A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism
Nirvana (Sk.) Nibbāna (P.)
The supreme Goal of Buddhist endeavour; release from the limitations of existence. The word is derived from a root meaning extinguished through lack of fuel, and since rebirth is the result of desire (tanhā), freedom from rebirth is attained by the extinguishing of all such desire.
Nirvana is, therefore, a state attainable in this life by right aspiration, purity of life, and the elimination of egoism. This is cessation of existence, as we know existence; the attainment of Being (as distinct from becoming); union with Ultimate Reality. The Buddha speaks of it as ‘unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed’, contrasting it with the born, originated, created and formed phenomenal world.
The Theravāda School tends to view Nirvana as escape from life by overcoming its attractions; the Mahāyāna views it as the fruition of life, the unfolding of the infinite possibilities of the innate Buddha-nature, and exalts the Bodhisattva (q.v.) who remains in touch with life rather than the saint who relinquishes all connection with it. (See Parinirvāna.)
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