9. Enlightenment and Nirvana

Lesson on 26/11/25

If you achieve enlightenment, what else have you achieved?

Nirvana

What is nirvana?

Nirvana is the ultimate spiritual goal in Buddhism. It is the cessation of suffering (dukkha).

Which noble truth does it relate to?

Relates to the third noble truth – nirodha (the truth of the end of suffering).

Quote on third noble truth and who it is by

“And this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of stress: the remainderless fading and cessation, renunciation, relinquishment, release, and letting go of that very craving.”

Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta

What is nirvana like?

• ‘Blowing out’ – of desires, of the aggregates, of existence?

• A shelter

• Freeing the mind from negative mental states (e.g. three poisons)

• Entirely blissful

• An unconditioned phenomenon

• Something that goes beyond our understanding

Quote on how nirvana is like ‘blowing out (candle - thoughts, desires) and who it is by

“The lamp goes out. My mind is freed.”

Verses of the Eldresses

Quote on how nirvana is like a shelter and free from negative mental states and who it is by

“My cottage (mind) roofed, it isblissful and free from wind (negative states)… free from lust… free from angry hatred… free from delusion”

Verses of the Elders

Quote on how nirvana is painful and uncomfortable to achieve but once you have, it is entirely blissful and who it is by

“It is true that those who seek nibbana experience pain and discomfort but afterwards they experience the unalloyed bliss of nibbana.”

Milinda Panha

Quote on how nirvana is something that goes beyond our understanding and an unconditioned phenomenon and who it is by

“Nirvana is not a thing, for then it would be characterised by old age and death,”

Nagarjuna

What is one word that describes nirvana?

Ineffable - impossible to understand

What are the three types of nirvana?

• Nirvana with remainder

• Parinirvana

• Non-abiding nirvana

What is nirvana with remainder

• Theravada Buddhism

• You achieve nirvana when you become enlightened

• You can achieve it while you are alive

• While you are alive, there is residue of the five aggregates that make up the human personality

• Achieving nirvana results in a transformed mind with freedom from negative mental states

What is parinirvana?

• Theravada Buddhism (ultimate goal)

• On the moment of death, a person is said to have achieved final nirvana (parinirvana)

• This is the ‘blowing out’ of the fire

• It means there will be no future rebirth and that they have escaped samsara

What is non-abiding nirvana?

• Mahayana Buddhism

• Mahayana Buddhists emphasise the bodhisattva ideal, where a person vows to try and liberate all sentient beings

• As bodhisattvas, they are able to return to or remain in the cycle of samsara to help others

Differences between Theravada and Mahayana understandings of nirvana

Theravada:

• Enlightenment and nirvana carry the same meaning - freedom from greed, hatred and ignorance

• Nirvana assumed to be something distinct to or outside samsara

• Nirvana is a state free from dukkha

Mahayana:

• Involves realising the Buddha-nature (tathagatagarbha) and realising that everything is characterised by emptiness (sunyata)

• Emptiness characterises nirvana, “by remaining in emptiness they remain in nirvana” - Bodhidharma (Mahayana philosopher)

• Ultimately no distinction between virtue and samsara since both are characterised by emptiness

• Emphasised by Mahayana philosopher Nagarjuna - “There is no distinction between samsara and nirvana, and no distinction between nirvana and samsara”