The Buddha

The Buddha

                     I.            Introduction

Siddartha Gautama (563-480 BC) was born as a prince in a small state in northern India in what is now Nepal. According to legend, several soothsayers predicted that if he stayed home he would become a universal king, but if he left he would become a Buddha. His mother died after one week, and Siddartha was brought up by her sister. His father surrounded him with every luxury. At the age of 16 Siddartha married Yasodhara, his cousin of the same age, and spent his time in the pleasure gardens of the palace.

When Gautama was 29 he saw the four signs which led to his renunciation of the world---first, an old person, then a sick person, then a corpse being carried to a funeral, and finally a begging monk in a yellow robe. Gautama began to contemplate the meaning of life with its inevitable decay, suffering, and death; like the monk he too must find a solution to these problems. Therefore he decided to renounce everything, and he left the palace immediately after the birth of his first son.

For a while he sought enlightenment by mortifying the flesh; fasting and eating only one seed a day, he became so thin that his bones stuck out. Weak from hunger, he fainted and almost died. Then he decided that this was not the way to enlightenment. He began to beg for food and concentrated on meditation. When he gave up the austerities, his five companions in spiritual aspiration left him in disgust.

One day when he was 35 he sat under a banyan tree with the resolve not to get up until he was enlightened. Perceiving that Siddartha wanted to pass beyond his control, the tempter Mara and his armies attacked him in various ways, but each time Gautama concentrated on the ten perfections (charity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, truth, determination, universal love, and equanimity) and received divine protection. Mara tried to persuade him to give up his struggle and live. However, Gautama identified the ten armies of Mara as follows: lust, dislike for the spiritual, hunger and thirst, craving, laziness, cowardice, doubt, inflexibility, glamour, and finally exalting oneself while despising others. Gautama said that by conquering these one could attain bliss and that he would rather die than be defeated. Mara retired, and Gautama went into deeper meditation, realizing his former lifetimes, becoming clairvoyant, and intuiting the psychological insights that became his principal teachings.

The Buddha born and Renunciation

                  II.            The Buddha’s born and Renunciation

1.1 The Queens Dream

One night, Queen Mayadevi dreamed that a white elephant descended from heaven and entered her womb. The white elephant entering her womb indicated that on that very night she had conceived a child who was a pure and powerful being. The elephant’s descending from heaven indicated that her child came from Tushita heaven, the Pure Land of Buddha Maitreya. Later, when she gave birth to the child, instead of experiencing pain the queen experienced a special, pure vision in which she stood holding the branch of a tree with her right hand while the gods Brahma and Indra took the child painlessly from her side. They then proceeded to honor the infant by offering him ritual ablutions.

About ten months after her dream of a white elephant and the sign that she would give birth to a great leader, Queen Maya was expecting her child. One day she went to the king and said, "My dear, I have to go back to my parents. My baby is almost due." Since it was the custom in India for a wife to have her baby in her father's house, the king agreed, saying, "Very well, I will make the necessary arrangements for you to go."

The king then sent soldiers ahead to clear the road and prepared others to guard the queen as she was carried in a decorated palanquin. The queen left Kapilavatthu in a long procession of soldiers and retainers, headed for the capital of her father's kingdom.

On the way to the Koliya country, the great procession passed a garden called Lumbini Park. This garden was near the kingdom called Nepal, at the foot of the Himalayan mountains. The beautiful park with its sala trees and scented flowers and busy birds and bees attracted the queen. Since the park was a good resting place, the queen ordered the bearers to stop for a while. As she rested underneath one of the sala trees, her birth began and a baby boy was born. It was an auspicious day. The birth took place on a full moon (which is now celebrated as Vesak, the festival of the triple event of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death), in the year 623 B.C.

According to the legends about this birth, the baby began to walk seven steps forward and at each step a lotus flower appeared on the ground. Then, at the seventh stride, he stopped and with a noble voice shouted:

"I am chief of the world,
Eldest am I in the world,
Foremost am I in the world.
This is the last birth.
There is now no more coming to be."

After the birth of her baby son, Queen Maha Maya immediately returned to Kapilavatthu. When the king learnt of this he was very happy, and as news of the birth of the long-awaited heir spread around the kingdom there was rejoicing all over the country.

The Buddha who is the founder of the Buddhist religion is called Buddha Shakyamuni “Shakya” is the name of the royal family into which he was born, and “Muni” means “Able One.” Buddha Shakyamuni was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, in what is now Nepal. His mother’s name was Queen Mayadevi and his father’s name was King Shuddhodana.

1.2 Renunciation

Siddhartha's childhood and adolescence were very like ours; his parents wanted by all means to protect their son from knowing about the misery of the world. So he led his life confined between the walls of the gigantic palace where his parents lived and where everything seemed perfect and harmonious. He married, had a son and knew only the pleasures and delights of life. One night, however, when he turned 29, he asked one of the guards to take him into town. The guard objected, for the king could become furious, but Siddhartha was so insistent that the man eventually gave in, and they left the palace together.

The first thing they saw was an old beggar with a sad expression on his face, asking for alms. Further ahead they came across a group of lepers, and right after them a funeral procession passed by. "I have never seen this before!" he must have said to the guard, who may have answered: "Well, that's old age, and that's disease, and death." On their way back to the palace, they came upon a holy man, his hair shorn and wearing only a yellow cloak, who said: "my life was a torment, so I have given everything up so that I don't have to incarnate as myself and suffer old age and sickness and death all over again."

The following night, Siddhartha waited until his wife and son had fallen asleep. He entered the room quietly, kissed them both and again asked the guard to escort him out of the palace; there he handed him his sword with the jewel-set hilt, his clothes made with the finest tissues that the human hand could weave, asking him to return them all to his father; then he shaved his head, covered his body with a yellow mantle and set out in search of an answer to the suffering of the world.

              III.            His Struggle for Enlightenment

Meeting with disappointment, but not discouraged, the ascetic

Gotama seeking for the incomparable Peace, the highest Truth, wandered through the district of Magadha, and arrived in due course at

Uruvelā, the market town of Senāni. There he spied a lovely spot of ground, a charming forest grove, a flowing river with pleasant sandy fords, and hard by was a village where he could obtain his food. Then he thought thus: “Lovely, indeed, O Venerable One, is this spot of ground, charming is the forest grove, pleasant is the flowing river with sandy fords, and hard by is the village where I could obtain food. Suitable indeed is this place for spiritual exertion for those noble scions who desire to strive. The place was congenial for his meditation. The atmos

phere was peaceful. The surroundings were pleasant. The scenery was charming. Alone, he resolved to settle down there to achieve his desired object. Hearing of his renunciation, Kondañña, the youngest brahmin who predicted his future, and four sons of the other sages Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahānāma, andAssaji also renounced the world and joined his company. In the ancient days in India, great importance was attached to rites, ceremonies, penances and sacrifices. It was then a popular belief that no Deliverance could be gained unless one leads a life of strict asceticism. Accordingly, for six long years the ascetic Gotama made a superhuman struggle practicing all forms of severest austerity. His delicate body was reduced to almost a skeleton. The more he tormented his body the farther his goal receded from him. How strenuously he struggled, the various methods he employed, and how he eventually succeeded are graphically described in his own words in various Stats.

Mahā Saccaka Sutta describes his preliminary efforts thus: “Then the following thought occurred to me: “How if I were to clench my teeth, press my tongue against the palate, and with (moral) thoughts hold down, subdue and destroy my (immoral) thoughts! “So I clenched my teeth, pressed my tongue against the palate and strove to hold down, subdue, destroy my (immoral) thoughts with (moral) thoughts. As I struggled thus, perspiration streamed forth from my armpits. “Like unto a strong man who might seize a weaker man by head or shoulders and hold him down, force him down, and bring into subjection, even so did I struggle. “Strenuous and indomitable was my energy. My mindfulness was established and unperturbed. My body was, however, fatigued and was not calmed as a result of that painful endeavor – being overpowered by exertion. Even though such painful sensations arose in me, they did not at all affect my mind. “Then I thought thus: How if I were to cultivate the non-breathing ecstasy! “Accordingly, I checked inhalation and exhalation from my mouth and nostrils. As I checked inhalation and exhalation from mouth and nostrils, the air issuing from my ears created an exceedingly great noise. Just as a blacksmith’s bellows being blown make an exceedingly great noise, even so was the noise created by the air issuing from my ears when I stopped breathing. “Nevertheless, my energy was strenuous and indomitable. Established and unperturbed was my mindfulness. Yet my body was fatigued and was not calmed as a result of that painful endeavor being over-powered by exertion. Even though such painful sensations arose in me, they did not at all affect my mind. “Then I thought to myself: ‘How if I were to cultivate that non-breathing exercise! “Accordingly, I checked inhalation and exhalation from mouth, nostrils, and ears. And as I stopped breathing from mouth, nostrils and ears, the (imprisoned) airs beat upon my skull with great violence. Just as if a strong man were to bore one’s skull with a sharp drill, even so did the airs beat my skull with great violence as I stopped breathing. Even though such painful sensations arose in me, they did not at all affect my mind. “Then I thought to myself: How if I were to cultivate that non-breathing ecstasy again! “Accordingly, I checked inhalation and exhalation from mouth, nostrils, and ears. And as I stopped breathing thus, terrible pains arose in my head. As would be the pains if a strong man were to bind one’s head tightly with a hard leathern thong, even so were the terrible pains that arose in my head. “Nevertheless, my energy was strenuous. Such painful sensations did not affect my mind. “Then I thought to myself: How if I were to cultivate that non-breathing ecstasy again! “Accordingly, I stopped breathing from mouth, nostrils, and ears. As I checked breathing thus, plentiful airs pierced my belly. Just as if a skillful butcher or a butcher’s apprentice were to rip up the belly with a sharp butcher’s knife, even so plentiful airs pierced my belly. “Nevertheless, my energy was strenuous. Such painful sensations did not affect my mind. “Again I thought to myself: How if I were to cultivate that non-breathing ecstasy again! “Accordingly, I checked inhalation and exhalation from mouth, nostrils, and ears. As I suppressed my breathing thus, a tremendous burning pervaded my body. Just as if two strong men were each to seize a weaker man by his arms and scorch and thoroughly burn him in a pit of glowing charcoal, even so did a severe burning pervade my body. “Nevertheless, my energy was strenuous. Such painful sensations did not affect my mind. “Thereupon the deities who saw me thus said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is dead.’ Some remarked: ‘The ascetic Gotama is not dead yet, but is dying’. While some others said: ‘The ascetic Gotama is neither dead nor is dying but an Arahant is the ascetic Gotama. Such is the way in which an Arahant abides.”

               IV.            The Teaching of the Dharma

The following is an overview of The Buddha’s teachings on the nature of reality and the freedom from suffering that it brings. It should be noted that the Buddha called his teachings Dhamma-Vinaya (not “Buddhism”), which basically means the nature of reality, and how to conduct yourself so that you live in accordance with it.

The central principle of buddhism is the concept of Dependent Origination. This is the teaching that all phenomena arise dependent on prior causes and conditions, and whatever the causes and conditions are now will give rise to the phenomena which arise in the future. Nothing is destroyed and nothing is created, but all phenomena are impermanent (e.g. the human body will die and decompose but no part of it is destroyed). If the conditions are present for a particular phenomena to arise it will, and if they aren’t it won’t.

Dependent origination can also be thought of in terms of the causal interdependence of phenomena. The Buddha described this in the following way: the universe is like a giant net, and at each knot of the net is a brilliant jewel. In each face of each jewel is reflected all of the other faces of all of the other jewels. In this analogy each jewel is a phenomena in the universe. When one changes, all the others must change as well.

For example, a human skeleton cannot come into existence (be born) without a muscular system, or an immune system, or without any other system of the body arising along with it. These things can only arise in dependence upon each other. But they also cannot arise without evolution having taken place, without your parents having met and so on. In turn, these events could only have occurred given the life sustaining environment of the earth, the energy provided from plants and animals and sunlight, etc. Following the chains of causality in this way, nothing in the universe is left out.

Leading on from Dependent Origination is the concept of Emptiness. Emptiness can be expressed in three ways. Firstly since all phenomena are dependently originated, a given phenomena can only exist in relation to the causes and conditions which surround it in space and time. Take a human being for example. Everything that a given person is, is merely an expression of that persons genetics (parents, etc), and their environment. A person (or any other phenomena) does not exist independently from the phenomena that surround him/her. Whoever you are as a person is influenced by how you were raised, the type of people you know, the fact that you are reading this right now, etc. Who you are in turn affects the causes and conditions around you, which again come back to affect you. This is the basis of the law of Karma and ethical conduct in Buddhism. To work for the wellbeing of others as if it were your own wellbeing is to maximise the causes and conditions around you, which will in turn maximise your own wellbeing. Conversely to work for your own wellbeing to the detriment of others will do the opposite and in the long run actually condition future suffering.

The second way Emptiness can be thought of is in terms of the parts which compose a whole. Take the concept of a company as an example. A “company” is merely what we call a collection of people, buildings, resources, etc. It is not a single thing in and of itself. All phenomena can be seen in the same way. The human body is not a single entity, but a collection of skin, blood, bone, etc. which interact with each other in a system which is itself not isolated from the rest of the world. Likewise, all the things which make up the human body are just what we call particular collections of atoms which have a familiar form.

The third way that emptiness can be thought of is in terms of the interdependent relationship between perception and external reality. Human beings are not objective observers of the universe; we are merely the parts of the universe that can observe itself. Therefore when something is perceived by a sentient being the objective reality of the mind/brain doing the observing must be taken into account as well. For example, when we look at something and observe it to have a colour, we might mistakenly believe that the colour is an intrinsic property of that object. But of course, colour is merely how the human mind perceives the frequency of light bouncing off the object. There is a causally interdependent relationship between the object being perceived, and the nature of the mind doing the perceiving.

When we analyse any perceptible phenomena we see that it only exists in relation to the causes and conditions which surround it in space and time; that it is composed of interdependent parts which are not itself; and that that how it is perceived is dependent on the mind doing the perceiving. Nothing exists as we perceive it to exist (i.e. when seen as empty people, computers, buildings, etc. don’t truly exist), but at the same time something obviously does exist, since there is experience of it. This is what is meant by Emptiness in Buddhism.

The Buddha was able to perceive that everything is Dependently Originating and Empty through practices which we in the western world call meditation. All meditation really is is taking advantage of the plasticity of the brain to train up the mind’s capacity to observe itself. Having done this himself, the Buddha then saw that thoughts, emotions, the physical body and everything else that can be perceived are dependently originating phenomena, empty of any intrinsic existence. Having seen this, he gained insight into the chains of causality which give rise to human suffering and was able to overcome it. He then taught others how to overcome suffering in two main teachings: The Four Noble Truths, and The Eight-Fold Path to Enlightenment.

Four Noble Truths:

1. Truth of Suffering: No matter how perfect your life, you will get sick, you will age, and you will die. The same will happen to all those you love. Even when everything seems perfect from the outside, you still might not be perfectly happy. Suffering is unavoidable, since birth itself conditions death.

2. Truth of the Causes of Suffering: The Buddha taught that the proximate cause of suffering is craving/aversion. Craving or desiring things which we do not have, or which are by their nature impermanent gives rise to suffering (if not now then in the future). Aversion is just the inverse of craving (i.e. not wanting something you can’t get away from). The ultimate cause of suffering (which itself gives rise to craving) is experiential ignorance of the true nature of subjective experience in terms of dependent origination, emptiness, and the fact that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self.

3. Truth of the Cessation of Suffering: The complete and irreversible extinction of the capacity to suffer (or in other words, perfect happiness) is possible. This is achieved by removing the causes of suffering.

4. Truth of the Path to Cessation: The causes and conditions which give rise to the cessation of suffering (a state of mind commonly referred to as enlightenment or nirvana) are taught in the Eightfold Path.

Eightfold Path:

1. Right View: An intellectual and experiential understanding of the nature of reality in terms of dependent origination, emptiness, etc. This is gained both through study and meditation. Right View gives rise to Right Intention.

2. Right Intention: The intention to renounce all the things which cause harm to yourself and to others and which impede your progress in meditation; the intention to be free from ill-will towards others; the intention to be harmless towards others. Right Intention gives rise to the following three factors of the path.

Right View / Intention form the Wisdom component of the path.

3. Right Speech: To not engage in speech which is abusive, divisive, false, or idle. Or to put it another way, to speak only things which are true, beneficial, and timely.

4. Right Action: To not engage in actions which are harmful to other sentient beings, i.e. do not steal, do not engage in violence, do not engage in sexual misconduct.

5. Right Livelihood: To not make a living doing things which cause harm to other sentient beings, i.e. not selling poisons, not selling slaves, etc.

Right Speech / Action / Livelihood form the Ethical Conduct component of the path. The Wisdom and Ethical Conduct components form the basis of the following three factors of the path.

6. Right Effort: To make the effort to cultivate and sustain thoughts, emotional states, etc which increase your concern for the wellbeing of others, i.e. love and compassion. Conversely, to make the effort not to cultivate or sustain thoughts / emotions which are selfish and not concerned with the wellbeing of others, i.e anger, hatred or greed. Right Effort can also be thought of as continuously making the effort to cultivate all the other factors of the path.

7. Right Mindfulness: Mindfulness is paying attention to whatever is being experienced in the present moment without judging it or reacting to it. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Mindfulness allows us to not be deceived by what we are experiencing, e.g. by observing thought as just another object of consciousness as opposed to paying attention to the content of thought, which is really just a story the brain tells itself.

8. Right Concentration: Concentration in the Buddhist sense is the narrowing of attention to a single point (the sensation of the breath for example) and keeping it there for an extended period of time. The more you practice it, the better you get at it. Concentration serves the purpose of stilling the mind, so that we can be mindful of the subtle experiences which we usually are not aware of.

Right Effort / Mindfulness / Concentration form the Mind Training or Meditation component of the path. This component provides experiential understanding of the teaching, thus leading back to the Wisdom component.

All eight steps of the path support each other and are to be developed simultaneously. Once all eight are perfected, two more factors are acquired. These are:

Supreme Right View: Complete experiential understanding of the nature of reality as it pertains to the experience of a human being. This means direct perception of dependent origination. The Buddha himself said “whoever perceives the interdependent nature of reality sees the Dharma; and whoever sees the Dharma, sees the Buddha”.

Supreme Right Liberation: Complete liberation from suffering and from philosophical viewpoints or opinions, since the nature of reality can be perceived directly. In Buddhism, all views are wrong views.

The Buddha’s Ministry

The Buddha's beneficent and successful ministry lasted forty-five years. From his 35th year, the year of his enlightenment, till his death in his 80th year, he served humanity both by example and by precept. Throughout the year he wandered from place to place, at times alone, sometimes accompanied by his disciples, expounding the Dhamma to the people and liberating them from the bonds of saṃsāra. During the rainy season (vassāna) from July to November, owing to incessant rains, he lived in retirement as was customary with all ascetics in India in his time.

In ancient times, as today, three regular seasons prevailed in India, namely vassāna (rainy), hemanta (swinter), and gimhāna (hot). The vassāna or rainy season starts in Ásālha and extends up to Assayuga, that is, approximately from the middle of July to the middle of November.

During the vassāna period, due to torrential rains, rivers and streams usually get flooded, roads get inundated, communications get interrupted and people as a rule are confined to their homes and villages and live on what provisions they have collected during the previous seasons. During this time the ascetics find it difficult to engage in their preaching tours, wandering from place to place. An infinite variety of vegetable and animal life also appears to such an extent that people could not move about without unconsciously destroying them. Accordingly all ascetics including the disciples of the Buddha, used to suspend their itinerant activities and live in retirement in solitary places. As a rule the Buddha and his disciples were invited to spend their rainy seasons either in a monastery or in a secluded park. Sometimes, however, they used to retire to forests. During these rainy seasons people flocked to the Buddha to hear the Dhamma and thus availed themselves of his presence in their vicinity to their best advantage.

                   V.            The Buddha’s Death

Then Ananda said to the Lord: "Lord, do not pass away into final Nirvana in this wattle-and-daub town, this jungle town, this town in the woods."

In the last year of his life the Buddha set out from Rajagaha and headed north on what was to be his final journey. He passed through Nalanda, Patna and Vesali, probably with the intention of visiting Kapilavatthu once more before his death. Being old and weak, his progress must have been difficult and slow. He said of himself: "I am now old, worn out, full of years, one who has traversed life's path, being eighty years old. I have reached the end of my life. Just as an old cart can only be kept going by being held together with straps, so too, the Tathagata's body can only be kept going by bandaging it up."

The Buddha and the monks who accompanied him passed through Bhandagama (not yet identified), Hatthigama (Hathikhala, near Hathua), Ambagama (Amaya, 10 kilometers southwest of Tamkuhi), Jambugama (Jamunahi, 13 kilometers northwest of Hathikhala) and Bhoganagara (Bodraon, 10 kilometers west of Amaya and Fazilnagar in Deoria district) before arriving at Pava. Here the smith Cunda gave the Buddha his last meal, after which "the Lord was attacked by a severe sickness with bloody diarrhea and sharp and deadly pain." Later, the Buddha told Ananda to visit Cunda again and, lest he be plagued by remorse, tell him that to offer a Buddha his last meal is a most auspicious act.

After recovering his strength, the Buddha continued some distance to where he met Pukkusa, who offered him a set of robes woven from golden thread. When Ananda put the robe on the Buddha's aged, sickly body, the body glowed with such a radiance that the golden robe appeared dull by comparison. The party crossed the Hirannavati River (now a small stream called Hirakinari) and arrived in Kusinara, which despite being the principal town of the Mallas, was only a small place. This was not the Buddha's first visit to Kusinara. During several previous visits, he had preached the Kusinara Suttas and the Kinti Sutta, and so enthusiastic and so numerous were the disciples he made that the Mallas council passed a resolution that anyone not welcoming the Buddha on his arrival in the town should be fined.

Now he had returned, and the Mallas, hearing that he was about to die, came in crowds to the sal grove where he lay to see him for what they knew was to be the last time. It so happened that Subhadda, a wandering ascetic, was in the district and he heard that Gotama, the famous teacher whom he had heard much about but never met, was to die that night, and so he hurried to the sal grove hoping to ask him some questions. When he tried to approach the Buddha, Ananda firmly held him back, saying that the teacher was tired. When the Buddha saw what was happening, he called Subhadda to him, and though he had only hours to live, taught him the Dhamma. Some months before, the Buddha had said that even if he was so old that he had to be carried about on a litter, he would still have the energy to teach the Dhamma, and now, as he lay dying at Kusinara, he was true to his word. Later, taking the instructions he had received to heart and meditating diligently, Subhadda attained enlightenment.

As the end drew near, the Buddha gave some last instructions on practical matters, and then reminded those gathered around that they could still practise the Dhamma even though he would not be there to guide them: "Ananda, you may think: The Teacher's instruction has ceased, now we have no teacher!' But it should not be seen like this. Let the Dhamma and the discipline that I have taught and explained to you be your teacher after my passing." Then the Buddha uttered his last words: "Now, monks, I say to you - all conditioned things are subject to decay; strive on with diligence" (vayadhamma sankhdra, appamddena sampadetha).

Those who were not yet enlightened wept and cried, saying: "Too soon has the Lord passed away, too soon has the Happy One passed away, too soon has the Eye of the World closed." Others remained calm and composed, reminding the others with both their words and example of what the Buddha had taught: "Friends, enough of your weeping and crying! Has not the Lord already told you that all things that are pleasant and delightful are changeable, subject to separation and to becoming other?" Then the monks spent the rest of the night discussing the Dhamma. Over the next few days, the Mallas made elaborate preparations for the cremation of the Buddha's body, and then on the seventh day the body was taken out of the town to the Makuta Bandhana Shrine and cremated.

Because of the important events that took place here, Kusinara must have attracted pilgrims and become a center of pilgrimage quite early.

               VI.            The purpose of life in The Buddhism

·        What is the purpose of life?

            Your life has a divine purpose. God, your Heavenly Father, has prepared a marvelous plan for your happiness. When you realize that God has a plan for you, it is easier to understand why you are on this earth. God wants all of His children to progress and become more like Him.

Rebirth

The concept of rebirth or reincarnation has become more popular in the west in recent years due to the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, especially, the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (by Sogyal Rinpoche, 1992) became a best seller in the USA and has been widely read throughout the developed countries by new generations who are concerned with alternative thinking and eastern cultural perspectives.  Naturally people concern with life beyond death was stimulated by the ideas contained in such philosophies and beliefs. 

Nirvana

The supreme aim of Buddhism is to obtain nirvana or enlightenment. This translated means a state of liberation or illumination from the limitations of existence.  It is the liberation from the cycle of rebirth through countless lives up and down the 6 states of existence. It is obtained through the extinction of desire.

Nirvana is a state that is obtainable in this life through the right aspiration, purity of life, and the elimination of egotism. This cessation of existence as we know it, the attainment of being, as distinct from becoming. [1] The Buddha speaks of it asunborn, un-originated, uncreated, unformed, contrasting it with the born, originated, created, and formed phenomenal world.Those who have obtained the state of Nirvana are called Buddhas.  Gautama Siddhartha had obtained this state and had become a Buddha at 35. However it is now believed that it was only after he had passed away that he reached such a place of perfect tranquility, because some residue of human defilement would continue to exist as long as his physical body existed.

According to Buddhism if a human does not obtain nirvana or enlightenment, as it is known, the person cannot escape the cycle of death and rebirth and are inevitably be reborn into the 6 possible states beyond this our present life,

these being in order from the highest to lowest;

          VII.            Reference

http://www.aboutbuddha.org/

http://www.drikung.org/

https://www.samharris.org

http://www.wisdomlib.org/

http://www.san.beck.org/

http://www.urbandharma.org/

THE END!