Nirvana

This article is about a Buddhist philosophy concept. For information about the Seattle grunge band Nirvana, see Nirvana (band). For the UK-based band of the same name, see Nirvana (UK band). For other uses of the term, see Nirvana (disambiguation).

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Nirvāṇa (from the Sanskrit निर्वाण, Pali: Nibbāna -- Chinese: 涅槃; Pinyin: niè pán), literally "extinction" and/or "extinguishing", is the culmination of the pursuit of liberation in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, & Jainism. In India the term Moksha is also used instead of nirvana. And Nirvana is sometimes used to describe the state of moksha. It is spoken of in several Hindu tantric texts as well as the Bhagavad Gita..

Introduction

Etymologically, nirvāṇa (Pali nibbāna) in sutra is "bhavanirodha nibbānam" (The subjugation of becoming means Nirvāṇa). Nirvāṇa in sūtra is never conceived of as a place, but the antinomy of saṃsāra (see below) which itself is synonymous with ignorance (avidyā, Pāli avijjā). “This said: ‘the liberated mind/will (citta) which does not cling’ means Nibbāna” [MN2-Att. 4.68]. Nibbāna is meant specifically as pertains gnosis 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 (citta/mind) from passing through saṃsāra life after life, which causes (and is caused by) among other things craving, consciousness, birth, death, greed, hate, delusion, ignorance. 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 nirvāṇa dies, his death is referred as his parinirvāṇa, his fully passing away, as his life was his last link to the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara), and he will not be reborn again. Buddhism holds that the ultimate goal and end of existence is realization of nirvāṇa; what happens to a person after his parinirvāṇa cannot be explained, as it is outside of all conceivable experience.

Undefinable Nature

Gautama Buddha sometimes refers to nirvāna as amṛta / amata ("without death"). Elsewhere the Buddha calls nirvāna 'the unconditioned element' (i.e., that which is not subject to causation). Nirvāna is impossible to define directly; it can only be experienced or realized. One may not even be able to say this, since saying this implies the existence of an experiencing subject--which in fact would not persist after full nirvāna. 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 Nikāya (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”

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.

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 reincarnational cycle]; 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 enmeshed 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:
- "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]

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.

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