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Nirvana

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This article is about the Pali and Sanskrit term which refers to the concept. For the religious concept in Buddhism, see Nirvana (Buddhism). For the American rock band, see Nirvana (band). For other uses, see Nirvana (disambiguation).

Translations of Nirvana
English	liberation, salvation
Pali	निब्बान (Nibbāna)
Sanskrit	निर्वाण (Nirvāṇa)
Bengali	নির্বাণ nirbanô
Burmese	နိဗ္ဗာန် (IPA: [neɪʔbàɴ])
Chinese	涅槃 (Pinyin: nièpán)
Japanese	涅槃 (rōmaji: nehan)
Khmer	និព្វាន
Korean	열반 (RR: yeolban)
Mon	နဳဗာန် ([nìppàn])
Mongolian	γasalang-aca nögcigsen
Shan	ၼိၵ်ႈပၢၼ်ႇ ([nik3paan2])
Sinhala	නිර්වාණ (Nivana)
Tibetan	མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ། (mya ngan las 'das pa)
Thai	นิพพาน (nipphan)
Vietnamese	Niết bàn
Glossary of Buddhism

Nirvāṇa (/nɪərˈvɑːnə, -ˈvænə, nər-/;^[1] Sanskrit: निर्वाण nirvāṇa  [nirʋaːɳə]; Pali: निब्बान nibbāna ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण ṇivvāṇa ) literally means "blown out", as in a candle.^[2] The term "nirvana" is most commonly associated with Buddhism, and represents its ultimate state of soteriological release and liberation from rebirths in samsara.^{[3][web 1][4]}

In Indian religions, nirvana is synonymous with moksha, vimoksha, vimukti and mukti.^{[note 1]} All Indian religions assert it to be a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness along with it being the liberation from samsara, the repeating cycle of birth, life and death.^[6][7]

However, Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions describe these terms for liberation differently.^[8] In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to realization of non-self and emptiness, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.^[8][9][10] In Hindu philosophy, it is the union of or the realization of the identity of Atman with Brahman, depending on the Hindu tradition.^[11][12][13] In Jainism, it is also the soteriological goal, but unlike Buddhism, it represents the release of a soul from karmic bondage and samsara.^[14]

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 Etymology
• 2 Origins
• 3 Buddhism
• 4 Hinduism
  • 4.1 Moksha
  • 4.2 Brahma-nirvana in the Bhagavad Gita
• 5 Jainism
• 6 Sikhism
• 7 See also
• 8 Notes
• 9 References
  • 9.1 Online references
• 10 Sources
• 11 Further reading
• 12 External links

Etymology[edit]

The word nirvāṇa, states Steven Collins, is from the verbal root √vā "blow" in the form of past participle vāna "blown", prefixed with the preverb nis meaning "out". Hence the original meaning of the word is "blown out, extinguished". Sandhi changes the spelling: the v of vāna causes nis to become nir, and then the r of nir causes retroflexion of the following n: nis+vāna > nirvāṇa.^[15]

The term nirvana in the soteriological sense of "blown out, extinguished" state of liberation does not appear in the Vedas nor in the pre-Buddhist Upanishads. According to Collins, "the Buddhists seem to have been the first to call it nirvana."^[16] However, the ideas of spiritual liberation using different terminology, with the concept of soul and Brahman, appears in pre-Buddhist Vedic texts and Upanishads, such as in verse 4.4.6 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.^[17] This may have been deliberate use of words in early Buddhism, suggests Collins, since Atman and Brahman were described in pre-Buddhist Vedic texts and Upanishads with the imagery of fire, as something good, desirable and liberating.^[18]

Origins[edit]

Nirvāṇa is a term found in the texts of all major Indian religions – Buddhism,^[19] Hinduism,^[20] Jainism^[21] and Sikhism.^[22][23] It refers to the profound peace of mind that is acquired with moksha, liberation from samsara, or release from a state of suffering, after respective spiritual practice or sādhanā.^{[note 2]}

The idea of moksha is connected to the Vedic culture, where it conveyed a notion of amrtam, "immortality",^[27][28] and also a notion of a timeless, "unborn", or "the still point of the turning world of time".It was also its timeless structure, the whole underlying "the spokes of the invariable but incessant wheel of time".^{[note 3]} The hope for life after death started with notions of going to the worlds of the Fathers or Ancestors and/or the world of the Gods or Heaven.^{[27][note 4]}

The earliest layers of Vedic text incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit).^[29] However, the ancient Vedic Rishis challenged this idea of afterlife as simplistic, because people do not live an equally moral or immoral life. Between generally virtuous lives, some are more virtuous; while evil too has degrees, and either permanent heaven or permanent hell is disproportionate. The Vedic thinkers introduced the idea of an afterlife in heaven or hell in proportion to one's merit, and when this runs out, one returns and is reborn.^[30][31][32] The idea of rebirth following "running out of merit" appears in Buddhist texts as well.^[33] This idea appears in ancient and medieval texts, as Samsara, or the endless cycle of life, death, rebirth and redeath, such as section 6:31 of the Mahabharata,^[34] verse 9.21 of the Bhagavad Gita,^[35] and many other ancient texts.^{[36][note 5]} The Samsara, the life after death, and what impacts rebirth came to be seen as dependent on karma.^[39]

The liberation from Saṃsāra developed as an ultimate goal and soteriological value in the Indian culture, and called by different terms such as nirvana, moksha, mukti and kaivalya. This basic scheme underlies Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, where "the ultimate aim is the timeless state of moksa, or, as the Buddhists first seem to have called it, nirvana."^[40]

Although the term occurs in the literatures of a number of ancient Indian traditions, the concept is most commonly associated with Buddhism.^{[web 1]} It was later adopted by other Indian religions, but with different meanings and description, such as in the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita of the Mahabharata.^[20]

Buddhism[edit]

Main article: Nirvana (Buddhism)

Nirvana (nibbana) literally means "blowing out" or "quenching."^[41] It is the most used as well as the earliest term to describe the soteriological goal in Buddhism: release from the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra).^[42] Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of dukkha" in the Four Noble Truths doctrine of Buddhism.^[42] It is the goal of the Noble Eightfold Path.^[43]

The Buddha is believed in the Buddhist scholastic tradition to have realized two types of nirvana, one at enlightenment, and another at his death.^[44] The first is called sopadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana with a remainder), the second parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana without remainder, or final nirvana).^[44]

In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is described as the extinguishing of the fires that cause rebirths and associated suffering.^[45] The Buddhist texts identify these three "three fires"^[46] or "three poisons" as raga (greed, sensuality), dvesha (aversion, hate) and avidyā or moha (ignorance, delusion).^[47][48]

The state of nirvana is also described in Buddhism as cessation of all afflictions, cessation of all actions, cessation of rebirths and suffering that are a consequence of afflictions and actions.^[42] Liberation is described as identical to anatta (anatman, non-self, lack of any self).^[49][50] In Buddhism, liberation is achieved when all things and beings are understood to be with no Self.^[50][51] Nirvana is also described as identical to achieving sunyata (emptiness or nothingness), where there is no essence or fundamental nature in anything, and everything is empty.^[52][53]

In time, with the development of Buddhist doctrine, other interpretations were given, such as being an unconditioned state,^[54] a fire going out because of lack of fuel, abandoning weaving (vana) together of life after life,^[15] and the elimination of desire.^[55] However, Buddhist texts have asserted, since ancient times, that nirvana is more than "destruction of desire", it is "the object of the knowledge" of the Buddhist path.^[56]

Hinduism[edit]

In the most ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Vedas and early Upanishads, the soteriological term Nirvana is not used.^[20] This term is found in texts of Hinduism, such as the Bhagavad Gita,^[20] and the Nirvana Upanishad, likely composed in the post-Buddha era.^[57] However, the concept of Nirvana is described differently in Buddhist and Hindu literature.^[58] Hinduism has the concept of Atman, which is the soul, self;^[59][60][61] it asserts that Atman exists in every living being, while Buddhism asserts through its anatta doctrine that there is no Atman in any living being.^[62][63] Nirvana in Buddhism is "stilling mind, cessation of desires, and action" unto emptiness, while nirvana in post-Buddhist Hindu texts is, states Jeaneane Fowler, also "stilling mind but not inaction" and "not emptiness", rather it is the knowledge of true Self (Atman) and the acceptance of its universality and unity with metaphysical Brahman.^[58]

Moksha[edit]

Main article: Moksha

The ancient soteriological concept in Hinduism is moksha, described as the liberation from the cycle of birth and death through self-knowledge and the eternal connection of Atman (soul, self) and metaphysical Brahman. Moksha is derived from the root muc* (Sanskrit: मुच्) which means free, let go, release, liberate; Moksha means "liberation, freedom, emancipation of the soul".^[64][65] In the Vedas and early Upanishads, the word mucyate (Sanskrit: मुच्यते)^[64] appears, which means to be set free or release - such as of a horse from its harness.

The traditions within Hinduism state that there are multiple paths (marga) to moksha: jnana-marga or the path of knowledge, bhakti-marga or the path of devotion, and karma-marga or the path of action.^[66]

Brahma-nirvana in the Bhagavad Gita[edit]

The term Brahma-nirvana appears in verses 2.72 and 5.24-26 of the Bhagavad Gita.^[67] Brahma nirvana (nirvana in Brahman) is the state of release or liberation; the union with the Brahman.^[6] According to Easwaran, this is an experience of blissful egolessness.^[68]

According to Zaehner, Johnson and other scholars, nirvana in the Gita is a Buddhist term adopted by the Hindus.^[20] The term nirvana, states Zaehner, was used in texts of Hinduism for the first time in the Bhagavad Gita, and that the idea therein in verse 2.71-72 to "suppress one's desires and ego" is also Buddhist.^[20] According to Johnson the use of the term nirvana is borrowed from the Buddhists to confuse the Buddhists, by linking the Buddhist nirvana state to the pre-Buddhist Vedic tradition of metaphysical absolute called Brahman.^[20]

According to Mahatma Gandhi, the Hindu and Buddhist understanding of nirvana are different because the nirvana of the Buddhists is shunyata, emptiness, but the nirvana of the Gita means peace and that is why it is described as brahma-nirvana [oneness with Brahman].^[69]

Jainism[edit]

Main article: Moksha (Jainism)

Kalpasutra folio on Mahavira Nirvana. Note the crescent shaped Siddhashila, a place where all siddhas reside after nirvana.

The terms moksa and nirvana are often used interchangeably in the Jain texts.^[70][71]

Uttaradhyana Sutra provides an account of Sudharman – also called Gautama, and one of the disciples of Mahavira – explaining the meaning of nirvana to Kesi, a disciple of Parshva.^{[72][note 6]}

There is a safe place in view of all, but difficult of approach, where there is no old age nor death, no pain nor disease. It is what is called nirvāṇa, or freedom from pain, or perfection, which is in view of all; it is the safe, happy, and quiet place which the great sages reach. That is the eternal place, in view of all, but difficult of approach. Those sages who reach it are free from sorrows, they have put an end to the stream of existence. (81-4) – Translated by Hermann Jacobi, 1895

Sikhism[edit]

The concept of liberation (nirvana, mukti) as "extinction of suffering", along with the idea of sansara as the "cycle of rebirth" is part of Sikhism.^[73] Nirvana appears in Sikh texts as the term Nirban.^[74][75] However, the more common term is Mukti, or Moksh,^[76] a salvation concept wherein loving devotion to God is emphasized for liberation from endless cycle of rebirths.^[75]

See also[edit]

• Ataraxia
• Baqaa
• Bodhi
• Dzogchen
• Enlightenment (spiritual)
• God in Buddhism
• Jannah (Islam)
• Jnana
• Monastic silence
• Nibbana-The Mind Stilled
• Nirguna
• Nirvana fallacy
• Satori
• Shangri-La
• Śūnyatā
• Yoga
• Zen

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Also called vimoksha, vimukti and mukti. The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism: "Vimoksha [解脱] (Skt; Jpn gedatsu ). Emancipation, release, or liberation. The Sanskrit words vimukti, mukti, and moksha also have the same meaning. Vimoksha means release from the bonds of earthly desires, delusion, suffering and transmigration. While Buddhism sets forth various kinds and stages of emancipation, or enlightenment, the supreme emancipation is nirvana,^{[5][web 2]}
2. Jump up ^ It is sometimes referred to as bhavana, which refers to spiritual "development" or "cultivating" or "producing"^[24][25] in the sense of "calling into existence",^[26]
3. Jump up ^ The wheel is a typical Vedic, or Indo-European, symbol, which is manifested in various symbols of the Vedic religion and of Buddhism and Hinduism. See, for examples, Dharmacakra, Chakra, Chakravartin, Kalachakra, Dukkha and Mandala.
4. Jump up ^ See also Heaven (Christianity) and Walhalla
5. Jump up ^ Many texts discuss this theory of rebirth with the concepts of Devayana (path of gods) and Pitryana (path of fathers).^[37][38]
6. Jump up ^ The authenticity of this text is in doubt because Parshva, in Jain tradition, lived about 250 years before Mahavira, and his disciple Kesi would have been a few hundred years old when he met the disciple of Mahavira. See Jacobi (1895), footnotes.^[72]

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ "nirvana". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
2. Jump up ^ Richard Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo. Routledge
3. Jump up ^ Chad Meister (2009). Introducing Philosophy of Religion. Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-134-14179-1. Buddhism: the soteriological goal is nirvana, liberation from the wheel of samsara and extinction of all desires, cravings and suffering. 
4. Jump up ^ Kristin Johnston Largen. What Christians Can Learn from Buddhism: Rethinking Salvation. Fortress Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-1-4514-1267-3. One important caveat must be noted: for many lay Buddhists all over the world, rebirth in a higher realm - rather than realizing nirvana - has been the primary religious goal. [...] while many Buddhists strongly emphasize the soteriological value of the Buddha's teaching on nirvana [escape from samsara], many other Buddhists focus their practice on more tangible goals, in particular on the propitious rebirth in one's next life. 
5. Jump up ^ "IN THE PRESENCE OF NIBBANA:Developing Faith in the Buddhist Path to Enlightenment". What-Buddha-Taught.net. Retrieved 22 October 2014. 
6. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Gavin Flood, Nirvana. In: John Bowker (ed.), Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
7. Jump up ^ Anindita N. Balslev (2014). On World Religions: Diversity, Not Dissension. SAGE Publications. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-93-5150-405-4. 
8. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Loy, David (1982). "Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta". International Philosophical Quarterly (Philosophy Documentation Center) 22 (1): 65–74. doi:10.5840/ipq19822217. What most distinguishes Indian from Western philosophy is that all the important Indian systems point to the same phenomenon: Enlightenment or Liberation. Enlightenment has different names in the various systems – kaivalya, nirvana, moksha, etc. – and is described in different ways... 
9. Jump up ^ Steven Collins (1990). Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 81–84. ISBN 978-0-521-39726-1. 
10. Jump up ^ Peter Harvey (2001). Buddhism. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 98–99. ISBN 978-1-4411-4726-4. [Nirvana is] beyond the processes involved in dying and reborn. [...] Nirvana is emptiness in being void of any grounds for the delusion of a permanent, substantial Self, and because it cannot be conceptualized in any view which links it to 'I' or 'mine' or 'Self'. It is known in this respect by one with deep insight into everything as not-Self (anatta), empty of Self. 
11. Jump up ^ Brian Morris (2006). Religion and Anthropology: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-521-85241-8. There has been some dispute as to the exact meaning of nirvana, but clearly the Buddhist theory of no soul seems to imply quite a different perspective from that of Vedantist philosophy, in which the individual soul or self [atman] is seen as identical with the world soul or Brahman [god] (on the doctrine of anatta[no soul] ... 
12. Jump up ^ Gwinyai H. Muzorewa (2000). The Great Being. Wipf. pp. 52–54. ISBN 978-1-57910-453-5. Even the Atman depends on the Brahman. In fact, the two are essentially the same. [...] Hindu theology believes that the Atman ultimately becomes one with the Brahman. One's true identity lies in realizing that the Atman in me and the Brahman - the groud of all existence - are similar. [...] The closest kin of Atman is the Atman of all living things, which is grounded in the Brahman. When the Atman strives to be like Brahman it is only because it realizes that that is its origin - God. [...] Separation between the Atman and the Brahman is proved to be impermanent. What is ultimately permanent is the union between the Atman and the Brahman. [...] Thus, life's struggle is for the Atman to be released from the body, which is impermanent, to unite with Brahman, which is permament - this doctrine is known as Moksha. 
13. Jump up ^ Fowler 2012, p. 46: "Shankara interpreted the whole of the Gita as extolling the path of knowledge as the best means to moksha, and a total identity of the atman with Brahman...,
14. Jump up ^ John E. Cort (1990), MODELS OF AND FOR THE STUDY OF THE JAINS, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion, Vol. 2, No. 1, Brill Academic, pages 42-71
15. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Collins 2010, pp. 63-64.
16. Jump up ^ Steven Collins (1998). Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities. Cambridge University Press. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-0-521-57054-1. 
17. Jump up ^ Max Müller (2011). Theosophy Or Psychological Religion. Cambridge University Press. pp. 307–310. ISBN 978-1-108-07326-4. 
18. Jump up ^ Steven Collins (1998). Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities. Cambridge University Press. pp. 216–217. ISBN 978-0-521-57054-1. 
19. Jump up ^ Trainor 2004, p. 68.
20. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d e f g} Fowler 2012, p. 48.
21. Jump up ^ Helmuth von Glasenapp (1999). Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 234, 492. ISBN 978-81-208-1376-2. 
22. Jump up ^ Sikhism And Indian Civilization By R.K. Pruthi. 2004. p. 200. 
23. Jump up ^ World History: To 1800 By William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel. 2008. pp. 52, 53. 
24. Jump up ^ Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3558.pali.
25. Jump up ^ Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 Dec 2008 from "U. Cologne" at http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/MWScanpdf/mw0755-bhAvodaya.pdf.
26. Jump up ^ Nyanatiloka 1980, p. 67.
27. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Collins 2010, p. 29.
28. Jump up ^ Collins 1998, p. 136.
29. Jump up ^ James Hastings; John Alexander Selbie; Louis Herbert Gray (1922). Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. T. & T. Clark. pp. 616–618. 
30. Jump up ^ Frazier 2011, pp. 84-86.
31. Jump up ^ Atsushi Hayakawa (2014). Circulation of Fire in the Veda. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 101–103 with footnote 262. ISBN 978-3-643-90472-0. The concept of punarmrtyu appeared, which conveys that even those who participated in rituals die again in the life after death when the merit of the ritual runs out. 
32. Jump up ^ Krishan, Yuvraj (1997). The Doctrine of Karma: Its Origin and Development in Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist, and Jaina Traditions. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. pp. 17–27. ISBN 9788120812338. ;
    The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Volume 8. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1998. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-85229-633-2. [These Upanishadic texts] record the traditions of sages (Rishis) of the period, notably Yajnavalkya, who was a pioneer of new religious ideas. [...] Throughout the Vedic period, the idea that the world of heaven was not the end – and that even in heaven death was inevitable – had been growing. [...] This doctrine of samsara (reincarnation) is attributed to sage Uddalaka Aruni, [...] In the same text, the doctrine of karma (actions) is attributed to Yajnavalkya... 
33. Jump up ^ Patrul Rinpoche (1998). The Words of My Perfect Teacher. Boston: Shambhala. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-7619-9027-7. Lay summary (PDF). After enjoying the happiness of a celestial realm, when his merit runs out he will be reborn here. 
34. Jump up ^ Frazier 2011, pp. 84-86, Quote: "They reach the holy world of Indra and enjoy the celestial pleasures of the gods in heaven; but having enjoyed the vast world of heaven, they come back to the world of mortals when their merit runs out. So, by following the injunctions of the three Vedas with a desire for pleasures, they get to travel to and fro. (Mahābhārata 6.31:20–1)".
35. Jump up ^ Winthrop Sargeant (Translator) (2010). Christopher Key Chapple, ed. The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition. State University of New York Press. p. 397. ISBN 978-1-4384-2840-6. Having enjoyed the vast world of heaven, they enter the world of mortals when their merit is exhausted. Thus conforming to the law of the three Vedas, Desiring enjoyments, they obtain the state of going and returning. 
36. Jump up ^ Yuvraj Krishan (1988), Is Karma Evolutionary?, Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Volume 6, pages 24-26
37. Jump up ^ Surendranath Dasgupta (1956). A history of indian philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 520–522. 
38. Jump up ^ Paul Deussen (2015). The System of the Vedanta: According to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Shankara's Commentary thereon. KB Classics. pp. 357–359. ISBN 978-1-5191-1778-6. 
39. Jump up ^ Collins 2010, p. 30.
40. Jump up ^ Collins 2010, p. 31.
41. Jump up ^ Steven Collins (1998). Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities. Cambridge University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-521-57054-1. 
42. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c} Buswell & Lopez 2014, pp. 589-590.
43. Jump up ^ Keown 2004, pp. 194-195.
44. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Buswell & Lopez 2014, p. 590.
45. Jump up ^ "nirvana". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 October 2014. 
46. Jump up ^ Gombrich 2006, p. 65.
47. Jump up ^ Gombrich 2006, p. 66.
48. Jump up ^ Buswell & Lopez 2014, p. 589.
49. Jump up ^ Steven Collins (1990). Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 82, 84. ISBN 978-0-521-39726-1. Like all other things or concepts (dhammā) it is anattā, 'not-self. Whereas all 'conditioned things' (samkhāra - that is, all things produced by karma) are 'unsatisfactory and impermanent' (sabbe samkhāra dukkhā . . . aniccā) all dhammā whatsoever, whether conditioned things or the unconditioned nibbāna, are 'not-self (sabbe dhammā anattā). [...] The absolute indescribability of nirvana, along with its classification as anattā, 'not-self, has helped to keep the separation intact, precisely because of the impossibility of mutual discourse. 
50. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Sue Hamilton (2000). Early Buddhism: A New Approach : the I of the Beholder. Routledge. pp. 18–21. ISBN 978-0-7007-1280-9.  Quote: "The corrected interpretation they offered, widely accepted to his day, still associated anatta with nirvana. What it means, it was now states, is that in order to achieve liberation you need to understand that you are not, and nor do you have, and nor have you ever been or had, an abiding self."
51. Jump up ^ Paul Williams; Anthony Tribe (2000). Buddhist Thought. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-415-20701-0. He makes no mention of discovering the True Self in the Anattalakkhana Sutta. As we have seen, the Buddha explains how liberation comes from letting-go of all craving and attachment simply through seeing that things are not Self anatta. That is all there is to it. One cuts the force that leads to rebirth and suffering. There is no need to postulate a Self beyond all this. Indeed any postulated Self would lead to attachment, for it seems that for the Buddha a Self fitting the description could legitimately be a suitable subject of attachment. There is absolutely no suggestion that the Buddha thought there is some additional factor called the Self (or with any other name, but fitting the Self-description) beyond the five aggregates. 
52. Jump up ^ Mun-Keat Choong (1999). The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 1–4, 85–88. ISBN 978-81-208-1649-7. Emptiness is a characteristically Buddhist teaching. The present study is concerned with this teaching of emptiness (P. sunnata, Skt. sunyata) as presented in the texts of early Buddhism. [...] The teaching of emptiness is recognized as the central philosophy of early Mahayana. However, this teaching exists in both early Buddhism and early Mahayana Buddhism, where it is connected with the meaning of conditioned genesis, the middle way, nirvana and not-self (P. anatta, Skt. anatman). ,
53. Jump up ^ Ray Billington (2002). Understanding Eastern Philosophy. Routledge. pp. 58–60, 136. ISBN 978-1-134-79348-8. , Quote (p 59-60): "We may better understand what anatman implies if we examine Nagarjuna's concept of the void: shunyata or emptiness. Nagarjuna argued that there is no such thing as the fundamental nature, or essence, of anything. (...) In a word, all is emptiness, shunyata; instead of essence, there is a void. (...) everything is empty."; Quote (p 136): "What we can say, whichever branch of Buddhism we may have in mind, is that the state of nirvana, to which all Buddhists aspire, is like samadhi, a non-dual state. (...) the Buddhist concept of enlightened mind - bodhichitta - refers to a state beyond desire (dukkha) whereby the one who seeks nirvana has achieved shunyata, the emptiness or void described on pages 58-9."
54. Jump up ^ John J. Makransky (1997). Buddhahood Embodied: Sources of Controversy in India and Tibet. State University of New York Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-7914-3431-4. 
55. Jump up ^ Charles S. Prebish (2010). Buddhism: A Modern Perspective. Penn State Press. pp. 134–135. ISBN 0-271-03803-9. 
56. Jump up ^ Collins 2010, p. 54.
57. Jump up ^ Olivelle 1992, pp. 5–9, 227-235, Quote: "Nirvana Upanishad...".
58. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Fowler 2012, pp. 48-49.
59. Jump up ^ "Atman (in Oxford Dictionaries)". Oxford University Press. 2012. Quote: 1. real self of the individual; 2. a person's soul 
60. Jump up ^ Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-5. ; Quote: The atman is the self or soul.
61. Jump up ^ David Lorenzen (2004). Mittal, Sushil; Thursby, Gene, eds. The Hindu World. Routledge. pp. 208–209. ISBN 9781134608751. Advaita and nirguni movements, on the other hand, stress an interior mysticism in which the devotee seeks to discover the identity of individual soul (atman) with the universal ground of being (brahman) or to find god within himself. 
62. Jump up ^ [a] Anatta, Encyclopedia Britannica (2013), Quote: "Anatta in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying soul. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman ("the self").";
    [b] Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791422175, page 64; "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the [Buddhist] doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence.";
    [c] John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120801585, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism";
    [d] Katie Javanaud (2013), Is The Buddhist ‘No-Self’ Doctrine Compatible With Pursuing Nirvana?, Philosophy Now;
    [e] David Loy (1982), Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, International Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 1, pages 65-74
63. Jump up ^ [a] Christmas Humphreys (2012). Exploring Buddhism. Routledge. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-1-136-22877-3. 
    [b] Richard Gombrich (2006). Theravada Buddhism. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-134-90352-8. Buddha's teaching that beings have no soul, no abiding essence. This 'no-soul doctrine' (anatta-vada) he expounded in his second sermon. ,
64. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} मुच Monier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, Germany (2008)
65. Jump up ^ Heinrich Robert Zimmer (1951). Philosophies of India. Princeton University Press. p. 41. ISBN 0-691-01758-1. Moksa, from the root muc, "to loose, set free, let go, release, liberate, deliver" [...] means "liberation, escape, freedom, release, rescue, deliverance, final emancipation of the soul. 
66. Jump up ^ Chad Meister (2009). Introducing Philosophy of Religion. Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-134-14179-1. 
67. Jump up ^ Winthrop Sargeant (Translator) (2010). Christopher Key Chapple, ed. The Bhagavad Gita: Twenty-fifth–Anniversary Edition. State University of New York Press. pp. 157, 266–268. ISBN 978-1-4384-2840-6. 
68. Jump up ^ Easwaran 2007, p. 268.
69. Jump up ^ Mahatma Gandhi (2009), John Strohmeier, ed., The Bhagavad Gita – According to Gandhi, North Atlantic Books, p. 34, The nirvana of the Buddhists is shunyata, emptiness, but the nirvana of the Gita means peace and that is why it is described as brahma-nirvana [oneness with Brahman] 
70. Jump up ^ Jaini, Padmanabh (2000). Collected Papers on Jaina Studies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 81-208-1691-9. : "Moksa and Nirvana are synonymous in Jainism". p. 168
71. Jump up ^ Michael Carrithers, Caroline Humphrey (1991) The Assembly of listeners: Jains in society Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521365058: "Nirvana: A synonym for liberation, release, moksa." p. 297
72. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Jacobi, Hermann; Ed. F. Max Müller (1895). Uttaradhyayana Sutra, Jain Sutras Part II, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 45. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 
73. Jump up ^ William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4. 
74. Jump up ^ Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 219–220. ISBN 978-1-4411-5366-1. 
75. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} H. S. Singha (2000). The Encyclopedia of Sikhism. Hemkunt Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-81-7010-301-1. 
76. Jump up ^ W. H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow. pp. 134–. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6. 

Online references[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Donald S. lopez Jr., Nirvana, Encyclopedia Britannica
2. Jump up ^ The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, vimoksha

Sources[edit]

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014). The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8. 
• Collins, Steven (1998), Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities, Cambridge University Press 
• Collins, Steven (2010), Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative, Cambridge University Press 
• Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2008). World History: To 1800. 
• Easwaran, Eknath (2007), The Bhagavad Gita:(Classics of Indian Spirituality), Nilgiri Press, ISBN 9781586380199 
• Frazier, Jessica (2011), The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-9966-0 
• Fowler, Jeaneane D. (2012), The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students, Sussex Academic Press, ISBN 9781845193461 
• Gombrich, Richard F. (2006). How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-19639-5. 
• Keown, Damien (2004). A Dictionary of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-157917-2. 
• Nyanatiloka, Mahathera (1980), Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Terms And Doctrines (4 ed.), Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society 
• Olivelle, Patrick (1992). The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195361377. 
• Pruthi, R.K. (2004). Sikhism And Indian Civilization. 
• Trainor, Kevin (2004), Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-517398-7 

Further reading[edit]

• Brahm, Ajahn (2006). Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook (PDF). Wisdom Publications. ISBN 9780861712755. 
• Kawamura (1981). Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism. Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
• Lindtner, Christian (1997). "Problems of Pre-Canonical Buddhism" (PDF). Buddhist Studies Review 14 (2). 
• Nananaranda, Katukurunde (2012). Nibbana - The Mind Stilled (Vol. I-VII). Dharma Grantha Mudrana Bharaya.
• Williams, Paul; Tribe, Anthony (2000). Buddhist Thought. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-20701-0. 
• Yogi Kanna (2011). Nirvana: Absolute Freedom. Kamath Publishings.

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Nirvana

Look up nirvana in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Nibbana-The Mind Stilled Vol. I : Sermons on Nibbana
• English translation of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra

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