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Burger Nirvana?

Submitted by Patrick Groneman on Wed, 6/20/2012, 4:01pm
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by Patrick Groneman

Saw this yesterday while walking back from an eye-exam.  

It's a great example of how a word, when stripped of its cultural context can take on new meaning, and then be used over and over again, until that new meaning replaces the original.

However, Nirvana ≠ Pleasure or Satisfaction, as this ad implies.

Nirvana or "Nibbana" (Pali) comes from a word that means "to extinguish"... as in the extinguishing of a candle.   Its meaning in Buddhism refers to a state of liberation where greed, hatred and delusion have been transcended, and suffering (or dukkha) has been "extinguished."

From Access to Insight:

"Nibbana names the transcendent and singularly ineffable freedom that stands as the final goal of all the Buddha's teachings"

Other people use the word "cessation" to describe Nirvana, which has less of an implication of suppression as the word "extinguish" does.

So sorry to HB Burger and Nick Solares, but "Burger Nirvana" might not mean what you think it means, and using it like this just-might-be cultural appropriation.

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Comments

Samsara

Submitted by Patrick Groneman on Thu, 6/21/2012, 7:43am.

I think what bugs me most about this common usage is the perpetuation of an "escape" from reality experience. The common usage of "heaven" does this as well -- somewhere 'out there' where nyc will disappear and puffy clouds will hold you up while you enter Burger Nirvana. The fact that it is common metaphor doesn't excuse it's lazy usage or implied meaning. The fact that it's hip just worsens the whole thing...

As for John Stewart -- there's actually a random-humanness to his "moment of Zen" that I think resonates with the dharma. Just whatever is happening right there in the moment, no clouds, no burgers, just attention and Sen. Chuck Grassely's ringtone going off: (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-7-2012/moment-of-zen---senato...)

Karma

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 6/21/2012, 8:24am.

I get that -- the idea that there's some place that's better than this that we can get to rather learning to be OK with where we are is pervasive and a cause of suffering. But as a writer, the idea that I can't use a word outside of its weighty philosophical context makes me uneasy. Words can wake us up. Maybe the poster will get someone to look up what nirvana means, and if they google it, they could end up at wikipedia or accesstoinsight or someplace that would give a fuller explanation.

personally, I find the misappropriation of karma far more problematic.

btw, I've been told by people who've studied this way more than me that nibbana literally means "no boil," or to take off the flame or put out the flame. it was a cooking term. I like that image -- we continue to cook but we don't get to the roiling boil where things spill over.

simmering in the dharma,

Nancy

 

We need a scholar!

Submitted by Patrick Groneman on Thu, 6/21/2012, 12:48pm.

I like "No Boil" too -- which is even LESS sexy than "extinguish".   I'm not a Pali scholar, so perhaps we could enlist one to help us out here?

I agree, there is something funny about the word "guru" showing up to describe someone who is a technical master at something (even though they're not 'technically' a guru) - "web guru", etc...

But there is a degree of exotification happening here, of creating "another" place to be using "another's" word to describe that place (that place being the best tasting burger experience you could imagine, and a word that was initially defined based on poor translations as it came to the west.)   

But that creation of duality and pull is the whole schtick of marketing.   So it's not surprising.  

People can use whatever words they want to market Burgers, but that don't mean I won't call them out on it on the blog!

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nibbana

Submitted by Nancy Thompson on Thu, 6/21/2012, 2:00pm.

"In order to better understand the meaning of the word "nibbana," we ought to look at it from the perspective of linguistics. A material sense of the word is found in the words "pajjotasseva nibbanam" This "nibbana" refers to the ordinary quenching of fire. When the rice porridge is still hot, the cook yells out from the kitchen, "wait a moment, let it nibbana a bit." When the goldsmith melts down gold and pours it into a mold, he sprinkles water on it to cool it down. The word used in Pali here is "nibbapeyya", to first make it nibbana or cool before working it into some shape or form."

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha013.htm

There's a Thai restaurant in Washington named Nibbana.

call them out!!

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 6/21/2012, 1:05pm.

by all means -- maybe we need a Nirvana Burger journal on the blog where everyone could contribute egregious example of dharma words in the larger world. (I think there's a Worst Horse blog, maybe on Shambhala Sun that does that too.)

esteemed scholar Karsten Braaten advises me on Facebook that burger nirvana sounds likes it's closer to the Hindu definition of nirvana -- which has to do with achieving union with the divine. so maybe Buddhism culturally appropriated and redefined nirvana to start with!

thanks for provoking my thoughts.

previous post by Nancy

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 6/21/2012, 1:06pm.

who forgot she got logged out

As long as

Submitted by Patrick Groneman on Thu, 6/21/2012, 1:30pm.

As long as they got to eat good burgers...
 

This all gets into a conversation about skillful teaching means.  Perhaps the Buddha had to use the concept of Nirvana to relate to something that was already existing in the culture to describe his awakening?

Yes, I'll submit this to Worst Horse --- and I have more...

Nirvana/heaven

Submitted by Nancy Thompson on Wed, 6/20/2012, 9:10pm.

it's a common metaphor for something that's good -- heavenly, divine, better than humanly possible. it's just a hipper way of saying that something is so good that it's better than what's available on the relative plain.

I think calling it commodification gives it more weight than it deserves.

maybe it's time for an ethanism -- "thingify." It thingifies nirvana.

so what do you make of Nirvana, the band, then? ironic? is that cultural appropriation, or is it only out of context when it's used to sell something?

your moment of zen, john stewart fans? how so?

Commodification

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 6/20/2012, 7:47pm.

So I think this might be a perfect example of what Karl Marx referred to as commodification: " is the transformation of goods, ideas, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods[1] into a commodity." (courtesy of Wikipedia).

In this case, nirvana- which certainly is not a 'thing' to be bought or sold in a market- has been transformed into an object or experience that can be purchased, and is in this example disguised as a burger...but if you look closely we're sold the notion of 'nirvana' in so many different ways. Perfect looks, perfect partners, perfect cars, etc etc etc...

-Mali J

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