The meaning of the term Nibbana

  Nirvāna (Sanskrit), Nibbāna (Pali) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering (or dukkha). In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme Being through Moksha. The word literally means "blowing out" in the Buddhist context; it is to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion.

   The word nibbanti, meaning extinction, this occurs in the Ratana Sutta. Etymologically, it is derived from ni, a negative prefix, and va, meaning craving. It denotes the annihilation of the flames of lust, hatred, and ignorance which are the root causes of suffering. The texts say: “nibbāti vattadukkham ettati nibbānam.” It means where the cycle of suffering ceases, there is nibbāna. At the sight of nibbāna, on the realization of the Path and its Fruition as a result of insight meditation, defilement s like craving and ignorance become extinct, thereby giving no opportunity for actions and results of actions to arise in the form of consciousness, mind and matter, six bases, contact, sensations, etc. New becoming does not occur. This is the extinction of the cycle of defilement, the cycle of action, and the cycle of results. Here, in this definition, the special quality of nibbāna is used metaphorically for the location of nibbāna, but in fact, nibbāna has no location.

To be Continued .........