Nirvana or Nibbana is most widely thought of as meaning the supreme enlightenment. According to A Dictionary of Buddhism by T.O. Ling, nirvana can connote many different meanings in its original Pali form, it can mean being well, or healthy, it can mean being free from defilements, it can mean tranquil, pure and deathless, and sometimes it is stated as nibutta which means cooled from fever (fever of greed, hatred and illusion).
Under any definition, it should be clear that nirvana is not a place that people go to once they are dead, like the equivalent of the Christian heaven. In fact, the Buddha entered nirvana while alive as did many of his disciples. In this way, nirvana is more akin to a state of mind where the illusion of self has been lifted and all craving has dissolved. Once you enter nirvana there is no more accumulation of karma, and once the physical body dies there is no more rebirth.
The path to nirvana is to understand the Four Noble Truths and to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. However, because the path is so difficult to follow, there is not just one way to follow it. For those that were fortunate enough to be taught by the Buddha in person, many were able to achieve enlightenment in their lifetime. However, as Buddha himself stated his teachings will only stay "true" for 500 years, after which the "counterfeit" teaching will be taught for 500 years, after which the teaching will slowly be lost until it is completely gone, and our world will have to wait a long time until another Buddha (Maitreya Buddha) appears. As it has been over 2500 years since the Buddha's time on earth, we are way past the teaching of the true law and even counterfeit law, which means we are in a period of the disintegration of Buddhism. What this means for Buddhists is that it will become increasingly difficult for Buddhist to receive proper teaching. We may find it difficult to find reliable sources, or we may find it difficult to find honest and praiseworthy teachers. Additionally, the world is becoming more and more complex, which also makes maintaining a spiritual base increasingly more difficult.
The Buddha foresaw these difficulties that is why he taught that the Noble Eightfold Path was not a series of lessons or stages to be mastered in sequence, rather it was a way of life to be practiced. As such, some people may reach nirvana by excelling in wisdom first, others in compassion, and yet others in meditation. There is no right or wrong way. That is why the Buddha never dismissed other religions, because he recognized that those religions that taught compassion and benevolence were also helping their practitioners toward nirvana. Additionally, the Buddha also taught the pureland path to nirvana. Pureland Buddhism will be explained more deeply in its own lesson, but the main belief is that there are Buddha purelands where inhabitants are reborn with the single goal of attaining enlightenment. In each pureland, there is a Buddha teaching the Dharma without the evils, hinderances and impurities that are present in our world. Although this may seem like a "cheat" code way of attaining nirvana, that is not the case. Those reborn in Buddha purelands while they are guaranteed to never regress, their progress to nirvana will be slow. Although I have not read any sutras that state the following, I believe this is because in a pureland, where there is no evil and suffering, it is very difficult for one to build good karma by helping others.
So if you do attain nirvana during this lifetime, we know that your will enjoy supreme bliss by being free from the craving and suffering of life. But what happens to you after death? Where do you go? The Buddha was asked this very question by Vacchagotta the wandering ascetic. The Buddha responded to Vacchagotta;
"suppose there was a fire burning in front of you, would you be aware that the fire was burning?"
"Gotama (Buddha), if a fire was burning in front of me, I would be aware."
"Now suppose Vaccha, someone were to ask you, on what does that fire burning in front of you depend, what would you answer?"
"O Gotama, I would answer that the fire burning in front of me depends on wood and grass as its fuel."
"And Vaccha, if the fire in front of you were to become extinct would you become aware of its extinction."
"Gotama, if the fire in front of me became extinct, I would be aware of its extinction."
"But Vaccha, if someone asked you to which direction the fire has gone, East, West, North or South, what would you say?" "The question does not fit the case Gotama, for the fire depended on the wood for fuel and when the fuel was all gone the fire, thus without nutriment, is said to be extinct."
Finally, the Buddha explained; "in exactly the same way Vaccha, when all forms of sensations, perceptions, mental activities, and consciousness have been abandoned, the fuel for continued existence is gone. Therefore, it is incorrect to say the Arhat has gone anywhere after death. To say an Arhat is neither reborn or not reborn would not fit the case. Nor could one say that the Arhat is reborn, as all passions that conditioned rebirth are eradicated, nor can one say that the Arhat is annihilated, for there is nothing to annihilate."*
On another instance when he was asked by a disciple to describe nirvana, or where the Arhat goes after death, the Buddha recounted the story of the turtle and the fish. One day, a turtle was swimming in the lake when a fish swam up to him and asked;
"Hi turtle, what were you doing today?"
and the turtle replied; "I was lying around on dry land resting."
Confused the fish asked; "What is land? I have never heard of such a thing? Dry land is nothing."
"Well" said the turtle goodnaturedly, "If you choose to think so of courses you may, there is no one to hinder you, but that's where I've been all the same."
"O' come" said the fish. "Try to talk sense. Jus tell me now what is this land of yours like? Is it all wet?."
"No it's not wet" said the turtle.
"Is it nice, fresh and cool?" asked the fish.
"No its not nice, fresh and cool." replied the turtle.
"Is it clear that the light can come through it?" asked the fish.
"No it is not clear." replied the turtle.
"Is it soft and yielding so that I can move my fins through it? asked the fish.
"No it is not soft." answered the turtle.
"you cannot swim in it." "Does it flow or move in streams?" asked the fish.
"No it neither moves or flows." replied the turtle.
"Does it ever ride up in waves?" asked the fish.
"No" replied the turtle truthfully "It never rides up in waves."
"There now" exclaimed the fish "Didn't I tell you this land of yours was just nothing. I have asked and you have answered that it is neither cool nor wet, nor clear, nor soft, nor flows, nor rise into waves. And if it is not a single one of these things, what else is it but nothing!" Happy he has won the discussion the fish swam away proudly.*
This story playfully illustrates the difficulty that Buddha has when explaining with people things when they have not shared the same experiences and wisdom as he. If he did we still wouldn't believe him. Instead, Buddha tries to teach us through parables and similes. Through the story of the turtle and the fish we should all remember that just because we have not seen or experienced something first hand, it does not mean it does not exist. And just because the Buddha did not explain something explicitly does not mean, there is no answer, it could just be that we do not yet have the capabilities to grasp such yet.
Many people have come to see Nirvana as the final goal for all Buddhists, however, that is not the case. Significantly, although Nirvana marks the end of suffering and the cycle of rebirth, it is not the end of learning. There is much more wisdom that needs to be attained. As such even Bodhisattvas and Arhats, those who have already achieved Nirvana, still must undergo further training and gain further wisdom. This is not something that is often discussed in Western interpretations of Buddhism, but it is what is taught by the Buddha in many of his later sutras. In essence, saving oneself from suffering is not the only goal of Buddhism, it is merely the first step. The true goal of a Buddhist is to gain the ultimate wisdom, enlightenment, truth and understanding of the Buddha.
*Narada Maha Thera. The Buddha and His Teachings
Under any definition, it should be clear that nirvana is not a place that people go to once they are dead, like the equivalent of the Christian heaven. In fact, the Buddha entered nirvana while alive as did many of his disciples. In this way, nirvana is more akin to a state of mind where the illusion of self has been lifted and all craving has dissolved. Once you enter nirvana there is no more accumulation of karma, and once the physical body dies there is no more rebirth.
The path to nirvana is to understand the Four Noble Truths and to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. However, because the path is so difficult to follow, there is not just one way to follow it. For those that were fortunate enough to be taught by the Buddha in person, many were able to achieve enlightenment in their lifetime. However, as Buddha himself stated his teachings will only stay "true" for 500 years, after which the "counterfeit" teaching will be taught for 500 years, after which the teaching will slowly be lost until it is completely gone, and our world will have to wait a long time until another Buddha (Maitreya Buddha) appears. As it has been over 2500 years since the Buddha's time on earth, we are way past the teaching of the true law and even counterfeit law, which means we are in a period of the disintegration of Buddhism. What this means for Buddhists is that it will become increasingly difficult for Buddhist to receive proper teaching. We may find it difficult to find reliable sources, or we may find it difficult to find honest and praiseworthy teachers. Additionally, the world is becoming more and more complex, which also makes maintaining a spiritual base increasingly more difficult.
The Buddha foresaw these difficulties that is why he taught that the Noble Eightfold Path was not a series of lessons or stages to be mastered in sequence, rather it was a way of life to be practiced. As such, some people may reach nirvana by excelling in wisdom first, others in compassion, and yet others in meditation. There is no right or wrong way. That is why the Buddha never dismissed other religions, because he recognized that those religions that taught compassion and benevolence were also helping their practitioners toward nirvana. Additionally, the Buddha also taught the pureland path to nirvana. Pureland Buddhism will be explained more deeply in its own lesson, but the main belief is that there are Buddha purelands where inhabitants are reborn with the single goal of attaining enlightenment. In each pureland, there is a Buddha teaching the Dharma without the evils, hinderances and impurities that are present in our world. Although this may seem like a "cheat" code way of attaining nirvana, that is not the case. Those reborn in Buddha purelands while they are guaranteed to never regress, their progress to nirvana will be slow. Although I have not read any sutras that state the following, I believe this is because in a pureland, where there is no evil and suffering, it is very difficult for one to build good karma by helping others.
So if you do attain nirvana during this lifetime, we know that your will enjoy supreme bliss by being free from the craving and suffering of life. But what happens to you after death? Where do you go? The Buddha was asked this very question by Vacchagotta the wandering ascetic. The Buddha responded to Vacchagotta;
"suppose there was a fire burning in front of you, would you be aware that the fire was burning?"
"Gotama (Buddha), if a fire was burning in front of me, I would be aware."
"Now suppose Vaccha, someone were to ask you, on what does that fire burning in front of you depend, what would you answer?"
"O Gotama, I would answer that the fire burning in front of me depends on wood and grass as its fuel."
"And Vaccha, if the fire in front of you were to become extinct would you become aware of its extinction."
"Gotama, if the fire in front of me became extinct, I would be aware of its extinction."
"But Vaccha, if someone asked you to which direction the fire has gone, East, West, North or South, what would you say?" "The question does not fit the case Gotama, for the fire depended on the wood for fuel and when the fuel was all gone the fire, thus without nutriment, is said to be extinct."
Finally, the Buddha explained; "in exactly the same way Vaccha, when all forms of sensations, perceptions, mental activities, and consciousness have been abandoned, the fuel for continued existence is gone. Therefore, it is incorrect to say the Arhat has gone anywhere after death. To say an Arhat is neither reborn or not reborn would not fit the case. Nor could one say that the Arhat is reborn, as all passions that conditioned rebirth are eradicated, nor can one say that the Arhat is annihilated, for there is nothing to annihilate."*
On another instance when he was asked by a disciple to describe nirvana, or where the Arhat goes after death, the Buddha recounted the story of the turtle and the fish. One day, a turtle was swimming in the lake when a fish swam up to him and asked;
"Hi turtle, what were you doing today?"
and the turtle replied; "I was lying around on dry land resting."
Confused the fish asked; "What is land? I have never heard of such a thing? Dry land is nothing."
"Well" said the turtle goodnaturedly, "If you choose to think so of courses you may, there is no one to hinder you, but that's where I've been all the same."
"O' come" said the fish. "Try to talk sense. Jus tell me now what is this land of yours like? Is it all wet?."
"No it's not wet" said the turtle.
"Is it nice, fresh and cool?" asked the fish.
"No its not nice, fresh and cool." replied the turtle.
"Is it clear that the light can come through it?" asked the fish.
"No it is not clear." replied the turtle.
"Is it soft and yielding so that I can move my fins through it? asked the fish.
"No it is not soft." answered the turtle.
"you cannot swim in it." "Does it flow or move in streams?" asked the fish.
"No it neither moves or flows." replied the turtle.
"Does it ever ride up in waves?" asked the fish.
"No" replied the turtle truthfully "It never rides up in waves."
"There now" exclaimed the fish "Didn't I tell you this land of yours was just nothing. I have asked and you have answered that it is neither cool nor wet, nor clear, nor soft, nor flows, nor rise into waves. And if it is not a single one of these things, what else is it but nothing!" Happy he has won the discussion the fish swam away proudly.*
This story playfully illustrates the difficulty that Buddha has when explaining with people things when they have not shared the same experiences and wisdom as he. If he did we still wouldn't believe him. Instead, Buddha tries to teach us through parables and similes. Through the story of the turtle and the fish we should all remember that just because we have not seen or experienced something first hand, it does not mean it does not exist. And just because the Buddha did not explain something explicitly does not mean, there is no answer, it could just be that we do not yet have the capabilities to grasp such yet.
Many people have come to see Nirvana as the final goal for all Buddhists, however, that is not the case. Significantly, although Nirvana marks the end of suffering and the cycle of rebirth, it is not the end of learning. There is much more wisdom that needs to be attained. As such even Bodhisattvas and Arhats, those who have already achieved Nirvana, still must undergo further training and gain further wisdom. This is not something that is often discussed in Western interpretations of Buddhism, but it is what is taught by the Buddha in many of his later sutras. In essence, saving oneself from suffering is not the only goal of Buddhism, it is merely the first step. The true goal of a Buddhist is to gain the ultimate wisdom, enlightenment, truth and understanding of the Buddha.
*Narada Maha Thera. The Buddha and His Teachings