[Apparpsmose]

Hi everyone,

During the Buddhas' time, Brahman and Atman had a whole slew of wide and varying meanings.

First, Brahman was never mentioned in the Suttas. This does not mean that the Buddha denied Brahman or an Ultimate God for that matter.

If one reads the Digha Nikaya, the Buddha states the "stopping of the in/out breaths through the mouth & nose" along with "closing the ears" and then having a subsequent "violent winds" ripping inside of himself. Well, in my understanding, the "winds" are prana not gastric juices and what the Buddha actually did was Pranayama & Yoga. Consider his prior teachers, they were not "buddhists" as such but the Buddha mastered those levels and went beyond them. To me, at my current level of understanding, this is nothing but the seeking of ParaBrahman/Brahman itself.

Second, Nibbana is where the Buddha said "Conditioned Consciousness ceases to be" (See Majjhima & Anguttara Nikayas)
Notice, this is not a state of annihilation when you keep what he said IN CONTEXT!

Third, I think that people need to research the beginning of Buddhadhamma to understand exactly what happened.
The Buddha used negative terminology (Neti, Neti) , I believe, in order to keep people fixed on morals & ethics while at the same time promoting the seeking of the transcendental reality called Nibbana.

Thank you,
Stefos