Nirvāṇa ( Sanskrit: निर्वाण; Pali: निब्बान Nibbāna; Vietnamese: Niết bàn; Chinese: 涅槃; Mandarin Pinyin: nièpán, Cantonese: nihppùhn; Japanese: nehan (涅槃, nehan^?); Korean: 열반, yeolban; Thai: nibpan นิพพาน); Tibetan mya-ngan-las-'das-pa; Mongolian ɣasalang-aca nögcigsen), 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). The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Pāli is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ... The Tibetan language is spoken primarily by the Tibetan people who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia, as well as by large number of Tibetan refugees all over the world. ... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Look up passion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

It is a state that is free from any mind-contaminants (kilesa) such as lust, anger or craving; a state of perfect peace unobstructed by psychological conditioning (sankhara). All forms of craving are extinguished such that one is no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha) or further states of rebirths in samsara. The Buddha in the Dhammapada says of Nirvāṇa that it is "the highest happiness". This is not the sense-based happiness of everyday life, nor the concept of happiness as interpreted by Western culture, but rather an enduring, transcendental happiness integral to the calmness attained through enlightenment or bodhi. The knowledge accompanying nirvana is expressed through the word bodhi. In Buddhism, the Pali word kilesa (Sanskrit: kleÅ›a or klesha) is used to mean defilements or corruptions. Three main kinds of kilesa are: lobha: greed, lust (rāga), attachment. ... Lust is any intense desire or craving for self gratification. ... This article is about the emotion. ... Taṇhā (Pāli: तण्हा) or Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit: तृष्णा) means thirst, desire, craving, wanting, longing, yearning. Synonyms: æ„› Cn: ài; Jp: ai; Vi: ái Tibetan: The most basic of these meanings (the literal meaning) is thirst; however, in Buddhism it has a technical meaning that is much broader. ... An important Pali term featuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. ... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded), upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... The Dhammapada (Pali, translates as Path of the Dharma. ... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P...

The Buddha describes the abiding in Nirvāṇa as "deathlessness" (Pali: amata or amaravati) or "the unconditioned" 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. Siddhartha and Gautama redirect here. ... Pali (IAST: ) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path (Pāli: Ariyo aá¹­á¹­haá¹…giko maggo; Sanskrit: Ä€rya ṣṭāṅga mārgaḥ; Chinese: 八正道, Bāzhèngdào; Japanese: 八正道, Hasshōdō, Thai: อริยมรรคแปด, Ariya Mugg Paad, Mongolian qutuÉ£tan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör) is, in... Sanskrit ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... For other uses, see Karma (disambiguation). ... Pali (IAST: ) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ...

Overview

Nirvāṇa in sutra is bhavanirodha nibbānam ("The cessation of becoming means Nirvāṇa"). Nirvāṇa in sūtra is never conceived of as a place (such as one might conceive heaven), but rather the antinomy of saṃsāra (see below) which itself is synonymous with ignorance (avidyā, Pāli avijjā). This said: SÅ«tra (sex) (Sanskrit) or Sutta (Pāli) literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism (or line, rule, formula), or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... Look up ignorance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Avidya is the Buddhist term for ignorance. ...

"'the liberated mind (citta) that no longer clings' means Nibbāna" (Majjhima Nikaya 2-Att. 4.68).

Nibbāna 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". The Majjhima Nikaya, or Middle-length Discourses of the Buddha, is the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tipitaka. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

It carries further connotations of stilling, cooling, and peace. The realizing of Nirvāṇa 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). 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 samsaric existence (of ever "becoming" and "dying" and never truly being) is realization of Nirvāṇa; what happens to a person after his parinirvāṇa cannot be explained, as it is outside of all conceivable experience. Dependent Origination (Sanskrit: pratītya-samutpāda, Pali: paticca samuppada) The doctrine of pratitya-samutpada is Buddhisms primary contribution to metaphysics. ... The death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara 2-3rd century. ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... In ontology, a being is anything that can be said to be, either transcendantly or immanently. ...

In Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta the Buddha likens nibbana to the cessation and extinguishing of a fire where the materials for sustenance has been removed: The Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta is a Buddhist sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya of the Tripitaka. ...

"Profound, Vaccha, is this phenomenon, hard to see, hard to realize, tranquil, refined, beyond the scope of conjecture, subtle, to-be-experienced by the wise."

"There is that dimension where there is 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 is neither coming, nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising: without stance, without foundation, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress."

Nirvāṇa and saṃsāra

In Mahāyāna Buddhism, calling nirvāṇa the "opposite" of saṃsāra or implying that it is apart from saṃsāra 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 nirvāṇa and saṃsāra. However, even here it is assumed that the natural man suffers from at the very least a confusion regarding the nature of saṃsāra. Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... N is the fourteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. ...

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 saṃsāra 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, saṃsāra and Nibbāna, remain distinct. Theravada (Pāli: theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda; literally, the Way of the Elders) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population[1]) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand). ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... Theravada (Pāli: theravāda; Sanskrit: स्थविरवाद sthaviravāda; literally, the Way of the Elders) is the oldest surviving Buddhist school, and for many centuries has been the predominant religion of Sri Lanka (about 70% of the population[1]) and most of continental Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand). ... For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ...

In the experience of all, Nirvāṇa is a state which all six bases (Eye, Ear, Nose, Tongue, Body and Mind) cannot feel.

It is probably best to understand the relationship between Nirvāṇa and saṃsāra 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 saṃsāra.

Nirvāṇa in Buddhist commentaries

Sarvastivādin commentary, Abhidharma-mahavibhāsa-sāstra, gives the complete context of the possible meanings from its Sanskrit roots: The abhidhamma is the name of one of the three pitakas, or baskets of tradition, into which the Tipitaka (Pali; Sanskrit: Tripitaka), the canon of early Buddhism, is divided. ...

• 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."

Nirvāṇa in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

The nature of Nirvāṇa 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, Nirvāṇa is spoken of by the Mahāyāna Buddha in very "cataphatic", positive terms. Nirvāṇa, or "Great Nirvāṇa", 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-nirvāṇa ("Great Nirvāṇa") 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 Nirvāṇa Sutra, can only be fully known by an Awakened Being - a perfect Buddha - directly. Mah is an ancient Persian god of the moon, one of the Yazatas. ... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... See Mahaparinibbana Sutta for the sutta of the Pali Canon. ... The Tathagatagarbha doctrine says that each sentient being contains the potential to become a Buddha. ... The Tathagatagarbha doctrine says that each sentient being contains the potential to become a Buddha. ...

The Buddha of the Mahaparinirvāṇa Sutra gives the following definition of the attributes of Nirvāṇa, which includes the ultimate reality of the Self (not to be confused with the "worldly ego" of the five skandhas): The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual, ego, or soul (possibly atman) is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ...

"The attributes of Nirvāṇa 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 Nirvāṇa."

He further states: "Non-Self is saṃsāra (the cycle of rebirth); the Self (atman) is Great Nirvāṇa." For other uses, see Samsara (disambiguation). ... Atman is a Sanskrit word, normally translated as soul or self (also ego). ...

An important facet of Nirvāṇa 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 benighted 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: See Mahaparinibbana Sutta for the sutta of the Pali Canon. ...

It is not the case that the inherent nature of Nirvāṇa 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 (kileśas), 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 Nirvāṇa. In Buddhism, the Pali word kilesa (Sanskrit: kleÅ›a or klesha) is used to mean defilements or corruptions. Three main kinds of kilesa are: lobha: greed, lust (rāga), attachment. ... Tathāgata (Sanskrit; Pali The one thus-come or The one thus-gone; Chinese: 如來; Pinyin: Rú lái; Japanese: nyorai) This is traditionally interpreted as one who comes and goes in the same way (as the previous Buddhas). Tathāgata is the name which the historical Buddha Sakyamuni (Siddhattha Gotama... Lands Bhutan â€¢ China â€¢ Korea Japan â€¢ Tibet â€¢ Vietnam Taiwan â€¢ Mongolia Doctrine Bodhisattva â€¢ Bodhicitta Karuna â€¢ Prajna Sunyata â€¢ Buddha Nature Trikaya â€¢ Eternal Buddha Scriptures Prajnaparamita Sutra Avatamsaka Sutra Lotus Sutra Nirvana Sutra VimalakÄ«rti Sutra Lankavatara Sutra History 4th Buddhist Council Silk Road â€¢ Nagarjuna Asanga â€¢ Vasubandhu Bodhidharma      A statue of a Bodhisattva, Akasagarbha. ...

Vitally, according to these Mahāyāna teachings, any being who has reached Nirvāṇa 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 Nirvāṇa-ed being becomes an utter impossibility. The Buddha states in the "Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sutra" (Tibetan version): "Nirvāṇa is deathless ... Those who have passed into Nirvāṇa 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." The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual, ego, or soul (possibly atman) is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ...

Paths to Nirvāṇa in the Pali canon

In the Visuddhimagga, Ch. I, v. 6 (Buddhaghosa & Ñāṇamoli, 1999, pp. 6-7), Buddhaghosa identifies various options within the Pali canon for pursuing a path to Nirvāṇa,^[1] including: The Visuddhimagga (The path to purity) is a Theravada Buddhist commentary written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. ... Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa was a 5th century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. ... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. ...

1. by insight (vipassana) alone (see Dh. 277)^[2]
2. by jhana and understanding (see Dh. 372)^[3]
3. by deeds, vision and righteousness (see MN iii.262)^[4]
4. by virtue, consciousness and understanding (7SN i.13)^[5]
5. by virtue, understanding, concentration and effort (see SN i.53)^[6]
6. by the four foundations of mindfulness (see Satipatthana Sutta, DN ii.290)^[7]

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^[8] and wisdom. Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaÅ›yanā (विपश्यना) in (Sanskrit) means insight and is often referred to by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike as simply insight meditation. While it is a type of Buddhist meditation as taught by the Buddha, it is essentially non-sectarian in character and has universal application. ... The Dhammapada (Pali, translates as Path of the Dharma. ... Dhyāna means meditation in Sanskrit. ... The Majjhima Nikaya, or Middle-length Discourses of the Buddha, is the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tipitaka. ... The Samyutta Nikaya, the third Nikaya (division) of the Sutta Pitaka of the Tipitaka, contains 2,889 suttas grouped into five sections (vaggas). ... The Satipaá¹­á¹­hāna Sutta and the Mahāsatipaá¹­á¹­hāna Sutta are two of the most popular works in the Pali canon, embraced by both Theravada and Mahayana practitioners (see, e. ... The Digha Nikaya (Collection of Long Discourses) is the first part of the Sutta Pitaka- one of the three baskets that compose the Pali Tipitaka. ... The Buddha identified the threefold training (sikkhā)[1] as training in: higher virtue (adhisÄ«la-sikkhā) higher mind (adhicitta-sikkhā) higher wisdom (adhipaññā-sikkhā) Pursuing this training leads to the abandonment of lust, hatred and delusion. ... For other uses, see Sila (disambiguation). ... Buddhist meditation, meditation used in the practice of Buddhism, includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim (Kamalashila 1996). ... Prajñā (Sanskrit; Pali: paññā; Tibetan: shes rab, Chinese: 般若, banruo) meaning wisdom, cognitive acuity; or know-how -- but especially the Buddhist wisdom that is based on a realization of dependent origination, not-self, emptiness, etc. ...

Quotations

• Gautama Buddha:
  • "Nirvāṇa is the highest happiness." [Dp 204]
  • "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]
  • This said: ‘the liberated mind/will (citta) which does not cling’ means Nibbāna” [MN2-Att. 4.68]
  • “'The subjugation of becoming means Nirvāṇa'; this means the subjugation of the five aggregates means Nirvāṇa.” [SN-Att. 2.123]
  • "Parinibbuto thitatto" -"Parinirvāṇa is to be fixed in the Soul" [Sn 372]

• Said immediately after the physical death of Gotama Buddha wherein his mind (citta) is =parinirvāṇa=the essence of liberation:
  • [DN 2.157] “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.”
  • [SN 3.45] “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 (parinirvāṇa).”

• 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.^[9]
• Venerable Sariputta:
  • The destruction of greed, hatred and delusion is Nirvāṇa.

For other uses, see Dharma (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Ataraxia
• Baqaa
• Bodhi
• Bhagavad Gita
• Dzogchen
• Hinduism
• Jainism
• Moksha
• Parinirvana
• Satori
• Void (Buddhism)
• Voidness
• Zen

Ataraxia (Ἀταραξία) is a Greek term used by Pyrrho and Epicurus for freedom from worry or any other preoccupation, and for Epicurus to achieve Hêdonê, the great pleasure. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P... Bhagavad Gīta भगवद्गीता, composed ca the fifth - second centuries BC, is part of the epic poem Mahabharata, located in the Bhisma-Parva chapters 23–40. ... This article refers to the primordial state as considered in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages)[1] is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... Jain and Jaina redirect here. ... For other uses, see Moksha (disambiguation). ... The death of the Buddha, or Mahaparinirvana, Gandhara 2-3rd century. ... Satori (æ‚Ÿ Japanese satori; Chinese: wù - from the verb Satoru) is a Japanese Buddhist term for enlightenment. ... Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit) or Suññatā (Pāli) is a term, translated as Emptiness or Voidness, which constitutes an aspect of the Buddhist metaphysical critique as well as Buddhist epistemology and phenomenology. ... Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit), Suññatā (Pāli), stong pa nyid (Tibetan), Kuu, 空 (Japanese) qoÉ£usun (Mongolian), generally translated into English as Emptiness or Voidness, is a concept of central importance in the teaching of the Buddha, as a direct realization of Sunyata is required to achieve liberation from the cycle of... For other uses, see Zen (disambiguation). ...

Notes

Dhyāna means meditation in Sanskrit. ... Impermanence (Sanskrit: anitya; Pali anicca; Tibetan: mi rtag pa; Chinese: 無常, wúcháng; Japanese: mujō) is one of the essential doctrines of Buddhism. ... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... In Buddhist philosophy, anatta (Pāli) or anātman (Sanskrit) refers to non-self or absence of separate self[1]. One scholar describes it as ...meaning non-selfhood, the absence of limiting self-identity in people and things. ... According to the Buddhist tradition, all phenomena (dharmas) are marked by three characteristics, sometimes referred to as the Dharma seals, that is dukkha (suffering), anicca (impermanence), and anatta (non-Self). ... Nikaya is a word of Pali origin and Sanskrit usage which was adopted into English in reference to Buddhist texts. ...

External links

Look up Nirvana in
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• Nibbana - more excerpts from the Pali Tripitaka defining Nibbana
• "Nirvana Sutra": full English translation of the "Nirvana Sutra" and appreciation of its teachings.
• Nirvana - from Encyclopedia of Spiritual Knowledge.