Nirvana

Nirvana is the Buddhist term for the goal of religious and philosophical practice: the cessation of craving, the extinction of the fires of desire, hatred, and delusion, and the consequent liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara). The Sanskrit word literally means blowing out — as a flame is blown out — though the early Buddhist sources are careful to distinguish nirvana from mere annihilation.

Buddhist philosophy developed sophisticated debates about what nirvana is and how it relates to ordinary existence. The early Theravada tradition tends to treat nirvana as a real state distinct from samsara. The Madhyamaka tradition, founded by Nagarjuna, argues that nirvana and samsara are not ultimately distinct: both are empty of intrinsic nature, and the same conditioned reality is samsara when grasped in delusion and nirvana when grasped in wisdom. Mahayana traditions added the figure of the bodhisattva, who postpones complete entry into nirvana to assist in the liberation of others.