Nirvana Totally Explained

Everything about Nirvana totally explained

Nirvana (;, ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण, ; ;, Mandarin: nièpán, Cantonese: nihppùhn; }};, yeolban;, nibpan; ; ; ); is a Sanskrit word that literally means "to cease blowing" (as when a candle flame ceases to flicker) and/or extinguishing (that is, of the passions). It is a sramana philosophical concept, used by the Jains and the Buddhists, to describe the enlightenment and liberation of their respective teachers. Nibbāna is a word used by the Buddha to describe the perfect peace of the mind that's free from craving, anger and other afflictive states (kilesa). This peace, which is in reality the fundamental nature of the mind, is revealed when the root causes of the afflictive states are dissolved. The causes themselves (see sankhara) lie deep within the mind (that part of the mind that Western psychology calls the subconscious) but their undoing is gradually achieved by living a disciplined life (see eightfold path). In Nibbana the root causes of craving and aversion have been extinguished such that one is no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha) or further states of rebirths in samsara. Buddhist scholar, Prof. Herbert Guenther, states of Nirvana: "The notion of Nirvana is a transcendental postulate, which can only be proven psychologically/subjectively, not scientifically. Yet all highest and final goals lead towards it; indeed, it appears even to constitute the very commencement of the entire spiritual life ...With the reaching of Nirvana the Path has come to its end and reached its goal. The Self-realisation which was striven after and which here becomes Reality, signifies the ideal personality, the true human being." (Guenther, The Problem of the Soul in Early Buddhism, Curt Weller Verlag, Constanz, 1949, pp. 156-157). The Buddha in the Dhammapada says of nirvana that it's "the highest happiness". This happiness is rather an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through enlightenment or bodhi, than the happiness of blindful entertainment. The knowledge accompanying nirvana is expressed through the word bodhi. In Jainism, it means final release from the karmic bondage. When an enlightened human, such as, an Arhat or a Tirthankara extinguishes his remaining aghatiya karmas and thus ends his worldly existence, it's called nirvana. Technically, the death of an Arhat is called nirvana of Arhat, as he's ended his wordly existence and attained liberation. Moksa, that's to say, liberation follows nirvana. An Arhat becomes a siddha, the liberated one, after attaining nirvana.

Nirvana in Buddhism

The Buddha explains nirvana as "the unconditioned" (asankhata) mind, a mind that has come to a point of perfect lucidity and clarity due to the absence of volitional formations. This being is described by the Buddha as "deathlessness" (Pali: amata or amaravati) and as the highest spiritual attainment, the natural result that accrues to one who lives a life of virtuous conduct and practise in accordance with the Noble Eightfold Path. Such a life dissolves the causes for future becoming (Skt, karma; Pali, kamma) that otherwise keep beings forever wandering through the impermanent and suffering-generating realms of desire, form, and formlessness, termed samsara.

Overview

Nirvana in sutra is never conceived of as a place (such as one might conceive heaven), but rather the antinomy of samsara (see below) which itself is synonymous with ignorance (avidyā, Pāli avijjā). This said:
ť "'the liberated mind (citta) that no longer clings' means Nibbāna" (Majjhima Nikaya 2-Att. 4.68).

Nirvāna 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). nirvana, then, isn't a place nor a state, it's an absolute truth to be realized, and a person can do so without dying. When a person who has realized nirvana dies, his death is referred as his [[parinirvana|]] (Pali: parinibbana), his fully passing away, as his life was his last link to the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), and he won't 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 nirvana; what happens to a person after his can't be explained, as it's outside of all conceivable experience.
In Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta the Buddha likens nibbana to the cessation and extinguishing of a fire where the materials for sustenance has been removed:

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

Nirvana and samsara

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, calling nirvana the "opposite" of samsara or implying that it's apart from samsara 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 nirvana and samsara. However, even here it's assumed that the natural man suffers from at the very least a confusion regarding the nature of samsara.
   The Theravāda school makes the antithesis of samsara 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 samsara and nirvana, 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, samsara and Nibbāna, remain distinct.
   In the experience of all, nirvana is a state which all six bases (Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body and Mind) can't 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 saṃsāra while having attained to Nirvāṇa so that he was seen by all, and simultaneously free from samsara.

Nirvana in Buddhist commentaries

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

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

Nirvana in the Sūtra

The nature of nirvana assumes a differently aspected Mahāyāna focus in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra or Nirvana Sutra, which alleges to be the final of all Mahāyāna sutras, delivered - the sutra indicates - by the Buddha on his last day of life on earth. Here, as well as in a number of related "tathagatagarbha" sutras, in which the Tathagatagarbha is equated with the Buddha's eternal Self or eternal nature, nirvana is spoken of by the Mahāyāna Buddha in very "cataphatic", positive terms. Nirvana, or "Great Nirvana", 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". ("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 Sutra, can only be fully known by an Awakened Being - a perfect Buddha - directly.
The Buddha of the 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 five 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's nirvana.

He further states: "Non-Self is samsara (the cycle of rebirth); the Self (atman) is ."
An important facet of nirvana in general is that it isn't 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 [[NirvanaSutra|]] insists on its eternal nature and affirms its identity with the enduring, blissful Self, saying:

It isn't the case that the inherent nature of nirvana didn't primordially exist but now exists. If the inherent nature of nirvana didn't primordially exist but does now exist, then it wouldn't be free from taints (āsravas) nor would it be eternally (nitya) present in nature. Regardless of whether there are Buddhas or not, its intrinsic nature and attributes are eternally present ... Because of the obscuring darkness of the mental afflictions (kileśas), beings don't 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 nirvana.

Vitally, according to these Mahāyāna teachings, any being who has reached nirvana isn't blotted out or extinguished: there's 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 "" (Tibetan version): "Nirvana is deathless ... Those who have passed into nirvana are deathless. I say that anybody who is endowed with careful assiduity isn't compounded and, even though they involve themselves in compounded things, they don't age, they don't die, they don't perish."

Paths to nirvana in the Pali canon

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

by insight (vipassana) alone (see Dh. 277)

by jhana and understanding (see Dh. 372)

by deeds, vision and righteousness (see MN iii.262)

by virtue, consciousness and understanding (7SN i.13)

by virtue, understanding, concentration and effort (see SN i.53)

by the four foundations of mindfulness (see Satipatthana Sutta, DN ii.290)

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

Quotations

Gautama Buddha:

"Nirvana is the highest happiness." [Dp204]
"Where there's nothing; where naught is grasped, there's the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvana 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 wouldn't be the case that emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated would be discerned. But precisely because there's an unborn -- unbecome -- unmade -- unfabricated, emancipation from the born -- become -- made -- fabricated is discerned." [UdanaVIII.3]
This said: ‘the liberated mind/will (citta) which doesn't 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" -" is to be fixed in the Soul" [Sn372]

Said immediately after the physical death of Gotama Buddha wherein his mind (citta) is ==the essence of liberation:

[DN2.157] “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.”
[SN3.45] “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 .”

Sutta Nipāta, tr. Rune Johansson:

Like a flame that has been blown out by a strong wind goes to rest and can't be defined, just so the sage who is freed from name and body goes to rest and can't be defined.
For him who has gone to rest there's no measure by means of which one could describe him; that isn't 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.

Nirvana in Jainism

Nirvana in Jainism means :-

Death of an Arhat, who becomes liberated thereafter, and

Moksa (Jainism)

Description of nirvana of a Tirthankara in Jain Texts

Jains celebrate Diwali as the day of Nirvana of Mahavira. Kalpasutra gives an elaborate account of Mahavira’s nirvana.

Nirvana as Moksa

Uttaradhyana Sutra provides an account of Gautama explaining the meaning of nirvana to Kesi a disciple of Parsva.

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