nirvana vs enlightenment

Key Takeaway: The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice — the complete cessation of craving, aversion, and ignorance, and therefore the end of suffering (dukkha) and the cycle of rebirth (samsara).

The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice — the complete cessation of craving, aversion, and ignorance, and therefore the end of suffering (dukkha) and the cycle of rebirth (samsara). Nirvana literally means 'extinguishing' — like a flame that has gone out for lack of fuel. It is not a place or a state of existence but the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta). The Buddha described nirvana as: 'The born, become, made, conditioned — that has an end. But the unborn, not-become, not-made, not-conditioned — that has no end.' Nirvana is accessible in this life (with remainder) and fully realized at death (without remainder).

According to the Buddha's teachings as preserved in the Buddhist sutras and the Dharma, The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice — the complete cessation of craving, aversion, and ignorance, and therefore the end of suffering (dukkha) and the cycle of rebirth (samsara).

— Oriens

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