Nirvana (Buddhism)

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Nirvana ( Sanskrit: निर्वाण;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: '; Pali: ') 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 ''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Pali/Sanskrit word that means "world". It is also the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the c ...

''. Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of '' dukkha''" in the

Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...

, and the "'' summum bonum">Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...

, and the "''summum bonum'' of Buddhism and goal of the Eightfold Path." In the

Noble Eightfold Path">Eightfold Path." In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana">Buddhist.html" ;"title="Noble Eightfold Path">Eightfold Path." In the Buddhist">Noble Eightfold Path">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 (Buddhism)">raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

''), aversion ('' dvesha'') and ignorance ('' moha''). When these ''fires'' are extinguished, release from ''

'', 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":''Possible ancient meanings of nirvana''
Victor Langheld, ** (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 Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

, "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 A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...

''), 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 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (also known as Ajahn Geoff; born ) is an American Buddhist monk. Belonging to the Thai Forest Tradition, for 10 years he studied under the forest master Ajahn Fuang Jotiko (himself a student of Ajahn Lee). Since 1993 he ha ...

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 Critical Buddhism (Japanese: 批判仏教, hihan bukkyō) was a trend in Japanese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of Hakamaya Noriaki (袴谷憲昭) and Matsumoto Shirō (松本史朗). Hakamaya stated that "'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".John Bowker (1997), ''Vimutti'', The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
/ref> 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

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 ''Amrita'' ( sa, अमृत, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to ...

'') 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'').Jones, Lindsay, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 10, p. 6628. 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 In Buddhism, conceptual proliferation (Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ; zh, s=戏论, t=戲論, p=xìlùn; ja, 戯論) or, alternatively, mental proliferation or conceptual elaboration, refers to conceptualization of the world through language and concepts w ...

'') 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 (

) similar to the godly abode of

svarga Svarga (), also known as Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is regarded to b ...

found in the Edicts of Ashoka.Regamey, Constantin.
The Question of Primitive Buddhism in the Closing works of Stanislaw Schayer.
' The Eastern Buddhist 48/1: 23–47 ©2019 The Eastern Buddhist Society. 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, ndhard to fathom." Jain_universe

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 Constantin Regamey (28 January 1907 – 27 December 1982) was a philologist, orientalist, musician, composer, and critic.'"Kompozytorzy I Autorzy, Konstanty Regamey, Biogram." PWM. Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 2013. Web. 21 June 2017. He was a s ...

, 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 Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk manage ...

. 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: 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 ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

. 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 Sutta may refer to: *Sutta Nipata, is a Buddhist scripture *Sutta Piṭaka, The second of the three divisions of the Tripitaka or Pali Canon *Sutta Pazham, is a 2008 Indian Tamil language adult comedy thriller film *Sutta Kadhai, 2013 Indian Tamil ...

'' 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 The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...

beliefs.

''Nirvana'' with and without remainder of fuel

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 (Sanskrit) or ( Pāḷi) means "heaps, aggregates, collections, groupings". In Buddhism, it refers to the five aggregates of clinging (), the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging. They are als ...

, 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 The English term enlightenment is the Western translation of various Buddhist terms, most notably bodhi and vimutti. The abstract noun ''bodhi'' (; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: ''bodhi''), means the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect ...

(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 Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...

." 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 A dependant is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income. A common-law spouse who is financially supported by their partner may also be included in this definition. In some jurisdictions, supporting a dependant may enabl ...

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 nlightenedmonk … 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 resumably here in one or more creative etymology,= e.g., non-forest 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

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.Cousins, L. S. (1983) ''Nibbāna and Abhidhamma''. Buddhist Studies Review. 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 The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...

view that space or '' akasa'' was unconditioned).

Medieval Theravada exegetes

The fifth century Theravada exegete

Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher. He worked in the Great Monastery (''Mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajjavāda school and in t ...

says, in his ''

Visuddhimagga The ''Visuddhimagga'' (Pali; English: ''The Path of Purification''), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and syst ...

'' (''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).Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa, Bhikkhu Ñāṇamol (translator).
The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga)
'' pp. 1373-1379. Buddhist Publication Society Kandy • Sri Lanka. He argues that ''nibbāna'' is "apprehendable y some, namely, the nobles onesby the ightmeans, in other words, by the way that is appropriate to it, he way of virtue, concentration, and understanding" 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 The Buddha sometimes described the practice (''patipatti'') of his teaching as ''the gradual training'' (Pali: ''anupubbasikkhā'') because the Noble Eightfold Path involves a process of mind-body transformation that unfolds over a sometimes length ...

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. 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 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 Kulatissa Nanda Jayatilleke (1 November 1920 – 23 July 1970) was an internationally recognised authority on Buddhist philosophy whose book ''Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge'' has been described as "an outstanding philosophical interpretatio ...

, a modern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

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'. 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 (

) 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 Mahāsī Sayādaw U Sobhana ( my, မဟာစည်ဆရာတော် ဦးသောဘန, ; 29 July 1904 – 14 August 1982) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk and meditation master who had a significant impact on the teaching of vipa ...

, 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 ''vedana''">Vedanā.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Vedanā">''vedana''ceases with the parinibbāna of the Arahant" and also that "the cessation of Ayatana">senses A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the central nervous system rec ...
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 (Luminous 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 The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...

, 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.Ajahn Maha Boowa, ‘Straight From the Heart’, pp 139-140, (Thanissaro Bhikkhu trans.) 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 Ajahn Maha Bua (12 August 191330 January 2011) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was thought by many of his followers to be an ''arahant'' (someone who has attained full enlightenment). He was a disciple of the esteemed forest master Ajahn Mun Bh ...

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 (หลวงปู่มั่น)Ajahn Mun ( th, อาจารย์มั่น) , dharma_names = Bhuridatto , birth_date = , birth_place = Ban Khambong, Khong Chiam, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand , death_date = , death_place = Wat Pa Sutth ...

had done so) therefore positing that nibbana is a kind of higher existence.Seeger, Martin, Phra Payutto and Debates ‘On the Very Idea of the Pali Canon’ in Thai Buddhism.

Prayudh Payutto Prayudh Payutto (also P.A. Payutto; th, ประยุทธ์ ปยุตฺโต, ป.อ. ปยุตฺโต) (b. 1937), also known by his current monastic title, Somdet Phra Buddhakosajarn, is a well-known Thai Buddhist monk, an intelle ...

, 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

, 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 __NOTOC__ The Supreme Patriarch of Thailand or Sangharaja ( th, สังฆราช; ) is the head of the order of Buddhist monks in Thailand. His full title is ''Somdet Phra Saṅgharāja Sakalamahāsaṅghapariṇāyaka'' ( th, สมเด� ...

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 Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhist terms, including ''tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the " ...

'' 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

(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 The Kammaṭṭhāna Forest Tradition of Thailand (from pi, kammaṭṭhāna meaning Kammaṭṭhāna, "place of work"), commonly known in the West as the Thai Forest Tradition, is a Parampara, lineage of Theravada Buddhist monasticism. The ...

, 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 In Buddhism, the three marks of existence are three characteristics (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण trilakṣaṇa) of all existence and beings, namely '' aniccā'' (impermanence), '' dukkha'' (commonly translated as "su ...
, 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

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 Upaya (Sanskrit: उपाय, , ''expedient means'', ''pedagogy'') is a term used in Buddhism to refer to an aspect of guidance along the Buddhist paths to liberation where a conscious, voluntary action "is driven by an incomplete reasoning" a ...

''). 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 Nirmāṇakāya (Sanskrit; zh, t=應身, p=yīngshēn; Tib. སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་, ''tulku'', Wyl. ''sprul sku'') is the third aspect of the trikāya and the physical manifestation of a Buddha in time and space. In Vajrayāna it is descr ...

'').Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. ''Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra.'' 2008. pp. 59-60 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

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 In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

''), 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." 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

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 Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is often regarded as being sensitive to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based on n ...

('' 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".Sponberg, Alan, Dynamic liberation in Yogacara Buddhism, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. 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 Asaṅga (, ; Romaji: ''Mujaku'') ( fl. 4th century C.E.) was "one of the most important spiritual figures" of Mahayana Buddhism and the "founder of the Yogachara school".Engle, Artemus (translator), Asanga, ''The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpassed ...

(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

. 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 The "Ornament of/for Realization , abbreviated AA, is one of five Sanskrit-language Mahayana śastras which, according to Tibetan tradition, Maitreya revealed to Asaṅga in northwest India circa the 4th century AD. (Chinese tradition recognize ...

'' 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 A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

, the obstructions to

omniscience Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an God#General conceptions, attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In B ...

(''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

Some Mahāyāna traditions see the Buddha in

docetic In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the grc-koi, δοκεῖν/δόκησις ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") is the heterodox doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, an ...

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: 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

An alternative idea of Mahāyāna nirvana is found in the ''

Tathāgatagarbha sūtras The Tathāgatagarbha sūtras are a group of Mahayana sutras that present the concept of the "womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the tathāgata, the buddha. Every sentient being has the possibility to attain Buddhahood because of the ''tathāgata ...

''. The title itself means a ''garbha'' (womb, matrix, seed) containing ''Tathagata'' (Buddha). These

Sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

s suggest, states Paul Williams, that 'all sentient beings contain a Tathagata' as their 'essence, core or essential inner nature'. 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. 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 Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

, the idea that Buddha-hood is already innate, but not recognised. The ''

'' 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

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 Jizang (. Japanese: ) (549–623) was a Persian-Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar who is often regarded as the founder of East Asian Mādhyamaka. He is also known as Jiaxiang or Master Jiaxiang () because he acquired fame at the Jiaxiang Temple. ...

rejecting this view and seeing ''tathāgatagarbha'' as emptiness and "the middle way."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.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. In some Tantric Buddhist texts such as the ''Samputa Tantra,'' nirvana is described as purified, non-dualistic 'superior mind'.Takpo Tashi Namgyal, ''Mahamudra'' Shambhala, Boston and London, 1986, p.219 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 Dharmadhatu (Sanskrit) is the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' (dhātu) of the Dharma or Absolute Reality. Definition In Mahayana Buddhism, dharmadhātu ( bo, chos kyi dbyings; ) means "realm of phenomena", "realm of truth", and of the noumen ...

'', 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 The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

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

using positive language. Kosho Yamamoto translates the explanation of nirvana in the '' Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (c. 100-220 CE) as follows: 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:

Notes

''Further notes on "different paths"''

Quotes

''Further notes on quotes''

References

Sources

Printed sources

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Via Google Books.
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Web-sources

External links

* Buddhism for Beginners
"What is nirvana?"
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