Parinirvana

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In Buddhism, parinirvana (Sanskrit: परिनिर्वाण ; Pali: परिनिब्बाण ; Chinese: 般涅槃, bō niè pán) is the final nirvana, usually understood to be within reach only upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). It is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice and implies a release from the bhavachakra, Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth as well as the dissolution of all worldly physical and mental aggregates or skandhas.

The parinirvana of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha) is depicted in the Pali Mahaparinibbana Sutta.

The Buddhist term, Mahaparinirvana, meaning "great, complete Nirvana" is also encountered. The word "Mahaparinirvana" usually refers to the ultimate state of Nirvana (everlasting, highest peace and happiness) entered by an Awakened Being (Buddha) or "arhat" (Pali: Arahant) at the moment of physical death, when the mundane skandhas (constituent elements of the ordinary bodymind) are shed and only the Buddhic skandhas remain (this in Mahayana Buddhism). However, it may also refer (in the Mahayana) to the same inner spiritual state reached during a Buddha's physical lifetime too. In the Mahayana Buddhist scripture entitled the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha teaches that unlike "ordinary" Nirvana, "Mahaparinirvana" is the sublimest state or realm realised by a perfect Buddha, a state in which that Buddhic being awakens to "the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure". Only in Mahaparinirvana is this True Self (as the resolution of "atman" and anatman), the mindstream, held to be fully discernible. Parinirvana is depicted in the iconography of Indian religions and thangkas of Tibetan Buddhism by the five rainbow colors, the Five Pure Lights. In Hinduism and Yoga parinirvana is called Mahasamadhi. In the Dzogchen lineages of Mantrayana, parinirvana and mahasamadhi are refined into the phowa of the mindstream as the Rainbow Body.

See also

• The life of the Buddha
• Mahaparinirvana Sutra
• Prabashvara

External links

• Complete translation of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
• SN VI.15: Parinibbana Sutta - Total Unbiding
• Maha-parinibbana Sutta - The Great Discourse on the Total Unbinding

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Last updated on Saturday March 01, 2008 at 17:50:46 PST (GMT -0800)
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