Happy Nirvana Day

Think: less Kurt Cobain, more Buddha. Today is the day some Buddhists celebrate the Awakened One's passing into Nirvana (others celebrate it on Feb. 8; I think it's a lunar calendar thing).

The Buddha's last words before entering Nirvana were reportedly, "All that appears must disappear, whatever rises dissolves. Work out your salvation with diligence."

He was 80 years old and it is believed that he died in a state of meditation, which is said to have released him from the cycle of death and rebirth, says a neat little story from the Waterbury, Ct., Republican American.