Nirvana

Nirvāṇa (Pali: Nibbāna Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: niè pán), literally "extinction" and/or "extinguishing" (ie, of the passions) is a mode of being that is free from mind-contaminants (Kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving. It is thus a state of great inner peace and contentment - the end of suffering, or Dukkha. The Buddha in the Dhammapada says of Nirvana that it is 'the highest happiness'. This is not the transitory, sense-based happiness of everyday life, but rather an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through enlightenment.

The Buddha describes the abiding in nirvana as 'deathlessness' (Pali: amata or amaravati) or 'the unconditioned' and as the highest spiritual attainment, the natural result that accrues to one who lives a life of virtuous conduct in accordance with Dharma. Such a life (called Brahmacarya in India) dissolves the causes for future becoming (Skt, Karma; Pali, Kamma) that otherwise keep beings forever wandering through realms of desire and form (samsara).

There are many synonyms for Nirvana, as shown by the following passage:

World Honored One, the ground of fruition is bodhi, nirvana, true suchness, the Buddha-nature, the amala-consciousness, the empty treasury of the Thus Come One, the great, perfect mirror-wisdom. But although it is called by these seven names, it is pure and perfect, its substance is durable, like royal vajra, everlasting and indestructible. (Surangama Sutra IV 207)

Introduction

Nirvāṇa (Pali nibbāna) in sutra is "bhavanirodha nibbānam" (The cessation of becoming means Nirvāna). Nirvāna in sūtra is never conceived of as a place, but the antinomy of samsāra (see below) which itself is synonymous with ignorance (avidyā, Pāli avijjā). “This said:

‘the liberated mind (citta) that no longer clings’ means Nibbāna” (Majjhima Nikaya 2-Att. 4.68).

Nibbāna is meant specifically as pertains gnosis that which ends the identity of the mind (citta) with empirical phenomena. Doctrinally Nibbāna is said of the mind which no "longer is coming (bhava) and going (vibhava)", but which has attained a status in perpetuity, whereby "liberation (vimutta) can be said".

It carries further connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. The realizing of nirvana is compared to the ending of avidyā (ignorance) which perpetuates the will (cetana) into effecting the incarnation of mind into biological or other form passing on forever through life after life (samsara). Samsara is caused principally by craving and ignorance (see dependent origination) . Nirvāṇa, then, is not a place nor a state, it is an absolute truth to be realized, and a person can do so without dying. When a person who has realized nirvāna dies, his death is referred as his parinirvāna, his fully passing away, as his life was his last link to the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), and he will not be reborn again. Buddhism holds that the ultimate goal and end of samsaric existence (of ever "becoming" and "dying" and never truly being) is realization of nirvāna; what happens to a person after his parinirvāna cannot be explained, as it is outside of all conceivable experience.

Undefinable nature

Gautama Buddha sometimes refers to nirvāna as amṛta / amata ("Immortality" Im-Mortalis, A-mata):

“This is immortality, that being the liberated mind (citta) which does not cling (to anything)” (Majjhima Nikaya 2.265)

Ergo the freed mind is equal to Nibbana in Buddhist doctrine. Elsewhere the Buddha calls nirvāna 'the unconditioned element' (i.e., that which is not subject to causation). Nirvāna in doctrinal citation the "subjugation of becoming" (bhavanirodha nibbanam) and is relavent to Ignorance (avijja) only, such that Samsara is the will/mind (citta) in ignorance, and Nirvana/Nibbana the will/mind devoid of said ignorance; it can only be experienced in direct Subjective gnosis. While some of the associated effects of nirvāna can be identified, a definition of nirvāna can only be approximated by what it is not. It is not the clinging existence with which man is understood to be afflicted. It is not any sort of becoming. It has no origin or end. It is not made or fabricated. It has no dualities, so that it cannot be described in words. It has no parts that may be distinguished one from another. It is not a subjective state of consciousness. It is not conditioned on or by anything else.

It should also be noted that the Buddha discouraged certain lines of speculation, including speculation into the state of an enlightened being after death, on the grounds that these were not useful for pursuing enlightenment; thus definitions of nirvāna might be said to be doctrinally unimportant.

In the Samyutta Nikaya (SN43:14), the Buddha describes Nibbāna as:

“the far shore, the subtle, the very difficult to see, the unaging, the stable, the undisintegrating, the unmanifest, the unproliferated, the peaceful, the deathless, the sublime, the auspicious, the secure, the destruction of craving, the wonderful, the amazing, the unailing, the unailing state, the unafflicted, dispassion, purity, freedom, the unadhesive, the island, the shelter, the asylum, the refuge...”

At the end of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta in Dīgha Nikāya, the Buddha describes Success of Four Paṭṭhāna Meditations as: “One who is honest to himself and practice this four Paṭṭhāna Meditations without a delay, he should be willing to achieve Arahat or Anāgami level, in seven days to seven years in time which would ultimately direct to Nirvāṇa”

What Nirvana is Not

Nirvana is the complete realization of the middle way (majjhena dha"mma"m deseti) and is neither the extremist view of nihilism(Pali: Ucchedavaada), nor eternalism (Pali: Sassatavaada), nor the monism of "oneness with Brahman" (as taught in Hinduism).

In the Saamannaphala Sutta of the Digha Nikaya, Buddha clearly outlines the differences between his teachings and these schools which are considered pasanda or schools which lead to wrong views.

Nirvana is not eternalism as Buddhism posits Anatta (not-self), so there is no immortality of a personal self.

Nirvana is not nihilism:

which identifies the psycho-physical person (naama-ruupa) with the body (ruupa), rejecting human effort and the world hereafter (para loka). When the body is dead, it entails the total annihilation of the psycho-physical person, without the continuity of the consciousness for bearing moral retribution of his deeds done;

The Buddhist concept of Nirvana differs both from the Vedic concept of Nirvana as described in several Upanishads, especially the Nirvana Upanishad [1], and the Vedic concept of moksha, the union of the atman (soull) with Brahman, nor is the same as Heaven in many other religions:

The Buddha emphasized that the atman is like a mountain stream, which flows fast and is forever changing. There is no being (sat), there is only becoming (bhava) in it. The arising (uppaada), disappearance (vyaya) and changing of what exists (a~n~natatha) are the three signs of compounded things. The belief in a permanent self (atman) not only negates the activities of moral life but also falls in a form of grasping, a hindrance to spiritual liberation.

In more precise terms, it is the non-Self (i.e., the mundane body and unawakened mind, not the "Self") which is, according to the pronouncements of the Buddha in the Nikayas, linked to impermanence and change. Clutching onto this non-Self and the latter's suffering-generating mutations is what deprives sentient beings of the attainment of Nirvana.

Nirvāna and Samsāra

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

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

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

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

Nirvana in Buddhist Commentaries

Sarvastivàdin commentary, Abhidharma-mahavibhàsa-sàstra, gives the complete context of the possible meanings from its sanskrit roots:

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

Nirvāna in the Mahāparinirvāna Sūtra

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

Strikingly, the Buddha of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra gives the following definition of the attributes of Nirvana, which includes the ultimate reality of the Self (not to be confused with the "worldly ego" of the 5 skandhas):

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

He further states: "Non-Self is Samsara [the cycle of rebirth]; the Self (atman) is Great Nirvana."

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

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

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

Quotations

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

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

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

Parinirvana

Buddha's entry into Parinirvana.

In Buddhism, parinirvana (Sanskrit: परिनिर्वाण parinirvāṇa; Pali: परिनिब्बाण parinibbāṇa; Chinese: 般涅槃, bō niè pán) is the final nirvana, usually understood to be within reach only upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). It is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice and implies a release from the cycle of deaths and rebirths as well as the dissolution of all worldly physical and mental aggregates or skandhas (form, feeling, perception, mental fabrications and consciousness).

The parinirvana of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha) is depicted in the Pali Mahaparinibbana Sutta.

The Buddhist term, Mahaparinirvana, meaning "great, complete Nirvana" is also encountered. The word "Mahaparinirvana" usually refers to the ultimate state of Nirvana (everlasting, highest peace and happiness) entered by an Awakened Being (Buddha) or "arhat" (Pali: Arahant) at the moment of physical death, when the mundane skandhas (constituent elements of the ordinary body and mind) are shed and only the Buddhic skandhas remain (this in Mahayana Buddhism). However, it can also refer (in the Mahayana) to the same inner spiritual state reached during a Buddha's physical lifetime too. In the Mahayana Buddhist scripture entitled the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha teaches that unlike "ordinary" Nirvana, "Mahaparinirvana" is the highest state or realm realised by a perfect Buddha, a state in which that Buddhic being awakens to "the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure". Only in Mahaparinirvana is this True Self ("atman") of the Buddha said to be fully discernible.

In Hinduism and Yoga parinirvana is called Mahasamadhi (see Samadhi)

Further reading

• Jon Kabit-Zin, Wherever You Go, There You Are
• The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra (Nirvana Publications, London 1999-2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, revised and edited by Dr. Tony Page.

External links

• Nibbana - more excerpts from the Pali Tripitaka defining Nibbana
• "Nirvana Sutra": full English translation of the "Nirvana Sutra" and appreciation of its teachings.
• Buddha - A Hero's Journey to Nirvana
• Salvation Versus Liberation, A Buddhist View of Paradise Worlds
• In-depth explanation of Nibbana according to the Pali Canon
• Mind Like Fire Unbound - a discussion of fire imagery as used in the Buddha's time
• A Buddhist practice based on the four stages of the Buddha's enlightenment that lead him to Nirvana
• Nirvana - a modern scientific view.
• SN VI.15: Parinibbana Sutta - Total Unbiding
• Maha-parinibbana Sutta - The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding
• The Life of Buddha in Legend and Art

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