Nirvana: Pali Nibbana - Bodhi - Enlightenment - Moksha - Cessation - Extinction

. . . the primal pure substance of beginningless bodhi nirvana. It is the primal essence of consciousness that can bring forth all conditions. (SS I 180)

The meaning of nirvana is the very Dharma-nature of all Buddhas. (NS - Nirvana Sutra, Ch 3, Pt. 4)

Nirvana is a Sanskrit term that is interpreted in various ways: 1) cessation, or extinction, referring to the elimination of the afflictions at the time of enlightenment or to the ceasing to be of the skandhas (see Five Skandhas) when an enlightened person at death chooses to be reborn no longer; 2) freedom from desire; and 3) no longer either coming into being or ceasing to be.

In addition to the above references to enlightenment, in later times the term nirvana came to be used as a polite way of speaking of the death of a monk (bhikshu) regardless of whether or not he was enlightened and truly entering nirvana.

The most common analogy for Nirvana in the Theravada tradition is the going out of a lamp because of its wick and oil being used up:

"But if someone should ask you, Vaccha: 'This fire in front of you that is extinguished, in what direction has that fire gone from here, east, west, north or south?' What would you answer to such a question?"

"That does not apply, dear Gotama. For that fire that burned because of fuel consisting of straw and wood, has consumed this and not been given anything else and is therefore called 'extinguished (nisbuto) through lack of fuel.'"

"Just so the form of the Thus Come One is given up, its root broken, uprooted like a palm, free from further growth or renewed existence in the future. The Thus Come One is free from everything called form, he is deep immeasurable, unfathomable, just like the deep ocean." (Majjhima Nikaya I 486ff)

The Buddha repeats the whole series of questions and answers, substituting the other four of the Five Skandhas--feeling, cognition, formations, and consciousness--one by one in each successive repetition.

"Most people think that nirvana follows upon death, but actually it is not necessarily an after-death state. It is the certification of the attainment of noumenal being (li). 'Nirvana' is a Sanskrit word, which is interpreted to mean 'neither coming into being nor ceasing to be'. Since there is neither coming into being nor ceasing to be, birth and death have come to an end. One attains nirvana when one is no longer subject to birth and death. However, nirvana does not mean that the Buddha dies. When the Buddha dies, he enters nirvana; he enters the noumenal being of nirvana and verifies its four qualities -- permanence, bliss, true self, and purity. Some people who haven't seen things clearly in their study of Buddhism think that nirvana is just death, but nirvana is definitely not death. One who has that view does not understand the principles of Buddhism." (SS I 180-181)

In order to help prevent people from getting attached to the idea of nirvana, the Bodhisattva Nagarjuna stated:

Samsara [i.e., the stream of conditioned existence] has nothing that distinguishes it from nirvana; nirvana has nothing that distinguishes it from samsara. The limit of nirvana is the limit of samsara; there is not even the subtlest something separating the two.

World Honored One, the ground of fruition (phala) is bodhi, nirvana, true suchness (tatha), the Buddha-nature, the amala-consciousness (Amala-Vijnana), the empty treasury of the Thus Come One (Shunyata Tathagata Garbha), the great, perfect mirror-wisdom (Maha Prajna Paramita). But although it is called by these seven names, it is pure (vimala) and perfect (paramita), its substance is durable (Shurangama), like royal vajra (Vajra Raja), everlasting (nitya) and indestructible. (SS IV 207)

1) Chinese Mandarin: nye pan , 2) Sanskrit: nirvana, 3) Pali: nibbana, 4) Alternate translations: cessation, extinction, enlightenment.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: VS 429 (4 kinds); UW 157; DFS II 315-316 (3 kinds); DFS VII 1356 (2 kinds); SS I 180-181; SS IV 138-139, 244-245.

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Sarva Mangalam.
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Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
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Updated July 17, 2008