Nirvana/nibbana

How is Buddhist nirvana described in its early texts? It’s called the ultimate bliss, but also a state where nothing is felt. It’s called the deathless element, but also likened to the extinguishing of a candle flame. We’ll try to…

Is it possible for a layperson to reach the highest attainment in early Buddhism? The focus of early Buddhist practice was monastic. However as we will see, there is also fascinating early evidence that laypeople could aspire to very high…

What does nirvana mean in Buddhism? We'll look at some descriptions of it before turning to different views on its ontological status. Then we'll consider some later developments in ideas about nirvana. ** Note: the Pāli term "appatiṭṭha"…

What's the difference between nirvana and enlightenment? I'll discuss both in this video.

What does it mean to experience nirvana here and now, in this very life? The Buddha was asked this question in several early suttas and had answers. I'll go over a couple of those suttas and outline the interesting things he had to say.

Early Buddhism presents us with a conundrum around the practice of the formless attainments of deep meditation. Namely, are they skillful routes to nirvana, or are they not? We will look at evidence from the early suttas that indicates…

We'll look at what may be the deepest meditative attainment in early Buddhism besides nirvana itself. This is known as the state of the cessation of perception and feeling. We'll consider what the state is, how it is supposed to be…

Is it possible to reach enlightenment with a few words? This is what we find in the story of the Buddha's enigmatic instructions to the wanderer Bāhiya. We'll look at those instructions and then turn elsewhere in the early canon to find…

Several years ago the eminent scholar and professor Richard Gombrich put forward a controversial thesis: that the Buddha believed practicing kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity could lead us directly to enlightenment. We…

What is the Third Noble Truth of Buddhism? We'll look at this truth of "nirodha" through a dive into the Buddha's definition of it in his first sermon.

What is "the Unconditioned" in early Buddhism? Well, it's a description of nirvana. But how? What does it describe? We'll look at how the word can mislead us, and discover what it means.

Did you know that in early Buddhism there were two kinds of nirvana to which we could attain? We'll look at what those two were, how they differed, and why the difference between them was of dharmic importance, particularly for a…

What is the "gradual training"? It's a map of the path we find in early Buddhism, leading from our first inkling of the dharma up to nirvana itself. We will discuss "gradual training" as an idea, and then turn to the map itself, pointing…

The goal of Buddhist practice is to achieve awakening or nirvana. But it seems there are different approaches to awakening, and maybe even different kinds of awakening: sudden and gradual. We will look at early Buddhism and Zen in…

Was the Buddha omniscient? We will look at the attainment of nirvana or awakening and its overcoming of ignorance. We will also look at some evidence from the early suttas that the Buddha was not considered omniscient in his day. We will…

Nirvana or the awakened state is often said to be indescribable, and typically understood as permanent. We'll consider both of these claims, and look at a neat thought experiment by philosopher Frank Jackson along the way.