Selamat Datang: What is "Nirwana"?

Selamat Datang. Welcome.

What is "Nirwana"? Apart from the fact that this is my last name, I never dig really deep about the meaning of "nirwana". All people (including my parents, my teachers, my friends) would say that it means "heaven". Hmmm... what a nice name I have. Until one day, one dear friend said that "nirwana" meant "emptiness". What??? Emptiness??? What were my parents thinking, giving his first-born son with a name that meant "emptiness"!!!

Well, my dear friend was not completely right about this "emptiness" definition, but neither he was completely wrong. In fact he gave me a quite complete definition of it from a link. Unfortunately I forgot about it. So I did my research on my own.

And here's what I found...

nirvana [n] in Buddhism, and other Indian religions, the ultimate religious goal characterized by the attainment of perfect serenity, compassion, and wisdom by the eradication of all desires. When nirvana is attained, the cycle of life and death, known as samsara, is broken and a state of liberty, free from pain and desire, is reached. (http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Nirwana)

There are many definitions of it, such as "the extinction of desires", "and ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy", "liberation of earthly things", "enlightment". Even I found that the literal meaning of it is "a blowing out" [Sanskrit nirvāṇam, a blowing out, extinction, nirvana: nis-, nir-: out, away + vāti: it blows.].

Well, according to all the meanings, it would be too much if I named this blog "my nirwana", but I've already done it!!! But if nirwana means a condition of serenity, peacefulness, quietness, joy... then this blog would reflect all those kinds of feelings. So, I still think that "Aan's Nirwana" is the perfect name of it.

Hehehe...

So, what good does a blog do if it doesn't reflect the real feelings of its writer... Then I hope that when I couldn't speak, this blog would be my voice. When I couldn't express my feelings, I could let the world know how I'm feeling thru this, and when I couldn't be myself, I just hope that this blog would reflect nothing, but the real me...

Once again: Selamat datang. Welcome.