TPF : Nirvana

[Gnomon]

↪Gnomon
I find there are generally two kinds of reactions to the suggestion of anything supernatural: shocked rejection, on the one hand (the most common reaction); or fascination, on the other. The ‘middle way’ tries to avoid such extremes. — Wayfarer

I agree. That's why my personal philosophy, based on the Enformationism worldview, is the BothAnd Principle, which can be visualized in the Yin-Yang symbol, and practiced in the Buddha's Middle Path between extremes, and summarized in Aristotle's Golden Mean of moderation. Since appearances can be deceiving, when something seems "supernatural", I reserve judgment until I can know what happens behind the smoke & mirrors. Until then, I'll call it simply "preternatural", or "weird".

The BothAnd Principle is a corollary to the thesis of Enformationism, in that it is a mashup of both Materialism and Spiritualism, of both Science and Religion, of both Empirical and Theoretical methods.
http://blog-glossary.enformationism.info/page10.html

[Gnomon]

How is immolating oneself an example of altruism?? — baker

Self-immolation per se is not altruistic, especially if it's a cop-out on life, like some cases of suicide. But in this case, the monk sacrificed his own life for the betterment of his society. It was a political protest. But most politically motivated demonstrations only risk imprisonment. So this dramatic demonstration of love for others may have contributed to the eventual downfall of the Deim regime, which was being supported by the US military. As a Buddhist monk, he was not likely in favor of Communism specifically, but of regime-change in general.

John 15:13 : There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

[Gnomon]

Please explain how his suicide contributed to the betterment of his society. . . . How?? By shocking them into having mercy for the Vietnamese Buddhists? — baker

That's beside the point. I was just guessing that his radical political statement of solidarity with his fellow Buddhists, was intended to accomplish that goal. Ironically, Vietnam eventually fell to the communists, who were not noted for their tolerance of any religion. Here, judge for yourself.

The Story Behind The Burning Monk :
https://time.com/3791176/malcolm-browne ... ning-monk/

Ngo Dinh Diem : but his own Catholicism and the preference he showed for fellow Roman Catholics made him unacceptable to Buddhists,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ngo-Dinh-Diem

(Too bad you have to quote a Christian scripture to defend the acts of a Buddhist.) — baker

I wasn't "defending the acts of a Buddhist". Just giving an example of mind-over-matter, which is claimed to be an almost magical power of meditation. For the record, I don't believe in Magic . . . except, of course, for Stage & Movie Magic. I don't know if the monk achieved Nirvana, but if "good works" count for anything in Buddhist tradition, he should go down in history as a saint, right alongside all the Catholic and anti-catholic martyrs, who were burned at the stake for their pro or con beliefs..

[Gnomon]

That's the official party line, yes -- that he was a saint. But if you stick around Buddhism -- different schools of Buddhism -- long enough, you'll see that not all Buddhist opinions view those self-immolations so favorably. — baker

Your doctrinal criticisms of Buddhism are going off-topic. The OP was not asking about the veracity of Buddhist doctrine, but only if any human mind can achieve an altered state in which the sufferings of life, and the fear of death are of no consequence. Personally, I doubt that doctrinal Nirvana per se is achievable, but it's obvious that some human adepts (such as the flaming monk) can approach a similar state of indifference to the outside world. I don't doubt that the mind can adopt measurable "altered states". But, when Mind Magic is attributed to those states, I might ask : "what is your canonical [empirical] support for this claim?".

OP -- Existence of Nirvana :
"Does the existence of a state of mind that actively pursues it’s own death . . . .
, prove, that a contrary pole exists to the spectrum of the mind - one of persistent peace, contentment, hope and one that ultimately sees only good in the world? A nirvana like state."

Altered States of Consciousness :
https://hraf.yale.edu/ehc/summaries/alt ... sciousness