Nirvana

Nirvāṇa ( Sanskrit: निर्वाण; Pali: निब्बान Nibbāna; Vietnamese: Niết bàn; Chinese: 涅槃; Mandarin Pinyin: nièpán, Cantonese: nihppùhn; Japanese: nehan (涅槃); Korean: 열반, yeolbhan; Thai: nibpan นิพพาน); Tibetan mya-ngan-las-'das-pa; Mongolian ɣasalang-aca nögcigsen), is a Sanskrit word that literally means "to cease blowing" (as when a candle flame ceases to flicker) and/or extinguishing (that is, of the passions).

It is a state that is free from any mind-contaminants (kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving; a state of perfect peace unobstructed by psychological conditioning (sankhara). All forms of craving are extinguished such that one is no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha) or further states of rebirths in the samsara. The Buddha in the Dhammapada says of Nirvāṇa that it is "the highest happiness". This is not the sense-based happiness of everyday life, nor the concept of happiness as interpreted by Western culture, but rather an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through enlightenment or bodhi. The knowledge accompanying nirvana is expressed through the word bodhi.

The Buddha describes the abiding in Nirvāṇa as "deathlessness" (Pali: amata or amaravati) or "the unconditioned" and as the highest spiritual attainment, the natural result that accrues to one who lives a life of virtuous conduct in accordance with dharma. Such a life (called Brahmacarya in India) dissolves the causes for future becoming (Skt, karma; Pali, kamma) that otherwise keep beings forever wandering through the impermanent and suffering-generating realms of desire, form, and formlessness, termed samsara.

Overview

The Buddha agrees that though Nibbana should be the ultimate goal for all samsaric existences, the attainment of it is difficult to comprehend as it is beyond that outlined in any human experience. In Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta he likens it to the cessation and extinguishing of a fire where the materials for sustenance has been removed:

"Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you are confused. Profound, Vaccha, is this phenomenon, hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise."

"'the liberated mind (citta) that no longer clings' means Nibbāna" (Majjhima Nikaya 2-Att. 4.68).

"There is that dimension where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising: without stance, without foundation, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress."

When a person who has realized Nirvāṇa dies, his death is referred as his parinirvāṇa, his fully passing away, as his life was his last link to the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), and he will not be reborn again. Buddhism holds that the ultimate goal and end of samsaric existence (of ever "becoming" and "dying" and never truly being) is realization of Nirvāṇa; what happens to a person after his parinirvāṇa cannot be explained adequately, as it is outside of all conceivable experience of this world.

Nirvāṇa and saṃsāra

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, calling nirvāṇa the "opposite" of saṃsāra or implying that it is apart from saṃsāra is doctrinally problematic. According to early Mahāyāna Buddhism, they can be considered to be two aspects of the same perceived reality. By the time of Nāgārjuna, there are teachings of the identity of nirvāṇa and saṃsāra. However, even here it is assumed that the natural man suffers from at the very least a confusion regarding the nature of saṃsāra.

The Theravāda school makes the antithesis of saṃsāra and Nibbāna the starting point of the entire quest for deliverance. Even more, it treats this antithesis as determinative of the final goal, which is precisely the transcendence of saṃsāra and the attainment of liberation in Nibbāna. Where Theravada differs significantly from the Mahāyāna schools, which also start with the duality of saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa, is in not regarding this polarity as a mere preparatory lesson tailored for those with blunt faculties, to be eventually superseded by some higher realization of non-duality. From the standpoint of the Pāli Suttas, even for the Buddha and the Arahants suffering and its cessation, saṃsāra and Nibbāna, remain distinct.

In the experience of all, Nirvāṇa is a state which all six bases (Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body and Mind) cannot feel.

It is probably best to understand the relationship between Nirvāṇa and saṃsāra in terms of the Buddha while on earth. Buddha was both in saṃsāra while having attained to Nirvāṇa so that he was seen by all, and simultaneously free from saṃsāra.

Nirvāṇa in Buddhist Commentaries

Sarvastivādin commentary, Abhidharma-mahavibhāsa-sāstra, gives the complete context of the possible meanings from its Sanskrit roots:

• Vāna, implying the path of rebirth, + nir, meaning leaving off' or "being away from the path of rebirth."
• Vāna, meaning 'stench', + nir, meaning "freedom": "freedom from the stench of distressing kamma."
• Vāna, meaning "dense forests", + nir, meaning "to get rid of" = "to be permanently rid of the dense forest of the five aggregates" (panca skandha), or the "three roots of greed, hate and delusion" (lobha, dosa, moha) or "three characteristics of existence" (impermanence, anitya; unsatisfactoriness, dukkha, soullessness, anàtma).
• Vāna, meaning "weaving", + nir, meaning "knot" = "freedom from the knot of the distressful thread of kamma."

Nirvāṇa in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

The nature of Nirvāṇa assumes a differently aspected Mahāyāna focus in what alleges to be the final of all Mahāyāna sutras, allegedly delivered by the Buddha on his last day of life on earth - the Mahaparinirvāṇa Sutra or Nirvāṇa Sutra. Here, as well as in a number of linked "tathagatagarbha" sutras, in which the Tathagatagarbha is equated with the Buddha's eternal Self or eternal nature, Nirvāṇa is spoken of by the Mahāyāna Buddha in very "cataphatic", positive terms. Nirvāṇa, or "Great Nirvāṇa", is indicated to be the sphere or domain (vishaya) of the True Self. It is seen as the state which constitutes the attainment of what is "Eternal, the Self, Bliss, and the Pure". Mahā-nirvāṇa ("Great Nirvāṇa") thus becomes equivalent to the ineffable, unshakeable, blissful, all-pervading and deathless Selfhood of the Buddha himself - a mystery which no words can adequately reach and which, according to the Nirvāṇa Sutra, can only be fully known by an Awakened Being - a perfect Buddha - directly.

Strikingly, the Buddha of the Mahaparinirvāṇa Sutra gives the following definition of the attributes of Nirvāṇa, which includes the ultimate reality of the Self (not to be confused with the "worldly ego" of the five skandhas):

"The attributes of Nirvāṇa are eightfold. What are these eight? Cessation (nirodha), loveliness/wholesomeness (subha), Truth (satya), Reality (tattva), eternity (nitya), bliss (sukha), the Self (atman), and complete purity (parisuddhi): that is Nirvāṇa."

He further states: "Non-Self is saṃsāra (the cycle of rebirth); the Self (atman) is Great Nirvāṇa."

An important facet of Nirvāṇa in general is that it is not something that comes about from a concatenation of causes, that springs into existence as a result of an act of creation or an agglomeration of causative factors: it was never created; it always was, is and will be. But due to the moral and mental darkness of ordinary, samsarically benighted sentient beings, it remains hidden from unawakened perception. The Buddha of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra insists on its eternal nature and affirms its identity with the enduring, blissful Self, saying:

It is not the case that the inherent nature of Nirvāṇa did not primordially exist but now exists. If the inherent nature of Nirvāṇa did not primordially exist but does now exist, then it would not be free from taints (āsravas) nor would it be eternally (nitya) present in nature. Regardless of whether there are Buddhas or not, its intrinsic nature and attributes are eternally present ... Because of the obscuring darkness of the mental afflictions (kileśas), beings do not see it. The Tathāgata, endowed with omniscient awareness (sarvajñā-jñāna), lights the lamp of insight with his skill-in-means (upāya-kauśalya) and causes Bodhisattvas to perceive the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure of Nirvāṇa.

Vitally, according to these Mahāyāna teachings, any being who has reached Nirvāṇa is not blotted out or extinguished: there is the extinction of the impermanent and suffering-prone "worldly self" or ego, comprised of the five changeful skandhas, but not of the immortal "supramundane" Self of the indwelling Buddha Principle [Buddha-dhatu]. Spiritual death for such a Nirvāṇa-ed being becomes an utter impossibility. The Buddha states in the "Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sutra" (Tibetan version): "Nirvāṇa is deathless ... Those who have passed into Nirvāṇa are deathless. I say that anybody who is endowed with careful assiduity is not compounded and, even though they involve themselves in compounded things, they do not age, they do not die, they do not perish."

Paths to Nirvāṇa in the Pali canon

In the Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, v. 6 (Buddhaghosa & Ñāṇamoli, 1999, pp. 6-7), Buddhaghosa identifies various options within the Pali canon for pursuing a path to Nirvāṇa, including:

1. by insight (vipassana) alone (see Dh. 277)
2. by jhana and understanding (see Dh. 372)
3. by deeds, vision and righteousness (see MN iii.262)
4. by virtue, consciousness and understanding (7SN i.13)
5. by virtue, understanding, concentration and effort (see SN i.53)
6. by the four foundations of mindfulness (see Satipatthana Sutta, DN ii.290)

Depending on one's analysis, each of these options could be seen as a reframing of the Buddha's Threefold Training of virtue, mental development and wisdom.

Quotations

• Gautama Buddha:
  • "Nirvāṇa is the highest happiness." [Dp 204]
  • "Where there is nothing; where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvāṇa do I call it -- the utter extinction of aging and dying."
  • "There is, monks, an unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated. If there were not that unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated, there would not be the case that emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there is an unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated, emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated is discerned." [Udana VIII.3]
  • This said: ‘the liberated mind/will (citta) which does not cling’ means Nibbāna” [MN2-Att. 4.68]
  • “'The subjugation of becoming means Nirvāṇa'; this means the subjugation of the five aggregates means Nirvāṇa.” [SN-Att. 2.123]
  • "Parinibbuto thitatto" -"Parinirvāṇa is to be fixed in the Soul" [Sn 372]

• Said immediately after the physical death of Gotama Buddha wherein his mind (citta) is =parinirvāṇa=the essence of liberation:
  • [DN 2.157] “No longer with (subsists by) in-breath nor out-breath, so is him (Gotama) who is steadfast in mind (citta), inherently quelled from all desires the mighty sage has passed beyond. With mind (citta) limitless (Brahman) he no longer bears sensations; illumined and unbound (nibbana), his mind (citta) is definitely (ahu) liberated.”
  • [SN 3.45] “The mind (citta) being so liberated and arisen from defilements, one is fixed in the Soul as liberation, one is quelled in fixation upon the Soul. Quelled in the Soul one is unshakable. So being unshakable, the very Soul is thoroughly unbound (parinirvāṇa).”

• Sutta Nipāta, tr. Rune Johansson:
  • accī yathā vātavegena khitto
    atthaṁ paleti na upeti sankhaṁ
    evaṁ muni nāmakāyā kimutto
    atthaṁ paleti na upeti sankhaṁ
  • atthan gatassa na pamāṇam atthi
    ynea naṁ vajju taṁ tassan atthi
    sabbesu dhammesu samūhatesu
    samūhatā vādapathāpi sabbe
  • Like a flame that has been blown out by a strong wind goes to rest and cannot be defined, just so the sage who is freed from name and body goes to rest and cannot be defined.
    For him who has gone to rest there is no measure by means of which one could describe him; that is not for him. When all (dharmas) have gone, all signs of recognition have also gone.
• Venerable Sariputta:
  • The destruction of greed, hatred and delusion is Nirvāṇa.

See also

• Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta
• Atman (Buddhism)
• Baqaa
• Bhagavad Gita
• Buddhism
• Hinduism
• Jainism
• Mahayana
• Moksha
• Nirvana Sutra
• Parinirvana
• Paramita
• Satori
• Theravada
• the state of Total Perfection or the natural condition of Dzogchen
• Void (Buddhism)
• Voidism
• Zen

Further reading

• Buddhaghosa, Bhadantacariya & Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (trans.) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
• Jon Kabit-Zin, Wherever You Go, There You Are
• The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Nirvana Publications, London 1999-2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page.

External links

• Nibbana - more excerpts from the Pali Tripitaka defining Nibbana
• "Nirvana Sutra": full English translation of the "Nirvana Sutra" and appreciation of its teachings.
• Buddha - A Hero's Journey to Nirvana
• Salvation Versus Liberation, A Buddhist View of Paradise Worlds
• In-depth explanation of Nibbana according to the Pali Canon
• Explanation of Nibbana according to dmc
• Mind Like Fire Unbound - a discussion of fire imagery as used in the Buddha's time
• A Buddhist practice based on the four stages of the Buddha's enlightenment that lead him to Nirvana
• Nirvana - a modern scientific view.
• How Stuff Works - Nirvana
• Nirvana Lyrics