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{{short description|Release from the passions in Buddhism}}
{{About|Nirvana in Buddhism|other uses|Nirvana (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the concept in Buddhism|its wider religious use|Nirvana||Nirvana (disambiguation)}}
{{cleanup|reason=Too many quotes|date=November 2014}}

{{Buddhist term {{Buddhist term
|title= Nirvana |title= Nirvana
|en= blowing out,<br />extinguishing,<br /> liberation |en= blowing out,<br />extinguishing,<br /> liberation
|pi= nibbāna (निब्बान) |pi= निब्बान nibbāna
|si= නිවන<br />(nivana)
|bn= নির্বাণ
|bn= নির্বাণ nibbano
|si= ]<br />(Nivana)
|sa= nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) |sa= निर्वाण
|sa-Latn=nirvāṇa
|vi= Niết bàn |vi= Niết bàn
|zh= 涅槃 |zh= 涅槃
|zh-Latn=nièpán |zh-Latn=nièpán
|mn= γasalang-aca nögcigsen |mn= ᠨᠢᠷᠸᠠᠨ/нирван
|mn-Latn=nirvan
|mnw= နဳဗာန် |mnw= နဳဗာန်
|mnw-Latn=nìppàn |mnw-Latn=nìppàn
|my= နိဗ္ဗာန် |my= နိဗ္ဗာန်
|my-Latn=neɪʔbàɴ |my-Latn=neɪʔbàɰ̃
|ja= 涅槃 |ja= 涅槃
|ja-Latn=nehan |ja-Latn=nehan
|idn= nirwana |idn= nirwana
|km= និព្វាន |km= និព្វាន
|km-Latn=nipean |km-Latn=nĭppéan
|ko= 열반 |ko= 열반
|ko-Latn=yeolban |ko-Latn=yeolban
|shn= ၼိၵ်ႈပၢၼ်ႇ |shn= ၼိၵ်ႈပၢၼ်ႇ
|shn-Latn=nik3paan2 |shn-Latn=nik3paan2
|tl= nirvana
|th= นิพพาน (nibbana)
|th= นิพพาน
|bo= མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།<br></span>(mya ngan las 'das pa)
|th-Latn=nipphan
}}
|bo= མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།<br>mya ngan las 'das pa
'''''Nirvana''''' (Sanskrit, also ''{{IAST|nirvāṇa}}''; Pali: ''nibbana'', ''nibbāna&#x202f;'') is the earliest and most common term used to describe the goal of the ] path.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}} The literal meaning of the term in Sanskrit is "to be blown out" or "to be extinguished". Within the Buddhist tradition, this term is commonly interpreted as the extinction of craving ('']''), or more broadly, the extinction of the "three fires",{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=65}} or "three poisons",{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}}{{refn|group=note|name="Gombrichthreefires"|According to Gombrich, the use of the term "three fires" alludes to the three firs which a brahmin householder had to keep alight, and tend daily. In later Buddhism, the origin of this metaphor was forgotten, and the term was replaced with "the three poisons.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}}} passion, ('']''), aversion ('']'') and ignorance ('']'' or '']'').{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}} In the Buddhist view, when these ''fires'' are extinguished, suffering ('']'') comes to an end, and one is released from the cycle of rebirth ('']'').
|id=nirwana,<br />kepadaman,<br />pemadaman}}
] carving representing the final nirvana of a Buddha at ].]]
'''Nirvana''' (]: निर्वाण; ]: ''{{IAST|nirvāṇa}}''; ]: ''{{IAST|nibbāna}}'') is the extinguishing of the passions,<ref name="Meister2009p25">{{cite book|author=Chad Meister|title=Introducing Philosophy of Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pOCT3qFirJMC&pg=PA25 |year=2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-14179-1|page=25|quote=Buddhism: the soteriological goal is nirvana, liberation from the wheel of samsara and extinction of all desires, cravings and suffering.}}</ref> the "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activity of the grasping mind and its related unease.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=191}} Nirvana is the goal of many ] paths, and leads to the ] release from ] ('suffering') and rebirths in '']''.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|pp=589-590}}{{Sfn|Keown|2004|pp=194-195}} Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of '']''" in the ],{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|pp=589-590}} and the "'']'' of ] and goal of the ]."{{Sfn|Keown|2004|pp=194-195}}


In the ] tradition, ] has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires" (in analogy to, but rejecting, the three sacrificial fires of the Vedic ritual),{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=65}} or "three poisons",{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}}{{refn|group=note|name="Gombrichthreefires"|According to Gombrich, the use of the term "three fires" alludes to the three fires which a brahmin householder had to keep alight, and tend daily. In later Buddhism, the origin of this metaphor was forgotten, and the term was replaced with "the three poisons.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}}} greed ('']''), aversion ('']'') and ignorance ('']'').{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}} When these ''fires'' are extinguished, release from '']'', the perpetual grasping activity of the mind, or the cycle of rebirth, is attained.
Buddhist tradition distinguishes between the experience of someone who reaches nirvana during their lifetime (''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa'') and the experience of nirvana after death (''nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa''). The experience of nirvana-in-this-lifetime is described as a transformed state of mind that is free from negative mental states, peaceful, happy, and non-reactive. The experience of nirvana-after-death (commonly referred to as ''paranirvana'') is said to be beyond words or description.


Nirvana has also been claimed by some scholars to be identical with '']'' (non-self) and '']'' (emptiness) states though this is hotly contested by other scholars and practicing monks.<ref group=web>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/NobleStrategy/Section0014.html |title=No Self or Not-Self? |last=Bhikkhu |first=Thanissaro |date=2018-01-01 |website=www.dhammatalks.org |publisher=Metta Forest Monastery |access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref>{{sfn|Collins|1990|pp=82–84}}<ref name="Genjun Sasaki">{{cite book|author=Genjun Sasaki |title=Linguistic Approach to Buddhist Thought |year=1986 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0038-0 |pages=124–125 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vUBPAzlxJPUC}}</ref>{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=18–21}}<ref name="Choong1999p85"> {{cite book|author=Mun-Keat Choong |title=The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism|year=1999| publisher=Motilal Banarsidass| isbn=978-81-208-1649-7| pages=1–4, 85–88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJafx7uO0VsC}};<br/> {{cite book |author= Ray Billington |title= Understanding Eastern Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dACFAgAAQBAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-79348-8 |pages=58–60}};<br/> {{cite book |author=David Loy |title=Awareness Bound and Unbound: Buddhist Essays |year=2009|publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-2680-8 |pages=35–39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R5KHnVVjwKQC}}</ref>
The two main traditions of Buddhism, the Theravada and Mahayana, differ in their presentations of nirvana. The Theravada tradition emphasizes the cessation of suffering and liberation from samsara. The Mahayana tradition emphasizes two stages of nirvana: the first stage is described (using similar language to the Theravada tradition) as the cessation of suffering and liberation from samsara; the next and final stage is referred to as the ''nonabiding'' (''apratiṣṭhita'') ''nirvana'', or ''buddhahood'', that transcends both samsara and the limited nirvana of the first stage.


There are two types of nirvana: ''sopadhishesa-nirvana'' literally "nirvana with a remainder", attained and maintained during life, and '']'' or ''anupadhishesa-nirvana'', meaning "nirvana without remainder" or final nirvana.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=590}} In ] these are called "abiding" and "non-abiding nirvana." ''Nirvana'', as the quenching of the burning mind, is the highest aim of the Theravada tradition. In the Mahayana tradition, the highest goal is '']'', in which there is no abiding in nirvana.
==Etymology==


==Etymology and meaning==
===Nirvana===
The term ''nirvana'' is part of an extensive metaphorical structure that was probably established at a very early age in Buddhism. It is "the most common term used by Buddhists to describe a state of freedom from suffering and rebirth,"{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}} but its etymology may not be conclusive for its meaning.{{sfn|Cousins|1998|p=9}} Different Buddhist traditions have interpreted the concept in different ways,{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}} without reaching consensus over its meaning.{{refn|group=quote|Buswell: "It is found in dictionaries as an English word, nirvana, and has acquired a patina that makes many assume its meaning is obvious. Yet, it is a word about which Buddhists themselves have never reached agreement.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}}}}<ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Nirvana |encyclopedia=Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia |url=http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/Nirvana}}</ref> Various etymologies are:
Smith and Novak state:{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|pp=51-52}}
* ''vâna'', derived from the root word ''√vā'' which means "to blow":<ref group=web name="Langheld"> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406193511/http://www.vwsp.eu/tathagata/nirvana/amngs.htm |date=April 6, 2014 }} Victor Langheld, {{better source needed|date=June 2016}}</ref>
: Etymologically means “to blow out” or “to extinguish,” not transitively, but as a fire ceases to draw. Deprived of fuel, the fire goes out, and this is nirvana.
** (to) blow (of wind); but also to emit (an odour), be wafted or diffused;<ref group=web name="Langheld" /> ''nirvana'' then means "to blow out";{{refn|group=quote|Bhikkhu Bodhi: "Etymologically, the word nibbāna — the Pali form of the better known Sanskrit nirvāṇa — is derived from a verb nibbāti meaning "to be blown out" or "to be extinguished." It thus signifies the extinguishing of the worldly "fires" of greed, hatred, and delusion. But the Pali commentators prefer to treat it as the negation of, or "departure from" (nikkhantatta), the entanglement (vāna) of craving, the derivation which is offered here. For as long as one is entangled by craving, one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death.{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2012|loc=Kindle Locations 5193-5198}}}}{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|pp=51-52, Quote: Etymologically means "to blow out" or "to extinguish," not transitively, but as a fire ceases to draw. Deprived of fuel, the fire goes out, and this is nirvana.}}
* ''vāna'', derived from the root ''vana'' or ''van'' which mean "desire",{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}}<ref group=web name="Langheld" />
** ''nirvana'' is then explained to mean a state of "without desire, without love, without wish" and one without craving or thirst (]);{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}}<ref group=web name="Langheld" />
** adding the root ''√vā'' which means "to weave or sew";{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}}{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}} ''nirvana'' is then explained as abandoning the desire which weaves together life after life.{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}}{{sfn|Cousins|1998|p=9}}<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Nirvana / Nibbana |work=Eastern Spirituality |url=https://www.eastern-spirituality.com/glossary/spirituality-terms/n-definitions/nirvana-nibbana}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Even ], the great Theravada commentator, ignored the original etymological meaning of the word, and presented an interpretation of ''nirvana'' based on the root ''√vā'', "to weave."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}}}}<ref group=web name="Langheld" />
* ''vāna'',{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}} derived from the root word ''vana'' which also means "woods, forest":{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}}<ref group=web name="Langheld" />
** based on this root, ''vana'' has been metaphorically explained by Buddhist scholars as referring to the "forest of defilements",{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}} or the ];{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}} ''nirvana'' then means "escape from the aggregates",{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}} or to be "free from that forest of defilements".{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}}{{refn|group=note|Gombrich explains that the five ''skandhas'' or aggregates are the bundles of firewood that fuel the three fires.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=67}} The Buddhist practitioner ought to "drop" these bundles, so that the fires are no longer fueled and "blow out".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=67–68}}}}


===Origins===
Bhikkhu Bodhi states:{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2012|loc=Kindle Locations 5193-5198}}
The origin of the term ''nirvana'' is probably pre-Buddhist.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}}{{sfn|Cousins|1998|p=9}} It was a more or less central concept among the ]s, the ], the Buddhists, and certain Hindu traditions, and the term may have been imported into Buddhism with much of its semantic range from these other ] movements.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}}
: Etymologically, the word nibbāna — the Pali form of the better known Sanskrit nirvāṇa — is derived from a verb nibbāti meaning “to be blown out” or “to be extinguished.” It thus signifies the extinguishing of the worldly “fires” of greed, hatred, and delusion. But the Pali commentators prefer to treat it as the negation of, or “departure from” (nikkhantatta), the entanglement (vāna) of craving, the derivation which is offered here. For as long as one is entangled by craving, one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death.


The ideas of spiritual liberation using different terminology, is found in ancient texts of non-Buddhist Indian traditions, such as in verse 4.4.6 of the ] of Hinduism,<ref>{{cite book|author=Max Müller |title=Theosophy Or Psychological Religion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PjiD_XWea7cC |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-07326-4 |pages=307–310 }}</ref> but the term ''nirvana'' in the ] sense of "blown out, extinguished" state of liberation does not appear in the ]s nor in the pre-Buddhist ]s. According to ], "the Buddhists seem to have been the first to call it ''nirvana''."{{sfn|Collins|1998|pp=137–138}}
Rupert Gethin states:{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}
: Literally nirvāṇa means ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’, although Buddhist commentarial writings, by a play on words, like to explain it as ‘the absence of craving’. But where English translations of Buddhist texts have ‘he attains nirvāṇa/parinirvāṇa’, the more characteristic Pali or Sanskrit idiom is a simple verb: ‘he or she nirvāṇa-s’ or more often ‘he or she parinirvānṇa-s’ (parinibbāyati). What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. At the moment the Buddha understood suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation, these fires were extinguished. This process is the same for all who reach awakening, and the early texts term it either nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa, the complete ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’ of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. This is not a ‘thing’ but an event or experience.


===Extinction and blowing out===
] scholar T. K. Parthasarathy suggests an alternate interpretation of the Sanskrit roots:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://advaita-academy.org/Talks/Working-Towards-nirvANa-and-New-Humanity-%281-of-2%29.ashx |title=Working Towards nirvANa and New Humanity (1 of 2) |author=About T K Parthasarathy |date=February 8, 2011 <!-- 06:35 AM --> |work= |publisher=Advaita Academy |accessdate=6 April 2011}}</ref>
One literal interpretation translates ''nir√vā'' as "blow out",{{sfn|Swanson|1997|p=10}} interpreting ''nir'' is a negative, and ''va'' as "to blow",{{sfn|Swanson|1997|p=10}} giving a meaning of "blowing out" or "quenching".{{sfn|Cousins|1998|p=9}} It is seen to refer to both to the act and the effect of blowing (at something) to put it out, but also the process and outcome of burning out, becoming extinguished.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}}{{refn|group=quote|Buswell: "The Sanskrit term nirvana is an action noun signifying the act and effect of blowing (at something) to put it out, to blow out, or to extinguish, but the noun also signifies the process and outcome of burning out, becoming extinguished, cooling down, and hence, allaying, calming down, and also taming, making docile. Technically, in the religious traditions of India, the term denotes the process of accomplishing and experiencing freedom from the unquenchable thirst of desire and the pains of repeated births, lives, and deaths.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=600}}}} The "blowing out" does not mean total annihilation,{{sfn|Cousins|1998|p=9}} but the extinguishing of a flame. The term ''nirvana'' can also be used as a verb: "he or she nirvāṇa-s," or "he or she parinirvānṇa-s" (''parinibbāyati'').{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}{{refn|group=quote|Rupert Gethin: "Literally nirvāṇa means 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing', although Buddhist commentarial writings, by a play on words, like to explain it as 'the absence of craving'. But where English translations of Buddhist texts have 'he attains nirvāṇa/parinirvāṇa', the more characteristic Pali or Sanskrit idiom is a simple verb: 'he or she nirvāṇa-s' or more often 'he or she parinirvānṇa-s' (parinibbāyati). What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}}}
:The Abhidharma -''mahavibhasa-sastra''- a sarvastivAdin commentary, gives a complete picture of the meanings from its Sanskrit roots: vANa implying the route of rebirth and added with Nir meaning 'leaving off' conveys permanently avoiding all paths of transmigration. vANa meaning stench or stink and Nir meaning opposite to it in total implies 'without and free from all stench of karma-s'. vANa meaning forest and Nir meaning without totally implies 'a state which has got rid of, for ever, of the dense forest of the three fires of lust, malice and delusion'.


In the Buddhist tradition, ''nirvana'', "to blow out",{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|pp=51-52}} has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires",{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=65}} or "three poisons",{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}} namely of passion or sensuality ('']''), aversion or hate ('']'') and of delusion or ignorance ('']'' or '']'').{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc=Kindle loc. 44535}}
===Moksha===
'']'' (Sanskrit), also ''vimoksha'', or ''vimutti'' (Pali), "release, deliverance",<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti" /> means liberation itself:<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti"></ref>
{{quote|''Vimoksha'' (Skt; Jpn gedatsu ). Emancipation, release, or liberation. The Sanskrit words vimukti, mukti, and moksha also have the same meaning. Vimoksha means release from the bonds of earthly desires, delusion, suffering, and transmigration. While Buddhism sets forth various kinds and stages of emancipation, or enlightenment, the supreme emancipation is nirvana, a state of perfect quietude, freedom, and deliverance.<ref group=web name="vimoksha"></ref>}}


According to Gombrich, the number of three fires alludes to the three fires which a Brahmin had to keep alight, and thereby symbolise life in the world, as a family-man.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}} The meaning of this metaphor was lost in later Buddhism,{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=66}}{{refn|group=quote|Gombrich: "I hope it is not too farfetched to suggest that this may have contributed to an important development in the Mahayana: that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi, 'awakening' to the truth, Enlightenment, and to put a lower value on the former.{{sfn|Gombrich|1992}} Originally nirvana and bodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use different metaphors for the experience. But the Mahayana tradition separated them and considered that nirvana referred only to the extinction of craving, with the resultant escape from the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion: the extinction of delusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively expressed as gnosis, Enlightenment.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=66–67}}}} and other explanations of the word ''nirvana'' were sought. Not only passion, hatred and delusion were to be extinguished, but also all cankers (''asava'') or defilements (''khlesa'').{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=12}}{{refn|group=note|Not only the three fires, but also the extinction of the defilements and ''tanha'' are mentioned as ''nirvana'':{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 934-953}}
In the Pali-canon two kinds of vimutti are discerned:<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti" />
* "Calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, extinction of "thirst", detachment, cessation, Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 136)
* ''Pañña-vimutti'', freedom through understanding; it is brought about by understanding (prajña), which develops from the practice of insight meditation (vipassanā).
* "O Rādha, the extinction of 'thirst' (Taṇhakkhayo) is Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 190)
* ''Ceto-vimutti'', freedom of mind; it arises out of the practice of concentration meditation (samādhi).
* ''Sutta-nipata'': "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."{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
* ''] 2-Att. 4.68'': "The liberated mind (]) that no longer clings' means nibbāna."}}


===Weaving and woods===
Ceto-vimutti is a partial release, while pañña-vimutti is final release. According to Gombrich, this difference is a later development within the canon, reflecting a growing emphasis in earliest Buddhism on ''prjana'', instead of the liberating practice of ''dhyana''.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=96-134}}
Later exegetical works developed a whole new set of folk etymological definitions of the word nirvana, using the root ''vana'' to refer to "to blow", but re-parsing the word to roots that mean "weaving, sewing", "desire" and "forest or woods."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|pp=12-13}}{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=64}}


==Meaning== ===To unbind===
] argues that the term nibbāna was apparently derived etymologically from the negative prefix, nir, plus the root vāṇa, or binding: unbinding, and that the associated adjective is nibbuta: unbound, and the associated verb, nibbuti: to unbind.<ref group=web name="dhammatalks.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN16.html |title=The Great Total Unbinding Discourse Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta (DN 16) |via=dhammatalks.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Miri Albahari|title=Analytical Buddhism. The Two-Tiered Illusion of Self|year=2006 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-00712-3|page=37}}</ref> He and others use the term unbinding for nibbana.<ref group=web name="dhammatalks.org"/><ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Nibbana Sutta Total Unbinding (3) |publisher=Vipassanā Fellowship |url=http://www.vipassana.co.uk/canon/khuddaka/udana/ud8-3.php}}</ref> Ṭhānissaro argues that the early Buddhist association of 'blowing out' with the term arose in light of the way in which the processes of fire were viewed at that time - that a burning fire was seen as clinging to its fuel in a state of hot agitation, and that when going out the fire let go of its fuel and reached a state of freedom, cooling, and peace.<ref group=web name="dhammatalks.org"/>


===Goal of the Buddhist Path=== ===To uncover===
Matsumoto Shirō (1950–),<ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Critical Buddhism (Hihan Bukkyo) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/critical-buddhism-hihan-bukkyo}}</ref> of the ] group, stated that the original etymological root of ''nirvana'' should be considered not as nir√vā, but as nir√vŗ, to "uncover".{{sfn|Swanson|1997|p=124}} According to Matsumoto, the original meaning of ''nirvana'' was therefore not "to extinguish" but "to uncover" the ''atman'' from that which is ''anatman'' (not atman).{{sfn|Swanson|1997|pp=123-124, Swanson cites Matsumoto Shiro (1989), Engi to ku-Nyoraizo shiso hihan , Tokyo Daizo Shuppan, pages 191-192, 195-219}} Swanson stated that some Buddhism scholars questioned whether 'blowing out' and 'extinction' etymologies are consistent with the core doctrines of Buddhism, particularly about ''anatman'' (non-self) and ''pratityasamutpada'' (causality).{{sfn|Swanson|1997|pp=119-124}} They saw a problem that considering nirvana as extinction or liberation presupposes a "self" to be extinguished or liberated.{{sfn|Swanson|1997|p=124}} However other Buddhist scholars, such as Takasaki Jikidō,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tanaka |first=K. |date=2013 |title=Takasaki Jikidō (1926-2013) |journal=The Eastern Buddhist |volume=44 |issue=2 |series=new series |pages=161–165 |jstor=44362575}}</ref> disagreed and called the Matsumoto proposal "too far and leaving nothing that can be called Buddhist".{{sfn|Swanson|1997|p=124}}


===Synonymous with moksha and vimutti===
====Ultimate goal====
''Nirvana'' is used synonymously with '']'' (Sanskrit), also ''vimoksha'', or ''vimutti'' (Pali), "release, deliverance from suffering".{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=547}}<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti"></ref>{{refn|group=note|"''Vimoksha'' (Skt; Jpn gedatsu ). Emancipation, release, or liberation. The Sanskrit words vimukti, mukti, and moksha also have the same meaning. Vimoksha means release from the bonds of earthly desires, delusion, suffering, and transmigration. While Buddhism sets forth various kinds and stages of emancipation, or enlightenment, the supreme emancipation is nirvana, a state of perfect quietude, freedom, and deliverance."<ref group=web name="vimoksha"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222011614/http://www.sgilibrary.org/search_dict.php?id=2602 |date=2014-02-22 }}</ref>}} In the Pali-canon two kinds of vimutti are discerned:<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti" />
In Buddhism, Nirvana is the ultimate goal of the spiritual path.{{refn|group=note|Nirvana is the ultimate goal of the Buddhist spiritual path.
* ''Ceto-vimutti'', freedom of mind; it is the qualified freedom from suffering, attained through the practice of dhyane (meditation, samādhi). Vetter translates this as "release of the heart" which means conquering desire thereby attaining a desire-less state of living.{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=63-65 with footnotes}}
* Joseph Goldstein states: "It is Nibbana that the Buddha declared to be the final goal of the spiritual journey."{{sfn|Goldstein|2011|pp=158-159}}
* ''Pañña-vimutti'', freedom through understanding (prajña); it is the final release from suffering and the end of rebirth, attained through the practice of insight meditation (vipassanā).<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti" />
* Damien Keown states: "Nirvana is the summum bonum of Buddhism – the final and highest good. It is both a concept and an experience. As a concept it offers a particular vision of human fulfillment and gives contour and shape to the ideal life. As an experience it becomes incarnate over the course of time in the person who seeks it."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 887-888}}
* The Dalai Lama states: "The ultimate aspiration of a practicing Buddhist is the attainment of nirvana. The emphasis is within oneself."{{sfn|Goleman|2008|loc=Kindle Locations 5513-5517}}
* Daniel Goleman states: "The fundamental goal of Buddhist practice is the achievement of nirvana."{{sfn|Goleman|2008|loc=Kindle Locations 3538-3539}}
* Smith and Novak state: "Nirvana the word the Buddha used to name life’s goal as he saw it. Nirvana is the highest destiny of the human spirit and its literal meaning is “extinction,” but what is to be extinguished are the boundaries of the finite self "{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|pp=51-52}}
* Ajahn Sucitto states: "Nibbāna is held to be the ultimate goal in Buddhism. It is the ending of sorrow and delusion, and it is supremely peaceful."{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|pp=162-163}}
* Donald Lopez states: "Nirvana is the oldest and most common designation for the goal of the Buddhist path "<ref group=web name="EB=Nirvana"></ref>
* Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "Nibbana is the ultimate goal of the Buddha's path. The Buddha says 'Just as the water of a river plunges into the ocean and merges with the ocean, so the spiritual path, the Noble Eightfold Path, plunges into Nibbana and merges with Nibbana.'"<ref group=web name="nibbana-bodhi"></ref>
* Ajahn Pasano and Ajahn Amaro state: "From the Buddhist viewpoint, the realization of Nibbana is the fulfillment of the highest human potential – a potential that exists in all of us, regardless of nationality or creed."{{sfn|Ajahn Pasano|Ajahn Amaro|2008|p=25}} }} ] explains:{{sfn|Goldstein|2011|pp=158-159}}
: It is Nibbana that the Buddha declared to be the final goal of the spiritual journey: “This holy life … does not have gain, honor, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this holy life, its heartwood and its end.”{{refn|group=note|Goldstein is quoting from the final paragraph of the ''Maha Saropama Sutta''; see .}}


Ceto-vimutti becomes permanent, only with the attainment of pañña-vimutti.<ref group=web name="Bowker-vimutti" /> According to Gombrich and other scholars, this distinction may be a later development within the canon, reflecting a growing emphasis in earliest Buddhism on ''prajña'', instead of the liberating practice of ''dhyana''; it may also reflect a successful assimilation of non-Buddhist meditation practices in ancient India into the Buddhist canon.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=96–134}}{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=63-65 with footnotes}} According to ], the term ''uttari''-'']'' (highest liberation) is also widely used in the early Buddhist texts to refer to liberation from the cycle of rebirth.<ref>Anālayo, From Craving to Liberation – Excursions into the Thought-world of the Pāli Discourses (1), 2009, p. 151.</ref>
Contemporary translator ] states:<ref group=web name="nibbana-bodhi"/>
: The Buddha says "Just as the water of a river plunges into the ocean and merges with the ocean, so the spiritual path, the Noble Eightfold Path, plunges into Nibbana and merges with Nibbana."


== Interpretations of the early Buddhist concept ==
====Extinguishing the fires====
In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is described as the extinguishing of the ''fires'' that cause rebirth. These fires are typically identified as the fires of attachment ('']''), aversion ('']'') and ignorance ('']'' or '']'').{{refn|group=note|Nirvana is described as extinguishing the fires of attachment ('']''), aversion ('']'') and ignorance ('']'' or '']'').
*Rupert Gethin states: "Literally nirvāṇa means ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’ What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. At the moment the Buddha understood suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation, these fires were extinguished. This process is the same for all who reach awakening, and the early texts term it either nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa, the complete ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’ of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. This is not a ‘thing’ but an event or experience."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}
* Paul Williams states: " means 'extinguishing', as in 'the extinguishing of a flame', and it signifies soteriologically the complete extinguishing of greed, hatred, and fundamentally delusion (i.e. ignorance), the forces which power samsara."{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=47-48}}
* Ajahn Sucitto states: "By the extinguishing of the “three fires” of greed, hatred, and delusion, nibbāna gives tangible results in terms of other people’s welfare."{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|p=163}}
* Smith and Novak state: "Nirvana is the highest destiny of the human spirit and its literal meaning is “extinction,” but what is to be extinguished are the boundaries of the finite self and the three poisons that feed that self: “The extinction of greed, the extinction of hate, the extinction of delusion: this indeed is called Nirvana.”"{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|pp=51-52}}
* Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "The state of perfect peace that comes when craving is eliminated is Nibbāna (nirvāṇa), the unconditioned state experienced while alive with the extinguishing of the flames of greed, aversion, and delusion."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2011|p=25}}
* Donald Lopez states: " is used to refer to the extinction of desire, hatred, and ignorance and, ultimately, of suffering and rebirth."<ref group=web name="EB=Nirvana"></ref>
* See also Gombrich ], ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.'' Routledge}}


=== Cessation ===
For example, Rupert Gethin states:
{{quote|Literally nirvāṇa means ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’ What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. At the moment the Buddha understood suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation, these fires were extinguished. This process is the same for all who reach awakening,{{refn|group=note|Vetter, Gombrich, and Bronkhorst, among others, notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" is a later development.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993}}{{sfn|Gombrich|1996}} In the earliest Buddhism, the practice of ''dhyana'' may have been the sole liberating practice, with ''bodhi'' denoting the insight that ''dhyana'' is an affective means to still the fires.{{sfn|Vetter|1988}}}} and the early texts term it either nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa, the complete ‘blowing out’ or ‘extinguishing’ of the ‘fires’ of greed, aversion, and delusion. This is not a ‘thing’ but an event or experience.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}{{refn|group=note|Robert Sharf notices that "experience" is a typical modern, western word. In the 19th century, "experience" came to be seen as a means to "prove" religious "realities".{{sfn|Sharf|1995-B}}{{sfn|Sharf|2000}}}}}}

Contemporary Buddhist scholar Ajahn Sucitto emphasizes that when these fires are extinguished, the mind is freed. Ajahn Sucitto states:{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|p=163}}
:The metaphors associated with nibbāna often liken it to the blowing out of a fire. When it is no longer burning, the fire has “nibbāna’d”—the elements on which it was based are no longer in a state of combustion. This may seem like sterility and lifelessness from the viewpoint of the fire, but from the perspective of the elements it means life and potential. That is, when the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion are extinguished, the mind is free to operate in terms of its fullest capacity.

====End of rebirth====
{{see also|Samsara (Buddhism)|Rebirth (Buddhism)}} {{see also|Samsara (Buddhism)|Rebirth (Buddhism)}}
], an illustration of the cycle of rebirth, with the ] at the hub of the wheel.]]
In the Buddhist view, the fires of attachment (''raga''), aversion (''dvesha'') and ignorance (''moha'' or ''avidya'') are the forces which propel the cycle of rebirth (''samsara''). When these fires are extinguished, freedom from rebirth is attained,{{refn|group=note|When the fires of craving are extinguished, freedom from rebirth is attained.
* Bikkhu Bodhi states: "For as long as one is entangled by craving, one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2012|loc=Kindle Locations 5188-5193}}
* Damien Keown states: "When the flame of craving is extinguished, rebirth ceases, and an enlightened person is not reborn."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1025-1032}}}} and suffering ('']'') comes to an end.


In the ], the practice of the noble path and the four ] was said to lead to the extinction of the three fires, and then proceed to the cessation of all discursive thoughts and apperceptions, then ceasing all feelings (happiness and sadness).{{sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=68-69}}{{Sfn|Trainor|2004|pp=80-81}} According to Collins, "the most common thing said about nirvana in Buddhist texts is that it is the ending of suffering ('']'')."{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=45}} According to Collins, the term is also widely used as a verb, one therefore "nirvanizes."{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=38}} A synonym widely used for nirvana in early texts is "deathless" or "deathfree" (]: ''amata,'' ]'': ]'') and refers to a condition "where there is no death, because there is also no birth, no coming into existence, nothing made by conditioning, and therefore no time."{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=38}} Nirvana is also called "unconditioned" (''asankhata''), meaning it is unlike all other conditioned phenomena.
Bhikkhu Bodhi states:{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2012|loc=Kindle Locations 5188-5193}}
:For as long as one is entangled by ], one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death.


Thomas Kasulis notes that in the early texts, nirvana is often described in negative terms, including “cessation” (''nirodha''), “the absence of craving” (''trsnaksaya''), “detachment,” “the absence of delusion,” and “the unconditioned” (''asamskrta'').<ref name=":1">Jones, Lindsay, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 10, p. 6628.</ref> He also notes that there is little discussion in the ] about the metaphysical nature of nirvana, since they seem to hold that metaphysical speculation is an obstacle to the goal. Kasulis mentions the ] which denies any view about the existence of the Buddha after his final bodily death, all positions (the Buddha exists after death, does not exist, both or neither) are rejected.<ref name=":1" /> Likewise, another sutta (] II 161) has ] saying that asking the question "is there anything else?" after the physical death of someone who has attained nirvana is conceptualizing or proliferating ('']'') about that which is without proliferation (''appapañcaṃ'') and thus a kind of distorted thinking bound up with the self.{{sfn|Brahmāli|2009}}
Paul Williams states:{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=47-48}}
:Nirvana is broadly speaking the result of letting-go, letting-go the very forces of craving which power continued experiences of pleasure and inevitably suffering throughout this life, death, rebirth, and redeath. That, in a nutshell, is what nirvana is. It is the complete and permanent cessation of samsara, thence the cessation of all types of suffering, resulting from letting-go the forces which power samsara, due to overcoming ignorance (thence also hatred and delusion, the 'three root poisons') through seeing things the way they really are.


Nirvāṇa is the permanent cessation of ] ("wandering") and '']'' (birth, becoming).{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=47–48}}{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=58}}<ref>see ] IV 251 and SN IV 261.</ref>{{refn|See:
===''Nirvana'' with and without remainder of fuel===
* Rupert Gethin: "Literally nirvāṇa means 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing' What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion. At the moment the Buddha understood suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation, these fires were extinguished. This process is the same for all who reach awakening,{{refn|group=lower-roman|Vetter, Gombrich, and Bronkhorst, among others, notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" is a later development.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{sfn|Gombrich|1996|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}} In the earliest Buddhism, the practice of ''dhyana'' may have been the sole liberating practice, with ''bodhi'' denoting the insight that ''dhyana'' is an affective means to still the fires.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}}} and the early texts term it either nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa, the complete 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing' of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion. This is not a 'thing' but an event or experience.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=75}}{{refn|group=lower-roman|Robert Sharf notices that "experience" is a typical modern, western word. In the 19th century, "experience" came to be seen as a means to "prove" religious "realities".{{sfn|Sharf|1995}}{{sfn|Sharf|2000}}}}
In the Buddhist tradition, a distinction is made between the extinguishing of the fires during life, and the final "blowing out" at the moment of death:{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68-69}}{{refn|group=note|There are two stages of nirvana--during life and beyond death.
* Paul Williams: " means 'extinguishing', as in 'the extinguishing of a flame', and it signifies soteriologically the complete extinguishing of greed, hatred, and fundamentally delusion (i.e. ignorance), the forces which power samsara."{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=47–48}}
* Donald Lopez states: "Two types of nirvana are described. The first is called 'nirvana with remainder.' The second type is called 'nirvana without remainder', or final nirvana."{{sfn|Lopez|2001|p=47}}
* Paul Williams: "Nirvana is broadly speaking the result of letting-go, letting-go the very forces of craving which power continued experiences of pleasure and inevitably suffering throughout this life, death, rebirth, and redeath. That, in a nutshell, is what nirvana is. It is the complete and permanent cessation of samsara, thence the cessation of all types of suffering, resulting from letting-go the forces which power samsara, due to overcoming ignorance (thence also hatred and delusion, the 'three root poisons') through seeing things the way they really are."{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=47–48}}
* Peter Harvey states: "The first aspect of Nibbana is described as 'with remainder of what is grasped at' (''sa-updadi-sesa''), meaning that the ''khandas'', the result of past grasping, still remain for him; the second is described as 'without remainder of what is grasped at' (''an-upadi-sesa'') (''It.''38-39).{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=61}}}}
* Donald Lopez: " is used to refer to the extinction of desire, hatred, and ignorance and, ultimately, of suffering and rebirth."<ref group=web name="EB=Nirvana"></ref>
* ''Sa-upādisesa-nibbāna'' (Pali; Sanskrit ''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa''), "nirvana with remainder", "nirvana with residue."{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68-69}} Nirvana is attained during one's life, when the fires are extinguished.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}} There is still the "residue" of the five ], and a "residue of fuel", which however is not "burning".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68-69}}
* Damien Keown states: "When the flame of craving is extinguished, rebirth ceases, and an enlightened person is not reborn."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1025-1032}}|group=quote}} As ] states "For as long as one is entangled by ], one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2012|loc=Kindle Locations 5188-5193}}
* ''An-up ādisesa-nibbāna'' (Pali; Sanskrit ''nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa''), "nirvana without remainder," "nirvana without residue". This is the final ''nirvana'', or ''parinirvana'' or "blowing out" at the moment of death, when there is no fuel left.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}}


Gethin notes that nirvana "is not a 'thing' but an event or experience" that frees one from rebirth in ].{{source?|date=March 2024}} According to Donald Swearer, the journey to nirvana is not a journey to a "separate reality" (contra ] or ]), but a move towards calm, equanimity, nonattachment and ].<ref>Loy, David R. A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World, p. 16.</ref> In this sense, the ] view of early Buddhism is seen as a reaction to earlier Indic metaphysical views.
Gombrich explains that the five ''skandhas'' or aggregates are the bundles of firewood that fuel the three fires.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=67}} The Buddhist practitione rought to "drop" these bundles, so that the fires are no longer fueled and "blow out".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=67-68}} When this is done, the bundles still remain as long as this life continues, but they are no longer "on fire."{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}}


According to Collins, nirvana is associated with a meditative attainment called the 'Cessation of Perception/Ideation and Feeling' (''sannavedayitanirodha''), also known as the 'Attainment of Cessation' (]).{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=46}} In later Buddhism, dhyana practice was deemed sufficient only for the extinguishing of passion and hatred, while delusion was extinguished by insight.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=66–67}}
====Nirvana with remainder====
In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana can be attainedduring their life, or at the moment of death. When a practitioner attaines nirvana during their life, this is referred as nirvana-in-this-life, or more traditionally, "nirvana with remainder" (Pali: ''sa-upādisesa-nibbāna''; Sanskrit: ''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa'').


=== As a metaphysical reality or transcendent consciousness ===
Contemporary scholar Rupert Gethin explains:{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=75-76}}
The Franco-Belgian school of ] held a different view of nirvana. According to this tradition of scholarship, the view of ] was that nirvana was a positive reality, a kind of immortal state (]) similar to the godly abode of ] found in the ].<ref name=":02">Regamey, Constantin. '''' The Eastern Buddhist 48/1: 23–47 ©2019 The Eastern Buddhist Society.</ref>
: Like the Buddha, any person who attains nirvāṇa does not remain thereafter forever absorbed in some transcendental state of mind. On the contrary he or she continues to live in the world; he or she continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom. This condition of having extinguished the defilements can be termed ‘nirvāṇa with the remainder ’ (''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/sa-upādisesa-nibbāna''): the nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the defilements (''kleśa/kilesa'') of the mind; what the Pali commentaries call for short ''kilesa-parinibbāna''.{{refn|group=note|name=gethincite1|Gethin cites: Dhammapada-atthakathā ii. 163; Vibhaṇga-atthakatha 433.}} And this is what the Buddha achieved on the night of his awakening.


] has defended the idea that nirvana in the Pali suttas refers to a kind of transformed and transcendent consciousness ('']'') that has "stopped" (''nirodhena''). According to Harvey this nirvanic consciousness is said to be "objectless", "infinite" (''anantam''), "unsupported" (''appatiṭṭhita'') and "non-manifestive" (''anidassana'') as well as "beyond time and spatial location".{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}{{sfn|Harvey|1995b|pp=200-208}} Rune Johansson's ''The Psychology of Nirvana'' also argues that nirvana could be seen as a transformed state of mind (''citta'').<ref>Johansson, Rune, ''The Psychology of Nirvana,'' 1969, p. 111.</ref>
The experience of nirvana-in-this-life is said to result in a transformed mind that has the following qualities:
* free from negative mental states
* peaceful
* non-reactive


], a Theravada monk, translator and scholar, argues that various descriptions of nibbana from the early buddhist texts "convey a more concrete idea of the ultimate goal" which differs from mere cessation and "speak of Nibbana almost as if it were a transcendent state or dimension of being."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2005|p=318}} Bodhi notes that nibbana is sometimes described as a base (ayatana), an unborn and unconditioned state (pada), a reality (dhamma), and an "element" (dhatu).{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2005|pp=318-319}} This transcendent state is compared to the ocean, which is "deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2005|p=320}}
=====Free from negative mental states=====
], which is a closely related ] tradition, liberated beings abide in an actual realm (loka) or abode (sila) associated with nirvana.{{sfn|Dundas|2002|pp=90-92}} Some scholars have argued that early Buddhism held a similar view.]]
Nirvana-in-this-life is said to be free from all negative mental states. For example, ] states that one who has achieved nirvana is "free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others."{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1095-1104}}
], a Polish scholar, argued in the 1930s that the ] preserve elements of an archaic form of Buddhism which is close to ] beliefs,{{sfn|Lindtner|1997}}{{sfn|Lindtner|1999}}{{sfn|Akizuki|1990|p=25-27}}{{sfn|Ray|1999}} which also survived in the ] tradition.{{sfn|Reat|1998|p=xi}}{{sfn|Conze|1967|p=10}} Schayer argued that the Theravada and Mahayana traditions could be "divergent, but equally reliable records" of a now lost pre-canonical Buddhism.{{sfn|Reat|1998|p=xi}} The Mahayana tradition may have preserved some very old, pre-canonical teachings, which was mostly (but not completely) left out of the Theravada canon.{{sfn|Conze|1967|p=10}} Schayer saw nirvana as an immortal, deathless sphere, and as a transmundane reality.{{sfn|Ray|1999|pp=374–377}} Schayer's position was also defended by ], who saw the early Buddhist view of nirvana as being similar (but not the same) as some Brahamanical views of an eternal and absolute reality.<ref name=":02" />


] had similar ideas about nirvana, citing sources which speak of an eternal and "invisible infinite consciousness, which shines everywhere" as point to the view that nirvana is a kind of ].{{sfn|Conze|1967|p=10}} A similar view was defended by M. Falk, who held that the nirvanic element, as an "essence" or pure consciousness, is immanent within ].{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=375}} M. Falk argues that the early Buddhist view of nirvana is that it is an "abode" or "place" of ], which is gained by the enlightened.{{refn|See Digha Nikaya 15, ''Mahanidana Sutta'', which describes a nine-fold chain of causation. Mind-and-body (''nama-rupa'') and consciousness (''vijnana'') do condition here each other (verse 2 & 3). In verse 21 and 22, it is stated that consciousness comes into the mother's womb, and finds a resting place in mind-and-body. {{sfn|Walshe|1995|p=223, 226}}|group=note}}{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=375}}{{refn|M. Falk (1943, ''Nama-rupa and Dharma-rupa''|group=note}} This nirvanic element, as an "essence" or pure consciousness, is immanent within ].{{sfn|Ray|1999|p=375}}{{refn|group=note|According to Alexander Wynne, Schayer:"referred to passages in which "consciousness" (''vinnana'') seems to be the ultimate reality or substratum (e.g. A I.10) 14 as well as the ''Saddhatu Sutra'', which is not found in any canonical source but is cited in other Buddhist texts — it states that the personality (pudgala) consists of the six elements (dhatu) of earth, water, fire, wind, space and consciousness; Schayer noted that it related to other ancient Indian ideas. Keith’s argument is also based on the ''Saddhatu Sutra'' as well as "passages where we have explanations of Nirvana which echo the ideas of the Upanishads regarding the ultimate reality." He also refers to the doctrine of "a consciousness, originally pure, defiled by adventitious impurities."{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=99}}}}
Damien Keown states:{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1016-1025}}
: Nirvana involves a radically transformed state of consciousness which is free of the obsession with ‘me and mine’.


A similar view is also defended by Christian Lindtner, who argues that in pre-canonical Buddhism, nirvana is:
Rupert Gethin states:{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=75-76}}
{{blockquote|... a place one can actually go to. It is called ''nirvanadhatu'', has no border-signs (''animitta''), is localized somewhere beyond the other six ''dhatus'' (beginning with earth and ending with ''vijñana'') but is closest to ''akasa'' and ''vijñana''. One cannot visualize it, it is ''anidarsana'', but it provides one with firm ground under one’s feet, it is dhruva; once there one will not slip back, it is ''acyutapada''. As opposed to this world, it is a pleasant place to be in, it is sukha, things work well.{{sfn|Lindtner|1997}}{{refn|group=note|Cited in {{harvtxt|Wynne|2007|p=99}}.}}}}
:Any person who attains nirvāṇa continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom.
According to Christian Lindtner, the original and early Buddhist concepts of nirvana were similar to those found in competing ] (strivers/ascetics) traditions such as ] and the tradition of the ]. It was not a purely psychological idea, but a concept described in terms of Indian cosmology and a related theory of consciousness.{{Sfn|Lindtner|1997|pp=112-113, 118-119}} All Indian religions, over time, states Lindtner evolved these ideas, internalizing the state but in different ways because early and later ] continued with the metaphysical idea of ] and ], but Buddhism did not.{{Sfn|Lindtner|1997|pp=131-132, 110-112, 122-123}} In this view, the canonical Buddhist views on nirvana was a reaction against early ], along with the assumptions of Jainism and the Upanishadic thought on the idea of personal liberation.{{Sfn|Lindtner|1997|p=129}} As a result of this reaction, nirvana came to be seen as a state of mind, instead of a concrete place.{{sfn|Lindtner|1997}} Elements of this precanonical Buddhism may have survived the canonisation, and its subsequent filtering out of ideas, and re-appeared in ].{{sfn|Lindtner|1997}}{{sfn|Akizuki|1990|p=25-27}} According to Lindtner, the existence of multiple, and contradicting ideas, is also reflected in the works of ], who tried to harmonize these different ideas. According to Lindtner, this lead him to taking a "paradoxical" stance, for instance regarding nirvana, rejecting any positive description.{{sfn|Lindtner|1997}}


Referring to this view, Alexander Wynne holds that there is no evidence in the '']'' that the Buddha held this view, at best it only shows that "some of the early Buddhists were influenced by their Brahminic peers".{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=101}} Wynne concludes that the Buddha rejected the views of the ] and that his teachings present a radical departure from these ] beliefs.{{sfn|Wynne|2007|p=101}}
Contemporary Buddhist teacher Ajahn Sucitto states:{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|p=163}}
:When the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion are extinguished, the mind is free to operate in terms of its fullest capacity.


===''Nirvana'' with and without remainder of fuel===
Anam Thubten states:{{sfn|Anam Thubten|2009|loc=Kindle loc. 362-365}}
] ] style from ].]]
:Nirvana or whatever you want to call it means the complete deconstruction of all of our rigid mental patterns and habits as well the deconstruction of all of our limiting beliefs. This deconstruction creates a space for true inquiry. When we open our hearts and our minds completely, we are in a place where we can experience something new, a new truth, a new reality, a miracle that we haven't experienced in the past. We can see things differently and they present new, expanded opportunities, new horizons.
There are two stages in ''nirvana'', one in life, and one final nirvana upon death; the former is imprecise and general, the latter is precise and specific.{{sfn|Collins|1990|pp=206-208}} The nirvana-in-life marks the life of a monk who has attained complete release from desire and suffering but still has a body, name and life. The nirvana-after-death, also called nirvana-without-substrate, is the complete cessation of everything, including consciousness and rebirth.{{sfn|Collins|1990|pp=206-208}} This main distinction is between the extinguishing of the fires during life, and the final "blowing out" at the moment of death:{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=68–69}}{{refn|Nirvana during life and beyond death:

* Donald Lopez states: "Two types of nirvana are described. The first is called 'nirvana with remainder.' The second type is called 'nirvana without remainder', or final nirvana."{{sfn|Lopez|2001|p=47}}
=====Peaceful=====
* Peter Harvey states: "The first aspect of Nibbana is described as 'with remainder of what is grasped at' (''sa-updadi-sesa''), meaning that the ''khandas'', the result of past grasping, still remain for him; the second is described as 'without remainder of what is grasped at' (''an-upadi-sesa'') (''It.''38-39).{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=61}}|group=quote}}
Nirvana is described as a state of perfect peace that comes when all negative mental states are eliminated.{{refn|group=note|Nirvana is described as a state of perfect peace that comes when all negative mental states are eliminated. For example:
* ''Sa-upādisesa-nibbāna'' (Pali; Sanskrit ''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa''), "nirvana with remainder", "nirvana with residue."{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=68–69}} Nirvana is attained during one's life, when the fires are extinguished.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}} There is still the "residue" of the five ], and a "residue of fuel", which however is not "burning".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=68–69}}{{refn|Rupert Gethin: "Like the Buddha, any person who attains nirvāṇa does not remain thereafter forever absorbed in some transcendental state of mind. On the contrary he or she continues to live in the world; he or she continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom. This condition of having extinguished the defilements can be termed 'nirvāṇa with the remainder ' (''sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/sa-upādisesa-nibbāna''): the nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the defilements (''kleśa/kilesa'') of the mind; what the Pali commentaries call for short ''kilesa-parinibbāna''.{{refn|group=lower-roman|name=gethincite1|Gethin cites: Dhammapada-atthakathā ii. 163; Vibhaṇga-atthakatha 433.}} And this is what the Buddha achieved on the night of his awakening."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=75-76}}|group=quote}} Nirvana-in-this-life is believed to result in a transformed mind with qualities such as happiness,{{refn|In the ], the Buddha describes ''nirvāṇa'' as "the highest happiness",<ref>Verse 204, ''nibbanam paramam sukham''</ref> an enduring happiness qualitatively different from the limited, transitory happiness derived from ] things.|group=note}} freedom of negative mental states,<!---START OF NOTE--->{{refn|Freedom from negative states:
* ]: "free from all 'complexes' and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others."{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1095-1104}}
* Damien Keown: "Nirvana involves a radically transformed state of consciousness which is free of the obsession with 'me and mine'."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1016-1025}}
* Rupert Gethin: "Any person who attains nirvāṇa continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=75-76}}|group=quote}}<!---END OF NOTE---> peacefulness<!---START OF NOTE--->{{refn|Peacefulness:
* Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "The state of perfect peace that comes when craving is eliminated is Nibbāna (nirvāṇa)."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2011|p=25}} * Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "The state of perfect peace that comes when craving is eliminated is Nibbāna (nirvāṇa)."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2011|p=25}}
* Ajahn Sucitto states: "Nibbāna is the ending of sorrow and delusion, and it is supremely peaceful."{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|p=163}}
* Joseph Goldstein states: "It is also described as the deathless, absolute peace, freedom, and so forth."{{sfn|Goldstein|2011|pp=158-159}} * Joseph Goldstein states: "It is also described as the deathless, absolute peace, freedom, and so forth."{{sfn|Goldstein|2011|pp=158-159}}
* Lama Surya Das states: "Nirvana is inconceivable inner peace, the cessation of craving and clinging."{{sfn|Lama Surya Das|1997|p=76}} * Lama Surya Das states: "Nirvana is inconceivable inner peace, the cessation of craving and clinging."{{sfn|Lama Surya Das|1997|p=76}}
* Walpola Rahula states:{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1095-1104}} "He who has realized the Truth, Nirvāṇa, is (...) joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful."{{refn|group=lower-roman|Rahula cites: Majjhima-nikāya II (PTS), p. 121}}
* Ringu Tulku states: "We can have inner peace, strength, and clarity, almost independent from circumstances and situations."{{sfn|Ringu Tulku|2005|pp=34-35}}
* Damien Keown states:{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1016-1025}} "It is clear that nirvana-in-this-life is a psychological and ethical reality, a transformed state of personality characterized by peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion, and a refined and subtle awareness. Negative mental states and emotions such as doubt, worry, anxiety, and fear are absent from the enlightened mind. Saints in many religious traditions exhibit some or all of these qualities, and ordinary people also possess them to some degree, although imperfectly developed. An enlightened person, however, such as a Buddha or an Arhat, possesses them all completely."|group=quote}}<!---END OF NOTE---> and non-reactiveness.<!---START OF NOTE--->{{refn|Non-reactiveness:
* Thich Naht Hahn states:{{sfn|Thich Nhat Hanh|1999|p=140}} "Nirvana teaches that we already are what we want to become. We don't have to run after anything anymore. We only need to return to ourselves and touch our true nature. When we do, we have real peace and joy."}} For example, Walpola Rahula states:{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1095-1104}}
* Phillip Moffitt states:{{sfn|Moffitt|2008|loc=Kindle Locations 1654-1656}} "Nibbana literally means "cooled" and is analogous to a fire that's no longer burning. Thus, when there is cessation, your mind no longer burns in response to the arising of pleasant and unpleasant in your life; it isn't reactive or controlled by what you like or dislike."
:He who has realized the Truth, Nirvāṇa, is the happiest being in the world. He is free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood over the future. He lives fully in the present.{{refn|group=note|Rahula cites: Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 5}} Therefore he appreciates and enjoys things in the purest sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful.{{refn|group=note|Rahula cites: Majjhima-nikāya II (PTS), p. 121}}
* Ringu Tulku explains:{{sfn|Ringu Tulku|2005|pp=34-35}} "Someone who has attained the state of nirvana, will no longer react within the pattern of aversion and attachment. The way such a person sees things will be nondualistic and therefore non-conceptual. When this dual reaction is gone, nothing is haunting or fearful anymore. We see clearly, and nothing seems imposing, since nothing is imposed from our part. When there is nothing we do not like, there is nothing to fear. Being free from fear, we are peaceful. There is no need to run away from anything, and therefore no need to run after anything either. In this way there is no burden. We can have inner peace, strength, and clarity, almost independent from circumstances and situations. This is complete freedom of mind without any circumstantial entanglement; the state is called "nirvana" . Someone who has reached this state has gone beyond our usual way of being imprisoned in habitual patterns and distorted ways of seeing these things."|group=quote}}
* ''An-up ādisesa-nibbāna'' (Pali; Sanskrit ''nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa''), "nirvana without remainder," "nirvana without residue". This is the final ''nirvana'', or ''parinirvana'' or "blowing out" at the moment of death, when there is no fuel left.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}}{{refn|Rupert Gethin: "Eventually 'the remainder of life' will be exhausted and, like all beings, such a person must die. But unlike other beings, who have not experienced 'nirvāṇa', he or she will not be reborn into some new life, the physical and mental constituents of being will not come together in some new existence, there will be no new being or person. Instead of being reborn, the person 'parinirvāṇa-s', meaning in this context that the five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur. This is the condition of 'nirvāṇa without remainder ' (nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/an-up ādisesa-nibbāna): nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the aggregates (skandha/khandha) of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being; or, for short, khandha-parinibbāna.{{refn|group=lower-roman |name=gethincite1}} Modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict 'nirvāṇa' to the awakening experience and reserve 'parinirvāṇa' for the death experience."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=76}}|group=quote}}


The classic Pali sutta definitions for these states are as follows:<blockquote>And what, monks, is the Nibbana element with residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached his own goal, utterly destroyed the fetters of existence, one completely liberated through final knowledge. However, his five sense faculties remain unimpaired, by which he still experiences what is agreeable and disagreeable, still feels pleasure and pain. It is the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion in him that is called the Nibbana element with residue remaining.</blockquote><blockquote>And what, monks, is the Nibbana element without residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant ... one completely liberated through final knowledge. For him, here in this very life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here. That, monks, is called the Nibbana element without residue remaining.{{sfn|Brahmāli|2009}}</blockquote>Gombrich explains that the five ''skandhas'' or aggregates are the bundles of firewood that fuel the three fires.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=67}} The Buddhist practitioner ought to "drop" these bundles, so that the fires are no longer fueled and "blow out".{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|pp=67–68}} When this is done, the bundles still remain as long as this life continues, but they are no longer "on fire."{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p=68}} Collins notes that the first type, nirvana in this life is also called ] (awakening), nirvana of the defilements or ''kilesa-(pari)nibbana,'' and ]ship while nirvana after death is also referred to as the nirvana of the Aggregates, ''khandha-(pari)nibbana.''{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=41}}
Damien Keown states:{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Locations 1016-1025}}
:It is clear that nirvana-in-this-life is a psychological and ethical reality, a transformed state of personality characterized by peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion, and a refined and subtle awareness. Negative mental states and emotions such as doubt, worry, anxiety, and fear are absent from the enlightened mind. Saints in many religious traditions exhibit some or all of these qualities, and ordinary people also possess them to some degree, although imperfectly developed. An enlightened person, however, such as a Buddha or an Arhat, possesses them all completely.


What happens with one who has reached ''nirvana'' after death is an ].{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}}{{refn|Walpola Rahula: "Now another question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant after his death, parinirvāṇa? This comes under the category of unanswered questions (]). Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like 'born' or 'not born' do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those things—matter, sensation, perception, mental activities, consciousness—with which the terms like 'born' and 'not born' are associated, are completely destroyed and uprooted, never to rise again after his death. ."{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}}|group=quote}} According to ], the five aggregates vanish but there does not remain a mere "]."{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}} {{refn|Walpola Rahula: "An Arahant after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone out when the wick and oil are finished. Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire gone out is not Nirvāṇa, but the 'being' composed of the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāṇa. This point has to be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars, have misunderstood and misinterpreted this simile as referring to Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is never compared to a fire or a lamp gone out.{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}}|group=quote}} Rahula's view, states Gombrich, is not accurate summary of the Buddhist thought, and mirrors the Upanishadic thought.{{refn|group=quote|Richard Gombrich, who studied with Walpola Rahula, notes: "here is one point where the great scholar monk has let us down: his account of nirvana, in Chapter IV, is unclear and, to my mind, even at points self-contradictory In proclaiming (in block capitals) that 'Truth is', Rahula has for a moment fallen into Upanisadic mode.{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=155-156}}}}{{refn|In the ''Yamaka Sutta (SN 22.58)'', the monk ] teaches that to state that a person who attains nirvana "does not exist" after death is not the correct view; the correct view is that ''nirvana-after-death'' is outside of all conceivable experience. The only accurate statement that can be made about ''nirvana-after-death'' is "That which is stressful ('']''; suffering) has ceased and gone to its end."<ref group=web name="Yamaka Sutta"></ref><br><br>The ''Aggivacchagotta Sutta'' states that the state of being after death cannot be described as either being reborn after death, not being reborn, being and not being reborn, or neither being nor not being reborn. The sutra concludes: "Any fire burning dependent on a sustenance of grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that sustenance and not being offered any other — is classified simply as 'out' (unbound).<br>Even so any physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a ] stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of form the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears' doesn't apply. 'Does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Both does & does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' doesn't apply."<ref>Bhikkhu Bodhi. ''Aggivacchagotta Sutta; In the Buddha's Words'', pp. 367-369.{{full citation needed|date=July 2023}}</ref><ref group=web>, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu</ref>|group=quote}}
=====Non-reactive=====
In the state of nirvana, the mind is no longer reactive. Phillip Moffitt states:{{sfn|Moffitt|2008|loc=Kindle Locations 1654-1656}}
:Nibbana literally means "cooled" and is analogous to a fire that's no longer burning. Thus, when there is cessation, your mind no longer burns in response to the arising of pleasant and unpleasant in your life; it isn't reactive or controlled by what you like or dislike.


===''Anatta'', ''Sunyata''===
Ringu Tulku explains:{{sfn|Ringu Tulku|2005|pp=34-35}}
Nirvana is also described in Buddhist texts as identical to '']'' (''anatman'', non-self, lack of any self).{{sfn|Collins|1990|pp=82–84}}<ref name="Genjun Sasaki"/>{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=18–21}} ''Anatta'' means there is no abiding self or soul in any being or a permanent essence in any thing.{{sfn|Hamilton-Blyth|2013|pp=19–28}}<ref> {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3rYtmCZEIEC |title=Exploring Buddhism|author=Christmas Humphreys|publisher=Routledge|year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-22877-3 |pages=42–43}}<br/> {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PguGB_uEQh4C&pg=PA51 |title=Religion and Anthropology: A Critical Introduction|author=Brian Morris|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-521-85241-8|pages=51}}, '''Quote:''' "(...) anatta is the doctrine of non-self, and is an extreme empiricist doctrine that holds that the notion of an unchanging permanent self is a fiction and has no reality. According to Buddhist doctrine, the individual person consists of five skandhas or heaps - the body, feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness. The belief in a self or soul, over these five skandhas, is illusory and the cause of suffering."<br/> {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ|title=Theravada Buddhism|author=Richard Gombrich|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|isbn=978-1-134-90352-8|page=47}}, '''Quote:''' "(...) Buddha's teaching that beings have no soul, no abiding essence. This 'no-soul doctrine' (anatta-vada) he expounded in his second sermon."</ref> This interpretation asserts that all reality is of ] and a worldly construction of each human mind, therefore ultimately a delusion or ].{{sfn|Hamilton-Blyth|2013|pp=19–28}}<ref name="Southwold1983p2092">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/buddhisminlifean00sout|url-access=registration|title=Buddhism in Life: The Anthropological Study of Religion and the Sinhalese Practice of Buddhism|author=Martin Southwold |publisher=Manchester University Press|year=1983|isbn=978-0-7190-0971-6|pages=–210}}</ref> In Buddhist thought, this must be overcome, states Martin Southwold, through "the realization of anatta, which is nirvana".<ref name="Southwold1983p2092" />
:Someone who has attained the state of nirvana, will no longer react within the pattern of aversion and attachment. The way such a person sees things will be nondualistic and therefore non-conceptual. When this dual reaction is gone, nothing is haunting or fearful anymore. We see clearly, and nothing seems imposing, since nothing is imposed from our part. When there is nothing we do not like, there is nothing to fear. Being free from fear, we are peaceful. There is no need to run away from anything, and therefore no need to run after anything either. In this way there is no burden. We can have inner peace, strength, and clarity, almost independent from circumstances and situations. This is complete freedom of mind without any circumstantial entanglement; the state is called "nirvana" . Someone who has reached this state has gone beyond our usual way of being imprisoned in habitual patterns and distorted ways of seeing these things.


Nirvana in some Buddhist traditions is described as the realization of '']'' (emptiness or nothingness).<ref name="Choong1999p85"/> Madhyamika Buddhist texts call this as the middle point of all dualities (Middle Way), where all subject-object discrimination and polarities disappear, there is no conventional reality, and the only ultimate reality of emptiness is all that remains.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7UKjtA0QDwC |title=Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices |author=Merv Fowler|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|year=1999 |isbn=978-1-898723-66-0|pages=91–92}}</ref>
Ajahn Sucitto states "qualities like calm, clarity, and kindness are all enhanced the tinder and the sparkiness of the heart are removed."{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|p=163}}


== Synonyms and metaphors ==
=====Beyond dualistic conceptions=====
===A flame which goes out due to lack of fuel===
Nirvana is beyond our normal dualistic conceptions. Walpola Rahula explains:
A commonly used metaphor for nirvana is that of a flame which goes out due to lack of fuel:<blockquote>Just as an oil-lamp burns because of oil and wick, but when the oil and wick are exhausted, and no others are supplied, it goes out through lack of fuel (''anaharo nibbayati''), so the monk … knows that after the break-up of his body, when further life is exhausted, all feelings which are rejoiced in here will become cool.{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=63}}</blockquote>Collins argues that the Buddhist view of awakening reverses the ] view and its metaphors. While in Vedic religion, the fire is seen as a metaphor for the good and for life, Buddhist thought uses the metaphor of fire for the ] and for suffering.{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=82}} This can be seen in the ] commonly called "the fire sermon" as well as in other similar ]. The fire sermon describes the end of the "fires" with a refrain which is used throughout the early texts to describe nibbana:<blockquote>Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.<ref group=web>{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.028.than.html |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=1993 |title=Adittapariyaya Sutta: The Fire Sermon |via=accesstoinsight.org}}</ref></blockquote>
{{quote|Nirvāṇa is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word ‘happiness’ (sukha) which is used to describe Nirvāṇa has an entirely different sense here. Sāriputta once said: ‘O friend, Nirvāṇa is happiness! Nirvāṇa is happiness!’ Then Udāyi asked: ‘But, friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensation?’ Sāriputta’s reply was highly philosophical and beyond ordinary comprehension: “That there is no sensation itself is happiness’.{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1105-1113}}}}


===An end state, where many adverse aspects of experience have ceased===
====Nirvana without remainder====
In the ''],'' the third noble truth of cessation (associated with nirvana) is defined as: "the fading away without remainder and cessation of that same craving, giving it up, relinquishing it, letting it go, not clinging to it."{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=65}}
{{See also|Parinirvana}}


Steven Collins lists some examples of synonyms used throughout the Pali texts for Nirvana:<blockquote>the end, (the place, state) without corruptions, the truth, the further (shore), the subtle, very hard to see, without decay, firm, not liable to dissolution, incomparable, without differentiation, peaceful, deathless, excellent, auspicious, rest, the destruction of craving, marvellous, without affliction, whose nature is to be free from affliction, nibbana , without trouble, dispassion, purity, freedom, without attachment, the island, shelter (cave), protection, refuge, final end, the subduing of pride (or ‘intoxication’), elimination of thirst, destruction of attachment, cutting off of the round (of rebirth), empty, very hard to obtain, where there is no becoming, without misfortune, where there is nothing made, sorrowfree, without danger, whose nature is to be without danger, profound, hard to see, superior, unexcelled (without superior), unequalled, incomparable, foremost, best, without strife, clean, flawless, stainless, happiness, immeasurable, (a firm) standing point, possessing nothing.{{sfn|Collins|2010|p=66}}</blockquote>
When a person who has reached nirvana dies, the the last remainders, namely the five skandhas or aggregates, vanish. According to Rupert Gethin:
{{quote|Eventually ‘the remainder of life’ will be exhausted and, like all beings, such a person must die. But unlike other beings, who have not experienced ‘nirvāṇa’, he or she will not be reborn into some new life, the physical and mental constituents of being will not come together in some new existence, there will be no new being or person. Instead of being reborn, the person ‘parinirvāṇa-s’, meaning in this context that the five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur. This is the condition of ‘nirvāṇa without remainder ’ (nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/an-up ādisesa-nibbāna): nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the aggregates (skandha/khandha) of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being; or, for short, khandha-parinibbāna.{{refn|group=note |name=gethincite1}} Modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict ‘nirvāṇa’ to the awakening experience and reserve ‘parinirvāṇa’ for the death experience.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=76}}}}


==In the Theravada School==
What happens after death is an ]. Walpola Rahula explains:
] traditional mural painting depicts ] entering ], Dharma assembly pavilion, ], ], ].]]
{{quote|Now another question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant after his death, parinirvāṇa? This comes under the category of unanswered questions (]). Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like ‘born’ or ‘not born’ do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those things—matter, sensation, perception, mental activities, consciousness—with which the terms like ‘born’ and ‘not born’ are associated, are completely destroyed and uprooted, never to rise again after his death. .{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}}}}


==Theravada== ===In the Theravada Abhidhamma===
In the ] texts, ''nibbāna'' is regarded as an uncompounded or unconditioned (''asankhata'') ] (phenomenon, event) which is "transmundane",{{sfn|Choong|1999|p=21}}{{refn|group=note|According to Peter Harvey, the Theravada-tradition tends to minimize mystical tendencies, but there is also a tendency to stress the complete otherness of ''nirvana'' from ''samsara''. The ] provides good grounds for this minimalistic approach, bit it also contains material suggestive of a Vijnavada-type interpretation of ''nirvāṇa'', namely as a ].{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p=82}}}} and which is beyond our normal dualistic conceptions.{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1105-1113}}{{refn|group=quote|Walpola Rahula: "Nirvāṇa is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word 'happiness' (sukha) which is used to describe Nirvāṇa has an entirely different sense here. Sāriputta once said: 'O friend, Nirvāṇa is happiness! Nirvāṇa is happiness!' Then Udāyi asked: 'But, friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensation?' Sāriputta's reply was highly philosophical and beyond ordinary comprehension: "That there is no sensation itself is happiness'."{{sfn|Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1105-1113}}}}


In ] texts like the ''],'' ''nibbana'' or the ''asankhata-dhatu'' (unconditioned element) is defined thus:<blockquote>‘What is the unconditioned element (''asankhata dhatu'')? It is the cessation of passion, the cessation of hatred and the cessation of delusion.{{refn|group=note|See, for instance, the "Snake-Simile Discourse" (] 22), where the Buddha states:
===Gradual process===
<blockquote>"Monks, this Teaching so well proclaimed by me, is plain, open, explicit, free of patchwork. In this Teaching that is so well proclaimed by me and is plain, open, explicit and free of patchwork; for those who are arahants, free of taints, who have accomplished and completed their task, have laid down the burden, achieved their aim, severed the fetters binding to existence, who are liberated by full knowledge, there is no (future) round of existence that can be ascribed to them.<ref>Majjhima Nikaya i.130 ¶ 42, Translated by Nyanaponika Thera </ref></blockquote>}}
According to the '']'', nirvana is achieved after a long process of committed application to the path of purification (Pali: ''Vissudhimagga''). The Buddha explained that the disciplined way of life he recommended to his students (''dhamma-vinaya'') is a ] extending often over a number of years. To be committed to this path already requires that a seed of wisdom is present in the individual. This wisdom becomes manifest in the experience of awakening ('']''). Attaining ''nibbāna'', in either the current or some future birth, depends on effort, and is not pre-determined.{{sfn|Harvey|1995|p=87}}
</blockquote>The '']'' likewise describes the ''asankhata dhatu'' as that reality which is a sphere of experience unproduced by any cause or condition according to ].<ref name=":0">Cousins, L. S. (1983) ''Nibbāna and Abhidhamma''. Buddhist Studies Review.</ref> The ''Dhammasangani'' describes it in numerous ways, such as immeasurable, superior to everything, as not past, present or future, as neither arisen nor not-arisen and as neither within nor without.<ref name=":0" /> Cousins also notes that "suggestively, however, it may be reckoned as nama (name) rather than rupa. This does seem to suggest some element of underlying idealism of the kind which emerges later in the vijñanavada."<ref name=":0" />


Furthermore, for the Theravada, nibbana is uniquely the only ''asankhata'' ''dhamma'' (unconditioned phenomenon) and they argue that nibbana is unitary (cannot be divided). Unlike other schools, they do not recognize different unconditioned phenomena or different types of nirvana (such as the ''apratistha'' or non-abiding nirvana of ]).{{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}}<ref name=":0" />
===Options for pursuing the path===
In the ''Visuddhimagga'', Ch. I, v. 6 (Buddhaghosa and {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}}, 1999, pp.&nbsp;6–7.), ] identifies various options within the ] for pursuing a path to nirvana,{{refn|group=note|A number of the suttas referenced below as well as Buddhaghosa himself refer not explicitly to nirvana but to "the path of purification" (Pali: ''Visuddhimagga''). In Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, v. 5, Buddhaghosa notes: "Herein, ''purification'' should be understood as nibbana, which being devoid of all stains, is utterly pure" (Buddhaghosa & {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}}, 1999, p. 6.)}} including:
# By insight ('']'') alone {{refn|group=note|See ] 277, e In the Paramattha-mañjūsā (the Visuddhimagga commentary), vv. 9-10, it adds the following caveat regarding this option of "insight alone": "The words 'insight alone' are meant to exclude, not virtue, etc., but serenity (i.e., ]), in the pair, serenity and insight The word 'alone' actually excludes only that concentration with distinction ; for concentration is classed as both access and absorption Taking this stanza as the teaching for one whose vehicle is insight does not imply that there is no concentration; for no insight comes about with momentary concentration. And again, insight should be understood as the three contemplations of ], ] and ] ]'']; not contemplation of impermanence alone".<ref>Buddhaghosa and{{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}}, 1999, p. 750, ''n''. 3.{{full|date=April 2014}}</ref>}}
# By ] and understanding (see Dh. 372)<ref>See </ref>
# by deeds, vision and righteousness (see ] iii.262){{refn|group=note|See Verse 262 of this sutta is translated by Thanissaro as: "Action, clear-knowing, & mental qualities, virtue, the highest life: through this are mortals purified, not through clan or wealth.}}
# By virtue, consciousness and understanding (7SN i.13);{{refn|group=note|The option expressed by SN i.13 is the basis for the entire rest of the Visuddhimagga's exposition. It is the very first paragraph of the Visuddhimagga and states: "When a wise man, established well in virtue, develops consciousness and understanding, then as a bhikku ardent and sagacious, he succeeds in disentangling this tangle.<ref>Buddhaghosa & {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}}, 1999, p. 1.</ref> In the Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, verse 2, Buddhaghosa comments that ''this tangle'' refers to "the network of craving." In verse 7, Buddhaghosa states that ''develops consciousness and understanding'' means "develops both concentration and insight."<ref>Buddhaghosa and {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}}, 1999, pp. 1,7.)</ref>}}
# by virtue, understanding, concentration and effort;{{refn|group=note|] i.53)Buddhaghosa & {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}} (1999), p.&nbsp;7, translate SN i.53 as: "He who is possessed of constant virtue, who has understanding, and is concentrated, who is strenuous and diligent as well, will cross the flood so difficult to cross.}}
# By the four foundations of mindfulness.<ref>], ] ii.290</ref>{{refn|group=note|See . Verse 290 of this sutta is translated by Thanissaro as: "The Blessed One said this: "This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding—in other words, the four frames of reference.""}}


As noted by Thiện Châu, the Theravadins and the Pudgalavadins "remained strictly faithful to the letter of the sutras" and thus held that nirvana is the only unconditioned ], while other schools also posited various ''asankhata dhammas'' (such as the ] view that space or '']'' was unconditioned).{{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}}
Depending on one's analysis, each of these options could be seen as a reframing of the Buddha's ] of ], ]{{refn|group=note|In the ] mental development generally suggests the attainment of jhanic absorption; however, as indicated above in the note regarding the "insight alone" option, in some contexts it can refer to attaining "access" or "momentary" concentration without full absorption.}} and ].


=== Medieval Theravada exegetes ===
===Levels of attainment===
The fifth century ] exegete ] says, in his '']'' (''Path of Purification''):<blockquote>It is called nibbana (extinction) because it has gone away from (nikkhanta), has escaped from (nissata), is dissociated from, craving, which has acquired in common usage the name ‘fastening (vana)’ because, by ensuring successive becoming, craving serves as a joining together, a binding together, a lacing together, of the four kinds of generation, five destinies, seven stations of consciousness and nine abodes of being.{{refn|group="note" |Both the stream-enterer and the once-returner abandon the first three fetters. What distinguishes these stages is that the once-returner additionally attenuates lust, hate and delusion, and will necessarily be reborn only once more.}}</blockquote>Buddhaghosa also criticizes the view that ''nibbāna'' is a kind of non-existence or an absence (of the five aggregates).<ref name=":2">Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa, ] (translator). '','' pp. 1373-1379. Buddhist Publication Society Kandy • Sri Lanka.</ref> He argues that ''nibbāna'' is "apprehendable by the means, in other words, by the way that is appropriate to it, ."<ref name=":2" /> Buddhaghosa also argues that if nibbana were a mere absence or a nothingness, it would follow that the Buddhist path would be meaningless.<ref name=":2" />
{{Main|Four stages of enlightenment}}


According to Buddhaghosa, nibbāna is achieved after a long process of committed application to the path of purification, a ] extending often over a number of years. To be committed to this path already requires that a seed of wisdom is present in the individual. This wisdom becomes manifest in the experience of awakening ('']''). Attaining nibbāna, in either the current or some future birth, depends on effort, and is not pre-determined.{{sfn|Harvey|1995a|p=87}} In the ''Visuddhimagga'', chapter I.v.6, Buddhaghosa identifies various options within the Pali canon for pursuing a path to nirvana.{{refn|group=note|A number of the suttas referenced below as well as Buddhaghosa himself refer not explicitly to nirvana but to "the path of purification" (Pali: ''Visuddhimagga''). In Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, v. 5, Buddhaghosa notes: "Herein, ''purification'' should be understood as nibbana, which being devoid of all stains, is utterly pure"{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|p=6}}}}{{refn|group=note|These include:
The Theravada tradition identifies four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arahat. These four stages are:
# By insight ('']'') alone {{refn|group=lower-alpha|See ] 277, and {{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.20.budd.html |translator=Acharya Buddharakkhita |year=1996 |title=Maggavagga: The Path |via=accesstoinsight.org}} In the Paramattha-mañjūsā (the Visuddhimagga commentary), vv. 9-10, it adds the following caveat regarding this option of "insight alone": "The words 'insight alone' are meant to exclude, not virtue, etc., but serenity (i.e., ]), in the pair, serenity and insight The word 'alone' actually excludes only that concentration with distinction ; for concentration is classed as both access and absorption Taking this stanza as the teaching for one whose vehicle is insight does not imply that there is no concentration; for no insight comes about with momentary concentration. And again, insight should be understood as the three contemplations of ], ] and ] ]'']; not contemplation of impermanence alone".{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|p=750, n. 3}}}}
# By ] and understanding (see Dh. 372)<ref group=web>{{cite web |title=Bhikkhuvagga: The Monk. "Verse 372" |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.25.budd.html#dhp-372 |translator=Acharya Buddharakkhita |year=1996 |via=accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>
# by deeds, vision and righteousness (see ] iii.262){{refn|group=lower-alpha|{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.143.than.html |translator=Acharya Buddharakkhita |year=2003 |title=Anathapindikovada Sutta: Instructions to Anathapindika |via=accesstoinsight.org}} Verse 262 of this sutta is translated as: "Action, clear-knowing, & mental qualities, virtue, the highest life: through this are mortals purified, not through clan or wealth.}}
# By virtue, consciousness and understanding (7SN i.13);{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The option expressed by SN i.13 is the basis for the entire rest of the Visuddhimagga's exposition. It is the very first paragraph of the Visuddhimagga and states: "When a wise man, established well in virtue, develops consciousness and understanding, then as a bhikku ardent and sagacious, he succeeds in disentangling this tangle.{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|p=1}} In the Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, verse 2, Buddhaghosa comments that ''this tangle'' refers to "the network of craving." In verse 7, Buddhaghosa states that ''develops consciousness and understanding'' means "develops both concentration and insight."{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|pp=1, 7}}}}
# by virtue, understanding, concentration and effort;{{refn|group=lower-alpha|] i.53) {{IAST|Ñāṇamoli}} translate SN i.53 as: "He who is possessed of constant virtue, who has understanding, and is concentrated, who is strenuous and diligent as well, will cross the flood so difficult to cross.{{sfn|Buddhaghosa|1999|p=7}}}}
# By the four foundations of mindfulness.<ref>], ] ii.290</ref>{{refn|group=lower-alpha|{{cite web |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.22.0.than.html |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=2000 |title=Maha-satipatthana Sutta: The Great Frames of Reference |via=accesstoinsight.org}} Verse 290 of this sutta is translated as: "The Blessed One said this: "This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding—in other words, the four frames of reference.""}}}} According to Gombrich, this proliferation of possible paths to liberation reflects later doctrinal developments, and a growing emphasis on insight as the main liberative means, instead of the practice of ''dhyana''.{{sfn|Gombrich|2006|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}}


Another influential Pali commentator, ], also discussed nibbana in his ''Udana Commentary'' (''Udanatthakatha''). According to Dhammapala, nibbana is an objective reality which is the opposite of samsara. Nibbana has its own nature (sabhava) which is unlike all conditioned phenomena.<ref>Dhammapāla, Masefield, Peter (translator) (2001). ''The Udana commentary (Paramatthadipani nama Udanatthakatha)'' , pp. 1011-1013. The Pali Text Society.</ref>{{clear right}}
* Stream-enterer (Sotapanna)
* Once returner (Sakadagami)
* Non-returner (Anagami)
* Arhat


===Stages of the path to nibbana===
The final stage, the arhat, is a fully awakened person. The arhat has abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death will never be reborn in any plane or world, having wholly escaped ''saṃsāra''.
{{Four stages of rebirth|right}}<!--Template renamed, "group" is no longer a parameter.-->
{{Main|Four stages of enlightenment}}
The ] tradition identifies four progressive stages.{{refn|group=note|These four stages are: Stream-enterer (Sotapanna), Once returner (Sakadagami), Non-returner (Anagami), Worthy one (Arhat)}}{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=65}} The first three lead to favorable rebirths in more pleasant realms of existence, while the last culminates in nirvana as an Arahat who is a fully awakened person. The first three are reborn because they still have some of the fetters, while arhat has abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death will never be reborn in any realm or world, having wholly escaped ''saṃsāra''.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|pp=37–38, 62, 850, 854}}


At the start, a monk's mind treats nirvana as an object (''nibbanadhatu''). This is followed by realizing the insight of three universal ''lakshana'' (marks): impermanence (''anicca''), suffering (''dukkha'') and nonself (''anatman''). Thereafter the monastic practice aims at eliminating the ten fetters that lead to rebirth.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|pp=37–38, 62, 65}}
Thanissaro Bhikkhu notes that individuals up to the level of ] may experience nirvāna as an object of mental consciousness.<ref name="ReferenceA">Thanissaro Bhikkhu's commentary to the Brahma-nimantantika Sutta, </ref>{{refn|group=note|See for example the Jhana Sutta, }} Certain contemplations with nibbana as an object of ] lead, if developed, to the level of non-returning.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, page 91.</ref> At that point of contemplation, which is reached through a progression of ], if the meditator realizes that even that state is constructed and therefore impermanent, the ] are destroyed, arahantship is attained, and nibbāna is realized.<ref name="Peter Harvey 1989, page 93">Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, page 93.</ref>


According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, individuals up to the level of ] may experience ''nibbāna'' as an object of consciousness.<ref group=web name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=2007 |title=Brahma-nimantanika Sutta: The Brahma Invitation, "Translator's Introduction" |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.049.than.html#n-9 |via=accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|See for example: {{cite web |title=Jhana Sutta: Mental Absorption |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=1997 |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an09/an09.036.than.html |via=accesstoinsight.org}}}} Certain contemplations with ''nibbāna'' as an object of ] lead, if developed, to the level of non-returning.{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p=91}} At that point of contemplation, which is reached through a progression of ], if the meditator realizes that even that state is constructed and therefore impermanent, the ] are destroyed, arahantship is attained, and ''nibbāna'' is realized.{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p=93}}
===Mind/consciousness in the liberated person===
The Buddha's teachings in the ] present ''nirvāṇa'' as a radical reordering of consciousness.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness mysticism in the discourses of the Buddha'' in Karel Werner, ''The Yogi and the Mystic; Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism." Routledge, 1995, page 82; </ref> This reordering is made possible through the ] (]). It is concerned with performing wholesome actions (Pali: ''kusala kamma'') with positive results and finally allows the cessation of the origination of worldly activities altogether with the attainment of nibbāna. Part of it is cultivation of special states of absorbed concentration called '']''. These are states of deep relaxation in which a high degree of mental alertness and concentration is present. The ''jhanas'' in turn are made possible by a training in ].


=== Modern Theravada views ===
====Luminous====
{{See also|Luminous mind}}


], a modern ]n Buddhist philosopher, holds that nirvana must be understood by a careful study of the Pali texts. Jayatilleke argues that the Pali works show that nirvana means 'extinction' as well as 'the highest positive experience of happiness'.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|p=119}} Jayatilleke writes that despite the definition of nirvana as 'extinction', this does not mean that it is a kind of annihilation or a state of dormant nonentity, for this contradicts the statements of the Buddha that reject this interpretation.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|p=121}} Jayatilleke holds that the early texts clearly proclaim that nothing can be said about the state of the Buddha after '']'' (the end of his psycho-physical personality) because "we do not have the concepts or words to describe adequately the state of the emancipated person."{{sfn|Jayatilleke|p=122}} This transcendent reality which our normal minds cannot grasp is not located in time or space, it is not causally conditioned, and beyond existence and non-existence.{{sfn|Jayatilleke|p=124}} Because trying to explain ''nibbana'' by means of logic is impossible, the only thing to be done is to explain how to reach it, instead of dwelling on what it "is". Explaining what happens to the Buddha after nibbana is thus said to be an ].{{sfn|Jayatilleke|p=125}}
With ''nirvāṇa'' the consciousness is released, and the mind becomes aware in a way that is totally unconstrained by anything in the conditioned world. The Buddha describes this in a variety of passages. One way is as "Consciousness without feature, without end, luminous all around."<ref name="accesstoinsight.org">Thanissaro Bhikkhu, </ref><ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness mysticism in the discourses of the Buddha.'' in Karel Werner, ''The Yogi and the Mystic; Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism." Routledge, 1995, page 82; .</ref>


A similarly ] position is also defended by ], who states that the question of what nirvana is "can never be answered completely and satisfactorily in words, because human language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which is Nirvana."{{sfn|Rahula|p=35}} Rahula affirms that nibbana is most often described in negative terms because there is less danger in grasping at these terms, such as "the cessation of continuity and becoming (''bhavanirodha'')", "the abandoning and destruction of desire and craving for these five aggregates of attachment", and "the extinction of "thirst" (''tanhakkhayo'')."{{sfn|Rahula|pp=36-37}} Rahula also affirms however that nibbana is not a negative or an annihilation, because there is no self to be annihilated and because 'a negative word does not necessarily indicate a negative state'.{{sfn|Rahula|p=37}} Rahula also notes that more positive terms are used to describe nibbana such as "freedom" (''mutti'') and "truth" (''sacca'').{{sfn|Rahula|p=38}} Rahula also agrees that nirvana is unconditioned.{{sfn|Rahula|p=40}}
In one interpretation, the "luminous consciousness" is identical with nirvāṇa.<ref>Thanissaro Bhikkhu, </ref><ref>See also Peter Harvey, ''The Selfless Mind.''</ref> Others disagree, finding it to be not nirvāṇa itself, but instead to be a kind of consciousness accessible only to ].<ref>Ajahn Brahmali, .</ref><ref>] objects to parts of Harvey's argument; .</ref> A passage in the Majjhima Nikaya likens it to empty space.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, page 88. The quote is MN I, 127-128.</ref>


The American Theravada monk ] has defended the traditional Theravada view which sees nirvana as "a reality transcendent to the entire world of mundane experience, a reality transcendent to all the realms of phenomenal existence."<ref group=web>{{cite web |author=Bhikkhu Bodhi |title=NIBBANA |url=https://www.dhammatalks.net/Books16/Bhikkhu_Bodhi-Nibbana.pdf}}</ref>
Ajahns Pasanno and Amaro, contemporary ] write that what is referred to with the use of the word "viññana" (consciousness) is the quality of awareness, and that the use of the term "viññana" must be in a broader way than it usually is meant.<ref name="Ajahn">Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, ''The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on nibbāna'', page 131. Available online at .</ref>{{refn|group=note|Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro: The Buddha avoided the nit-picking pedantry of many philosophers contemporary with him and opted for a more broad-brush, colloquial style, geared to particular listeners in a language which they could understand. Thus ‘viññana’ here can be assumed to mean ‘knowing’ but not the partial, fragmented, discriminative (vi-) knowing (-ñana) which the word usually implies. Instead it must mean a knowing of a primordial, transcendent nature, otherwise the passage which contains it would be self-contradictory." They then give further context for why this choice of words may have been made; the passages may represent an example of the Buddha using his "skill in means" to teach Brahmins in terms they were familiar with.<ref name="Ajahn" />}}


The Sri Lankan philosopher ] has taken a different position, he argues that the Buddha's "main philosophical insight" is the principle of causality (]) and that this "is operative in all spheres, including the highest state of spiritual development, namely, nirvana."{{sfn|Kalupahana|p=140}} According to Kalupahana "later scholars attempted to distinguish two spheres, one in which causation prevailed and the other which is uncaused. This latter view was, no doubt, the result of a confusion in the meanings of the two terms, ''sankhata'' ('compounded') and ''paticcasamuppanna'' ('causally conditioned')."{{sfn|Kalupahana|p=140}} Thus, even though nibbana is termed "''asankhata''" (un-compounded, not-put together) there is no statement in the early texts which say that nirvana is ''not'' dependently originated or is uncaused (the term would be ''appaticcasamuppana'').{{sfn|Kalupahana|p=140}} He thus argues that "nirvana is a state where there is 'natural or causal happening' (''paticcasamuppada''), but not 'organized,' or 'planned' conditioning (''sankha-rana'')", as well as "a state of perfect mental health (''aroga''), of perfect happiness (''parama sukha''), calmness or coolness (''sitibhuta''), and stability (''aneñja''), etc. attained in this life, or while one is alive."{{sfn|Kalupahana|pp=140, 180}}
This "non-manifestive consciousness" differs from the kinds of consciousness associated to the six sense media, which have a "surface" that they fall upon and arise in response to.<ref name="accesstoinsight.org"/> According to Peter Harvey, the early texts are ambivalent as to whether or not the term "consciousness" is accurate.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, pages 87, 90.</ref> In a liberated individual, this is directly experienced, in a way that is free from any dependence on conditions at all.<ref name="accesstoinsight.org"/><ref>Thanissaro Bhukkhu's commentary on the Brahma-nimantanika Sutta, </ref>


], one of the most influential 20th century Theravada '']'' teachers, states in his "''On the nature of Nibbana''" that "nibbana is perfect peace (''santi'')" and "the complete annihilation of the three cycles of defilement, action, and result of action, which all go to create mind and matter, volitional activities, etc."{{sfn|Mahāsi Sayādaw|pp=2, 4}} He further states that for ] "no new life is formed after his decease-consciousness."{{sfn|Mahāsi Sayādaw|p=3}} Mahasi Sayadaw further states that nibbana is the cessation of the five aggregates which is like "a flame being extinguished". However this doesn't mean that "an arahant as an individual has disappeared" because there is no such thing as an "individual" in an ultimate sense, even though we use this term conventionally. Ultimate however, "there is only a succession of mental and physical phenomena arising and dissolving." For this reason, Mahasi Sayadaw holds that although for an arahant "cessation means the extinction of the successive rise and fall of the aggregates" this is not the view of annihilation (''uccheda-diṭṭhi'') since there is ultimately no individual to be annihilated.{{sfn|Mahāsi Sayādaw|p=13}} Mahasi further notes that "feeling ]] ceases with the parinibbāna of the Arahant" and also that "the cessation of ] is nibbāna" (citing the ''Pañcattaya Sutta'').{{sfn|Mahāsi Sayādaw|pp=41, 53}} Mahasi also affirms that even though nibbana is the "cessation of mind, matter, and mental formations" and even the cessation of "formless consciousness", it is not nothing, but it is an "absolute reality" and he also affirms that "the peace of nibbana is real."{{sfn|Mahāsi Sayādaw|pp=60, 94}}
====Unmediated knowledge====
For liberated ones the luminous, unsupported consciousness associated with nibbana is directly known without mediation of the mental consciousness factor in dependent co-arising, and is the transcending of all objects of mental consciousness.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="Peter Harvey 1989, page 93"/> It differs radically from the concept in the pre-Buddhist ] and the ] of ]-realization, described as accessing the individual's inmost consciousness, in that it is not considered an aspect, even the deepest aspect, of the individual's personality, and is not to be confused in any way with a "Self".<ref>Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, ''Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita''. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 355. ISBN 978-81-208-0880-5</ref> Furthermore, it transcends the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sixth of the Buddhist ], which is in itself not the ending of the conceit of "I".<ref>Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, ''Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita''. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, pages 354-356. ISBN 978-81-208-0880-5</ref>


=== Unorthodox interpretations, ''nibbana'' as ''citta'', ''viññana'' or ''atta'' ===
] alluded to a passage regarding this level of consciousness in the ]<ref>See </ref> in two different works. He wrote that
In ], as well as among some modern Theravada scholars, there are alternative interpretations which differ from the traditional orthodox Theravada view. These interpretations see nibbana as equivalent in some way with either a special kind of mind (]) or a special consciousness called ''anidassana viññāṇa,'' "non-manifest" consciousness which is said to be 'luminous'. In one interpretation, the "luminous consciousness" is identical with nibbana.{{sfn|Harvey|1995b|p={{page needed|date=January 2021}}}} Others disagree, finding it to be not nibbana itself, but instead to be a kind of consciousness accessible only to ].<ref group=web>{{cite web |author=Ajahn Brahmali |title=Atta, Viññāṇa, Citta, and Nibbāna |website=The Buddhist Society |url=http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=107 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806044051/http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=107 |archive-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Gethin |first=Rupert |author-link=Rupert Gethin |title=A Review of The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvāṇa in Early Buddhism |journal=Journal of Buddhist Ethics |volume=4 |year=1997 |issn=1076-9005 |url=http://www.buddhistethics.org/4/gethin1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616002503/http://www.buddhistethics.org/4/gethin1.html |archive-date=June 16, 2010}}</ref>
{{quote|The Sage has declared that earth, water, fire, and wind, long, short, fine and coarse, good, and so on are extinguished in consciousness ... Here long and short, fine and coarse, good and bad, here ] all stop.<ref>Christian Lindtner, ''Master of Wisdom.'' Dharma Publishing, 1997, page 322. Lindtner says that Nagarjuna is referencing the DN.</ref>}}


Some teachers of the ], such as ] taught an idea called "original mind" which when perfected is said to exist as a separate reality from the world and the ]''.''{{sfn|Maha Boowa|2005|pp=101–103}} According to Maha Bua, the indestructible mind or '']'' is characterized by awareness or knowing, which is intrinsically bright (]) and radiant, and though it is tangled or "darkened" in samsara, it is not destroyed.<ref name="Ajahn Maha Boowa pp 139-40">Ajahn Maha Boowa, ‘Straight From the Heart’, pp 139-140, (Thanissaro Bhikkhu trans.){{full citation needed|date=January 2021}}</ref> This mind is unconditioned, deathless and an independent reality.{{sfn|Maha Boowa|2005|p=99}} According to Bua, this mind is impure, but when it is purified of the ], it remains abiding in its own foundation.{{sfn|Maha Boowa|2005|pp=101–103}}<ref name="Ajahn Maha Boowa pp 139-40"/> ] also publicly argued (in a newspaper in 1972) that one could meet with and discuss the teachings with arahants and Buddhas of the past (and that ] had done so) therefore positing that nibbana is a kind of higher existence.<ref name=":11">Seeger, Martin, Phra Payutto and Debates ‘On the Very Idea of the Pali Canon’ in Thai Buddhism.</ref> ], a modern scholar-monk who is widely seen as the most influential authority on Buddhist doctrine in Thailand, has played a prominent role in arguing against the views of Maha Bua, strictly basing his views on the ] to refute such notions.<ref name=":11" />
A related idea, which finds support in the Pali Canon and the contemporary Theravada practice tradition despite its absence in the Theravada commentaries and ], is that the mind of the arahant is itself nibbana.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, page 100.</ref>{{refn|group=note|There is a clear reference in the Anguttara Nikaya to a "]" present within all people, be they corrupt or pure, whether or not it itself is pure or impure.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, page 94. The reference is at A I, 8-10.</ref> The Canon does not support the identification of the "luminous mind" with nirvanic consciousness, though it plays a role in the realization of nirvāṇa.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha.'' In Karel Werner, ed., ''The Yogi and the Mystic.'' Curzon Press 1989, pages 94, 97.</ref><ref>Thanissaro Bhikkhu, </ref> Upon the destruction of the fetters, according to one scholar, "the shining nibbanic consciousness flashes out" of it, "being without object or support, so transcending all limitations."<ref>Harvey, page 99.</ref>}}


]s ] and ], contemporary western monastics in the ], note that these ideas are rooted in a passage in the ] (1.61-62) which mentions a certain "'']''".{{sfn|Pasanno|Amaro|2009|p=212}} Citing another passage from the canon which mentions a "consciousness that is signless, boundless, all-luminous" (called ''anidassana viññāṇa'') they state that this "must mean a knowing of a primordial, transcendent nature."{{sfn|Pasanno|Amaro|2009|p=131}}{{refn|group=quote|Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro: "The Buddha avoided the nit-picking pedantry of many philosophers contemporary with him and opted for a more broad-brush, colloquial style, geared to particular listeners in a language which they could understand. Thus 'viññana' here can be assumed to mean 'knowing' but not the partial, fragmented, discriminative (vi-) knowing (-ñana) which the word usually implies. Instead it must mean a knowing of a primordial, transcendent nature, otherwise the passage which contains it would be self-contradictory." They then give further context for why this choice of words may have been made; the passages may represent an example of the Buddha using his "skill in means" to teach Brahmins in terms they were familiar with.}}{{sfn|Pasanno|Amaro|2009|p=131}}
====Unconditioned====
The ] explains the unique character of ''nibbāna'' as being due to the mind having become unconditioned (''asankhata'') which is to say free from the conditions formerly obscuring it by the ].{{source?}}


A related view of nibbana has been defended by the American Thai forest monk ]. According to ], "non-manifestive consciousness" (''anidassana viññāṇa'') differs from the kinds of consciousness associated to the six sense media, which have a "surface" that they fall upon and arise in response to.<ref group=web name="accesstoinsight.org">{{cite web |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |year=1997 |title=Kevatta (Kevaddha) Sutta: To Kevatta |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html#t-1 |via=accesstoinsight.org}}</ref> In a liberated individual, this is directly experienced, in a way that is free from any dependence on conditions at all.<ref group=web name="ReferenceA"/><ref group=web name="accesstoinsight.org"/> In Thanissaro's view, the luminous, unsupported consciousness associated with nibbana is directly known by noble ones without the mediation of the mental consciousness factor in dependent co-arising, and is the transcending of all objects of mental consciousness.<ref group=web name="ReferenceA"/> The British academic ] has defended a similar view of nibbana as ''anidassana viññāṇa''.{{sfn|Harvey|1989|pp=87, 90}}
In the Theravada-tradition, ''Nirvana'' is regarded as an uncompounded or unconditioned state of being which is "transmundane".{{sfn|Choong|1999|p=21}} Walpola Rahula explains:
{{quote|An Arahant after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone out when the wick and oil are finished. Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire gone out is not Nirvāṇa, but the ‘being’ composed of the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāṇa. This point has to be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars, have misunderstood and misinterpreted this simile as referring to Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is never compared to a fire or a lamp gone out.{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 1059-1073}}{{refn|group=note|Richard Gombrich, who studied with Walhola Rapula, notes: "here is one point where the great scholar monk has let us down: his account of nirvana, in Chapter IV, is unclear and, to my mind, even at points self-contradictory In proclaiming (in block capitals) that 'Truth is', Rahula has for a moment fallen into Upanisadic mode.{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=155-156}}}}}}


According to ], there is also a trend in modern Thai Theravada that argues that "nirvana is indeed the true Self (]; Pali: ])".{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=125–127}} This dispute began when the 12th ] published a book of essays in 1939 arguing that while the conditioned world is ''anatta'', nibbana is ''atta''. According to Williams, this interpretation echoes the Mahayana '']'' sutras. This position was criticized by ], who argued that the not-self ('']'') perspective is what makes Buddhism unique.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=126}} Fifty years after this dispute, the ] also began to teach that nibbana is not ], but the "true self" or '']''.{{sfn|Mackenzie|2007|pp=100–105, 110}} According to Williams, this ''dhammakaya'' (dharma body) is "a luminous, radiant and clear Buddha figure free of all defilements and situated within the body of the meditator."{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=126}} This view has been strongly criticized as "insulting the Buddha’s teaching" and "showing disrespect to the Pali canon" by ] (In his ''The Dhammakaya case'') and this has led to fervent debates in Thai Buddhist circles.{{sfn|Mackenzie|2007|p=51}}<ref name=":11" />
==== Free from rebirth ====
The ''sankharas'' are the ultimate cause for the material incarnation of sentient beings. According to the Buddha, during the course of many repeated incarnations these deeply buried structures (also referred to in ] as karmic 'seeds'; Sanskrit: '']''{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}) are either strengthened by indulgence in worldly activities (a person doing so is described as a ''Puthujjana'') or weakened by following the Buddhist path. By uprooting the ] (volitional dispositions) one is no longer subject to further ] in ].


A related idea, which finds no explicit support in the Pali Canon without interpretation, and is the product of contemporary Theravada practice tradition, despite its absence in the Theravada commentaries and ], is that the mind of the arahant is itself ''nibbāna''.{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p=100}}{{refn|group=note|There is a clear reference in the Anguttara Nikaya to a "]" present within all people, be they corrupt or pure, whether or not it itself is pure or impure.{{sfn|Harvey|1989 |p=94|ps=. The reference is at A I, 8-10.}}}} The Canon does not support the identification of the "luminous mind" with nirvanic consciousness, though it plays a role in the realization of nirvāṇa.{{sfn|Harvey|1989 |pp=94, 97}}<ref group="web">{{cite web |year=1995 |title=Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an01/an01.049.than.html |via=accesstoinsight.org |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu}}</ref> Upon the destruction of the fetters, according to one scholar, "the shining nibbanic consciousness flashes out" of it, "being without object or support, so transcending all limitations."{{sfn|Harvey|1989|p=99}}
The ultimate state of ''nirvana'' is described by the Buddha as "deathlessness" (]: ''amata'' or ''amāravati'').


Another western monastic in the ], Ajahn Brahmāli, has recently written against all of these views, drawing on a careful study of the ]s. Brahmāli concludes that the "most reasonable interpretation" of final nibbāna is "no more than the cessation of the five khandhas."{{sfn|Brahmāli|2009}} Brahmāli also notes that there is a kind of ] that is attainable only by the awakened and is based on their knowledge of nibbana (but is ''not'' nibbana itself), this meditation is what is being referred to by terms such as non-manifest consciousness (''anidassana viññāṇa'') and unestablished consciousness (''appatiṭṭhita viññāṇa'').{{sfn|Brahmāli|2009}}
===Actions of the liberated person===
A liberated person performs neutral actions (Pali: ''kiriya kamma'') producing no karmic results or fruit ('']''), but nonetheless preserves a particular individual personality. This is the result of the traces of his or her karmic heritage. <ref name="Steven Collins 1982, page 207">Steven Collins, ''Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism.'' Cambridge University Press, 1982, page 207.</ref> In ''Theravada'' the ''arahant'' abiding in ''nirvāṇa'' is "the ideal personality, the true human being".<ref>Guenther, ''The Problem of the Soul in Early Buddhism'', Curt Weller Verlag, Constanz, 1949, pp. 156-157.</ref>


] has written extensively to refute this idea as well.<ref group=web>{{cite web |url=https://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/vinna%E1%B9%87a-is-not-nibbana-really-it-just-isn%E2%80%99t/ |title=Nibbana is not viññāṇa. Really, it just isn't |website=Sujato’s Blog}}</ref><ref group=web>{{cite web |url=https://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/nibbana-is-still-not-vinna%E1%B9%87a/ |title=Nibbana is still not Viññāṇa |website=Sujato’s Blog}}</ref><ref group=web>{{cite web |url=https://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/nibbana-remains-not-vinnana/ |title=Nibbana remains not Vinnana |website=Sujato’s Blog|date=21 May 2011 }}</ref>
==Mahayana==
===Two levels===
The Mahayana (Great Vehicle) tradition emphasizes two levels of nirvana:{{source?}}
* The nirvana of the Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle)
** Indicates freedom from samsara and the cessation of suffering
** Referred to as ''arhathood'' in the Mahayana tradition
* Nonabiding (apratiṣṭhita) nirvana
** Indicates a state that transcends both samsara and the nirvana of the Hinayana
** Referred to as ''buddhahood'' in the Mahayana tradition
** The ultimate goal of the path
Note that some texts present the Mahayana path in three stages, where the first stage indicates a level of understanding or ethical conduct for non-Buddhists, and the second two stages are as indicated above.{{refn|group=note|Some texts present the Mahayana path in three stages. For example, the Tibetan teacher Pabongka Rinpoche presents the path in three levels (or scopes); he states: "The subject matter of these teachings can be included in the various paths of the three scopes. The small scope covers the causes to achieve the high rebirth states of the gods and humans: the ethics of abandoning the ten nonvirtues, etc. The medium scope includes the practices that will cause one to gain the definite excellence of liberation— such practices as abandoning four truths, engaging in , and the practice of the three high trainings. The great scope contains the practices that bring about the definite excellence of omniscience— such practices as the development of bodhichitta, the six perfections, etc. Hence, all this subject matter forms a harmonious practice that will take a person to enlightenment and should be understood as being completely without contradiction."{{sfn|Pabongka Rinpoche|2006|loc=Kindle loc. 1790-1796}} }}


== In other Buddhist schools ==
====Nirvana of the Hinayana====
In the Mahayana tradition, the path of the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, is distinguished from the path of the Hinayana, or Lesser Vehicle. The Hinayana path is typically described as consisting of two subdivisions: the path of the sravaka (listener, hearer, or disciple) and the path of the pratyeka-buddha (solitary realizer). While the Hinayana path is sometimes equated with the modern day Theravada tradition, the terms are not synonymous. As Walpola Rahula notes, the modern-day Theravada formed separately from the Hinayana traditions referred to in the Mahayana texts.{{refn|group=note|name=rahula1|Walpola Rahula states: "We must not confuse Hinayana with Theravada because the terms are not synonymous. Theravada Buddhism went to Sri Lanka during the 3rd Century B.C. when there was no Mahayana at all. Hinayana sects developed in India and had an existence independent from the form of Buddhism existing in Sri Lanka. Today there is no Hinayana sect in existence anywhere in the world. Therefore, in 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists inaugurated in Colombo unanimously decided that the term Hinayana should be dropped when referring to Buddhism existing today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, etc. This is the brief history of Theravada, Mahayana and Hinayana."<ref group=web name=nalanda1>Walpola Rahula, </ref>}}


=== Sthavira schools ===
From the Mahayana point of view, the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle is a form of liberation or awakening, but it is not the final goal of the path. Contemporary scholar Rupert Gethin explains:{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=228-229}}


The later Buddhist ] schools gave different meaning and interpretations of the term, moving away from the original metaphor of the extinction of the "three fires". The ] Abhidharma compendium, the '']sastra,'' says of nirvana: <blockquote>As it is the cessation of ] (klesanirodha), it is called nirvana. As it is the extinction of the triple fires, it is called nirvana. As it is the tranquility of ], it is called nirvana. As there is separation (viyoga) from bad odor (durgandha), it is called nirvana. As there is separation from destinies (gati), it is called nirvana. Vana means forest and nir means escape. As it is the escape from the forest of the ], it is called nirvana. Vana means weaving and nir means negation. As there is no weaving, it is called nirvana. In a way that one with thread can easily be woven while one without that cannot be woven, in that way one with action (]) and defilements (klesa) can easily be woven into life and death while an asaiksa who is without any action and defilements cannot be woven into life and death. That is why it is called nirvana. Vana means ] and nir means negation. As there is no more new birth, it is called nirvana. Vana means bondage and nir means separation. As it is separation from bondage, it is called nirvana. Vana means all discomforts of life and death and nir means passing beyond. As it passes beyond all discomforts of life and death, it is called nirvana.{{sfn|Hwang|2006|pp=11-12}}</blockquote>According to Soonil Hwang, the ] school held that there were two kinds of nirodha (extinction), extinction without knowledge (''apratisamkhyanirodha'') and extinction through knowledge (''pratisamkhyanirodha''), which is the equivalent of nirvana.{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=38}} In the Sarvastivada ], extinction through knowledge was equivalent to nirvana, and was defined by its intrinsic nature ('']''), ‘all extinction which is disjunction (''visamyoga'')’.{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=40}} This dharma is defined by the ] as "a special understanding, the penetration (''pratisamkhyana'') of suffering and the other noble truths."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=40}} Soonil explains the Sarvastivada view of nirvana as "the perpetual separation of an impure dharma from a series of aggregates through the antidote, ‘acquisition of disjunction’ (''visamyogaprapti'')."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=41}} Because the Sarvastivadins held that all dharmas exist in the three times, they saw the destruction of defilements as impossible and thus "the elimination of a defilement is referred to as a ‘separation’ from the series."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=41}} Soonil adds:<blockquote>That is to say, the acquisition of the defilement is negated, or technically ‘disjoined’ (''visamyoga''), through the power of knowledge that terminates the junction between that defilement and the series of aggregates. By reason of this separation, then, there arises ‘the acquisition of disjunction’ (''visamyogaprapti'') that serves as an antidote (''pratipaksa''), which henceforward prevents the junction between the defilement and this series.{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=41}} </blockquote>The Sarvastivadins also held that nirvana was a real existent (''dravyasat'') which perpetually protects a series of dharmas from defilements in the past, present and future.{{sfn|Hwang|2006|pp=42, 96}} Their interpretation of nirvana became an issue of debate between them and the ] school. For the Sautrantikas, nirvana "was not a real existent but a mere designation (''prajñaptisat'') and was non-existence succeeding existence (''pascadabhava'')."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=77}} It is something merely spoken of conventionally, without an intrinsic nature ('']'').{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=91}} The ''Abhidharmakosha'', explaining the Sautrantika view of nirvana, states:<blockquote>The extinction through knowledge is, when latent defilements (''anusaya'') and life (''janman'') that have already been produced are extinguished, non-arising of further such by the power of knowledge (''pratisamkhya'').{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=91}}</blockquote>Thus for the Sautrantikas, nirvana was simply the "non-arising of further latent defilement when all latent defilements that have been produced have already been extinguished."{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=91}}
:The Mahāyāna sūtras express two basic attitudes towards . The first is that the path of the disciple and the path of the pratyeka-buddha do lead to a kind of awakening, a release from suffering, nirvāna, and as such are real goals. These goals are, however, inferior and should be renounced for the superior attainment of buddhahood. The second attitude, classically articulated by the Lotus Sūtra, sees the goal of the disciple and the pratyeka-buddha as not true goals at all.{{refn|group=note|Gethin footnote: Also Śrīmālādevī 78–94; and Lankāvatāra Sūtra 63; cf. Herbert V. Guenther (trans.), The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (London, 1970), 4–6.}} The fact that the Buddha taught them is an example of his ‘skill in means’ (upaya-kauśalya) as a teacher.{{refn|group=note|Gethin footnote: On the notion of ‘skill in means’ see Michael Pye, Skilful Means (London, 1978); Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism, 143–50. }} These goals are thus merely clever devices (upāya) employed by the Buddha in order to get beings to at least begin the practice of the path; eventually their practice must lead on to the one and only vehicle (eka-yāna) that is the mahāyāna, the vehicle ending in perfect buddhahood.


Meanwhile, the ] school interpreted nirvana as the single Absolute truth which constitutes "the negation, absence, cessation of all that constitutes the world in which we live, act and suffer".{{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}} According to Thiện Châu, for the Pudgalavadins, nirvana is seen as totally different than the compounded realm, since it the uncompounded (''asamskrta'') realm where no compounded things exist, and it is also beyond reasoning and expression.{{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}} One of the few surviving Pudgalavada texts defines nirvana as:<blockquote>Absolute truth is the definitive cessation of all activities of speech (vac) and of all thoughts (citta). Activity is bodily action (kayakarman): speech (vac) is that of the voice (vakkarman); thought is that of the mind (manaskarman). If these three (actions) cease definitively, that is absolute truth which is Nirvana.{{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}}</blockquote>
====Nonabiding nirvana====
From the point of view of the Mahayana tradition, only by following the Mahayana path can one attain the highest level of realization, which is the ''nonabiding (apratiṣṭhita) nirvana'', or ''buddhahood'', that transcends both samsara and the limited nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle.{{refn|group=note|name=nonabiding1|From the Mahayana point of view, the ''nonabiding (apratiṣṭhita) nirvana'' is superior to the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle:
* The Padmakara Translation Group states: "It is important to realize that the term is understood differently by the different vehicles: the nirvana of the Basic Vehicle, the peace of cessation that an Arhat attains, is very different from a Buddha’s “nondwelling” nirvana, the state of perfect enlightenment that transcends both samsara and nirvana."{{sfn|Dudjom Rinpoche|2011|loc=Kindle loc. 8211-8215}}
* Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham) states: "The term “non-abiding nirvāṇa” indicates that a fully awakened buddha is utterly free from saṃsāra, yet due to compassion has not entered into a more restricted form of nirvāṇa that precludes continued activity within the world."{{sfn|Khunu Rinpoche|2012|loc=Kindle loc. 1480-1482}}
* Erik Pema Kunsang states (based on teachings by Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche): "The lesser nirvana refers to the liberation from cyclic existence attained by a hinayana practitioner. When referring to a buddha, ''nirvana'' is the great nondwelling state of enlightenment which falls neither into the extreme of samsaric existence nor into the passive state of cessation attained by an arhant."{{sfn|Tsele Natsok Rangdrol|1987|p=114}}
* Rupert Gethin states: "For the Mahayana becoming a Buddha generally involves attaining what is characterized as the ‘unestablished’ or ‘non-abiding’ (apratiṣṭhita) nirvāṇa: on the one hand the knowledge of a buddha that sees emptiness, is not ‘established’ in saṃsāra (by seizing on birth as an individual being, for example), on the other hand the great compassion of a buddha prevents the complete turning away from saṃsāra. So ultimately he abides neither in saṃsāra nor in nirvāṇa."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=232}}
* Thrangu Rinpoche states: "The samadhi with the union of samatha and vipasyana fully developed will free one from the bondage of samsara so one attains a state of nonabiding nirvana, which is Buddhahood.{{sfn|Thrangu Rinpoche|1993|p=125}}
* Peter Harvey states: "An advanced Bodhisattva who has experienced Nirvana does not rest content with this. He turns again to samsara in the service of others, which the ''Mahayana-samgraha'' calls his ‘non-abiding’ (apratiṣṭhita) Nirvana, not clinging either to samsara or to Nirvana as something supposedly separate from this (Nagao, 1991)."{{sfn|Harvey|2012|p=137}}}}


=== Comparison of the major Sthavira school positions ===
Contemporary translator Douglas Duckworth presents the Mahayana point of view:{{sfn|Duckworth|2011|loc=Kindle loc. 430-436}}
{{sfn|Hwang|2006|p=105}}
: The Lesser Vehicle does not result in the practitioner becoming a complete buddha; rather, the aim is to achieve a personal nirvana that is the total extinction of existence. The Great Vehicle, however, does result in becoming a complete buddha. A buddha remains actively engaged in enlightened activity to liberate beings for as long as samsara remains. Thus, those who accomplish the Great Vehicle do not abide in samsara due to their wisdom that sees its empty, illusory nature. Further, unlike those who attain the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle to escape samsara, they do not abide in an isolated nirvana due to their compassion. For these reasons, in the Great Vehicle, nirvana is said to be “unlocated” or “nonabiding” (''apratiṣṭhita''), staying in neither samsara nor nirvana.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+
!
!width=20% |Early Buddhist
!Classical ]
!width=20% |]-Vaibhāṣika
!''']'''
!width=23% |]
|-
|'''Conception of ''nirvana'' or the ''asankhata'''''
|The cessation of the triple fires of passion, hatred and delusion.
|Existing separately (''patiyekka'') from mere destruction
|A real existent (''dravya'')
|Non-existence, a mere designation (''prajñapti'')
|A real existent different than ''samsara'' {{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|pp=201-202}}
|-
|'''The "fuel" or "remainder" (''upādi'')'''
|]
|The five aggregates
|Life faculty (''jivitendriya'') and homogeneous character of the group (''nikayasabhaga'')
|Momentum (''avedha'') of the series of aggregates
|The five aggregates
|-
|'''Nirvana with a remainder of clinging'''
|The cessation of the triple fires of passion hatred and delusion
|The cessation of ] (''kilesa'')
|The disjunction (''visamyoga'') from all impure (''sasrava'') dharmas
|Non-arising of further latent defilements (''anusaya'')
|The cessation of defilements (''klesa''){{sfn|Thích Thiện Châu|1984|p=127}}
|-
|'''Nirvana without a remainder of clinging'''
|The cessation of the five aggregates. Its ontological status is an ] (''avyākata'').
|The cessation of the five aggregates
|The disintegration of the series of aggregates
|Non-arising of further life (''janman'')
|The cessation of the aggregates. The ''pudgala'' (person) cannot actually be said to be existent nor non-existent and it is neither the same nor different than nirvana.<ref group=web>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Priestley |first=Leonard |title=Pudgalavada Buddhist Philosophy |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://www.iep.utm.edu/pudgalav/}}</ref>
|}


=== Mahāsāṃghika ===
===Five paths and ten bhumis===
According to ], the ] school held that the nirvana reached by ]s was fundamentally inferior to that of the Buddhas.{{sfn|Bareau|1955|pp=55-74}} Regarding the nirvana reached by the Buddha, they held that his longevity (''ayu''), his body (''rupa, sarira'') and divine power (''tejas'') were infinite, unlimited and supramundane (''lokuttara'').{{sfn|Bareau|1955|p=59}}{{sfn|Dutt|pp=72-74}} Therefore, they held to a kind of ] which posited that Buddhas only ''appear'' to be born into the world and thus when they die and enter nirvana, this is only a fiction. In reality, the Buddha remains in the form of a body of enjoyment (''sambhogakaya'') and continues to create many forms (''nirmana'') adapted to the different needs of beings in order to teach them through clever means ('']'').{{sfn|Bareau|1955|p=59}}{{sfn|Dutt|pp=72-74}}
{{Main|Bodhisattva|Bhūmi (Buddhism)}}
The Mahayana commentary the '']'' presents the path of the bodhisattva as a progressive formula of ''Five Paths'' (''pañcamārga''). A practitioner on the ''Five Paths'' advances through a progression of ten stages, referred to as the bodhisattva ''bhūmis'' (grounds or levels).


According to Guang Xing, ]s held that there were two aspects of a Buddha's attainment: the true Buddha who is omniscient and omnipotent, and the manifested forms through which he liberates sentient beings through his skillful means.<ref>Guang Xing. ''The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory.'' 2004. p. 53</ref> For the Mahāsāṃghikas, the historical ] was merely one of these transformation bodies (Skt. '']'').<ref name="Sree Padma 2008. pp. 59-60">Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. ''Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra.'' 2008. pp. 59-60</ref>
===Mind/consciousness of the liberated person===
====Omniscience====
From the Mahayana point of view, an arhat who has achieved the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle will still have certain subtle obscurations that prevent the arhat from realizing complete omniscience. When these final obscurations are removed, the practitioner will attain nonabiding nirvana and achieve full omniscience {{refn|group=note|Contemporary translator Jeffrey Hopkins provides the following analogy:"If you put garlic in a vessel, it deposits some of its odor in the vessel itself; Thus when you seek to clean the vessel, it is necessary to first remove the garlic.


Bareau also writes that for the ] school, only wisdom (]) can reach nirvana, not samadhi. Bareau notes that this might be the source of the ] sutras.{{sfn|Bareau|1955|pp=65-66}}
Similarly, a ], like garlic, deposits predispositions in the mind that produce the ''appearance'' of inherent existence; Thus,there is no way to cleanse the mind of those predispositions, which are like the flavor of garlic left in the vessel of the mind,until one removes all consciousnesses conceiving of inherent existence from the mind. First, the garlic must be removed; then, its odor can be removed.


Regarding the ] branch of the ]s, Bareau states that both samsara and nirvana were nominal designations (''prajñapti'') and devoid of any real substance.{{sfn|Bareau|1955|p=78}} According to Nalinaksha Dutt, for the ], all dharmas are conventional and thus unreal (even the absolute was held to be contingent or dependent) while for the ] branch, worldly dharmas are unreal but supramundane dharmas like nirvana are real.{{sfn|Dutt|p=69}}
For this reason, according to the ], until one has utterly removed all the ], one cannot begin to remove the obstructions to omniscience. Since this is the case, a practitioner cannot begin overcoming the obstructions to omniscience on any of the seven first ], which are called "impure" because one still has afflictive obstructions to be abandoned.


==In Mahayana Buddhism==
Rather, one begins abandoning the obstructions to omniscience on the eighth bodhisattva ground, and continues to do so on the ninth and tenth, these three being called the 'three pure grounds" because the afflictive obstructions have been abandoned."<ref>Jeffery Hopkins (author). "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace." Snow Lion Publications.</ref>}}
The ] (Great Vehicle) tradition, which promotes the ] path as the highest spiritual ideal over the goal of ]ship, envisions different views of nirvāṇa than the ] Buddhist schools.<!---START OF NOTES--->{{refn|group=quote|Rupert Gethin: The Mahāyāna sūtras express two basic attitudes towards . The first is that the path of the disciple and the path of the pratyeka-buddha do lead to a kind of awakening, a release from suffering, nirvāna, and as such are real goals. These goals are, however, inferior and should be renounced for the superior attainment of buddhahood. The second attitude, classically articulated by the Lotus Sūtra, sees the goal of the disciple and the pratyeka-buddha as not true goals at all.{{refn|group=lower-roman|Gethin footnote: Also Śrīmālādevī 78–94; and Lankāvatāra Sūtra 63; cf. Herbert V. Guenther (trans.), The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (London, 1970), 4–6.}} The fact that the Buddha taught them is an example of his 'skill in means' (upaya-kauśalya) as a teacher.{{refn|group=lower-roman|Gethin footnote: On the notion of 'skill in means' see Michael Pye, Skilful Means (London, 1978); {{harvp|Williams|2008|pp=143–150}}.}} These goals are thus merely clever devices (upāya) employed by the Buddha in order to get beings to at least begin the practice of the path; eventually their practice must lead on to the one and only vehicle (eka-yāna) that is the mahāyāna, the vehicle ending in perfect buddhahood.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=228-229}}}}{{refn|group=note|The Tibetan teacher Pabongka Rinpoche presents the path in three levels (or scopes. The first stage indicates a level of understanding or ethical conduct for non-Buddhists, and the second two stages are ''nirvana'' and ''Buddhahood''. Pabongka Rinpoche: "The subject matter of these teachings can be included in the various paths of the three scopes. The small scope covers the causes to achieve the high rebirth states of the gods and humans: the ethics of abandoning the ten nonvirtues, etc. The medium scope includes the practices that will cause one to gain the definite excellence of liberation— such practices as abandoning four truths, engaging in , and the practice of the three high trainings. The great scope contains the practices that bring about the definite excellence of omniscience— such practices as the development of bodhichitta, the six perfections, etc. Hence, all this subject matter forms a harmonious practice that will take a person to enlightenment and should be understood as being completely without contradiction."{{sfn|Pabongka Rinpoche|2006|loc=Kindle loc. 1790-1796}}}}<!---END OF NOTES---> Mahāyāna Buddhism is a diverse group of various Buddhist traditions and therefore there is no single unified Mahāyāna view on nirvāṇa. However, it is generally believed that remaining in ] in order to help other beings is a noble goal for a Mahāyānist.{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=59–60}} According to Paul Williams, there are at least two conflicting models on the bodhisattva's attitude to nirvāṇa.


The first model seems to be promoted in the ''Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'' and it states that a bodhisattva postpones their nirvāṇa until they have saved numerous sentient beings, then, after reaching ], a bodhisattva passes on to cessation just like an arhat (and thus ceases to help others). In this model, their only difference to an arhat is that they have spent aeons helping other beings and have become a Buddha to teach the Dharma.{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=59–60}} This model seems to have been influential in the early period of ]. ], in his analysis of the ''],'' notes that this text also supports the idea that after entering complete nirvāṇa ('']''), a bodhisattva is "able to do nothing more for gods or for men" and therefore he seeks to obtain "wisdom similar to but slightly inferior to that of the Buddhas, which allows him to remain for a long time in ] in order to dedicate himself to salvific activity by many and varied skillful means."<ref>Etienne Lamotte (French trans.); Karma Migme Chodron (English trans.) (2001) ''The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nagarjuna - Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra'', VOL. IV CHAPTERS XLII (continuation) – XLVIII, p. 1412.</ref>
The end stage practice of the Mahayana removes the imprints of ], the obstructions to omniscience, which prevent simultaneous and direct knowledge of all phenomena. Only Buddhas have overcome these obstructions, according to Mahayana Buddhism, and, therefore, only Buddhas have omniscience knowledge.


The second model is one which does not teach that one must postpone nirvāṇa. This model eventually developed a comprehensive theory of nirvāṇa taught by the ] school and later Indian ], which states there are at least two kinds of nirvāṇa, the nirvāṇa of an arhat and a superior type of nirvāṇa called ''apratiṣṭhita (''non-abiding).{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=59–60}}
====Purified mind====
{{See also|Dharmakaya}}


=== Apratiṣṭhita nirvāna ===
In some ] texts, nirvana is described as purified, non-dualistic 'superior mind'. For example, the ''Samputa Tantra'' states:
{{main|Non-abidance}}
{{quote|Undefiled by lust and emotional impurities, unclouded by any dualistic perceptions, this superior mind is indeed the supreme nirvana.'<ref>Takpo Tashi Namgyal, ''Mahamudra'' Shambhala, Boston and London, 1986, p.219</ref>}}
]]]


] scroll, “Universal Gateway,” Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra.]]
====Four attributes of====
The Mahayana ], which has as one of its main topics precisely the realm or ''dhatu '' of nirvana, has the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, ] and ] state:
{{quote|‘The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the ].<ref>], ], ''A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms'', Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1997, p. 328. </ref>}}


{{See also|Bodhisattva|Buddhahood||}}
Kosho Yamamoto, translator of the full-length ''Nirvana Sutra'', expresses the view that the non-Self doctrine of the Buddha's earlier teaching phase is an expedient only and that in the ''Nirvana Sutra'' a hidden teaching on the True Self is disclosed by the Buddha:
{{quote|He says that the non-Self which he once taught is none but of expediency ... He says that he is now ready to speak about the undisclosed teachings. Men abide in upside-down thoughts. So he will now speak of the affirmative attributes of nirvana, which are none other than the Eternal, Bliss, the Self and the Pure.<ref>Yamamoto, ''Mahayanism, pp. 141, 142</ref>}}


The classic Mahāyāna ] view posits that there are at least two types of nirvana, holding that what is called ''<nowiki>''</nowiki>apratiṣṭhita-nirvana<nowiki>''</nowiki>'' ("non-abiding", non-localized", "non-fixed") to be the highest nirvana, and more profound than ''<nowiki>''</nowiki>pratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa<nowiki>''</nowiki>'', the ‘localized’, lesser nirvana. According to the classic Indian theory, this lesser, abiding nirvana is achieved by followers of the "inferior" vehicle ('']'') schools which are said to only work towards their own personal liberation.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc="apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa}} From this perspective, the hinayana path only leads to one's own liberation, either as ] (listener, hearer, or disciple) or as ] (solitary realizer).<!---START OF NOTE--->{{refn|group=note|name=rahula1|The Hinayana path is sometimes equated with the modern day Theravada tradition, a classification which the Theravada-tradition rejects. Walpola Rahula: "We must not confuse Hinayana with Theravada because the terms are not synonymous. Theravada Buddhism went to Sri Lanka during the 3rd Century B.C. when there was no Mahayana at all. Hinayana sects developed in India and had an existence independent from the form of Buddhism existing in Sri Lanka. Today there is no Hinayana sect in existence anywhere in the world. Therefore, in 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists inaugurated in Colombo unanimously decided that the term Hinayana should be dropped when referring to Buddhism existing today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, etc. This is the brief history of Theravada, Mahayana and Hinayana."<ref group=web name=nalanda1>Walpola Rahula, </ref>}}<!---END OF NOTE--->
====Positive language====
According to some scholars, the language used in the Tathāgatagarbha genre of sutras can be seen as an attempt to state orthodox Buddhist teachings of ] using positive language instead. Yamamoto points out that this ‘affirmative’ characterization of nirvana pertains to a supposedly higher form of nirvana—that of ‘Great Nirvana’. Speaking of the 'Bodhisattva Highly Virtuous King' chapter of the ''Nirvana Sutra'', Yamamoto quotes the scripture itself:
{{quote|What is nirvana? ...this is as in the case in which one who has hunger has peace and bliss as he has taken a little food.<ref>Yamamoto, ''Mahāyānism'', p. 165</ref>}}


According to Robert Buswell and Donald Lopez, ''<nowiki>''</nowiki>apratiṣṭhita-nirvana<nowiki>''</nowiki>'' is the standard Mahāyāna view of the attainment of a ], which enables them to freely return to ] in order to help sentient beings, while still being in a kind of nirvana.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc="apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa}} The Mahāyāna path is thus said to aim at a further realization, namely an active Buddhahood that does not dwell in a static ''nirvana'', but out of ] ('']'') engages in enlightened activity to liberate beings for as long as ''samsara'' remains.{{sfn|Duckworth|2011|loc=Kindle loc. 430-436}}<!---START OF NOTE--->{{refn|group=quote|name=nonabiding1|From the Mahayana point of view, the ''nonabiding (apratiṣṭhita) nirvana'' is superior to the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle:
Yamamoto continues with the quotation, adding his own comment:
* Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham) states: "The term "non-abiding nirvāṇa" indicates that a fully awakened buddha is utterly free from saṃsāra, yet due to compassion has not entered into a more restricted form of nirvāṇa that precludes continued activity within the world."{{sfn|Khunu Rinpoche|2012|loc=Kindle loc. 1480-1482}}
{{quote|But such a nirvāna cannot be called “Great Nirvāna”". And it goes on to dwell on the “Great Self”, “Great Bliss”, and “Great Purity”, all of which, along with the Eternal, constitute the four attributes of Great Nirvana.<ref>Yamamoto, ''Mahāyānism''</ref>}}
* Erik Pema Kunsang states (based on teachings by Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche): "The lesser nirvana refers to the liberation from cyclic existence attained by a hinayana practitioner. When referring to a buddha, ''nirvana'' is the great nondwelling state of enlightenment which falls neither into the extreme of samsaric existence nor into the passive state of cessation attained by an arhant."{{sfn|Tsele Natsok Rangdrol|1987|p=114}}
* Thrangu Rinpoche states: "The samadhi with the union of samatha and vipasyana fully developed will free one from the bondage of samsara so one attains a state of nonabiding nirvana, which is Buddhahood.{{sfn|Thrangu Rinpoche|1993|p=125}}
* The Padmakara Translation Group states: "It is important to realize that the term is understood differently by the different vehicles: the nirvana of the Basic Vehicle, the peace of cessation that an Arhat attains, is very different from a Buddha's "nondwelling" nirvana, the state of perfect enlightenment that transcends both samsara and nirvana."{{sfn|Dudjom Rinpoche|2011|loc=Kindle loc. 8211-8215}}
* Peter Harvey states: "An advanced Bodhisattva who has experienced Nirvana does not rest content with this. He turns again to samsara in the service of others, which the ''Mahayana-samgraha'' calls his 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhita) Nirvana, not clinging either to samsara or to Nirvana as something supposedly separate from this (Nagao, 1991)."{{sfn|Harvey|2012|p=137}}
* Rupert Gethin states: "For the Mahayana becoming a Buddha generally involves attaining what is characterized as the 'unestablished' or 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhita) nirvāṇa: on the one hand the knowledge of a buddha that sees emptiness, is not 'established' in saṃsāra (by seizing on birth as an individual being, for example), on the other hand the great compassion of a buddha prevents the complete turning away from saṃsāra. So ultimately he abides neither in saṃsāra nor in nirvāṇa."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=232}}
* Duckworth: The Lesser Vehicle does not result in the practitioner becoming a complete buddha; rather, the aim is to achieve a personal nirvana that is the total extinction of existence. The Great Vehicle, however, does result in becoming a complete buddha. A buddha remains actively engaged in enlightened activity to liberate beings for as long as samsara remains. Thus, those who accomplish the Great Vehicle do not abide in samsara due to their wisdom that sees its empty, illusory nature. Further, unlike those who attain the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle to escape samsara, they do not abide in an isolated nirvana due to their compassion. For these reasons, in the Great Vehicle, nirvana is said to be "unlocated" or "nonabiding" (''apratiṣṭhita''), staying in neither samsara nor nirvana.{{sfn|Duckworth|2011|loc=Kindle loc. 430-436}}<!---END OF NOTE--->}} ''Apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' is said to be reached when bodhisattvas eradicate both the afflictive obstructions (''klesavarana'') and the obstructions to omniscience (''jñeyavarana''), and is therefore different than the nirvana of arhats, who have eradicated only the former.{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|loc="apratiṣṭhitanirvāṇa}}


According to Alan Sponberg, ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' is "a nirvana that is not permanently established in, or bound to, any one realm or sphere of activity".<ref name=":7">Sponberg, Alan, Dynamic liberation in Yogacara Buddhism, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies.</ref> This is contrasted with a kind of nirvana which is "permanently established or fixed (''pratiṣṭhita'') in the transcendent state of nirvana-without-remainder (''nirupadhisesa-nirvana'')." According to Sponberg this doctrine developed among ] Buddhists who rejected earlier views which were based on an individual liberation aimed at a transcendent state, separated from the mundane sphere of human existence. Mahayana Buddhists rejected this view as inconsistent with the universalist Mahayana ideal of the salvation of all beings and with the absolutist non-dual Mahayana perspective that did not see an ultimate distinction between samsara and nirvana.<ref name=":7" /> Sponberg also notes that the ] school also had a hand in developing this idea, due to their rejection of dualistic concepts which separated samsara and nirvana and their promotion of a form of liberation which was totally without duality.<ref name=":7" />
===Visible manifestations===
Some Mahayana traditions see the Buddha in almost docetic terms, viewing his visible manifestations as projections from within the state of nirvana. According to Etienne Lamotte, Buddhas are always and at all times in nirvana, and their corporeal displays of themselves and their Buddhic careers are ultimately illusory. Lamotte writes of the Buddhas:
{{quote|They are born, reach enlightenment, set turning the Wheel of Dharma, and enter nirvana. However, all this is only illusion: the appearance of a Buddha is the absence of arising, duration and destruction; their nirvana is the fact that they are always and at all times in nirvana.’<ref> Etienne Lamotte, tr. Sara Boin-Webb, ''Suramgamasamadhisutra'', Curzon, London, 1998, p.4</ref>}}


Though the idea that Buddhas remain active in the world can be traced back to the ] school, the term ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' seems to be a Yogacara innovation. According to Gadjin Nagao, the term is likely to be an innovation of the Yogacaras, and possibly of the scholar ] (fl. 4th century CE).<ref>Nagao, Gadjin, M. Madhyamika and Yogacara: A Study of Mahayana Philosophies, p. 223.</ref> Sponberg states that this doctrine presents a "Soteriological Innovation in ] Buddhism" which can be found mainly in works of the Yogacara school such as the ''],'' the '']'', the ], and is most fully worked out in the ] of ].<ref name=":7" /> In Chapter IX of the ''samgraha'', Asanga presents the classic definition of ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' in the context of discussing the severing of mental obstacles (''avarana''):<blockquote>This severing is the ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' of the bodhisattva. It has as its characteristic (''laksana'') the revolution (''paravrtti'') of the dual base (''asraya'') in which one relinquishes all defilements ('']''), but does not abandon the world of death and rebirth (''samsara'').<ref name=":7" /> </blockquote>In his commentary on this passage, Asvabhava (6th century), states that the wisdom which leads to this state is termed non-discriminating cognition (''nirvikalpaka-jñana)'' and he also notes that this state is a union of wisdom ('']'') and compassion (''karuna''): <blockquote>The bodhisattva dwells in this revolution of the base as if in an immaterial realm (''arupyadhatu''). On the one hand—with respect to his own personal interests (''svakartham'')—he is fully endowed with superior wisdom (''adhiprajña'') and is thus not subject to the afflictions (''klesa'') while on the other hand—with respect to the interests of other beings (''parartham'')—he is fully endowed with great compassion (''mahakaruna'') and thus never ceases to dwell in the world of death and re-birth (''samsara'').<ref name=":7" /> </blockquote>According to Sponberg, in Yogacara, the Buddha's special wisdom that allows participation in both nirvana and samsara, termed non-discriminating cognition (''nirvikalpaka-jñana)'' has various aspects: a negative aspect which is free from discrimination that binds one to samsara and positive and dynamic aspects which intuitively cognize the Absolute and give a Buddha "access to the Absolute without yielding efficacy in the relative."<ref name=":7" />
==Within the discourses==
Within the Buddhist tradition, there are many discourses (Pali: suttas)—the written records of the teaching of the Buddha—in which the Buddha explains the meaning of nirvana (Pali: nibbana).


=== Paths to Buddhahood ===
===Extinction of attachment, aversion, and delusion (Samyutta Nikaya 31)===
Most sutras of the Mahāyāna tradition, states Jan Nattier, present three alternate goals of the path: ]ship, ]hood, and ].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M5mWcbAXqb0C|title=The Bodhisattva Path: Based on the Ugraparipṛcchā, a Mahāyāna Sūtra|author=Jan Nattier|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=2007|isbn=978-81-208-2048-7|pages=7–8}}</ref> However, according to an influential Mahāyāna text called the ], while the lesser attainment of individual ''nirvana'' is taught as a skillful means by the Buddha in order to help beings of lesser capacities; ultimately, the highest and ''only'' goal is the attainment of ].{{sfn|Clarke|2004|p=540}}{{sfn|Baroni|2002|p=36}}{{sfn|Kornberg Greenberg|2008|p=88}} The Lotus sutra further states that, although these three paths are ''seemingly'' taught by Buddhas as separate vehicles (''yana''), they are really all just ] (''upaya'') of teaching a single path (''ekayana''), which is the bodhisattva path to full Buddhahood.<ref>Suguro, Shinjo; Nichiren Buddhist International Center, trans. (1998), Introduction to the Lotus Sutra, Jain Publishing Company, {{ISBN|0875730787}}, pp. 34-35.</ref> Thus, these three separate goals are not really different at all, the 'lesser' paths are actually just clever teaching devices used by Buddhas to get people to practice, eventually though, they will be led to the one and only path of Mahāyāna and full Buddhahood.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=228-229}}
The Samyutta Nikaya 31,1 states:{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|p=51}}
:“The extinction of greed, the extinction of hate, the extinction of delusion: this indeed is called Nirvana.”


The Mahāyāna commentary the '']'' presents the path of the bodhisattva as a progressive formula of ] A practitioner on the ''Five Paths'' advances through a progression of ten stages, referred to as the bodhisattva '']'' (grounds or levels).
===Extinction of thirst (Saṃyutta-nikāya I)===
The following quotes from the Pali suttas refer to nirvana (Pali: nibbana) as the extinction of thirst ('']''):{{sfn|Walpola Rahula|2007|loc=Kindle Locations 934-953}}


===Omniscience===
: "Calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, extinction of “thirst”, detachment, cessation, Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 136)
The end stage practice of the Mahāyāna removes the imprints of ], the obstructions to ] (''sarvākārajñatā''), which prevent simultaneous and direct knowledge of all phenomena. Only Buddhas have overcome these obstructions and, therefore, only Buddhas have omniscience knowledge, which refers to the power of a being in some way to have "simultaneous knowledge of all things whatsoever".<ref>McClintock, Sara L. Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason: Santaraksita and Kamalasila on Rationality, Argumentation, and Religious Authority, 2010, p. 37.


</ref> From the Mahāyāna point of view, an arhat who has achieved the nirvana of the ] will still have certain subtle obscurations that prevent the arhat from realizing complete omniscience. When these final obscurations are removed, the practitioner will attain ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' and achieve full omniscience.{{refn|group=quote|Translator Jeffrey Hopkins provides the following analogy:"If you put garlic in a vessel, it deposits some of its odor in the vessel itself; Thus when you seek to clean the vessel, it is necessary to first remove the garlic.<br>Similarly, a ], like garlic, deposits predispositions in the mind that produce the ''appearance'' of inherent existence; Thus, there is no way to cleanse the mind of those predispositions, which are like the flavor of garlic left in the vessel of the mind, until one removes all consciousnesses conceiving of inherent existence from the mind. First, the garlic must be removed; then, its odor can be removed.<br>For this reason, according to the ], until one has utterly removed all the ], one cannot begin to remove the obstructions to omniscience. Since this is the case, a practitioner cannot begin overcoming the obstructions to omniscience on any of the seven first ], which are called "impure" because one still has afflictive obstructions to be abandoned.<br>Rather, one begins abandoning the obstructions to omniscience on the eighth bodhisattva ground, and continues to do so on the ninth and tenth, these three being called the 'three pure grounds" because the afflictive obstructions have been abandoned."<ref>Jeffery Hopkins (author). "The Dalai Lama at Harvard: Lectures on the Buddhist Path to Peace." Snow Lion Publications.</ref>}}
: "O bhikkhus, what is the Absolute (Asaṃkhata, Unconditioned)? It is, O bhikkhus, the extinction of desire (rāgakkhayo) the extinction of hatred (dosakkhayo), the extinction of illusion (mohakkhayo). This, O bhikkhus, is called the Absolute." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 359)


===Buddhahood's bodies===
: "O Rādha, the extinction of 'thirst' (Taṇhakkhayo) is Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 190)
{{See also|Trikaya}}
]'' ] of the ] representing multiple manifestations of the ], the Buddha ].]]
Some Mahāyāna traditions see the Buddha in ] terms, viewing his visible manifestations as projections from its nirvanic state. According to Etienne Lamotte, Buddhas are always and at all times in nirvana, and their corporeal displays of themselves and their Buddhic careers are ultimately illusory. Lamotte writes of the Buddhas:{{blockquote|They are born, reach enlightenment, set turning the Wheel of Dharma, and enter nirvana. However, all this is only illusion: the appearance of a Buddha is the absence of arising, duration and destruction; their nirvana is the fact that they are always and at all times in nirvana.'<ref>{{cite book |author=Etienne Lamotte |translator=Sara Boin-Webb |title=Suramgamasamadhisutra |publisher=Curzon |location=London |year=1998 |page=4}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}


This doctrine, developed among the ], where the historical person, Gautama Buddha, was one of these transformation bodies (Skt. ''nirmāṇakāya''), while the essential Buddha is equated with the transcendental Buddha called '']''.<ref name="Sree Padma 2008. pp. 59-60"/> In Mahāyāna, this eventually developed into the doctrine of the "Three Bodies" of the Buddha ('']''). This doctrine is interpreted in different ways by the different Mahāyāna traditions. According to Reginald Ray, it is "the body of reality itself, without specific, delimited form, wherein the Buddha is identified with the spiritually charged nature of everything that is."<ref name="Reginald Ray 2001, p. 13">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQMLAAAAYAAJ|title=Secret of the Vajra World: The Tantric Buddhism of Tibet|last=Ray|first=Reginald|publisher=Shambhala|year=2001|isbn=978-1-57062-772-9|page=13|author-link=Reginald Ray}}</ref>
=== Extinction of aging and dying (Sutta-nipata) ===
The ''Sutta-nipata'' states:
: 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.


===Buddha-nature===
=== The liberated mind (Majjhima Nikaya) ===
{{See also|Buddha-nature}}
''] 2-Att. 4.68'' states:
{{quote|The liberated mind (]) that no longer clings' means nibbāna.}}


An alternative idea of Mahāyāna nirvana is found in the '']''. The title itself means a ''garbha'' (womb, matrix, seed) containing ''Tathagata'' (Buddha). These ]s suggest, states Paul Williams, that 'all sentient beings contain a Tathagata' as their 'essence, core or essential inner nature'.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=104}} The '']'' doctrine ''(''also called ''buddhadhatu, buddha-nature)'', at its earliest probably appeared about the later part of the 3rd century CE, and is verifiable in Chinese translations of 1st millennium CE.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=104}} Most scholars consider the ''tathāgatagarbha'' doctrine of an 'essential nature' in every living being is equivalent to 'Self',{{refn|group=note|Wayman and Wayman have disagreed with this view, and they state that the ''Tathagatagarbha'' is neither self nor sentient being, nor soul, nor personality.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=107}}}} and it contradicts the "no self" (or no soul, no atman, anatta) doctrines in a vast majority of Buddhist texts, leading scholars to posit that the ''Tathagatagarbha Sutras'' were written to promote Buddhism to non-Buddhists.{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=104–105, 108}}<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7UKjtA0QDwC |title=Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices|author=Merv Fowler|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|year=1999 |isbn=978-1-898723-66-0|pages=101–102}}, '''Quote:''' "Some texts of the ''tathagatagarbha'' literature, such as the ''Mahaparinirvana Sutra'' actually refer to an ''atman'', though other texts are careful to avoid the term. This would be in direct opposition to the general teachings of Buddhism on ''anatta''. Indeed, the distinctions between the general Indian concept of ''atman'' and the popular Buddhist concept of Buddha-nature are often blurred to the point that writers consider them to be synonymous."</ref> The Mahāyāna tradition thus often discusses nirvana with its concept of the ''tathāgatagarbha'', the innate presence of Buddhahood.{{sfn|Wayman|1990}} According to Alex Wayman, Buddha nature has its roots in the idea of an innately pure ] (''prabhasvara citta'',{{sfn|Gregory|1991|pp=288–289}}) "which is only adventitiously covered over by defilements (])"{{sfn|Gregory|1991|p=288-289}} lead to the development of the concept of ], the idea that Buddha-hood is already innate, but not recognised.{{sfn|Wayman|1990|p=42}}
=== The highest happiness (Dhammapada) ===
In the ], the Buddha describes ''nirvāṇa'' as "the highest happiness",<ref>Verse 204, ''nibbanam paramam sukham''</ref> an enduring happiness qualitatively different from the limited, transitory happiness derived from ] things.


The '']'' has numerous interpretations in the various schools of ] and ] Buddhism. Indian ] philosophers generally interpreted the theory as a description of ] and as a non implicative negation (a negation which leaves nothing un-negated).{{sfn|Brunnholzl|2014|p=55}} According to Karl Brunnholzl, early Indian ] like ] and ] referred to the term as "nothing but ] in the sense of twofold ]".{{sfn|Brunnholzl|2014|p=56}} However some later Yogacarins like ] considered it "equivalent to naturally luminous mind, nondual self-awareness."{{sfn|Brunnholzl|2014|p=58}}
===Nirvana-after-death===
==== Outside of all conceivable experience (Yamaka Sutta) ====
In the ''Yamaka Sutta (SN 22.58)'', the monk ] clarifies the experience of ''Nirvana-after-death''. As the sutra begins, a monk named Yamaka has the mistaken impression that a person who attains nirvana "does not exist" after death. Sariputta explains that this is not the correct view; the correct view is that ''nirvana-after-death'' is outside of all conceivable experience. Through a series of questions, Sariputta leads the monk Yamaka to admit that he cannot pin down the experience of an arahant after death. Yamaka comes to realize that the only accurate statement that can be made about ''nirvana-after-death'' is "That which is stressful ('']''; suffering) has ceased and gone to its end."<ref group=web name="Yamaka Sutta"></ref>


The debate as to whether ''tathāgatagarbha'' was just a way to refer to emptiness or whether it referred to some kind of mind or consciousness also resumed in ], with some Chinese Yogacarins, like ] and Ratnamati supporting the idea that it was an eternal non-dual mind, while Chinese Madhyamikas like ] rejecting this view and seeing ''tathāgatagarbha'' as ] and "the middle way."<ref name=":112">Hurley, Scott, The doctrinal transformation of twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism: Master Yinshun’s interpretation of the tathagatagarbha doctrine, Contemporary Buddhism, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2004.</ref><ref name=":62">Liu, Ming-Wood. The Yogaacaaraa and Maadhyamika Interpretation of the Buddha-nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism, Philosophy East and West, Volume 35, no. 2, April 1985 P.171-192 © by University of Hawaii Press.</ref>
====Neither passing away nor arising (Udana 8.1)====
In the Nibbana Sutta (Udana 8.1), the Buddha states:<ref group=web></ref>
: 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 . This, just this, is the end of stress ('']''; suffering).


In some ] Buddhist texts such as the ''Samputa Tantra,'' nirvana is described as purified, non-dualistic 'superior mind'.<ref>Takpo Tashi Namgyal, ''Mahamudra'' Shambhala, Boston and London, 1986, p.219</ref>
====Neither reborn nor not reborn (Aggivacchagotta Sutta) ====
In the ''Aggivacchagotta Sutta'', the Buddha discusses the experience of a buddha after their death. (This state is described as ''nirvana-after-death'' or ''paranirvana''.) In the sutta, the Buddha states that the experience of such a person can not cannot be described in any of the following ways: as being reborn after death, not being reborn, being and not being reborn, or neither being nor not being reborn.


In ] philosophy, the debate continues to this day. There are those like the ] school, who argue that ''tathāgatagarbha'' is just emptiness (described either as '']'', the nature of phenomena, or a nonimplicative negation).{{sfn|Williams|1994|p=108}} Then there are those who see it as the non-dual union of the mind's unconditioned emptiness and conditioned lucidity (the view of ] of the ] school).{{sfn|Brunnholzl|2014|p=76}} Others such as the ] school and some ] figures, see ''tathāgatagarbha'' as a kind of Absolute which "is empty of adventitious defilements which are intrinsically other than it, but is not empty of its own inherent existence".{{sfn|Williams|1994|p=108}}
The Buddha concludes by comparing the physical form and consciousness of the Tathagata to a fire that has gone out. The sutta states:<ref> Aggivacchagotta Sutta; In the Buddha's Words, p367-369. Bhikku Bodhi </ref><ref group=web>, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu</ref>


=== ''Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' ===
:Any fire burning dependent on a sustenance of grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that sustenance and not being offered any other — is classified simply as 'out' (unbound).
According to some scholars, the language used in the ''tathāgatagarbha'' genre of sutras can be seen as an attempt to state orthodox Buddhist teachings of ] using positive language. Kosho Yamamoto translates the explanation of nirvana in the '']'' (c. 100-220 CE) as follows:
{{blockquote|"O good man! We speak of "Nirvana". But this is not "Great" "Nirvana". Why is it "Nirvana", but not "Great Nirvana"? This is so when one cuts away defilement without seeing the Buddha-Nature. That is why we say Nirvana, but not Great Nirvana. When one does not see the Buddha-Nature, what there {{not a typo|is| is}} the non-Eternal and the non-Self. All that there {{not a typo|is| is}} but Bliss and Purity. Because of this, we cannot have Mahaparinirvana, although defilement has been done away with. When one sees well the Buddha-Nature and cuts away defilement, we then have Mahaparinirvana. Seeing the Buddha-Nature, we have the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure. Because of this, we can have Mahaparinirvana, as we cut away defilement."<br>
"O good man! "Nir" means "not"; "va" means "to extinguish". Nirvana means "non- extinction". Also, "va" means "to cover". Nirvana also means "not covered". "Not covered" is Nirvana. "Va" means "to go and come". "Not to go and come" is Nirvana. "Va" means "to take". "Not to take" is Nirvana." "Va" means "not fixed". When there is no unfixedness, there is Nirvana. "Va" means "new and old". What is not new and old is Nirvana.<br>
"O good man! The disciples of Uluka ] school of philosophy] and Kapila ] school of philosophy] say: "Va means characterisitic". "Characteristiclessness" is Nirvana."<br>
"O good man! Va means "is". What is not "is" is Nirvana. Va means harmony. What has nothing to be harmonised is Nirvana. Va means suffering. What has no suffering is Nirvana.<br>
"O good man! What has cut away defilement is no Nirvana. What calls forth no defilement is Nirvana. O good man! The All-Buddha-Tathagata calls forth no defilement. This is Nirvana.
|Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Chapter 31|Translated by Kōshō Yamamoto<ref>Kosho Yamamoto (1973), The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 12, No. 374, page 346</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Kōshō Yamamoto |title=The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana-Sutra. Vol. 2 |year=1974 |publisher=Karinbunko |pages=504–505 |oclc=835749102}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|The names of the founders of Hindu philosophy, along with Rishaba of Jainism, as well as Shiva and Vishnu, are found in the Chinese versions of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.<ref>{{cite book|editor1=William Edward Soothill|editor2=Lewis Hodous|title=A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms |date=18 December 2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79123-0 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ecaRAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>}}}}


In the '']'', the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, ] and ] state:
:Even so any physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a ] stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of form the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears' doesn't apply. 'Does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Both does & does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' doesn't apply.
{{blockquote|'The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the ].<ref>{{cite book|editor1=William Edward Soothill |editor2=Lewis Hodous |title=A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |year=1997 |page=328}} </ref>}}


==See also== ==See also==
* ]
{{Div col|cols=2}}
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* '']''
* '']''
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
{{Div col end}}


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}} {{reflist|group=note|2}}

''Further notes on "different paths"''
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==Quotes==
{{reflist|group=quote|2}}

''Further notes on quotes''
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}


==References== ==References==

===Printed references===
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist|2}}


==Sources==
===Web-references===
{{reflist|group=web}}


===Printed sources===
==Sources==
{{refbegin}} {{refbegin|30em}}
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* {{Citation| last =Ajahn Sucitto | year =2010 | title =Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching | publisher =Shambhala }} * {{Citation| last =Ajahn Sucitto | year =2010 | title =Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching | publisher =Shambhala }}
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* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi (translator) | year =2000 | title =The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya | publisher =Wisdom Publications | place =Boston | isbn=0-86171-331-1}}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2007 | title =Nibbana | publisher =Hong Kong Insight Meditation Society |url = http://hkims.org/documents/Nibbana%20by%20Bhikkhu%20Bodhi.pdf}} * {{Citation | last =Baroni | first =Helen Josephine | year =2002 | title =The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism | publisher =The Rosen Publishing Group}}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi |first=(( (translator) )) | year =2000 | title =The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya | publisher =Wisdom Publications | place =Boston | isbn=0-86171-331-1}}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2005 | title =In the Buddha's words An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon | publisher =Wisdom Publications}}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2007 | title =Nibbana | publisher =Hong Kong Insight Meditation Society |url = http://hkims.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Nibbana-by-Bhikkhu-Bodhi.pdf}}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2011 | title =The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering | publisher =Independent Publishers Group |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2011 | title =The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering | publisher =Independent Publishers Group |edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2012 | title =A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha | publisher =Independent Publishers Group |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Bodhi | year =2012 | title =A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha | publisher =Independent Publishers Group |edition= Kindle }}
* {{cite journal |last=Brahmāli |first=Bhikkhu |date=2009 |title=What the Nikāyas Say and Do not Say about Nibbāna |journal=Buddhist Studies Review |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=33–66|doi=10.1558/bsrv.v26i1.33 }}
* {{Citation | last=Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli |contribution=Introduction|title=Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification|publisher=Buddhist Publication Society |isbn=1-928706-01-0|year=1999 |editor-last=Buddhaghosa|editor2-last=Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, trans.|author-link=Nanamoli Bhikkhu}}
* {{Citation |last=Bronkhorst |first=Johannes |year=1993 |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst |title=The Two Traditions of Meditation In Ancient India |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass}}

* {{citation |last=Brunnholzl |first=Karl |year=2014 |title=When the Clouds Part, The 'Uttaratantra' and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra |publisher=Snow Lion |location=Boston & London}}
* {{Citation| last1 =Buswell | first1= Robert E.|last2=Lopez | first2=Donald S. | year =2013 | title = The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | publisher = Princeton University | edition=Kindle }}
* {{Citation |author=Buddhaghosa |translator=Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu |translator-link=Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu |year=1999 |title=Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification |publisher=Buddhist Publication Society |isbn=1-928706-01-0}}

* {{Citation | last =Buswell | first =Robert E. | year =2004 | title =Encyclopedia of Buddhism | publisher =MacMillan| isbn= 978-0028657202}}
* {{Citation | last1 =Buswell | first1 =Robert E. Jr. | last2 =Lopez | first2 =Donald S. Jr. | year =2013 | title = The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism | publisher = Princeton University | isbn=978-1-4008-4805-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXN2AAAAQBAJ}}
* {{Citation | last =Clarke | first =Peter | year =2004 | title =Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements | publisher =Routledge}}
* {{Citation | last =Choong | first =Mun-Keat | year =1999 | title =The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}} * {{Citation | last =Choong | first =Mun-Keat | year =1999 | title =The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}}
* {{cite book|last=Collins|first=Steven|year=1990 |title=Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-39726-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8sLMkNn26-gC&pg=PA5}}

* {{cite book|last=Collins|first=Steven|year=1998 |title=Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-57054-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2go_y5KYyoC}}
* {{cite book | last1 =Duiker | first1 =William J. | last2 =Spielvogel | first2 =Jackson J. | year =2008 | title =World History: To 1800 |url =http://books.google.co.in/books?ei=LoFpT7XiMYLNrQeh6Z2MCA&id=bj8HX6sWhYAC&dq=NIRVANA+A+HINDU+CONCEPT&q=NIRVANA++HINDU#v=snippet&q=NIRVANA%20%20HINDU&f=false}}
* {{Citation |first=Steven |last= Collins |title=Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5pshUYiUVwC |year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88198-2 }}

* {{Citation | last =Conze | first =Edward | year =1967 | title =Thirty years of Buddhis Studies. Selected essays by Edward Conze | publisher =Bruno Cassirer | url =http://lirs.ru/lib/conze/Thirty_Years_of_Buddhist_studies,Conze,1967,incomplete,300dpi.pdf}}
* {{Citation |last=Cousins |first=L.S. |year=1998 |chapter=Nirvana |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Edward |title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Volume 7: Nihilism to Quantum Mechanics |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
* {{cite book |last=Dutt |first=Nalinaksha |title=Buddhist Sects in India}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2021}}
* {{cite book | last1 =Duiker | first1 =William J. | last2 =Spielvogel | first2 =Jackson J. | year =2008 | title =World History: To 1800 | publisher =Wadsworth | isbn =9780495050537 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=bj8HX6sWhYAC&q=NIRVANA++HINDU}}
* {{Citation| last =Duckworth | first = Douglas | year =2011 | title =Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teachings |edition= Kindle | publisher =Shambhala}} * {{Citation| last =Duckworth | first = Douglas | year =2011 | title =Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teachings |edition= Kindle | publisher =Shambhala}}
* {{Citation| last =Dudjom Rinpoche | year =2011 | title =A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom: Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practices |others=Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group | publisher =Shambhala |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Dudjom Rinpoche | year =2011 | title =A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom: Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practices |others=Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group | publisher =Shambhala |edition= Kindle }}
* {{cite book | last1 =Duiker | first1 =William J. | last2 =Spielvogel | first2 =Jackson J. | year =2008 | title =World History: To 1800 |url =http://books.google.co.in/books?ei=LoFpT7XiMYLNrQeh6Z2MCA&id=bj8HX6sWhYAC&dq=NIRVANA+A+HINDU+CONCEPT&q=NIRVANA++HINDU#v=snippet&q=NIRVANA%20%20HINDU&f=false}} * {{cite book | last1 =Duiker | first1 =William J. | last2 =Spielvogel | first2 =Jackson J. | year =2008 | title =World History: To 1800 | publisher =Wadsworth | isbn =9780495050537 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=bj8HX6sWhYAC&q=NIRVANA++HINDU}}
* {{cite book |last=Dundas |first=Paul |year=2002 |title=The Jains |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415266062 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt6-YXE2aUwC}}

* {{Citation | last1 =Fischer-Schreiber | first1 =Ingrid | last2 =Ehrhard | first2 =Franz-Karl | last3 =Diener | first3 =Michael S. | year =2008 | title =Lexicon Boeddhisme. Wijsbegeerte, religie, psychologie, mystiek, cultuur en literatuur | publisher =Asoka}}
* {{Citation| last =Gethin | first = Rupert | year =1998 | title =Foundations of Buddhism | publisher =Oxford University Press}} * {{Citation| last =Gethin | first = Rupert | year =1998 | title =Foundations of Buddhism | publisher =Oxford University Press}}
* {{Citation| last =Goldstein | first = Joseph | year =2011 | title =One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism | publisher =HarperCollins |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Goldstein | first = Joseph | year =2011 | title =One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism | publisher =HarperCollins |edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation| last =Goleman | first = Daniel | year =2008 | title =Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama | publisher=Bantam |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Goleman | first = Daniel | year =2008 | title =Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama | publisher=Bantam |edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation |last=Gombrich |first=Richard F. |author-link=Richard Gombrich |year=1992 |contribution=Dating the Buddha: a red herring revealed |editor-first=Heinz |editor-last=Bechert |editor-link=Heinz Bechert |trans-title=The Dating of the Historical Buddha |title=Die Datierung des historischen Buddha |series=Symposien zur Buddhismusforschung |volume=IV |number=2 |location=Gottingen |publisher=Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht |pages=237–259 |language=de}}
* {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard F. | year =2006 | title =How Buddhism Began. The conditioned genesis of the
* {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard F. | year =1996 | title =Theravada Buddhism. A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo | place =London and New York | publisher =Routledge }}
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* {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard F. | year =2006 | title =How Buddhism Began. The conditioned genesis of the early teachings. Second edition | publisher =Routledge}}
* {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard | year =2009 | title =What The Buddha Thought | publisher =Equinox}} * {{Citation | last =Gombrich | first =Richard | year =2009 | title =What The Buddha Thought | publisher =Equinox}}
* {{Citation | last= Gregory | first =Peter N. | year =1991 | chapter=Sudden Enlightenment Followed by Gradual Cultivation: Tsung-mi's Analysis of Mind |editor=Peter N. Gregory |title=Sudden and Gradual. Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}}

* {{Citation | last =Harvey | first =Peter | |contribution=Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha |title=The Yogi and the Mystic |publisher=Curzon Press | year=1989 |editor-last=Werner|editor-first=Karel}} * {{cite book|last=Hamilton |first=Sue |year=2000 |title=Early Buddhism: A New Approach: The I of the Beholder |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7007-1280-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pE9lwuScpWwC}}
* {{cite book|last=Hamilton-Blyth |first=Sue |year=2013 |title=Early Buddhism: A New Approach: The I of the Beholder |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-84293-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cR2PAQAAQBAJ}}
* {{Citation | last =Harvey | first =Peter |contribution=Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha |title=The Yogi and the Mystic |publisher=Curzon Press | year=1989 |editor-last=Werner|editor-first=Karel}}
* {{Citation| last =Harvey | first =Peter | year =1990 |title =Introduction to Buddhism | publisher =Cambridge University Press}} * {{Citation| last =Harvey | first =Peter | year =1990 |title =Introduction to Buddhism | publisher =Cambridge University Press}}
* {{Citation| last =Harvey | first = Peter | year =1995 |title =The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvāṇa in Early Buddhism | publisher =Routledge|isbn= 0-7007-0338-1}} * {{Citation | last =Harvey | first =Peter | year =1995a | title =An introduction to Buddhism. Teachings, history and practices | publisher =Cambridge University Press}}
* {{Citation| last =Harvey | first = Peter | year =1995b |title =The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvāṇa in Early Buddhism | publisher =Routledge|isbn= 0-7007-0338-1}}
* {{cite book | last =Hindson | first =Ed | year=2008 | title=The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yipXIHcteRsC&pg=PA264&dq=NIRVANA+A+HINDU+CONCEPT&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LoFpT7XiMYLNrQeh6Z2MCA&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=NIRVANA%20A%20HINDU%20CONCEPT&f=false}}
* {{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Peter|year=2012|title=An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85942-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0sg9LV_rEgC}}
* {{cite book | last =Hindson | first =Ed | year=2008 | title=The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics | publisher =Harvest House Publishers | isbn =9780736936354 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yipXIHcteRsC&q=NIRVANA+A+HINDU+CONCEPT&pg=PA264}}
* {{Citation | last =Hwang | first =Soonil | year =2006 | title =Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The Doctrinal History of Nirvana | publisher =Routledge}}
* {{citation |last=Jayatilleke |first=K.N. |title=The message of the Buddha |publisher=The Free Press}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2021}}
* {{citation |last=Kalupahana |first=David J. |title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2021}}
* {{Citation| last =Keown | first =Damien | year=2000| title= Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction | publisher=Oxford University Press|edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Keown | first =Damien | year=2000| title= Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction | publisher=Oxford University Press|edition= Kindle }}
* {{cite book|first=Damien |last= Keown |title=A Dictionary of Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=985a1M7L1NcC |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-157917-2}}
* {{Citation| last =Khunu Rinpoche | year=2012| title= Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta | others=Translated by Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham)| publisher=Wisdom |edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Khunu Rinpoche | year=2012| title= Vast as the Heavens, Deep as the Sea: Verses in Praise of Bodhicitta | others=Translated by Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham)| publisher=Wisdom |edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation | last =Kornberg Greenberg | first =Yudit | year =2008 | title =Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 2 | publisher =ABC-CLIO}}

* {{Citation| last =Lama Surya Das | year =1997 | title =Awakening the Buddha Within | publisher =Broadway Books|edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Lama Surya Das | year =1997 | title =Awakening the Buddha Within | publisher =Broadway Books|edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation |last=Lindtner |first=Christian |year=1997 |title=The Problem of Precanonical Buddhism |journal=Buddhist Studies Review |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=109–139 |doi=10.1558/bsrv.v14i2.14851 |s2cid=247883744 |url=https://archive.org/details/BackCopiesOfBuddhistStudiesReview|doi-access=free }}
* {{Citation | last =Lindtner | first =Christian | year =1999 | title =From Brahmanism to Buddhism | journal =Asian Philosophy |volume=9 |issue=1| pages =5–37 | doi= 10.1080/09552369908575487 }}
* {{Citation| last =Lopez | first =Donald S.| year =2001 | title =The Story of Buddhism | publisher =HarperCollins }} * {{Citation| last =Lopez | first =Donald S.| year =2001 | title =The Story of Buddhism | publisher =HarperCollins }}
* {{Citation |last=Mackenzie|first=Rory|year=2007|title=New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: Towards an Understanding of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and Santi Asoke|publisher=]|isbn=978-1-134-13262-1 |url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/New%20Buddhist%20Movements%20In%20Thailand_Mackenzie.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316090200/http://ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/New%20Buddhist%20Movements%20In%20Thailand_Mackenzie.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 16, 2015}}
* {{cite book |author=Maha Boowa |year=2005 |title=Arahattamagga, Arahattaphala: the Path to Arahantship – A Compilation of Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa's Dhamma Talks about His Path of Practice |translator=Bhikkhu Silaratano |isbn=974-93100-1-2 |location=Thailand |publisher=Silpa Siam Packaging & Printing Co. |url=http://www.forestdhammabooks.com/book/3/Arahattamagga.pdf |access-date=16 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327073822/http://www.forestdhammabooks.com/book/3/Arahattamagga.pdf |archive-date=2009-03-27 |url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book |author=Mahāsi Sayādaw |translator=U Htin Fatt |editor=Bhikkhu Pesala |title=On the Nature of Nibbāna |publisher=Buddha Sāsanānuggaha Organisation Mahāsi Translation Committee |location=Rangoon}}
* {{Citation| last =Moffitt | first =Philip| year =2008 | title =Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering | publisher =Rodale|edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Moffitt | first =Philip| year =2008 | title =Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering | publisher =Rodale|edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation |contributor=Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu |contribution=Introduction|title=Visuddhimagga: The Path of Purification|publisher=Buddhist Publication Society |isbn=1-928706-01-0|year=1999 |author=Buddhaghosa |translator=Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu |translator-link=Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu}}
* {{Citation| last =Pabongka Rinpoche | year =2006 | title =Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment | publisher =Wisdom | edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last =Pabongka Rinpoche | year =2006 | title =Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Discourse on the Path to Enlightenment | publisher =Wisdom | edition= Kindle }}
* {{cite book |last1=Pasanno |last2=Amaro |name-list-style=amp |year=2009 |title=The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha's Teachings on Nibbāna |publisher=Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation |url=http://www.abhayagiri.org/main/book/1788/ |via=abhayagiri.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523193221/http://www.abhayagiri.org/main/book/1788/ |archive-date=2010-05-23 |url-status=dead}}

* {{cite book | last =Pruthi | first =R.K. | year =2004 | title =Sikhism And Indian Civilization | url =http://books.google.co.in/books?ei=zYJpT_PfJcbtrQfm0tSOCA&id=KxndvJs3wUkC&dq=NIRVANA+SIKHISM&q=NIRVANA#v=snippet&q=NIRVANA&f=false}} * {{cite book | last =Pruthi | first =R.K. | year =2004 | title =Sikhism And Indian Civilization | publisher =Discovery Publishing House | isbn =9788171418794 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=KxndvJs3wUkC&q=NIRVANA}}
* {{Citation| first=Walpola| last=Rahula | year=2007| title=What the Buddha Taught| publisher=Grove Press |edition=Kindle}}

* {{Citation |last=Rahula |first=Walpola |year= |title=What the Buddha Taught |edition=Revised}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2021}}
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* {{Citation| last= Ringu Tulku | year =2005 | title =Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three Vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism| publisher = Snow Lion}} * {{Citation| last= Ringu Tulku | year =2005 | title =Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three Vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism| publisher = Snow Lion}}
* {{Citation | last =Sharf | first =Robert H. | title =Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | journal =NUMEN | volume =42 | year =1995 | issue =3 | pages = 228–283| doi =10.1163/1568527952598549 | hdl =2027.42/43810 | url =http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1995,%20Buddhist%20Modernism.pdf | access-date =2014-12-18 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190412103407/http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1995,%20Buddhist%20Modernism.pdf | archive-date =2019-04-12 | url-status =dead | hdl-access =free }}

* {{Citation | last =Sharf | first =Robert H. | year =1995-B | title =Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | journal =NUMEN, vol.42 (1995) | url =http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1995,%20Buddhist%20Modernism.pdf}} * {{Citation | last =Sharf | first =Robert H. | year =2000 | title =The Rhetoric of Experience and the Study of Religion. | journal =Journal of Consciousness Studies | volume =7 | issue =11–12 | pages =267–87 | url =http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1998,%20Religious%20Experience.pdf | access-date =2014-12-18 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130513104227/http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1998,%20Religious%20Experience.pdf | archive-date =2013-05-13 | url-status =dead }}
* {{Citation | last =Sharf | first =Robert H. | year =2000 | title =The Rhetoric of Experience and the Study of Religion. In: Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7, No. 11-12, 2000, pp. 267-87 | url =http://buddhiststudies.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/sharf/documents/Sharf1998,%20Religious%20Experience.pdf}}
* {{Citation| last1 =Smith| first1=Huston|last2=Novak|first2=Philip| year=2009| title= Buddhism: A Concise Introduction | publisher=HarperOne|edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last1 =Smith| first1=Huston|last2=Novak|first2=Philip| year=2009| title= Buddhism: A Concise Introduction | publisher=HarperOne|edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation | last =Snelling | first=John | year= 1987 |title =The Buddhist handbook. A Complete Guide to Buddhist Teaching and Practice | place =London | publisher =Century Paperbacks}} * {{Citation | last =Snelling | first=John | year= 1987 |title =The Buddhist handbook. A Complete Guide to Buddhist Teaching and Practice | place =London | publisher =Century Paperbacks}}
* {{Citation | last =Swanson | first =Paul L. | year =1997 | title = Zen is not Buddhism, Recent Japanese Critiques of Buddha-Nature | journal =Numen | volume=40| issue=2| pages =115–149 | publisher =Brill Academic |doi= 10.1163/156852793X00112}}

* {{Citation| last= Thích Thiện Châu |year=1984 |title=The Literature of the Personalists}}
* {{Citation| last= Thich Nhat Hanh | year =1991 | title =Old Path White Clouds| publisher = Parallax Press}} * {{Citation| last= Thich Nhat Hanh | year =1991 | title =Old Path White Clouds| publisher = Parallax Press}}
* {{Citation| last= Thich Nhat Hanh | year =1999 | title =The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching | publisher = Three River Press}} * {{Citation| last= Thich Nhat Hanh | year =1999 | title =The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching | publisher = Three River Press}}
* {{Citation| last= Thrangu Rinpoche | year =1993 | title =The Practice of Tranquillity & Insight: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Mediation | publisher = Snow Lion}} * {{Citation| last= Thrangu Rinpoche | year =1993 | title =The Practice of Tranquillity & Insight: A Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Mediation | publisher = Snow Lion}}
* {{cite book | last =Trainor | first =Kevin | year =2004 | title =Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide | url =http://books.google.co.in/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC&pg=PA68&dq=nirvana+buddhism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=yoNpT_X6Eo7NrQfkxL2KCA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nirvana%20buddhism&f=false}} * {{cite book | last =Trainor | first =Kevin | year =2004 | title =Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =9780195173987 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC&q=nirvana+buddhism&pg=PA68}}
* {{Citation| last= Traleg Kyabgon| year =2001 | title =The Essence of Buddhism | publisher = Shambhala}} * {{Citation| last= Traleg Kyabgon| year =2001 | title =The Essence of Buddhism | publisher = Shambhala}}
* {{Citation| last= Tsele Natsok Rangdrol| year =1987 | title =The Mirror of Mindfulness | others= Translated by Erik Pema Kunsang | publisher = Rangjung Yeshe}} * {{Citation| last= Tsele Natsok Rangdrol| year =1987 | title =The Mirror of Mindfulness | translator= Erik Pema Kunsang | publisher = Rangjung Yeshe}}
* {{Citation |first=Tilmann|last= Vetter |year=1988 |title=The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwwVAAAAIAAJ |publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=90-04-08959-4}}

* {{Citation | last =Vetter | first =Tilmann | year =1988 | title =The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism | publisher =BRILL | isbn =90-04-08959-4 | url =http://ahandfulofleaves.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/the-ideas-and-meditative-practices-of-early-buddhism_vetter.pdf}} * {{Citation | last =Walshe | first = Maurice | year = 1995 | title =The Long Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Digha Nikaya | publisher =Wisdom Publications}}
* {{Citation | last =Wayman | first= Alex and Hideko | year =1990 | title =The Lion's roar of Queen Srimala | place =Delhi | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}}

* {{Citation |last=Williams |first=Paul |year=1994 |title=Mahayana Buddhism. The Doctrinal Foundations |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{Citation| last= Williams | first=Paul | year =2002 | title =Buddhist Thought | publisher = Taylor & Francis|edition= Kindle }} * {{Citation| last= Williams | first=Paul | year =2002 | title =Buddhist Thought | publisher = Taylor & Francis|edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation|last=Williams|first=Paul|year=2008|title=Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-25056-1 |url=http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/9004485/mahayana_buddhism_-_the_doctrinal_foundations_second_edition.pdf |access-date=2016-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329084457/http://www.khamkoo.com/uploads/9/0/0/4/9004485/mahayana_buddhism_-_the_doctrinal_foundations_second_edition.pdf |archive-date=2017-03-29|url-status=dead}}
* {{Citation| last= Walpola Rahula | year =2007| title =What the Buddha Taught| publisher = Grove Press|edition= Kindle }}
* {{Citation | last =Wynne | first =Alexander | year =2007 | title =The Origin of Buddhist Meditation | publisher = Routledge}}
* {{Citation| last=Yamamoto Kosho | year =1975| title =Mahayanism: A Critical Exposition of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāna Sutra| publisher = Ube City: Karinbunko}} * {{Citation| last=Yamamoto Kosho | year =1975| title =Mahayanism: A Critical Exposition of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāna Sutra| publisher = Ube City: Karinbunko}}
{{refend}} {{refend}}

===Web-sources===
{{reflist|group=web}}


==Further reading== ==Further reading==
* ], "Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook" (Wisdom Publications 2006) Part II. * ], "Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook" (Wisdom Publications 2006) Part II.
* ], "Nibbana - The Mind Stilled (Vol. I-VII)" (Dharma Grantha Mudrana Bharaya, 2012). * ], "Nibbana The Mind Stilled (Vol. I-VII)" (Dharma Grantha Mudrana Bharaya, 2012).
* ] & ], "" (Abhayagiri Publication 2022).
* Kawamura, Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1981, pp.&nbsp;11. * Kawamura, Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1981, pp.&nbsp;11.
* {{cite journal | last = Lindtner | first = Christian | title = Problems of Pre-Canonical Buddhism | journal = Buddhist Studies Review | year = 1997 | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | url = http://ia600700.us.archive.org/6/items/BackCopiesOfBuddhistStudiesReview/Bsr14.21997.pdf }} * {{cite journal|ref=none |last=Lindtner |first=Christian |title=Problems of Pre-Canonical Buddhism |journal=Buddhist Studies Review |year=1997 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=109–139 |doi=10.1558/bsrv.v14i2.14851 |s2cid=247883744 |url=https://archive.org/details/BackCopiesOfBuddhistStudiesReview|doi-access=free }}
* Yogi Kanna, "Nirvana: Absolute Freedom" (Kamath Publishing; 2011) 198 pages. * Yogi Kanna, "Nirvana: Absolute Freedom" (Kamath Publishing; 2011) 198 pages.
* Steven Collins. ''Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative'' (Cambridge University Press; 2010) 204 pages. * Steven Collins. ''Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative'' (Cambridge University Press; 2010) 204 pages.
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==External links== ==External links==
{{wikiquote}} {{wikiquote}}

* Buddhism for Beginners,
{{Wiktionary}} {{Wiktionary}}



Latest revision as of 23:00, 24 December 2024

Release from the passions in Buddhism This article is about the concept in Buddhism. For its wider religious use, see Nirvana. For other uses, see Nirvana (disambiguation).
Translations of
Nirvana
Englishblowing out,
extinguishing,
liberation
Sanskritनिर्वाण
(IAST: nirvāṇa)
Paliनिब्बान nibbāna
Bengaliনির্বাণ nibbano
Burmeseနိဗ္ဗာန်
(MLCTS: neɪʔbàɰ̃)
Chinese涅槃
(Pinyin: nièpán)
Indonesiannirwana,
kepadaman,
pemadaman
Japanese涅槃
(Rōmaji: nehan)
Khmerនិព្វាន
(UNGEGN: nĭppéan)
Korean열반
(RR: yeolban)
Monနဳဗာန်
()
Mongolianᠨᠢᠷᠸᠠᠨ/нирван
(nirvan)
Shanၼိၵ်ႈပၢၼ်ႇ
()
Sinhalaනිවන
(nivana)
Tibetanམྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ།
mya ngan las 'das pa
Tagalognirvana
Thaiนิพพาน
(RTGS: nipphan)
VietnameseNiết bàn
Glossary of Buddhism
Aniconic carving representing the final nirvana of a Buddha at Sanchi.

Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण; IAST: nirvāṇa; Pali: nibbāna) is the extinguishing of the passions, the "blowing out" or "quenching" of the activity of the grasping mind and its related unease. Nirvana is the goal of many Buddhist paths, and leads to the soteriological release from dukkha ('suffering') and rebirths in saṃsāra. Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of dukkha" in the Four Noble Truths, and the "summum bonum of Buddhism and goal of the Eightfold Path."

In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires" (in analogy to, but rejecting, the three sacrificial fires of the Vedic ritual), or "three poisons", greed (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (moha). When these fires are extinguished, release from saṃsāra, the perpetual grasping activity of the mind, or the cycle of rebirth, is attained.

Nirvana has also been claimed by some scholars to be identical with anatta (non-self) and sunyata (emptiness) states though this is hotly contested by other scholars and practicing monks.

There are two types of nirvana: sopadhishesa-nirvana literally "nirvana with a remainder", attained and maintained during life, and parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana, meaning "nirvana without remainder" or final nirvana. In Mahayana these are called "abiding" and "non-abiding nirvana." Nirvana, as the quenching of the burning mind, is the highest aim of the Theravada tradition. In the Mahayana tradition, the highest goal is Buddhahood, in which there is no abiding in nirvana.

Etymology and meaning

The term nirvana is part of an extensive metaphorical structure that was probably established at a very early age in Buddhism. It is "the most common term used by Buddhists to describe a state of freedom from suffering and rebirth," but its etymology may not be conclusive for its meaning. Different Buddhist traditions have interpreted the concept in different ways, without reaching consensus over its meaning. Various etymologies are:

  • vâna, derived from the root word √vā which means "to blow":
    • (to) blow (of wind); but also to emit (an odour), be wafted or diffused; nirvana then means "to blow out";
  • vāna, derived from the root vana or van which mean "desire",
    • nirvana is then explained to mean a state of "without desire, without love, without wish" and one without craving or thirst (taṇhā);
    • adding the root √vā which means "to weave or sew"; nirvana is then explained as abandoning the desire which weaves together life after life.
  • vāna, derived from the root word vana which also means "woods, forest":
    • based on this root, vana has been metaphorically explained by Buddhist scholars as referring to the "forest of defilements", or the five aggregates; nirvana then means "escape from the aggregates", or to be "free from that forest of defilements".

Origins

The origin of the term nirvana is probably pre-Buddhist. It was a more or less central concept among the Jains, the Ajivikas, the Buddhists, and certain Hindu traditions, and the term may have been imported into Buddhism with much of its semantic range from these other sramanic movements.

The ideas of spiritual liberation using different terminology, is found in ancient texts of non-Buddhist Indian traditions, such as in verse 4.4.6 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad of Hinduism, but the term nirvana in the soteriological sense of "blown out, extinguished" state of liberation does not appear in the Vedas nor in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads. According to Collins, "the Buddhists seem to have been the first to call it nirvana."

Extinction and blowing out

One literal interpretation translates nir√vā as "blow out", interpreting nir is a negative, and va as "to blow", giving a meaning of "blowing out" or "quenching". It is seen to refer to both to the act and the effect of blowing (at something) to put it out, but also the process and outcome of burning out, becoming extinguished. The "blowing out" does not mean total annihilation, but the extinguishing of a flame. The term nirvana can also be used as a verb: "he or she nirvāṇa-s," or "he or she parinirvānṇa-s" (parinibbāyati).

In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana, "to blow out", has commonly been interpreted as the extinction of the "three fires", or "three poisons", namely of passion or sensuality (raga), aversion or hate (dvesha) and of delusion or ignorance (moha or avidyā).

According to Gombrich, the number of three fires alludes to the three fires which a Brahmin had to keep alight, and thereby symbolise life in the world, as a family-man. The meaning of this metaphor was lost in later Buddhism, and other explanations of the word nirvana were sought. Not only passion, hatred and delusion were to be extinguished, but also all cankers (asava) or defilements (khlesa).

Weaving and woods

Later exegetical works developed a whole new set of folk etymological definitions of the word nirvana, using the root vana to refer to "to blow", but re-parsing the word to roots that mean "weaving, sewing", "desire" and "forest or woods."

To unbind

Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu argues that the term nibbāna was apparently derived etymologically from the negative prefix, nir, plus the root vāṇa, or binding: unbinding, and that the associated adjective is nibbuta: unbound, and the associated verb, nibbuti: to unbind. He and others use the term unbinding for nibbana. Ṭhānissaro argues that the early Buddhist association of 'blowing out' with the term arose in light of the way in which the processes of fire were viewed at that time - that a burning fire was seen as clinging to its fuel in a state of hot agitation, and that when going out the fire let go of its fuel and reached a state of freedom, cooling, and peace.

To uncover

Matsumoto Shirō (1950–), of the Critical Buddhism group, stated that the original etymological root of nirvana should be considered not as nir√vā, but as nir√vŗ, to "uncover". According to Matsumoto, the original meaning of nirvana was therefore not "to extinguish" but "to uncover" the atman from that which is anatman (not atman). Swanson stated that some Buddhism scholars questioned whether 'blowing out' and 'extinction' etymologies are consistent with the core doctrines of Buddhism, particularly about anatman (non-self) and pratityasamutpada (causality). They saw a problem that considering nirvana as extinction or liberation presupposes a "self" to be extinguished or liberated. However other Buddhist scholars, such as Takasaki Jikidō, disagreed and called the Matsumoto proposal "too far and leaving nothing that can be called Buddhist".

Synonymous with moksha and vimutti

Nirvana is used synonymously with moksha (Sanskrit), also vimoksha, or vimutti (Pali), "release, deliverance from suffering". In the Pali-canon two kinds of vimutti are discerned:

  • Ceto-vimutti, freedom of mind; it is the qualified freedom from suffering, attained through the practice of dhyane (meditation, samādhi). Vetter translates this as "release of the heart" which means conquering desire thereby attaining a desire-less state of living.
  • Pañña-vimutti, freedom through understanding (prajña); it is the final release from suffering and the end of rebirth, attained through the practice of insight meditation (vipassanā).

Ceto-vimutti becomes permanent, only with the attainment of pañña-vimutti. According to Gombrich and other scholars, this distinction may be a later development within the canon, reflecting a growing emphasis in earliest Buddhism on prajña, instead of the liberating practice of dhyana; it may also reflect a successful assimilation of non-Buddhist meditation practices in ancient India into the Buddhist canon. According to Anālayo, the term uttari-vimutti (highest liberation) is also widely used in the early Buddhist texts to refer to liberation from the cycle of rebirth.

Interpretations of the early Buddhist concept

Cessation

See also: Samsara (Buddhism) and Rebirth (Buddhism)
The Bhavachakra, an illustration of the cycle of rebirth, with the three poisons at the hub of the wheel.

In the early texts, the practice of the noble path and the four dhyanas was said to lead to the extinction of the three fires, and then proceed to the cessation of all discursive thoughts and apperceptions, then ceasing all feelings (happiness and sadness). According to Collins, "the most common thing said about nirvana in Buddhist texts is that it is the ending of suffering (dukkha)." According to Collins, the term is also widely used as a verb, one therefore "nirvanizes." A synonym widely used for nirvana in early texts is "deathless" or "deathfree" (Pali: amata, sanskrit: amrta) and refers to a condition "where there is no death, because there is also no birth, no coming into existence, nothing made by conditioning, and therefore no time." Nirvana is also called "unconditioned" (asankhata), meaning it is unlike all other conditioned phenomena.

Thomas Kasulis notes that in the early texts, nirvana is often described in negative terms, including “cessation” (nirodha), “the absence of craving” (trsnaksaya), “detachment,” “the absence of delusion,” and “the unconditioned” (asamskrta). He also notes that there is little discussion in the early Buddhist texts about the metaphysical nature of nirvana, since they seem to hold that metaphysical speculation is an obstacle to the goal. Kasulis mentions the Malunkyaputta sutta which denies any view about the existence of the Buddha after his final bodily death, all positions (the Buddha exists after death, does not exist, both or neither) are rejected. Likewise, another sutta (AN II 161) has Sāriputta saying that asking the question "is there anything else?" after the physical death of someone who has attained nirvana is conceptualizing or proliferating (papañca) about that which is without proliferation (appapañcaṃ) and thus a kind of distorted thinking bound up with the self.

Nirvāṇa is the permanent cessation of samsara ("wandering") and jāti (birth, becoming). As Bhikkhu Bodhi states "For as long as one is entangled by craving, one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death."

Gethin notes that nirvana "is not a 'thing' but an event or experience" that frees one from rebirth in samsara. According to Donald Swearer, the journey to nirvana is not a journey to a "separate reality" (contra Vedic religion or Jainism), but a move towards calm, equanimity, nonattachment and nonself. In this sense, the soteriological view of early Buddhism is seen as a reaction to earlier Indic metaphysical views.

According to Collins, nirvana is associated with a meditative attainment called the 'Cessation of Perception/Ideation and Feeling' (sannavedayitanirodha), also known as the 'Attainment of Cessation' (nirodhasamapatti). In later Buddhism, dhyana practice was deemed sufficient only for the extinguishing of passion and hatred, while delusion was extinguished by insight.

As a metaphysical reality or transcendent consciousness

The Franco-Belgian school of indology held a different view of nirvana. According to this tradition of scholarship, the view of primitive Buddhism was that nirvana was a positive reality, a kind of immortal state (amrta) similar to the godly abode of svarga found in the Edicts of Ashoka.

Peter Harvey has defended the idea that nirvana in the Pali suttas refers to a kind of transformed and transcendent consciousness (viññana) that has "stopped" (nirodhena). According to Harvey this nirvanic consciousness is said to be "objectless", "infinite" (anantam), "unsupported" (appatiṭṭhita) and "non-manifestive" (anidassana) as well as "beyond time and spatial location". Rune Johansson's The Psychology of Nirvana also argues that nirvana could be seen as a transformed state of mind (citta).

Bhikkhu Bodhi, a Theravada monk, translator and scholar, argues that various descriptions of nibbana from the early buddhist texts "convey a more concrete idea of the ultimate goal" which differs from mere cessation and "speak of Nibbana almost as if it were a transcendent state or dimension of being." Bodhi notes that nibbana is sometimes described as a base (ayatana), an unborn and unconditioned state (pada), a reality (dhamma), and an "element" (dhatu). This transcendent state is compared to the ocean, which is "deep, immeasurable, hard to fathom."

In the cosmology of Jainism, which is a closely related sramana tradition, liberated beings abide in an actual realm (loka) or abode (sila) associated with nirvana. Some scholars have argued that early Buddhism held a similar view.

Stanislaw Schayer, a Polish scholar, argued in the 1930s that the Nikayas preserve elements of an archaic form of Buddhism which is close to Brahmanical beliefs, which also survived in the Mahayana tradition. Schayer argued that the Theravada and Mahayana traditions could be "divergent, but equally reliable records" of a now lost pre-canonical Buddhism. The Mahayana tradition may have preserved some very old, pre-canonical teachings, which was mostly (but not completely) left out of the Theravada canon. Schayer saw nirvana as an immortal, deathless sphere, and as a transmundane reality. Schayer's position was also defended by Constantin Regamey, who saw the early Buddhist view of nirvana as being similar (but not the same) as some Brahamanical views of an eternal and absolute reality.

Edward Conze had similar ideas about nirvana, citing sources which speak of an eternal and "invisible infinite consciousness, which shines everywhere" as point to the view that nirvana is a kind of Absolute. A similar view was defended by M. Falk, who held that the nirvanic element, as an "essence" or pure consciousness, is immanent within samsara. M. Falk argues that the early Buddhist view of nirvana is that it is an "abode" or "place" of prajña, which is gained by the enlightened. This nirvanic element, as an "essence" or pure consciousness, is immanent within samsara.

A similar view is also defended by Christian Lindtner, who argues that in pre-canonical Buddhism, nirvana is:

... a place one can actually go to. It is called nirvanadhatu, has no border-signs (animitta), is localized somewhere beyond the other six dhatus (beginning with earth and ending with vijñana) but is closest to akasa and vijñana. One cannot visualize it, it is anidarsana, but it provides one with firm ground under one’s feet, it is dhruva; once there one will not slip back, it is acyutapada. As opposed to this world, it is a pleasant place to be in, it is sukha, things work well.

According to Christian Lindtner, the original and early Buddhist concepts of nirvana were similar to those found in competing Śramaṇa (strivers/ascetics) traditions such as Jainism and the tradition of the Upanishads. It was not a purely psychological idea, but a concept described in terms of Indian cosmology and a related theory of consciousness. All Indian religions, over time, states Lindtner evolved these ideas, internalizing the state but in different ways because early and later Vedanta continued with the metaphysical idea of Brahman and soul, but Buddhism did not. In this view, the canonical Buddhist views on nirvana was a reaction against early (pre-canonical) Buddhism, along with the assumptions of Jainism and the Upanishadic thought on the idea of personal liberation. As a result of this reaction, nirvana came to be seen as a state of mind, instead of a concrete place. Elements of this precanonical Buddhism may have survived the canonisation, and its subsequent filtering out of ideas, and re-appeared in Mahayana Buddhism. According to Lindtner, the existence of multiple, and contradicting ideas, is also reflected in the works of Nagarjuna, who tried to harmonize these different ideas. According to Lindtner, this lead him to taking a "paradoxical" stance, for instance regarding nirvana, rejecting any positive description.

Referring to this view, Alexander Wynne holds that there is no evidence in the Sutta Pitaka that the Buddha held this view, at best it only shows that "some of the early Buddhists were influenced by their Brahminic peers". Wynne concludes that the Buddha rejected the views of the Vedas and that his teachings present a radical departure from these Brahminical beliefs.

Nirvana with and without remainder of fuel

Buddhist sculpture of the final nirvana of the Buddha in greco-buddhist Gandharan style from Loriyan Tangai.

There are two stages in nirvana, one in life, and one final nirvana upon death; the former is imprecise and general, the latter is precise and specific. The nirvana-in-life marks the life of a monk who has attained complete release from desire and suffering but still has a body, name and life. The nirvana-after-death, also called nirvana-without-substrate, is the complete cessation of everything, including consciousness and rebirth. This main distinction is between the extinguishing of the fires during life, and the final "blowing out" at the moment of death:

  • Sa-upādisesa-nibbāna (Pali; Sanskrit sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), "nirvana with remainder", "nirvana with residue." Nirvana is attained during one's life, when the fires are extinguished. There is still the "residue" of the five skandhas, and a "residue of fuel", which however is not "burning". Nirvana-in-this-life is believed to result in a transformed mind with qualities such as happiness, freedom of negative mental states, peacefulness and non-reactiveness.
  • An-up ādisesa-nibbāna (Pali; Sanskrit nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), "nirvana without remainder," "nirvana without residue". This is the final nirvana, or parinirvana or "blowing out" at the moment of death, when there is no fuel left.

The classic Pali sutta definitions for these states are as follows:

And what, monks, is the Nibbana element with residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached his own goal, utterly destroyed the fetters of existence, one completely liberated through final knowledge. However, his five sense faculties remain unimpaired, by which he still experiences what is agreeable and disagreeable, still feels pleasure and pain. It is the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion in him that is called the Nibbana element with residue remaining.

And what, monks, is the Nibbana element without residue remaining? Here, a monk is an arahant ... one completely liberated through final knowledge. For him, here in this very life, all that is felt, not being delighted in, will become cool right here. That, monks, is called the Nibbana element without residue remaining.

Gombrich explains that the five skandhas or aggregates are the bundles of firewood that fuel the three fires. The Buddhist practitioner ought to "drop" these bundles, so that the fires are no longer fueled and "blow out". When this is done, the bundles still remain as long as this life continues, but they are no longer "on fire." Collins notes that the first type, nirvana in this life is also called bodhi (awakening), nirvana of the defilements or kilesa-(pari)nibbana, and arhatship while nirvana after death is also referred to as the nirvana of the Aggregates, khandha-(pari)nibbana.

What happens with one who has reached nirvana after death is an unanswerable question. According to Walpola Rahula, the five aggregates vanish but there does not remain a mere "nothingness." Rahula's view, states Gombrich, is not accurate summary of the Buddhist thought, and mirrors the Upanishadic thought.

Anatta, Sunyata

Nirvana is also described in Buddhist texts as identical to anatta (anatman, non-self, lack of any self). Anatta means there is no abiding self or soul in any being or a permanent essence in any thing. This interpretation asserts that all reality is of dependent origination and a worldly construction of each human mind, therefore ultimately a delusion or ignorance. In Buddhist thought, this must be overcome, states Martin Southwold, through "the realization of anatta, which is nirvana".

Nirvana in some Buddhist traditions is described as the realization of sunyata (emptiness or nothingness). Madhyamika Buddhist texts call this as the middle point of all dualities (Middle Way), where all subject-object discrimination and polarities disappear, there is no conventional reality, and the only ultimate reality of emptiness is all that remains.

Synonyms and metaphors

A flame which goes out due to lack of fuel

A commonly used metaphor for nirvana is that of a flame which goes out due to lack of fuel:

Just as an oil-lamp burns because of oil and wick, but when the oil and wick are exhausted, and no others are supplied, it goes out through lack of fuel (anaharo nibbayati), so the monk … knows that after the break-up of his body, when further life is exhausted, all feelings which are rejoiced in here will become cool.

Collins argues that the Buddhist view of awakening reverses the Vedic view and its metaphors. While in Vedic religion, the fire is seen as a metaphor for the good and for life, Buddhist thought uses the metaphor of fire for the three poisons and for suffering. This can be seen in the Adittapariyaya Sutta commonly called "the fire sermon" as well as in other similar early Buddhist texts. The fire sermon describes the end of the "fires" with a refrain which is used throughout the early texts to describe nibbana:

Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.

An end state, where many adverse aspects of experience have ceased

In the Dhammacakkapavattanasutta, the third noble truth of cessation (associated with nirvana) is defined as: "the fading away without remainder and cessation of that same craving, giving it up, relinquishing it, letting it go, not clinging to it."

Steven Collins lists some examples of synonyms used throughout the Pali texts for Nirvana:

the end, (the place, state) without corruptions, the truth, the further (shore), the subtle, very hard to see, without decay, firm, not liable to dissolution, incomparable, without differentiation, peaceful, deathless, excellent, auspicious, rest, the destruction of craving, marvellous, without affliction, whose nature is to be free from affliction, nibbana , without trouble, dispassion, purity, freedom, without attachment, the island, shelter (cave), protection, refuge, final end, the subduing of pride (or ‘intoxication’), elimination of thirst, destruction of attachment, cutting off of the round (of rebirth), empty, very hard to obtain, where there is no becoming, without misfortune, where there is nothing made, sorrowfree, without danger, whose nature is to be without danger, profound, hard to see, superior, unexcelled (without superior), unequalled, incomparable, foremost, best, without strife, clean, flawless, stainless, happiness, immeasurable, (a firm) standing point, possessing nothing.

In the Theravada School

Khmer traditional mural painting depicts Gautama Buddha entering parinirvana, Dharma assembly pavilion, Wat Botum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

In the Theravada Abhidhamma

In the Theravada tradition's Abhidhamma texts, nibbāna is regarded as an uncompounded or unconditioned (asankhata) dhamma (phenomenon, event) which is "transmundane", and which is beyond our normal dualistic conceptions.

In Abhidhamma texts like the Vibhanga, nibbana or the asankhata-dhatu (unconditioned element) is defined thus:

‘What is the unconditioned element (asankhata dhatu)? It is the cessation of passion, the cessation of hatred and the cessation of delusion.

The Dhammasangani likewise describes the asankhata dhatu as that reality which is a sphere of experience unproduced by any cause or condition according to L.S. Cousins. The Dhammasangani describes it in numerous ways, such as immeasurable, superior to everything, as not past, present or future, as neither arisen nor not-arisen and as neither within nor without. Cousins also notes that "suggestively, however, it may be reckoned as nama (name) rather than rupa. This does seem to suggest some element of underlying idealism of the kind which emerges later in the vijñanavada."

Furthermore, for the Theravada, nibbana is uniquely the only asankhata dhamma (unconditioned phenomenon) and they argue that nibbana is unitary (cannot be divided). Unlike other schools, they do not recognize different unconditioned phenomena or different types of nirvana (such as the apratistha or non-abiding nirvana of Mahayana).

As noted by Thiện Châu, the Theravadins and the Pudgalavadins "remained strictly faithful to the letter of the sutras" and thus held that nirvana is the only unconditioned dhamma, while other schools also posited various asankhata dhammas (such as the Sarvastivadin view that space or akasa was unconditioned).

Medieval Theravada exegetes

The fifth century Theravada exegete Buddhaghosa says, in his Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification):

It is called nibbana (extinction) because it has gone away from (nikkhanta), has escaped from (nissata), is dissociated from, craving, which has acquired in common usage the name ‘fastening (vana)’ because, by ensuring successive becoming, craving serves as a joining together, a binding together, a lacing together, of the four kinds of generation, five destinies, seven stations of consciousness and nine abodes of being.

Buddhaghosa also criticizes the view that nibbāna is a kind of non-existence or an absence (of the five aggregates). He argues that nibbāna is "apprehendable by the means, in other words, by the way that is appropriate to it, ." Buddhaghosa also argues that if nibbana were a mere absence or a nothingness, it would follow that the Buddhist path would be meaningless.

According to Buddhaghosa, nibbāna is achieved after a long process of committed application to the path of purification, a gradual training extending often over a number of years. To be committed to this path already requires that a seed of wisdom is present in the individual. This wisdom becomes manifest in the experience of awakening (bodhi). Attaining nibbāna, in either the current or some future birth, depends on effort, and is not pre-determined. In the Visuddhimagga, chapter I.v.6, Buddhaghosa identifies various options within the Pali canon for pursuing a path to nirvana. According to Gombrich, this proliferation of possible paths to liberation reflects later doctrinal developments, and a growing emphasis on insight as the main liberative means, instead of the practice of dhyana.

Another influential Pali commentator, Dhammapala, also discussed nibbana in his Udana Commentary (Udanatthakatha). According to Dhammapala, nibbana is an objective reality which is the opposite of samsara. Nibbana has its own nature (sabhava) which is unlike all conditioned phenomena.

Stages of the path to nibbana

The four stages of awakening according to the Sutta Piṭaka.
Outcome Further rebirths Abandoned fetters
sotāpanna up to seven,
in earthly or
heavenly realms
  1. identity view
  2. doubt in Buddha
  3. ascetic or
    ritual rules
lower fetters
sakadagami one more,
as a human
anāgāmi one more,
in a pure abode
  1. sensual
    desire
  2. ill will
arahant none
  1. desire for
    material rebirth
  2. desire for
    immaterial rebirth
  3. conceit
  4. restlessness
  5. ignorance
higher fetters
Main article: Four stages of enlightenment

The Theravada tradition identifies four progressive stages. The first three lead to favorable rebirths in more pleasant realms of existence, while the last culminates in nirvana as an Arahat who is a fully awakened person. The first three are reborn because they still have some of the fetters, while arhat has abandoned all ten fetters and, upon death will never be reborn in any realm or world, having wholly escaped saṃsāra.

At the start, a monk's mind treats nirvana as an object (nibbanadhatu). This is followed by realizing the insight of three universal lakshana (marks): impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha) and nonself (anatman). Thereafter the monastic practice aims at eliminating the ten fetters that lead to rebirth.

According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, individuals up to the level of non-returning may experience nibbāna as an object of consciousness. Certain contemplations with nibbāna as an object of samādhi lead, if developed, to the level of non-returning. At that point of contemplation, which is reached through a progression of insight, if the meditator realizes that even that state is constructed and therefore impermanent, the fetters are destroyed, arahantship is attained, and nibbāna is realized.

Modern Theravada views

K.N. Jayatilleke, a modern Sri Lankan Buddhist philosopher, holds that nirvana must be understood by a careful study of the Pali texts. Jayatilleke argues that the Pali works show that nirvana means 'extinction' as well as 'the highest positive experience of happiness'. Jayatilleke writes that despite the definition of nirvana as 'extinction', this does not mean that it is a kind of annihilation or a state of dormant nonentity, for this contradicts the statements of the Buddha that reject this interpretation. Jayatilleke holds that the early texts clearly proclaim that nothing can be said about the state of the Buddha after paranibbana (the end of his psycho-physical personality) because "we do not have the concepts or words to describe adequately the state of the emancipated person." This transcendent reality which our normal minds cannot grasp is not located in time or space, it is not causally conditioned, and beyond existence and non-existence. Because trying to explain nibbana by means of logic is impossible, the only thing to be done is to explain how to reach it, instead of dwelling on what it "is". Explaining what happens to the Buddha after nibbana is thus said to be an unanswerable.

A similarly apophatic position is also defended by Walpola Rahula, who states that the question of what nirvana is "can never be answered completely and satisfactorily in words, because human language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which is Nirvana." Rahula affirms that nibbana is most often described in negative terms because there is less danger in grasping at these terms, such as "the cessation of continuity and becoming (bhavanirodha)", "the abandoning and destruction of desire and craving for these five aggregates of attachment", and "the extinction of "thirst" (tanhakkhayo)." Rahula also affirms however that nibbana is not a negative or an annihilation, because there is no self to be annihilated and because 'a negative word does not necessarily indicate a negative state'. Rahula also notes that more positive terms are used to describe nibbana such as "freedom" (mutti) and "truth" (sacca). Rahula also agrees that nirvana is unconditioned.

The American Theravada monk Bhikkhu Bodhi has defended the traditional Theravada view which sees nirvana as "a reality transcendent to the entire world of mundane experience, a reality transcendent to all the realms of phenomenal existence."

The Sri Lankan philosopher David Kalupahana has taken a different position, he argues that the Buddha's "main philosophical insight" is the principle of causality (dependent origination) and that this "is operative in all spheres, including the highest state of spiritual development, namely, nirvana." According to Kalupahana "later scholars attempted to distinguish two spheres, one in which causation prevailed and the other which is uncaused. This latter view was, no doubt, the result of a confusion in the meanings of the two terms, sankhata ('compounded') and paticcasamuppanna ('causally conditioned')." Thus, even though nibbana is termed "asankhata" (un-compounded, not-put together) there is no statement in the early texts which say that nirvana is not dependently originated or is uncaused (the term would be appaticcasamuppana). He thus argues that "nirvana is a state where there is 'natural or causal happening' (paticcasamuppada), but not 'organized,' or 'planned' conditioning (sankha-rana)", as well as "a state of perfect mental health (aroga), of perfect happiness (parama sukha), calmness or coolness (sitibhuta), and stability (aneñja), etc. attained in this life, or while one is alive."

Mahasi Sayadaw, one of the most influential 20th century Theravada vipassana teachers, states in his "On the nature of Nibbana" that "nibbana is perfect peace (santi)" and "the complete annihilation of the three cycles of defilement, action, and result of action, which all go to create mind and matter, volitional activities, etc." He further states that for arahants "no new life is formed after his decease-consciousness." Mahasi Sayadaw further states that nibbana is the cessation of the five aggregates which is like "a flame being extinguished". However this doesn't mean that "an arahant as an individual has disappeared" because there is no such thing as an "individual" in an ultimate sense, even though we use this term conventionally. Ultimate however, "there is only a succession of mental and physical phenomena arising and dissolving." For this reason, Mahasi Sayadaw holds that although for an arahant "cessation means the extinction of the successive rise and fall of the aggregates" this is not the view of annihilation (uccheda-diṭṭhi) since there is ultimately no individual to be annihilated. Mahasi further notes that "feeling ceases with the parinibbāna of the Arahant" and also that "the cessation of senses is nibbāna" (citing the Pañcattaya Sutta). Mahasi also affirms that even though nibbana is the "cessation of mind, matter, and mental formations" and even the cessation of "formless consciousness", it is not nothing, but it is an "absolute reality" and he also affirms that "the peace of nibbana is real."

Unorthodox interpretations, nibbana as citta, viññana or atta

In Thai Theravada, as well as among some modern Theravada scholars, there are alternative interpretations which differ from the traditional orthodox Theravada view. These interpretations see nibbana as equivalent in some way with either a special kind of mind (pabhassara citta) or a special consciousness called anidassana viññāṇa, "non-manifest" consciousness which is said to be 'luminous'. In one interpretation, the "luminous consciousness" is identical with nibbana. Others disagree, finding it to be not nibbana itself, but instead to be a kind of consciousness accessible only to arahants.

Some teachers of the Thai forest tradition, such as Ajahn Maha Bua taught an idea called "original mind" which when perfected is said to exist as a separate reality from the world and the aggregates. According to Maha Bua, the indestructible mind or citta is characterized by awareness or knowing, which is intrinsically bright (pabhassaram) and radiant, and though it is tangled or "darkened" in samsara, it is not destroyed. This mind is unconditioned, deathless and an independent reality. According to Bua, this mind is impure, but when it is purified of the defilements, it remains abiding in its own foundation. Maha Bua also publicly argued (in a newspaper in 1972) that one could meet with and discuss the teachings with arahants and Buddhas of the past (and that Ajahn Mun had done so) therefore positing that nibbana is a kind of higher existence. Prayudh Payutto, a modern scholar-monk who is widely seen as the most influential authority on Buddhist doctrine in Thailand, has played a prominent role in arguing against the views of Maha Bua, strictly basing his views on the Pali canon to refute such notions.

Ajahns Pasanno and Amaro, contemporary western monastics in the Thai forest tradition, note that these ideas are rooted in a passage in the Anguttara Nikaya (1.61-62) which mentions a certain "pabhassara citta". Citing another passage from the canon which mentions a "consciousness that is signless, boundless, all-luminous" (called anidassana viññāṇa) they state that this "must mean a knowing of a primordial, transcendent nature."

A related view of nibbana has been defended by the American Thai forest monk Thanissaro Bhikkhu. According to Thanissaro, "non-manifestive consciousness" (anidassana viññāṇa) differs from the kinds of consciousness associated to the six sense media, which have a "surface" that they fall upon and arise in response to. In a liberated individual, this is directly experienced, in a way that is free from any dependence on conditions at all. In Thanissaro's view, the luminous, unsupported consciousness associated with nibbana is directly known by noble ones without the mediation of the mental consciousness factor in dependent co-arising, and is the transcending of all objects of mental consciousness. The British academic Peter Harvey has defended a similar view of nibbana as anidassana viññāṇa.

According to Paul Williams, there is also a trend in modern Thai Theravada that argues that "nirvana is indeed the true Self (Atman; Pali: atta)". This dispute began when the 12th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand published a book of essays in 1939 arguing that while the conditioned world is anatta, nibbana is atta. According to Williams, this interpretation echoes the Mahayana tathāgatagarbha sutras. This position was criticized by Buddhadhasa Bhikkhu, who argued that the not-self (anatta) perspective is what makes Buddhism unique. Fifty years after this dispute, the Dhammakaya Movement also began to teach that nibbana is not anatta, but the "true self" or dhammakaya. According to Williams, this dhammakaya (dharma body) is "a luminous, radiant and clear Buddha figure free of all defilements and situated within the body of the meditator." This view has been strongly criticized as "insulting the Buddha’s teaching" and "showing disrespect to the Pali canon" by Prayudh Payutto (In his The Dhammakaya case) and this has led to fervent debates in Thai Buddhist circles.

A related idea, which finds no explicit support in the Pali Canon without interpretation, and is the product of contemporary Theravada practice tradition, despite its absence in the Theravada commentaries and Abhidhamma, is that the mind of the arahant is itself nibbāna. The Canon does not support the identification of the "luminous mind" with nirvanic consciousness, though it plays a role in the realization of nirvāṇa. Upon the destruction of the fetters, according to one scholar, "the shining nibbanic consciousness flashes out" of it, "being without object or support, so transcending all limitations."

Another western monastic in the thai forest tradition, Ajahn Brahmāli, has recently written against all of these views, drawing on a careful study of the Nikāyas. Brahmāli concludes that the "most reasonable interpretation" of final nibbāna is "no more than the cessation of the five khandhas." Brahmāli also notes that there is a kind of samādhi that is attainable only by the awakened and is based on their knowledge of nibbana (but is not nibbana itself), this meditation is what is being referred to by terms such as non-manifest consciousness (anidassana viññāṇa) and unestablished consciousness (appatiṭṭhita viññāṇa).

Bhante Sujato has written extensively to refute this idea as well.

In other Buddhist schools

Sthavira schools

The later Buddhist Abhidharma schools gave different meaning and interpretations of the term, moving away from the original metaphor of the extinction of the "three fires". The Sarvastivada Abhidharma compendium, the Mahavibhasasastra, says of nirvana:

As it is the cessation of defilements (klesanirodha), it is called nirvana. As it is the extinction of the triple fires, it is called nirvana. As it is the tranquility of three characteristics, it is called nirvana. As there is separation (viyoga) from bad odor (durgandha), it is called nirvana. As there is separation from destinies (gati), it is called nirvana. Vana means forest and nir means escape. As it is the escape from the forest of the aggregates, it is called nirvana. Vana means weaving and nir means negation. As there is no weaving, it is called nirvana. In a way that one with thread can easily be woven while one without that cannot be woven, in that way one with action (karma) and defilements (klesa) can easily be woven into life and death while an asaiksa who is without any action and defilements cannot be woven into life and death. That is why it is called nirvana. Vana means new birth and nir means negation. As there is no more new birth, it is called nirvana. Vana means bondage and nir means separation. As it is separation from bondage, it is called nirvana. Vana means all discomforts of life and death and nir means passing beyond. As it passes beyond all discomforts of life and death, it is called nirvana.

According to Soonil Hwang, the Sarvastivada school held that there were two kinds of nirodha (extinction), extinction without knowledge (apratisamkhyanirodha) and extinction through knowledge (pratisamkhyanirodha), which is the equivalent of nirvana. In the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, extinction through knowledge was equivalent to nirvana, and was defined by its intrinsic nature (svabhava), ‘all extinction which is disjunction (visamyoga)’. This dharma is defined by the Abhidharmakosha as "a special understanding, the penetration (pratisamkhyana) of suffering and the other noble truths." Soonil explains the Sarvastivada view of nirvana as "the perpetual separation of an impure dharma from a series of aggregates through the antidote, ‘acquisition of disjunction’ (visamyogaprapti)." Because the Sarvastivadins held that all dharmas exist in the three times, they saw the destruction of defilements as impossible and thus "the elimination of a defilement is referred to as a ‘separation’ from the series." Soonil adds:

That is to say, the acquisition of the defilement is negated, or technically ‘disjoined’ (visamyoga), through the power of knowledge that terminates the junction between that defilement and the series of aggregates. By reason of this separation, then, there arises ‘the acquisition of disjunction’ (visamyogaprapti) that serves as an antidote (pratipaksa), which henceforward prevents the junction between the defilement and this series.

The Sarvastivadins also held that nirvana was a real existent (dravyasat) which perpetually protects a series of dharmas from defilements in the past, present and future. Their interpretation of nirvana became an issue of debate between them and the Sautrantika school. For the Sautrantikas, nirvana "was not a real existent but a mere designation (prajñaptisat) and was non-existence succeeding existence (pascadabhava)." It is something merely spoken of conventionally, without an intrinsic nature (svabhava). The Abhidharmakosha, explaining the Sautrantika view of nirvana, states:

The extinction through knowledge is, when latent defilements (anusaya) and life (janman) that have already been produced are extinguished, non-arising of further such by the power of knowledge (pratisamkhya).

Thus for the Sautrantikas, nirvana was simply the "non-arising of further latent defilement when all latent defilements that have been produced have already been extinguished." Meanwhile, the Pudgalavada school interpreted nirvana as the single Absolute truth which constitutes "the negation, absence, cessation of all that constitutes the world in which we live, act and suffer". According to Thiện Châu, for the Pudgalavadins, nirvana is seen as totally different than the compounded realm, since it the uncompounded (asamskrta) realm where no compounded things exist, and it is also beyond reasoning and expression. One of the few surviving Pudgalavada texts defines nirvana as:

Absolute truth is the definitive cessation of all activities of speech (vac) and of all thoughts (citta). Activity is bodily action (kayakarman): speech (vac) is that of the voice (vakkarman); thought is that of the mind (manaskarman). If these three (actions) cease definitively, that is absolute truth which is Nirvana.

Comparison of the major Sthavira school positions

Early Buddhist Classical Theravāda Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika Sautrāntika Pudgalavāda
Conception of nirvana or the asankhata The cessation of the triple fires of passion, hatred and delusion. Existing separately (patiyekka) from mere destruction A real existent (dravya) Non-existence, a mere designation (prajñapti) A real existent different than samsara
The "fuel" or "remainder" (upādi) The five aggregates The five aggregates Life faculty (jivitendriya) and homogeneous character of the group (nikayasabhaga) Momentum (avedha) of the series of aggregates The five aggregates
Nirvana with a remainder of clinging The cessation of the triple fires of passion hatred and delusion The cessation of defilements (kilesa) The disjunction (visamyoga) from all impure (sasrava) dharmas Non-arising of further latent defilements (anusaya) The cessation of defilements (klesa)
Nirvana without a remainder of clinging The cessation of the five aggregates. Its ontological status is an unanswerable (avyākata). The cessation of the five aggregates The disintegration of the series of aggregates Non-arising of further life (janman) The cessation of the aggregates. The pudgala (person) cannot actually be said to be existent nor non-existent and it is neither the same nor different than nirvana.

Mahāsāṃghika

According to Andre Bareau, the Mahāsāṃghika school held that the nirvana reached by arhats was fundamentally inferior to that of the Buddhas. Regarding the nirvana reached by the Buddha, they held that his longevity (ayu), his body (rupa, sarira) and divine power (tejas) were infinite, unlimited and supramundane (lokuttara). Therefore, they held to a kind of docetism which posited that Buddhas only appear to be born into the world and thus when they die and enter nirvana, this is only a fiction. In reality, the Buddha remains in the form of a body of enjoyment (sambhogakaya) and continues to create many forms (nirmana) adapted to the different needs of beings in order to teach them through clever means (upaya).

According to Guang Xing, Mahāsāṃghikas held that there were two aspects of a Buddha's attainment: the true Buddha who is omniscient and omnipotent, and the manifested forms through which he liberates sentient beings through his skillful means. For the Mahāsāṃghikas, the historical Gautama Buddha was merely one of these transformation bodies (Skt. nirmāṇakāya).

Bareau also writes that for the Mahāsāṃghika school, only wisdom (prajña) can reach nirvana, not samadhi. Bareau notes that this might be the source of the prajñaparamita sutras.

Regarding the Ekavyāvahārika branch of the Mahāsāṃghikas, Bareau states that both samsara and nirvana were nominal designations (prajñapti) and devoid of any real substance. According to Nalinaksha Dutt, for the Ekavyāvahārika, all dharmas are conventional and thus unreal (even the absolute was held to be contingent or dependent) while for the Lokottaravada branch, worldly dharmas are unreal but supramundane dharmas like nirvana are real.

In Mahayana Buddhism

The Mahāyāna (Great Vehicle) tradition, which promotes the bodhisattva path as the highest spiritual ideal over the goal of arhatship, envisions different views of nirvāṇa than the Nikaya Buddhist schools. Mahāyāna Buddhism is a diverse group of various Buddhist traditions and therefore there is no single unified Mahāyāna view on nirvāṇa. However, it is generally believed that remaining in saṃsāra in order to help other beings is a noble goal for a Mahāyānist. According to Paul Williams, there are at least two conflicting models on the bodhisattva's attitude to nirvāṇa.

The first model seems to be promoted in the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and it states that a bodhisattva postpones their nirvāṇa until they have saved numerous sentient beings, then, after reaching Buddhahood, a bodhisattva passes on to cessation just like an arhat (and thus ceases to help others). In this model, their only difference to an arhat is that they have spent aeons helping other beings and have become a Buddha to teach the Dharma. This model seems to have been influential in the early period of Indian Buddhism. Etienne Lamotte, in his analysis of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, notes that this text also supports the idea that after entering complete nirvāṇa (parinirvāṇa), a bodhisattva is "able to do nothing more for gods or for men" and therefore he seeks to obtain "wisdom similar to but slightly inferior to that of the Buddhas, which allows him to remain for a long time in saṃsāra in order to dedicate himself to salvific activity by many and varied skillful means."

The second model is one which does not teach that one must postpone nirvāṇa. This model eventually developed a comprehensive theory of nirvāṇa taught by the Yogacara school and later Indian Mahāyāna, which states there are at least two kinds of nirvāṇa, the nirvāṇa of an arhat and a superior type of nirvāṇa called apratiṣṭhita (non-abiding).

Apratiṣṭhita nirvāna

Main article: Non-abidance
The Buddha's quest for nirvana, a relief in Vietnam
Illustrated Lotus Sūtra scroll, “Universal Gateway,” Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra.
See also: Bodhisattva and Buddhahood

The classic Mahāyāna Yogacara view posits that there are at least two types of nirvana, holding that what is called ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' ("non-abiding", non-localized", "non-fixed") to be the highest nirvana, and more profound than ''pratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa'', the ‘localized’, lesser nirvana. According to the classic Indian theory, this lesser, abiding nirvana is achieved by followers of the "inferior" vehicle (hinayana) schools which are said to only work towards their own personal liberation. From this perspective, the hinayana path only leads to one's own liberation, either as sravaka (listener, hearer, or disciple) or as pratyekabuddha (solitary realizer).

According to Robert Buswell and Donald Lopez, ''apratiṣṭhita-nirvana'' is the standard Mahāyāna view of the attainment of a Buddha, which enables them to freely return to samsara in order to help sentient beings, while still being in a kind of nirvana. The Mahāyāna path is thus said to aim at a further realization, namely an active Buddhahood that does not dwell in a static nirvana, but out of compassion (karuṇā) engages in enlightened activity to liberate beings for as long as samsara remains. Apratiṣṭhita-nirvana is said to be reached when bodhisattvas eradicate both the afflictive obstructions (klesavarana) and the obstructions to omniscience (jñeyavarana), and is therefore different than the nirvana of arhats, who have eradicated only the former.

According to Alan Sponberg, apratiṣṭhita-nirvana is "a nirvana that is not permanently established in, or bound to, any one realm or sphere of activity". This is contrasted with a kind of nirvana which is "permanently established or fixed (pratiṣṭhita) in the transcendent state of nirvana-without-remainder (nirupadhisesa-nirvana)." According to Sponberg this doctrine developed among Yogacara Buddhists who rejected earlier views which were based on an individual liberation aimed at a transcendent state, separated from the mundane sphere of human existence. Mahayana Buddhists rejected this view as inconsistent with the universalist Mahayana ideal of the salvation of all beings and with the absolutist non-dual Mahayana perspective that did not see an ultimate distinction between samsara and nirvana. Sponberg also notes that the Madhyamika school also had a hand in developing this idea, due to their rejection of dualistic concepts which separated samsara and nirvana and their promotion of a form of liberation which was totally without duality.

Though the idea that Buddhas remain active in the world can be traced back to the Mahasamghika school, the term apratiṣṭhita-nirvana seems to be a Yogacara innovation. According to Gadjin Nagao, the term is likely to be an innovation of the Yogacaras, and possibly of the scholar Asanga (fl. 4th century CE). Sponberg states that this doctrine presents a "Soteriological Innovation in Yogacara Buddhism" which can be found mainly in works of the Yogacara school such as the Sandhinirmocana-sutra, the Lankavatarasutra, the Mahayanasutralamkara, and is most fully worked out in the Mahayana-samgraha of Asanga. In Chapter IX of the samgraha, Asanga presents the classic definition of apratiṣṭhita-nirvana in the context of discussing the severing of mental obstacles (avarana):

This severing is the apratiṣṭhita-nirvana of the bodhisattva. It has as its characteristic (laksana) the revolution (paravrtti) of the dual base (asraya) in which one relinquishes all defilements (klesa), but does not abandon the world of death and rebirth (samsara).

In his commentary on this passage, Asvabhava (6th century), states that the wisdom which leads to this state is termed non-discriminating cognition (nirvikalpaka-jñana) and he also notes that this state is a union of wisdom (prajña) and compassion (karuna):

The bodhisattva dwells in this revolution of the base as if in an immaterial realm (arupyadhatu). On the one hand—with respect to his own personal interests (svakartham)—he is fully endowed with superior wisdom (adhiprajña) and is thus not subject to the afflictions (klesa) while on the other hand—with respect to the interests of other beings (parartham)—he is fully endowed with great compassion (mahakaruna) and thus never ceases to dwell in the world of death and re-birth (samsara).

According to Sponberg, in Yogacara, the Buddha's special wisdom that allows participation in both nirvana and samsara, termed non-discriminating cognition (nirvikalpaka-jñana) has various aspects: a negative aspect which is free from discrimination that binds one to samsara and positive and dynamic aspects which intuitively cognize the Absolute and give a Buddha "access to the Absolute without yielding efficacy in the relative."

Paths to Buddhahood

Most sutras of the Mahāyāna tradition, states Jan Nattier, present three alternate goals of the path: Arhatship, Pratyekabuddhahood, and Buddhahood. However, according to an influential Mahāyāna text called the Lotus Sutra, while the lesser attainment of individual nirvana is taught as a skillful means by the Buddha in order to help beings of lesser capacities; ultimately, the highest and only goal is the attainment of Buddhahood. The Lotus sutra further states that, although these three paths are seemingly taught by Buddhas as separate vehicles (yana), they are really all just skillful ways (upaya) of teaching a single path (ekayana), which is the bodhisattva path to full Buddhahood. Thus, these three separate goals are not really different at all, the 'lesser' paths are actually just clever teaching devices used by Buddhas to get people to practice, eventually though, they will be led to the one and only path of Mahāyāna and full Buddhahood.

The Mahāyāna commentary the Abhisamayalamkara presents the path of the bodhisattva as a progressive formula of Five Paths (pañcamārga). A practitioner on the Five Paths advances through a progression of ten stages, referred to as the bodhisattva bhūmis (grounds or levels).

Omniscience

The end stage practice of the Mahāyāna removes the imprints of delusions, the obstructions to omniscience (sarvākārajñatā), which prevent simultaneous and direct knowledge of all phenomena. Only Buddhas have overcome these obstructions and, therefore, only Buddhas have omniscience knowledge, which refers to the power of a being in some way to have "simultaneous knowledge of all things whatsoever". From the Mahāyāna point of view, an arhat who has achieved the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle will still have certain subtle obscurations that prevent the arhat from realizing complete omniscience. When these final obscurations are removed, the practitioner will attain apratiṣṭhita-nirvana and achieve full omniscience.

Buddhahood's bodies

See also: Trikaya
The Garbhadhatu mandala of the Mahavairocana Tantra representing multiple manifestations of the Dharmakaya, the Buddha Vairocana.

Some Mahāyāna traditions see the Buddha in docetic terms, viewing his visible manifestations as projections from its nirvanic state. According to Etienne Lamotte, Buddhas are always and at all times in nirvana, and their corporeal displays of themselves and their Buddhic careers are ultimately illusory. Lamotte writes of the Buddhas:

They are born, reach enlightenment, set turning the Wheel of Dharma, and enter nirvana. However, all this is only illusion: the appearance of a Buddha is the absence of arising, duration and destruction; their nirvana is the fact that they are always and at all times in nirvana.'

This doctrine, developed among the Mahāsaṃghikas, where the historical person, Gautama Buddha, was one of these transformation bodies (Skt. nirmāṇakāya), while the essential Buddha is equated with the transcendental Buddha called dharmakāya. In Mahāyāna, this eventually developed into the doctrine of the "Three Bodies" of the Buddha (Trikaya). This doctrine is interpreted in different ways by the different Mahāyāna traditions. According to Reginald Ray, it is "the body of reality itself, without specific, delimited form, wherein the Buddha is identified with the spiritually charged nature of everything that is."

Buddha-nature

See also: Buddha-nature

An alternative idea of Mahāyāna nirvana is found in the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras. The title itself means a garbha (womb, matrix, seed) containing Tathagata (Buddha). These Sutras suggest, states Paul Williams, that 'all sentient beings contain a Tathagata' as their 'essence, core or essential inner nature'. The tathāgatagarbha doctrine (also called buddhadhatu, buddha-nature), at its earliest probably appeared about the later part of the 3rd century CE, and is verifiable in Chinese translations of 1st millennium CE. Most scholars consider the tathāgatagarbha doctrine of an 'essential nature' in every living being is equivalent to 'Self', and it contradicts the "no self" (or no soul, no atman, anatta) doctrines in a vast majority of Buddhist texts, leading scholars to posit that the Tathagatagarbha Sutras were written to promote Buddhism to non-Buddhists. The Mahāyāna tradition thus often discusses nirvana with its concept of the tathāgatagarbha, the innate presence of Buddhahood. According to Alex Wayman, Buddha nature has its roots in the idea of an innately pure luminous mind (prabhasvara citta,) "which is only adventitiously covered over by defilements (agantukaklesa)" lead to the development of the concept of Buddha-nature, the idea that Buddha-hood is already innate, but not recognised.

The tathāgatagarbha has numerous interpretations in the various schools of Mahāyāna and Vajrayana Buddhism. Indian Madhyamaka philosophers generally interpreted the theory as a description of emptiness and as a non implicative negation (a negation which leaves nothing un-negated). According to Karl Brunnholzl, early Indian Yogacaras like Asanga and Vasubandhu referred to the term as "nothing but suchness in the sense of twofold identitylessness". However some later Yogacarins like Ratnakarasanti considered it "equivalent to naturally luminous mind, nondual self-awareness."

The debate as to whether tathāgatagarbha was just a way to refer to emptiness or whether it referred to some kind of mind or consciousness also resumed in Chinese Buddhism, with some Chinese Yogacarins, like Fazang and Ratnamati supporting the idea that it was an eternal non-dual mind, while Chinese Madhyamikas like Jizang rejecting this view and seeing tathāgatagarbha as emptiness and "the middle way."

In some Tantric Buddhist texts such as the Samputa Tantra, nirvana is described as purified, non-dualistic 'superior mind'.

In Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, the debate continues to this day. There are those like the Gelug school, who argue that tathāgatagarbha is just emptiness (described either as dharmadhatu, the nature of phenomena, or a nonimplicative negation). Then there are those who see it as the non-dual union of the mind's unconditioned emptiness and conditioned lucidity (the view of Gorampa of the Sakya school). Others such as the Jonang school and some Kagyu figures, see tathāgatagarbha as a kind of Absolute which "is empty of adventitious defilements which are intrinsically other than it, but is not empty of its own inherent existence".

Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

According to some scholars, the language used in the tathāgatagarbha genre of sutras can be seen as an attempt to state orthodox Buddhist teachings of dependent origination using positive language. Kosho Yamamoto translates the explanation of nirvana in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (c. 100-220 CE) as follows:

"O good man! We speak of "Nirvana". But this is not "Great" "Nirvana". Why is it "Nirvana", but not "Great Nirvana"? This is so when one cuts away defilement without seeing the Buddha-Nature. That is why we say Nirvana, but not Great Nirvana. When one does not see the Buddha-Nature, what there is is the non-Eternal and the non-Self. All that there is is but Bliss and Purity. Because of this, we cannot have Mahaparinirvana, although defilement has been done away with. When one sees well the Buddha-Nature and cuts away defilement, we then have Mahaparinirvana. Seeing the Buddha-Nature, we have the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure. Because of this, we can have Mahaparinirvana, as we cut away defilement."

"O good man! "Nir" means "not"; "va" means "to extinguish". Nirvana means "non- extinction". Also, "va" means "to cover". Nirvana also means "not covered". "Not covered" is Nirvana. "Va" means "to go and come". "Not to go and come" is Nirvana. "Va" means "to take". "Not to take" is Nirvana." "Va" means "not fixed". When there is no unfixedness, there is Nirvana. "Va" means "new and old". What is not new and old is Nirvana.
"O good man! The disciples of Uluka and Kapila say: "Va means characterisitic". "Characteristiclessness" is Nirvana."
"O good man! Va means "is". What is not "is" is Nirvana. Va means harmony. What has nothing to be harmonised is Nirvana. Va means suffering. What has no suffering is Nirvana.
"O good man! What has cut away defilement is no Nirvana. What calls forth no defilement is Nirvana. O good man! The All-Buddha-Tathagata calls forth no defilement. This is Nirvana.

— Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Chapter 31, Translated by Kōshō Yamamoto

In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous state:

'The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the Absolute.

See also

Notes

  1. According to Gombrich, the use of the term "three fires" alludes to the three fires which a brahmin householder had to keep alight, and tend daily. In later Buddhism, the origin of this metaphor was forgotten, and the term was replaced with "the three poisons.
  2. Even Buddhaghosa, the great Theravada commentator, ignored the original etymological meaning of the word, and presented an interpretation of nirvana based on the root √vā, "to weave."
  3. Gombrich explains that the five skandhas or aggregates are the bundles of firewood that fuel the three fires. The Buddhist practitioner ought to "drop" these bundles, so that the fires are no longer fueled and "blow out".
  4. Not only the three fires, but also the extinction of the defilements and tanha are mentioned as nirvana:
    • "Calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, extinction of "thirst", detachment, cessation, Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 136)
    • "O Rādha, the extinction of 'thirst' (Taṇhakkhayo) is Nibbāna." (Saṃyutta-nikāya I (PTS), p. 190)
    • Sutta-nipata: "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."
    • Majjhima Nikaya 2-Att. 4.68: "The liberated mind (citta) that no longer clings' means nibbāna."
  5. "Vimoksha (Skt; Jpn gedatsu ). Emancipation, release, or liberation. The Sanskrit words vimukti, mukti, and moksha also have the same meaning. Vimoksha means release from the bonds of earthly desires, delusion, suffering, and transmigration. While Buddhism sets forth various kinds and stages of emancipation, or enlightenment, the supreme emancipation is nirvana, a state of perfect quietude, freedom, and deliverance."
  6. See Digha Nikaya 15, Mahanidana Sutta, which describes a nine-fold chain of causation. Mind-and-body (nama-rupa) and consciousness (vijnana) do condition here each other (verse 2 & 3). In verse 21 and 22, it is stated that consciousness comes into the mother's womb, and finds a resting place in mind-and-body.
  7. M. Falk (1943, Nama-rupa and Dharma-rupa
  8. According to Alexander Wynne, Schayer:"referred to passages in which "consciousness" (vinnana) seems to be the ultimate reality or substratum (e.g. A I.10) 14 as well as the Saddhatu Sutra, which is not found in any canonical source but is cited in other Buddhist texts — it states that the personality (pudgala) consists of the six elements (dhatu) of earth, water, fire, wind, space and consciousness; Schayer noted that it related to other ancient Indian ideas. Keith’s argument is also based on the Saddhatu Sutra as well as "passages where we have explanations of Nirvana which echo the ideas of the Upanishads regarding the ultimate reality." He also refers to the doctrine of "a consciousness, originally pure, defiled by adventitious impurities."
  9. Cited in Wynne (2007, p. 99).
  10. In the Dhammapada, the Buddha describes nirvāṇa as "the highest happiness", an enduring happiness qualitatively different from the limited, transitory happiness derived from impermanent things.
  11. According to Peter Harvey, the Theravada-tradition tends to minimize mystical tendencies, but there is also a tendency to stress the complete otherness of nirvana from samsara. The Pāli Canon provides good grounds for this minimalistic approach, bit it also contains material suggestive of a Vijnavada-type interpretation of nirvāṇa, namely as a radical transformation of consciousness.
  12. See, for instance, the "Snake-Simile Discourse" (MN 22), where the Buddha states:

    "Monks, this Teaching so well proclaimed by me, is plain, open, explicit, free of patchwork. In this Teaching that is so well proclaimed by me and is plain, open, explicit and free of patchwork; for those who are arahants, free of taints, who have accomplished and completed their task, have laid down the burden, achieved their aim, severed the fetters binding to existence, who are liberated by full knowledge, there is no (future) round of existence that can be ascribed to them.

  13. Both the stream-enterer and the once-returner abandon the first three fetters. What distinguishes these stages is that the once-returner additionally attenuates lust, hate and delusion, and will necessarily be reborn only once more.
  14. A number of the suttas referenced below as well as Buddhaghosa himself refer not explicitly to nirvana but to "the path of purification" (Pali: Visuddhimagga). In Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, v. 5, Buddhaghosa notes: "Herein, purification should be understood as nibbana, which being devoid of all stains, is utterly pure"
  15. These include:
    1. By insight (vipassana) alone
    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;
    6. By the four foundations of mindfulness.
  16. These four stages are: Stream-enterer (Sotapanna), Once returner (Sakadagami), Non-returner (Anagami), Worthy one (Arhat)
  17. See for example: "Jhana Sutta: Mental Absorption". Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. 1997 – via accesstoinsight.org.
  18. There is a clear reference in the Anguttara Nikaya to a "luminous mind" present within all people, be they corrupt or pure, whether or not it itself is pure or impure.
  19. The Tibetan teacher Pabongka Rinpoche presents the path in three levels (or scopes. The first stage indicates a level of understanding or ethical conduct for non-Buddhists, and the second two stages are nirvana and Buddhahood. Pabongka Rinpoche: "The subject matter of these teachings can be included in the various paths of the three scopes. The small scope covers the causes to achieve the high rebirth states of the gods and humans: the ethics of abandoning the ten nonvirtues, etc. The medium scope includes the practices that will cause one to gain the definite excellence of liberation— such practices as abandoning four truths, engaging in , and the practice of the three high trainings. The great scope contains the practices that bring about the definite excellence of omniscience— such practices as the development of bodhichitta, the six perfections, etc. Hence, all this subject matter forms a harmonious practice that will take a person to enlightenment and should be understood as being completely without contradiction."
  20. The Hinayana path is sometimes equated with the modern day Theravada tradition, a classification which the Theravada-tradition rejects. Walpola Rahula: "We must not confuse Hinayana with Theravada because the terms are not synonymous. Theravada Buddhism went to Sri Lanka during the 3rd Century B.C. when there was no Mahayana at all. Hinayana sects developed in India and had an existence independent from the form of Buddhism existing in Sri Lanka. Today there is no Hinayana sect in existence anywhere in the world. Therefore, in 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists inaugurated in Colombo unanimously decided that the term Hinayana should be dropped when referring to Buddhism existing today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, etc. This is the brief history of Theravada, Mahayana and Hinayana."
  21. Wayman and Wayman have disagreed with this view, and they state that the Tathagatagarbha is neither self nor sentient being, nor soul, nor personality.
  22. The names of the founders of Hindu philosophy, along with Rishaba of Jainism, as well as Shiva and Vishnu, are found in the Chinese versions of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

Further notes on "different paths"

  1. See Dh. 277, and "Maggavagga: The Path". Translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita. 1996 – via accesstoinsight.org. In the Paramattha-mañjūsā (the Visuddhimagga commentary), vv. 9-10, it adds the following caveat regarding this option of "insight alone": "The words 'insight alone' are meant to exclude, not virtue, etc., but serenity (i.e., jhana), in the pair, serenity and insight The word 'alone' actually excludes only that concentration with distinction ; for concentration is classed as both access and absorption Taking this stanza as the teaching for one whose vehicle is insight does not imply that there is no concentration; for no insight comes about with momentary concentration. And again, insight should be understood as the three contemplations of impermanence, pain and not-self ; not contemplation of impermanence alone".
  2. "Anathapindikovada Sutta: Instructions to Anathapindika". Translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita. 2003 – via accesstoinsight.org. Verse 262 of this sutta is translated as: "Action, clear-knowing, & mental qualities, virtue, the highest life: through this are mortals purified, not through clan or wealth.
  3. The option expressed by SN i.13 is the basis for the entire rest of the Visuddhimagga's exposition. It is the very first paragraph of the Visuddhimagga and states: "When a wise man, established well in virtue, develops consciousness and understanding, then as a bhikku ardent and sagacious, he succeeds in disentangling this tangle. In the Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, verse 2, Buddhaghosa comments that this tangle refers to "the network of craving." In verse 7, Buddhaghosa states that develops consciousness and understanding means "develops both concentration and insight."
  4. SN i.53) Ñāṇamoli translate SN i.53 as: "He who is possessed of constant virtue, who has understanding, and is concentrated, who is strenuous and diligent as well, will cross the flood so difficult to cross.
  5. "Maha-satipatthana Sutta: The Great Frames of Reference". Translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. 2000 – via accesstoinsight.org. Verse 290 of this sutta is translated as: "The Blessed One said this: "This is the direct path for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow & lamentation, for the disappearance of pain & distress, for the attainment of the right method, & for the realization of Unbinding—in other words, the four frames of reference.""

Quotes

  1. Buswell: "It is found in dictionaries as an English word, nirvana, and has acquired a patina that makes many assume its meaning is obvious. Yet, it is a word about which Buddhists themselves have never reached agreement.
  2. Bhikkhu Bodhi: "Etymologically, the word nibbāna — the Pali form of the better known Sanskrit nirvāṇa — is derived from a verb nibbāti meaning "to be blown out" or "to be extinguished." It thus signifies the extinguishing of the worldly "fires" of greed, hatred, and delusion. But the Pali commentators prefer to treat it as the negation of, or "departure from" (nikkhantatta), the entanglement (vāna) of craving, the derivation which is offered here. For as long as one is entangled by craving, one remains bound in saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and death; but when all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna, deliverance from the cycle of birth and death.
  3. Buswell: "The Sanskrit term nirvana is an action noun signifying the act and effect of blowing (at something) to put it out, to blow out, or to extinguish, but the noun also signifies the process and outcome of burning out, becoming extinguished, cooling down, and hence, allaying, calming down, and also taming, making docile. Technically, in the religious traditions of India, the term denotes the process of accomplishing and experiencing freedom from the unquenchable thirst of desire and the pains of repeated births, lives, and deaths.
  4. Rupert Gethin: "Literally nirvāṇa means 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing', although Buddhist commentarial writings, by a play on words, like to explain it as 'the absence of craving'. But where English translations of Buddhist texts have 'he attains nirvāṇa/parinirvāṇa', the more characteristic Pali or Sanskrit idiom is a simple verb: 'he or she nirvāṇa-s' or more often 'he or she parinirvānṇa-s' (parinibbāyati). What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion."
  5. Gombrich: "I hope it is not too farfetched to suggest that this may have contributed to an important development in the Mahayana: that it came to separate nirvana from bodhi, 'awakening' to the truth, Enlightenment, and to put a lower value on the former. Originally nirvana and bodhi refer to the same thing; they merely use different metaphors for the experience. But the Mahayana tradition separated them and considered that nirvana referred only to the extinction of craving, with the resultant escape from the cycle of rebirth. This interpretation ignores the third fire, delusion: the extinction of delusion is of course in the early texts identical with what can be positively expressed as gnosis, Enlightenment.
  6. See:
    • Rupert Gethin: "Literally nirvāṇa means 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing' What the Pali and Sanskrit expression primarily indicates is the event or process of the extinction of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion. At the moment the Buddha understood suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation, these fires were extinguished. This process is the same for all who reach awakening, and the early texts term it either nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa, the complete 'blowing out' or 'extinguishing' of the 'fires' of greed, aversion, and delusion. This is not a 'thing' but an event or experience.
    • Paul Williams: " means 'extinguishing', as in 'the extinguishing of a flame', and it signifies soteriologically the complete extinguishing of greed, hatred, and fundamentally delusion (i.e. ignorance), the forces which power samsara."
    • Paul Williams: "Nirvana is broadly speaking the result of letting-go, letting-go the very forces of craving which power continued experiences of pleasure and inevitably suffering throughout this life, death, rebirth, and redeath. That, in a nutshell, is what nirvana is. It is the complete and permanent cessation of samsara, thence the cessation of all types of suffering, resulting from letting-go the forces which power samsara, due to overcoming ignorance (thence also hatred and delusion, the 'three root poisons') through seeing things the way they really are."
    • Donald Lopez: " is used to refer to the extinction of desire, hatred, and ignorance and, ultimately, of suffering and rebirth."
    • Damien Keown states: "When the flame of craving is extinguished, rebirth ceases, and an enlightened person is not reborn."
  7. Nirvana during life and beyond death:
    • Donald Lopez states: "Two types of nirvana are described. The first is called 'nirvana with remainder.' The second type is called 'nirvana without remainder', or final nirvana."
    • Peter Harvey states: "The first aspect of Nibbana is described as 'with remainder of what is grasped at' (sa-updadi-sesa), meaning that the khandas, the result of past grasping, still remain for him; the second is described as 'without remainder of what is grasped at' (an-upadi-sesa) (It.38-39).
  8. Rupert Gethin: "Like the Buddha, any person who attains nirvāṇa does not remain thereafter forever absorbed in some transcendental state of mind. On the contrary he or she continues to live in the world; he or she continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom. This condition of having extinguished the defilements can be termed 'nirvāṇa with the remainder ' (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/sa-upādisesa-nibbāna): the nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the defilements (kleśa/kilesa) of the mind; what the Pali commentaries call for short kilesa-parinibbāna. And this is what the Buddha achieved on the night of his awakening."
  9. Freedom from negative states:
    • Walpola Rahula: "free from all 'complexes' and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others."
    • Damien Keown: "Nirvana involves a radically transformed state of consciousness which is free of the obsession with 'me and mine'."
    • Rupert Gethin: "Any person who attains nirvāṇa continues to think, speak, and act as other people do—with the difference that all his or her thoughts, words, and deeds are completely free of the motivations of greed, aversion, and delusion, and motivated instead entirely by generosity, friendliness, and wisdom.
  10. Peacefulness:
    • Bhikkhu Bodhi states: "The state of perfect peace that comes when craving is eliminated is Nibbāna (nirvāṇa)."
    • Joseph Goldstein states: "It is also described as the deathless, absolute peace, freedom, and so forth."
    • Lama Surya Das states: "Nirvana is inconceivable inner peace, the cessation of craving and clinging."
    • Walpola Rahula states: "He who has realized the Truth, Nirvāṇa, is (...) joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful."
    • Damien Keown states: "It is clear that nirvana-in-this-life is a psychological and ethical reality, a transformed state of personality characterized by peace, deep spiritual joy, compassion, and a refined and subtle awareness. Negative mental states and emotions such as doubt, worry, anxiety, and fear are absent from the enlightened mind. Saints in many religious traditions exhibit some or all of these qualities, and ordinary people also possess them to some degree, although imperfectly developed. An enlightened person, however, such as a Buddha or an Arhat, possesses them all completely."
  11. Non-reactiveness:
    • Phillip Moffitt states: "Nibbana literally means "cooled" and is analogous to a fire that's no longer burning. Thus, when there is cessation, your mind no longer burns in response to the arising of pleasant and unpleasant in your life; it isn't reactive or controlled by what you like or dislike."
    • Ringu Tulku explains: "Someone who has attained the state of nirvana, will no longer react within the pattern of aversion and attachment. The way such a person sees things will be nondualistic and therefore non-conceptual. When this dual reaction is gone, nothing is haunting or fearful anymore. We see clearly, and nothing seems imposing, since nothing is imposed from our part. When there is nothing we do not like, there is nothing to fear. Being free from fear, we are peaceful. There is no need to run away from anything, and therefore no need to run after anything either. In this way there is no burden. We can have inner peace, strength, and clarity, almost independent from circumstances and situations. This is complete freedom of mind without any circumstantial entanglement; the state is called "nirvana" . Someone who has reached this state has gone beyond our usual way of being imprisoned in habitual patterns and distorted ways of seeing these things."
  12. Rupert Gethin: "Eventually 'the remainder of life' will be exhausted and, like all beings, such a person must die. But unlike other beings, who have not experienced 'nirvāṇa', he or she will not be reborn into some new life, the physical and mental constituents of being will not come together in some new existence, there will be no new being or person. Instead of being reborn, the person 'parinirvāṇa-s', meaning in this context that the five aggregates of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being cease to occur. This is the condition of 'nirvāṇa without remainder ' (nir-upadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa/an-up ādisesa-nibbāna): nirvāṇa that comes from ending the occurrence of the aggregates (skandha/khandha) of physical and mental phenomena that constitute a being; or, for short, khandha-parinibbāna. Modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict 'nirvāṇa' to the awakening experience and reserve 'parinirvāṇa' for the death experience."
  13. Walpola Rahula: "Now another question arises: What happens to the Buddha or an Arahant after his death, parinirvāṇa? This comes under the category of unanswered questions (avyākata). Even when the Buddha spoke about this, he indicated that no words in our vocabulary could express what happens to an Arahant after his death. In reply to a Parivrājaka named Vaccha, the Buddha said that terms like 'born' or 'not born' do not apply in the case of an Arahant, because those things—matter, sensation, perception, mental activities, consciousness—with which the terms like 'born' and 'not born' are associated, are completely destroyed and uprooted, never to rise again after his death. ."
  14. Walpola Rahula: "An Arahant after his death is often compared to a fire gone out when the supply of wood is over, or to the flame of a lamp gone out when the wick and oil are finished. Here it should be clearly and distinctly understood, without any confusion, that what is compared to a flame or a fire gone out is not Nirvāṇa, but the 'being' composed of the Five Aggregates who realized Nirvāṇa. This point has to be emphasized because many people, even some great scholars, have misunderstood and misinterpreted this simile as referring to Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is never compared to a fire or a lamp gone out.
  15. Richard Gombrich, who studied with Walpola Rahula, notes: "here is one point where the great scholar monk has let us down: his account of nirvana, in Chapter IV, is unclear and, to my mind, even at points self-contradictory In proclaiming (in block capitals) that 'Truth is', Rahula has for a moment fallen into Upanisadic mode.
  16. In the Yamaka Sutta (SN 22.58), the monk Sariputta teaches that to state that a person who attains nirvana "does not exist" after death is not the correct view; the correct view is that nirvana-after-death is outside of all conceivable experience. The only accurate statement that can be made about nirvana-after-death is "That which is stressful (dukkha; suffering) has ceased and gone to its end."

    The Aggivacchagotta Sutta states that the state of being after death cannot be described as either being reborn after death, not being reborn, being and not being reborn, or neither being nor not being reborn. The sutra concludes: "Any fire burning dependent on a sustenance of grass and timber, being unnourished — from having consumed that sustenance and not being offered any other — is classified simply as 'out' (unbound).
    Even so any physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him: That the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Freed from the classification of form the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea. 'Reappears' doesn't apply. 'Does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Both does & does not reappear' doesn't apply. 'Neither reappears nor does not reappear' doesn't apply."
  17. Walpola Rahula: "Nirvāṇa is beyond all terms of duality and relativity. It is therefore beyond our conceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, existence and non-existence. Even the word 'happiness' (sukha) which is used to describe Nirvāṇa has an entirely different sense here. Sāriputta once said: 'O friend, Nirvāṇa is happiness! Nirvāṇa is happiness!' Then Udāyi asked: 'But, friend Sāriputta, what happiness can it be if there is no sensation?' Sāriputta's reply was highly philosophical and beyond ordinary comprehension: "That there is no sensation itself is happiness'."
  18. Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro: "The Buddha avoided the nit-picking pedantry of many philosophers contemporary with him and opted for a more broad-brush, colloquial style, geared to particular listeners in a language which they could understand. Thus 'viññana' here can be assumed to mean 'knowing' but not the partial, fragmented, discriminative (vi-) knowing (-ñana) which the word usually implies. Instead it must mean a knowing of a primordial, transcendent nature, otherwise the passage which contains it would be self-contradictory." They then give further context for why this choice of words may have been made; the passages may represent an example of the Buddha using his "skill in means" to teach Brahmins in terms they were familiar with.
  19. Rupert Gethin: The Mahāyāna sūtras express two basic attitudes towards . The first is that the path of the disciple and the path of the pratyeka-buddha do lead to a kind of awakening, a release from suffering, nirvāna, and as such are real goals. These goals are, however, inferior and should be renounced for the superior attainment of buddhahood. The second attitude, classically articulated by the Lotus Sūtra, sees the goal of the disciple and the pratyeka-buddha as not true goals at all. The fact that the Buddha taught them is an example of his 'skill in means' (upaya-kauśalya) as a teacher. These goals are thus merely clever devices (upāya) employed by the Buddha in order to get beings to at least begin the practice of the path; eventually their practice must lead on to the one and only vehicle (eka-yāna) that is the mahāyāna, the vehicle ending in perfect buddhahood.
  20. From the Mahayana point of view, the nonabiding (apratiṣṭhita) nirvana is superior to the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle:
    • Thubten Thardo (Gareth Sparham) states: "The term "non-abiding nirvāṇa" indicates that a fully awakened buddha is utterly free from saṃsāra, yet due to compassion has not entered into a more restricted form of nirvāṇa that precludes continued activity within the world."
    • Erik Pema Kunsang states (based on teachings by Tulku Orgyen Rinpoche and Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche): "The lesser nirvana refers to the liberation from cyclic existence attained by a hinayana practitioner. When referring to a buddha, nirvana is the great nondwelling state of enlightenment which falls neither into the extreme of samsaric existence nor into the passive state of cessation attained by an arhant."
    • Thrangu Rinpoche states: "The samadhi with the union of samatha and vipasyana fully developed will free one from the bondage of samsara so one attains a state of nonabiding nirvana, which is Buddhahood.
    • The Padmakara Translation Group states: "It is important to realize that the term is understood differently by the different vehicles: the nirvana of the Basic Vehicle, the peace of cessation that an Arhat attains, is very different from a Buddha's "nondwelling" nirvana, the state of perfect enlightenment that transcends both samsara and nirvana."
    • Peter Harvey states: "An advanced Bodhisattva who has experienced Nirvana does not rest content with this. He turns again to samsara in the service of others, which the Mahayana-samgraha calls his 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhita) Nirvana, not clinging either to samsara or to Nirvana as something supposedly separate from this (Nagao, 1991)."
    • Rupert Gethin states: "For the Mahayana becoming a Buddha generally involves attaining what is characterized as the 'unestablished' or 'non-abiding' (apratiṣṭhita) nirvāṇa: on the one hand the knowledge of a buddha that sees emptiness, is not 'established' in saṃsāra (by seizing on birth as an individual being, for example), on the other hand the great compassion of a buddha prevents the complete turning away from saṃsāra. So ultimately he abides neither in saṃsāra nor in nirvāṇa."
    • Duckworth: The Lesser Vehicle does not result in the practitioner becoming a complete buddha; rather, the aim is to achieve a personal nirvana that is the total extinction of existence. The Great Vehicle, however, does result in becoming a complete buddha. A buddha remains actively engaged in enlightened activity to liberate beings for as long as samsara remains. Thus, those who accomplish the Great Vehicle do not abide in samsara due to their wisdom that sees its empty, illusory nature. Further, unlike those who attain the nirvana of the Lesser Vehicle to escape samsara, they do not abide in an isolated nirvana due to their compassion. For these reasons, in the Great Vehicle, nirvana is said to be "unlocated" or "nonabiding" (apratiṣṭhita), staying in neither samsara nor nirvana.
  21. Translator Jeffrey Hopkins provides the following analogy:"If you put garlic in a vessel, it deposits some of its odor in the vessel itself; Thus when you seek to clean the vessel, it is necessary to first remove the garlic.
    Similarly, a consciousness conceiving inherent existence, like garlic, deposits predispositions in the mind that produce the appearance of inherent existence; Thus, there is no way to cleanse the mind of those predispositions, which are like the flavor of garlic left in the vessel of the mind, until one removes all consciousnesses conceiving of inherent existence from the mind. First, the garlic must be removed; then, its odor can be removed.
    For this reason, according to the Consequence School, until one has utterly removed all the afflictive obstructions, one cannot begin to remove the obstructions to omniscience. Since this is the case, a practitioner cannot begin overcoming the obstructions to omniscience on any of the seven first bodhisattva grounds, which are called "impure" because one still has afflictive obstructions to be abandoned.
    Rather, one begins abandoning the obstructions to omniscience on the eighth bodhisattva ground, and continues to do so on the ninth and tenth, these three being called the 'three pure grounds" because the afflictive obstructions have been abandoned."

Further notes on quotes

  1. Vetter, Gombrich, and Bronkhorst, among others, notes that the emphasis on "liberating insight" is a later development. In the earliest Buddhism, the practice of dhyana may have been the sole liberating practice, with bodhi denoting the insight that dhyana is an affective means to still the fires.
  2. Robert Sharf notices that "experience" is a typical modern, western word. In the 19th century, "experience" came to be seen as a means to "prove" religious "realities".
  3. ^ Gethin cites: Dhammapada-atthakathā ii. 163; Vibhaṇga-atthakatha 433.
  4. Rahula cites: Majjhima-nikāya II (PTS), p. 121
  5. Gethin footnote: Also Śrīmālādevī 78–94; and Lankāvatāra Sūtra 63; cf. Herbert V. Guenther (trans.), The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (London, 1970), 4–6.
  6. Gethin footnote: On the notion of 'skill in means' see Michael Pye, Skilful Means (London, 1978); Williams (2008), pp. 143–150.

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