Nirvana is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism. In order to reach Nirvana a person must follow the eightfold path, which helps a person avoid the extreme of self-torture that weakens one’s intellect and the extreme of self-indulgence that retards one’s spiritual progress. In the short story “Teddy” by J.D. Salinger the main character Teddy follows the eightfold path in order to achieve his goal to reach Nirvana. He does this by talking to all kinds of people about life and the meaning of death. He travels around the world to talk with very intelligent people at
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He wants to make sure it’s very clear to whoever he is talking to understands him and what he is saying perfectly. When Bob Nicholson is standing watching Teddy write in his journal he ask Teddy if anyone is sitting in a chair next him and if it would be okay for him to sit down to which Teddy responds “Well, these four chairs belong to my family... But my parents aren’t up yet” (278). Teddy easily could’ve said that nobody was sitting in the chairs and it would be over but instead he feels the need to tell Nicholson that the seat is taken. Teddy knows his parents won’t get up for a while so it was essentially pointless to inform Nicholson that those are his parents chairs, but he does it anyway because the speech part of the eightfold path is all about refraining from falsehood. If Teddy didn't tell him those are his parents seats then is would be a small lie because he just avoided the truth. Teddy is also very aware of his speech when he asks Nicholson how he is doing because he specifically says, “How are you and the weather?” (280). The way Teddy phrases this is very different from how most people, even adults, talk. It’s a very polite way to talks to someone and even though Teddy has no clue who the man sitting next to him is, he still treats him with a lot of respect. This just reinforces the idea that Teddy is very mature for his age and is very aware of is speech and its affect on others. It suggest that Teddy has been through many reincarnations on his way to reaching
He wants to make sure it’s very clear to whoever he is talking to understands him and what he is saying perfectly. When Bob Nicholson is standing watching Teddy write in his journal he ask Teddy if anyone is sitting in a chair next him and if it would be okay for him to sit down to which Teddy responds “Well, these four chairs belong to my family... But my parents aren’t up yet” (278). Teddy easily could’ve said that nobody was sitting in the chairs and it would be over but instead he feels the need to tell Nicholson that the seat is taken. Teddy knows his parents won’t get up for a while so it was essentially pointless to inform Nicholson that those are his parents chairs, but he does it anyway because the speech part of the eightfold path is all about refraining from falsehood. If Teddy didn't tell him those are his parents seats then is would be a small lie because he just avoided the truth. Teddy is also very aware of his speech when he asks Nicholson how he is doing because he specifically says, “How are you and the weather?” (280). The way Teddy phrases this is very different from how most people, even adults, talk. It’s a very polite way to talks to someone and even though Teddy has no clue who the man sitting next to him is, he still treats him with a lot of respect. This just reinforces the idea that Teddy is very mature for his age and is very aware of is speech and its affect on others. It suggest that Teddy has been through many reincarnations on his way to reaching