Nirvana Talks
Nirvana ( neer-VAH-nə, -VAN-ə, nur-; Sanskrit: निर्वाण nirvāṇa [nɪrʋaːɳɐ]; Pali: nibbāna; Prakrit: ṇivvāṇa; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp) is a concept in Indian religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism), the extinguishing of the passions which is the ultimate state of soteriological release and the liberation from duḥkha ('suffering') and saṃsāra, the cycle of birth and rebirth.
In Indian religions, nirvana is synonymous with moksha and mukti. All Indian religions assert it to be a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness as well as the liberation from attachment and worldly suffering and the ending of samsara, the round of existence. However, non-Buddhist and Buddhist traditions describe these terms for liberation differently. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union of or the realization of the identity of Atman with Brahman, depending on the Hindu tradition. In Jainism, nirvana is also the soteriological goal, representing the release of a soul from karmic bondage and samsara. In Buddhism, nirvana refers to the abandonment of the 10 fetters, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.
The ideas of spiritual liberation, with the concept of soul and Brahman, appear in Vedic texts and Upanishads, such as in verse 4.4.6 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
The term nirvana in the soteriological sense of "blown out, extinguished" state of liberation appears at many places in the Vedas and even more in the post-Buddhist Bhagavata Purana, however populist opinion does not give credit to either the Vedas or the Upanishads. Collins states, "the Buddhists seem to have been the first to call it nirvana." This may have been deliberate use of words in early Buddhism, suggests Collins, since Atman and Brahman were described in Vedic texts and Upanishads with the imagery of fire, as something good, desirable and liberating. Collins says the word nirvāṇa 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 sounds: the v of vāna causes nis to become nir, and then the r of nir causes retroflexion of the following n: nis+vāna > nirvāṇa). However the Buddhist meaning of nirvana also has other interpretations.
L. S. Cousins said that in popular usage nirvana was "the goal of Buddhist discipline,... the final removal of the disturbing mental elements which obstruct a peaceful and clear state of mind, together with a state of awakening from the mental sleep which they induce."
Nirvāṇa is a term found in the texts of all major Indian religions – Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. 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.
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." Although the term occurs in the literatures of a number of ancient Indian traditions, the concept is most commonly associated with Buddhism. Some writers believe the concept was adopted by other Indian religions after it became established in Buddhism, but with different meanings and description, for instance the use of (Moksha) in the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita of the Mahabharata.
The idea of moksha is connected to the Vedic culture, where it conveyed a notion of amrtam, "immortality", 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". 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.
The earliest Vedic texts incorporate the concept of life, followed by an afterlife in heaven and hell based on cumulative virtues (merit) or vices (demerit). 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. The idea of rebirth following "running out of merit" appears in Buddhist texts as well. This idea appears in many ancient and medieval texts, as Saṃsāra, or the endless cycle of life, death, rebirth and redeath, such as section 6:31 of the Mahabharata and verse 9.21 of the Bhagavad Gita. The Saṃsara, the life after death, and what impacts rebirth came to be seen as dependent on karma.
Nirvana (nibbana) literally means "blowing out" or "quenching". It is the most used as well as the earliest term to describe the soteriological goal in Buddhism: the extinguishing of the passions, which also gives release from the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra). Nirvana is part of the Third Truth on "cessation of dukkha" in the Four Noble Truths doctrine of Buddhism. It is the goal of the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Buddha is believed in the Buddhist scholastic tradition to have realized two types of nirvana, one at awakening, and another at his death. The first is called sopadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana with a remainder), the second parinirvana or anupadhishesa-nirvana (nirvana without remainder, or final nirvana).
In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is described as the extinguishing of the fires, which are also said to cause rebirths and associated suffering. The Buddhist texts identify these "three fires" or "three poisons" as raga (greed, sensuality), dvesha (aversion, hate) and avidyā or moha (ignorance, delusion).
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, a fire going out for lack of fuel, abandoning weaving (vana) together of life after life, and the elimination of desire.
Liberation is described as identical to anatta (anatman, non-self, lack of any self). In Buddhism, liberation is achieved when all things and beings are understood to be with no Self. Nirvana is also described as identical to achieving sunyata (emptiness), where there is no essence or fundamental nature in anything, and everything is empty. Yet, in Theravada Buddhism it is also seen as the only unconditioned existent, not just "destruction of desire" but a separate existent which is "the object of the knowledge" of the Buddhist path.
The most ancient texts of Hinduism such as the Vedas and early Upanishads do not mention the soteriological term Nirvana. This term is found in texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Nirvana Upanishad, likely composed in the post-Buddha era. The concept of Nirvana is described differently in Buddhist and Hindu literature. Hinduism has the concept of Atman – the soul, self – asserted to exist in every living being, while Buddhism asserts through its anatman doctrine that there is no Atman in any being. Nirvana in Buddhism is "stilling mind, cessation of desires, and action" unto emptiness, states Jeaneane Fowler, while nirvana in post-Buddhist Hindu texts is 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 Brahman.
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". In the Vedas and early Upanishads, the word mucyate (Sanskrit: मुच्यते) 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 (Sanskrit: marga) to moksha: jnana-marga, the path of knowledge; bhakti-marga, the path of devotion; and karma-marga, the path of action.
The term Brahma-nirvana appears in verses 2.72 and 5.24-26 of the Bhagavad Gita. It is the state of release or liberation; the union with the Brahman. According to Easwaran, it is an experience of blissful egolessness.
According to Zaehner, Johnson and other scholars, nirvana in the Gita is a Buddhist term adopted by the Hindus. Zaehner states it was used in Hindu texts 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. According to Johnson 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.
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).
The terms moksa and nirvana are often used interchangeably in the Jain texts.
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.
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
The concept of liberation as "extinction of suffering", along with the idea of sansara as the "cycle of rebirth" is also part of Sikhism. Nirvana appears in Sikh texts as the term Nirban. However, the more common term is Mukti or Moksh, a salvation concept wherein loving devotion to God is emphasized for liberation from endless cycle of rebirths. In Sikhism Nirvana is not an after life concept but a goal for the living. Furthermore, Sikh nirvana/mukti is achieved through devotion to satguru/truth who sets you free from reincarnation bharam/superstition/false belief.
The term Nirvana (also mentioned is parinirvana) is in the 13th or 14th century Manichaean work "The great song to Mani" and "The story of the Death of Mani", referring to the realm of light.
Nibbana-The Mind Stilled Vol. I : Sermons on Nibbana (PDF) English translation of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback MachineTitle | Speaker | |
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The Grass Hut and the BodhimandalaSerial: TL-00730 ADZG Sunday Morning, Zoom, Mandala, Monastic Practice, Practice Period, Nirvana |
Feb 27 2022 Hybrid |
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The One Not Busy and the Many Moonscapes: Book of Serenity cases 21 & 37Serial: TL-00728 ADZG Monday Night, Book of Serenity, Conversation, Nirvana, Shuso Ceremony, Samsara |
Feb 14 2022 Zoom |
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Yoga Room Class - August 10th, 2021#YRB-2021-Summer, Happiness, Samsara, Nirvana |
Aug 10 2021 The Yoga Room |
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Things Fall Apart War, Aspects of Practice, Berkeley Zen Center, Nirvana, confusion |
Aug 07 2021 |
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Yoga Room Class - August 3rd, 2021#YRB-2021-Summer, Happiness, Patience, Nirvana |
Aug 03 2021 The Yoga Room |
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Yoga Room Class - July 27th, 2021#YRB-2021-Summer, resistance, Patience, Nirvana |
Jul 27 2021 The Yoga Room |
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Yoga Room Class - July 20th, 2021#YRB-2021-Summer, Happiness, Samsara, Nirvana |
Jul 20 2021 The Yoga Room |
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The Three Marks Of Existence Nirvana, Four Noble Truths, Monkey Mind, Daily Life, Beginners |
May 29 2021 |
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Problems, Prospects Impermanence, Greed, Dharma Transmission, Gratitude, Nirvana, Conversation,... |
Oct 10 2020 |
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Hunger Mindfulness, Four Noble Truths, Four Foundations, Lay, Bodhisattva Vow, Greed,... |
Oct 03 2020 |
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Public Dokusan 8 Nirvana Sutra, Buddha Nature, Happiness, War, Priest, Nirvana, Conversation, Anger,... |
Sep 11 2020 |
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Three Doors Of Liberation Liberation, Intuition, Discrimination, Nirvana, Non-discrimination, Silence, Birth-... |
Aug 15 2020 |
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Public Dokusan 6 Six Realms, Teacher-and-Student, Nirvana, Politics, Zoom, Doubt, War, Sangha, Dragons... |
Aug 14 2020 |
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Three Marks Of ExistenceThree Dharma Seals, Impermanence, No-Self, Suffering, Nirvana, marks of existence, ... |
Aug 08 2020 Online |
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Being Bodhisattvas Bodhisattva Vow, Vow, Happiness, War, Anger, Funeral, Lineage, Nirvana, Conversation... |
Jul 18 2020 |
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Public Dokusan 3 Nirvana Sutra, Birth-and-Death, Karma, Commitment, Nirvana, American, Platform Sutra... |
Jul 03 2020 |
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Ten Vows, Ten Practices, and Ten Cakes Discrimination, Nirvana, Practice Period, Blue Cliff Record, Letting Go, Right Effort... |
Mar 07 2020 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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Nirvana Day: The Death and Present Life of BuddhaSerial: TL-00654 ADZG Sunday Morning, Nirvana, Lotus Sutra, Parinirvana, Samsara |
Feb 16 2020 ADZG Temple |
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Buddha Has Reasons For Teaching Non-Self And Buddha Has Reasons For Teaching Self Addiction, Nirvana Sutra, Impermanence, Religion, Nirvana, Letting Go, Building,... |
Feb 01 2020 AM No Abode Hermitage |
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The Fire of Zen Monastic Practice, Global Warming, Nirvana, War, Politics, Interview, Liberation,... |
Jan 25 2020 |
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The Buddha's Practice Of Arranging Shoes Non-attachment, Attachment, confusion, Nirvana, Subject-and-Object, Dragons,... |
Dec 14 2019 No Abode Hermitage |
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Words of My Perfect Teacher Samsara, Nirvana, Mindfulness, Posture, Interdependence, Mahayana, Passions,... |
Nov 23 2019 |
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Instability in Medieval Japanese Huts and PoetrySerial: TL-00615 ADZG Sunday Morning, Impermanence, Conversation, Nirvana, Building |
Nov 03 2019 ADZG Temple |
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More Poverty And Nobility Discrimination, Lotus Sutra, Non-discrimination, Cultivation, Nirvana |
Jun 08 2019 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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Man Up a Tree, Talk 2 Birth-and-Death, Buddha Mind, Renunciation, Ego, Big Mind, Separation,... |
Jun 08 2019 |
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Nirvana the Waterfall Oneness, Composure, Nirvana, Big Mind, Birth-and-Death, Practice Period, Commitment,... |
May 25 2019 |
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Shoji Part 2Serial: BZ-02678 PP Class Birth-and-Death, Death-and-Dying, War, Subject-and-Object, Posture, Peace, Commitment... |
May 23 2019 |
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Shoji: Birth and DeathSerial: BZ-02676 PP Class 1 Birth-and-Death, Nirvana, Samsara, Buddha Nature, Six Realms, Impermanence,... |
May 16 2019 |
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Buddha ActivityThe work of buddhas — buddha activity — is realizing intimacy and liberation in conversation together with all beings. In this series of meetings we will contemplate what it is to fully engage with... YRB-2019-Spring, Karmic Consciousness, Silence, Intimacy, Ego, Nirvana, Teacher-and-... |
Apr 16 2019 7/7 The Yoga Room |
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Practice Like A Fool, Like An Idiot, Like A Fool On The Hill Half-Smile, Culture, Silent Illumination, Samadhi, resistance, Mahayana, Continuous... |
Apr 13 2019 |
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Book of Serenity case 18: Dog Nature Buddha NatureSerial: TL-00590 ADZG Sunday Morning, Karmic Consciousness, Book of Serenity, Duality, Ordinary Mind, Nirvana |
Feb 24 2019 ADZG Temple |
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Book of Serenity case 14: Deshan Pats a BackSerial: TL-00588 ADZG Monday Night, Nirvana, Parinirvana, Enemies, Samsara, Book of Serenity |
Feb 18 2019 ADZG Temple |
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Parinirvana Day: Buddha's Death and LifeSerial: TL-00586 ADZG Sunday Morning, Parinirvana, Nirvana, Samsara, Patience, Nirvana Sutra |
Feb 17 2019 ADZG Temple |
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Denko Roku 1: ShakyamuniSerial: BZ-02662 Study Sesshin Day 1
true dharma, Transmission, Liberation, Nirvana, Dogen, Soto Zen, Chanting, Buddha... |
Feb 16 2019 |
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What Is Most Important For You In This LifeWe are all creating the space together for people to have profound experience in zazen. Kind and unkind thoughts are opportunities to express the Buddha mind. Compassion towards wholesome and... Compassion, Buddha Mind, Mill Valley, Gratitude, Repentance, Enemies, Nirvana,... |
Feb 02 2019 PM No Abode Hermitage |
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Innermost Request Heart Sutra, Instruction, Nirvana, Intimacy, Mahayana, Posture, training |
Feb 02 2019 |
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Dogen's Birthday and Basic TeachingsSerial: TL-00582 ADZG Sunday Morning, Letting Go, true dharma, Nirvana, Addiction |
Jan 27 2019 ADZG Temple |
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Six Qualatative Factors as Applied to ZazenSerial: BZ-02648 Rohatsu Day 1
Posture, Big Mind, Nirvana, Peace, Anger, Equanimity, stubbornness, Instruction, War... |
Dec 02 2018 |
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Eight Awarenesses of Great Beings (Study Sesshin Part 1)Serial: BZ-02632 Study Sesshin Part 1
Mindfulness, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Concentration, Precepts, true dharma,... |
Sep 01 2018 |
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Patachara StorySerial: BZ-02602 Women's Sesshin
Four Noble Truths, Peace, Lay, Discrimination, Politics, Ordination, Passions,... |
Mar 04 2018 |
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Wide and Small Fields in GenjokoanSerial: TL-00506 ADZG Monday Night, Lay Ordination, Practice Period, Ordination, Ego, Nirvana |
Feb 26 2018 ADZG Temple |
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Nirvana Study Sesshin Day 2 Lecture 3 Composure, Bell, Nirvana, Daily Life, Ego, Heart Sutra, Two Truths, Chanting, Posture... |
Feb 18 2018 |
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Nirvana and Sunyata (Nirvana Study Sesshin Day 2 Lecture 4)Serial: BZ-02599 Study Sesshin Day 2 Lecture 4
Happiness, Duality, Nirvana, Liberation, Samsara, Birth-and-Death, Non-duality, Ego,... |
Feb 18 2018 |
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Buddha's Parinirvana (Nirvana Study Sesshin Day 1, Lecture 2)Serial: BZ-02597 Nirvana Study Sesshin Day 1 Lecture 2
Happiness, Composure, Nirvana, Monastic Practice, Samsara, Soto Zen, Bowing, Oneness... |
Feb 17 2018 |
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Dharmakaya as Resource in Chaotic timesSerial: TL-00500 ADZG Monday Night, Dharmakaya, Nirvana Sutra, Thich Nhat Hanh, Impermanence, Nirvana |
Dec 11 2017 ADZG Temple |
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Dharmakaya Overview and Dogen's View from SpaceSerial: TL-00499 ADZG Sesshin, Dharmakaya, Nirvana, Nirmanakaya, Nirvana Sutra |
Dec 09 2017 ADZG Temple |
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The Background Awareness of th DharmakayaSerial: TL-00498 ADZG Sesshin, Dharmakaya, Nirvana, No-Self, Nirmanakaya, Buddha Ancestors |
Dec 08 2017 ADZG Temple |
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Jo Raku Ga Jo in the Nirvana SutraSerial: TL-00497 ADZG Sesshin, Dharmakaya, Nirvana, Nirmanakaya, Bodhisattva Way, Samsara |
Dec 07 2017 ADZG Temple |
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The True Self of the Dharma BodySerial: TL-00496 ADZG Sesshin, Dharmakaya, Nirvana, Nirmanakaya, Nirvana Sutra, Samsara |
Dec 06 2017 ADZG Temple |
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TransiencySerial: BZ-02585 Day 3
Composure, Nirvana, Enemies, Big Mind, Buddha Nature, Ego, Bodhidharma, resistance,... |
Dec 05 2017 |