Nirvāṇa

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 sramanic thought it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy it is the union with Brahman through mokṣa.

H. P. Blavatsky defined it as follows:

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.

Further reading

• Nirvāṇa at Theosopedia