Excerpts from a conversation with an obnoxious being who wanted to achieve Nirvana and attained it.
(Darkness all round, and its only barely audible)
"So you finally made it, huh"
Yeah ..
"So are you elated at having achieved it? Satisfied with life?"
When I realised I'd attained it, I was sick of it. But now I don't care anymore.
"You mean you're beyond the cares of the world?"
No, its more like when you give up wanting something.
"Wow! Sounds enlightening! How do you give up everything?"
Its pretty simple if you think about it - I wanted to achieve nirvana more than anything else. Since I so badly wanted it, I didn't want anything else. Once there was nothing else I wanted, I had nirvana. Although I don't want nirvana anymore too.
Takes a moment to comprehend and then,
"But didn't you say you were sick of it?"
Yeah, it wasn't what I expected it to be.
"So you imagined the realisation to be very different"
It was more than realisation. My idea of nirvana was in the sense of freedom or liberation. If you were freed of your emotions and senses there is so much more you could do.
"Then what made you sick?"
I can still do them, but I don't care anymore.
"How did you go about wishing for Nirvana?"
I wished that I could fly at will, that a drop of rain water wouldn't stick on me, I wouldn't feel the frost in the thick of winters, or the sun in deserts. Hunger wouldn't bother me, nor would sleeplessness. I was getting sick of people's bothers. I wanted to be without a bother even when surrounded by the multitude.
"You have obviously achieved them?"
Yes every single one of those wishes.
"You said you wanted your mind to be free. But now you're sick of it?"
I was sick of it, now I don't care.
"So what do you do now?"
I eat when I feel like it, sleep when I feel like it and roam at other times.
"It appears to me that you don't have a mind of your own anymore."
Don't complicate. I don't have a mind. Not my own, not others.
"You lost your mind when you attained nirvana?"
No, I had a mind and was fully aware then. From the point I didn't care, having a mind didn't make a point.
"Nice pun"
Oh did I? It was an accident.
"Oh ..."
"But to speak to me coherently you must have a mind"
Yes, but that's degenerate. Ever since I didn't have to use it, it diminished.
"Didn't you say you can see more clearly now? Hear clearly? That you're more agile? And you can even fly?"
Yes
"How can you possibly have all that and not do anything at all?"
I have no desire to do anything.
"So you're just a soul without any body?"
I have a body, a very efficient one.
"Oh I thought you didn't need a body after you attain nirvana"
You're technically correct, but then without a body for every small action you need to coax elements around you to your need. With a body, they are at your bidding.
"So you can switch bodies?"
Again, technically yes.
"So why don't you?"
What's the point taking all the trouble?
"So how did you choose your current body?"
I didn't literally choose it, I merely wished for all those characteristics and this was only one that fitted.
"But I can't even see you."
Naturally, its dark.
"Are there many who attain nirvana?"
More than you could possibly imagine.
"Can I see them?"
Sure, but most of them are well beyond me. They realise there's no point speaking to you.
"Oh! In that case can you show me someone who's just attained nirvana?"
Sure, walk right ahead and you'll find some light in the corridor ahead where you can see.
"And you?"
I'll be with you.
"I can't see anybody."
They'll soon come out of that dark cave where they're meditating.
"Dark cave? Where is it?"
Peer down to the edge of the wall, you'll see it.
"It looks like an egg! Yikes, there are so many of them coming out! But these are ..."
(coming out in the light)
Yes, we're cockroaches.
