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'''Nirvāṇa''' (devanāgarī: निर्वाण) is a central concept in Indian religions. The word literally means "blowing out"—referring in the Buddhist context, to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion, or simply of all consciousness. In [[Shramana|sramanic]] thought it is the state of being free from suffering. In [[Hinduism|Hindu philosophy]] it is the union with [[Brahman]] through [[mokṣa]].
#redirect [[Nirvana]]
 
[[H. P. Blavatsky]] defined it as follows:
 
<blockquote>'''Nirvana''' (Sk.). According to the Orientalists, the entire "blowing out", like the flame of a candle, the utter extinction of existence. But in the esoteric explanations it is the state of absolute existence and absolute consciousness, into which the Ego of a man who has reached the highest degree of perfection and holiness during life goes, after the body dies, and occasionally, as in the case of Gautama Buddha and others, during life.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 232.</ref></blockquote>
 
== Parinirvāṇa ==
 
In Buddhism, parinirvana is the final nirvana, which occurs upon the death of the body of someone who has attained complete awakening (bodhi). The parinirvana ([[Pāli]]: ''parinibbana'') of [[Gautama Buddha]] is described in the Mahāparinibbāna sutta.
 
In Blavatsky's writings the term "paranirvana" is used to refer to the state the universe enters at "the great day of Be-with-Us",<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 134.</ref></blockquote> when:
 
<blockquote>. . . everything becomes one, all individualities are merged into one, yet each knowing itself, a mysterious teaching indeed. But then, that which to us now is non-consciousness or the unconscious, will then be absolute consciousness.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 405.</ref></blockquote>
 
This "day" does not come after a planetary [[pralaya]], but only at the end of the [[maha-manvantara]], when the universal pralaya sets in:<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 385.</ref></blockquote>
 
<blockquote>In Paranirvana — when Pralaya will have reduced not only material and psychical bodies, but even the spiritual Ego(s) to their original principle — the Past, Present, and even Future Humanities, like all things, will be one and the same. Everything will have re-entered the Great Breath. In other words, everything will be ‘merged in Brahma’ or the divine unity.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 265-266.</ref></blockquote>
 
In paranivana all things are in [[paranishpanna]] or absolute perfection.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 53.</ref>
 
== Notes ==
 
<references/>
 
==Further reading==
 
*[http://www.theosophy.ph/encyclo/index.php?title=Nirv%C4%81%E1%B9%87a# Nirvāṇa] at Theosopedia
 
 
[[Category:Sanskrit terms]]
[[Category:Theosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Concepts in The Secret Doctrine]]
[[Category:Hindu concepts]]
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]

Latest revision as of 23:23, 13 July 2017

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