of nothingness or annihilation owing to the fact that we cannot perceive it with our worldly knowledge. One cannot say that there exists no light just because the blind man does not see it. In that well known story, too, the fish arguing with his friend, the turtle, triumphantly concluded that there exists no land.
Nibbana of the Buddhists is neither a mere nothingness nor a state of annihilation, but what it is no words can adequately express. Nibbana is a Dhamma which is "unborn, unoriginated, uncreated and unformed." Hence, it is eternal (dhuva), desirable (subha), and happy (sukha).
In Nibbana nothing is "eternalized," nor is anything "annihilated," besides suffering.
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also
Quote:
From a metaphysical standpoint Nibbana is deliverance from suffering. From a psychological standpoint Nibbana is the eradication of egoism. From an ethical standpoint Nibbana is the destruction of lust, hatred and ignorance.
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Just above is quite similiar to what I have frequently advocated as an accurate Buddhist perspective. As
just about anyone can plainly see, the annihalation of the self, or any negative for that matter, is not an accurate description. To advocate otherwise does nothing more than prop up mis-conceptions and lies.
To say the goal of Buddhism is to annihalate the self is like saying the goal of Christianity is to control people through guilt.
One last quote from the site:
In the words of Sir Edwin Arnold:
"If any teach Nirvana is to cease
Say unto such they lie.
If any teach Nirvana is to live
Say unto such they err."
[ 11-08-2003, 08:15 PM: Message edited by: Chewbacca ]