Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00298)

>>I think that even a Theravadin would agree that pain and
>>pleasure are two sides of the same thing, and that both
>>are transcended in Nirvana. The Christian desires paradise
>>and the avoidance of hell. It can't be done. Both have to go.
>>
>>Jerry S.
>
>Then again, maybe pleasure and pain are not transcended in Nirvana. The
>Way Up is bliss, and the Way Down is suffering. Thus, pain and pleasure
>does not end until we reach the Darkness of the Eternal Parent.
>
>Thoa :o)
>

Actually, the Mahayana see Nirvana as the polar opposite of
Samsara. Thus they would say that dualities are not transcended
in Nirvana, but rather that Nirvana too must be transcended.
This is a central difference between Theravadin and Mahayana.
HPB puts the highest 5 Globes in "nirvana" above the Abyss,
and so shows that she is Mahayana because she has us rising
above the entire planetary chain as the Mahayana would.

Jerry S.