Nirvana
Nirvana (Skt. nirvāṇa; Tib. nya ngen lé dé pa; wyl. mya ngan las 'das pa) - literally ‘extinguished’ in Sanskrit and ‘beyond suffering’ in Tibetan; enlightenment itself. It is the state of peace that results from cessation, the total pacification of all suffering and its causes.
Subdivisions
Patrul Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Abhisamayalankara, explains that the texts of the Madhyamika tradition mention four types of nirvana:
- natural nirvana, which is the inherent state of everything.
- non-abiding nirvana, which is the great nirvana beyond both ordinary samsaric existence and the lesser nirvana of the basic vehicle.
- nirvana with remainder, which is the realization attained by the arhats of the basic vehicle who have not yet relinquished their psycho-physical aggregates.
- nirvana without remainder, the consummate realization of the arhats of the basic vehicle, who have passed into a state of cessation, leaving their pscycho-physical aggregates behind.