NIBBANA is the summum bonum of Buddhism.
 

Definition

The Pali word Nibbana (Sanskrit Nirvana) is composed of “Ni” and “Vana”. Ni is a particle implying negation. Vana means weaving or craving. It is this craving which acts as a cord to connect one life with another.

“It is called Nibbana in that it is a ‘departure’ (ni) from that craving which is called Vana, lusting.”

As long as one is bound up by craving, one accumulates fresh Kammic forces which must materialize in one form or other in the eternal cycle of birth and death. When all forms of craving are extirpated, Kammic forces cease to operate, and one attains Nibbana escaping the cycle of birth and death. The Buddhist conception of Deliverance in this escape from the ever recurring cycle of life and death which is not merely an escape from sin and hell.

Nibbana is also explained as the extinction of the fire of lust - Lobha, hatted - Dosa, and delusion - Moha.
 

Is Nibbana Nothingness?

To say that Nibbana is nothingness simply because one cannot perceive it with the five senses, is as illogical as to say that light does not exist simply because the blind do not see it. In the well-known fable the fish who was acquainted only with water arguing with the turtle, triumphantly concluded that there existed no land, because he received ‘no’ to all his queries. The turtle, though acquainted with both sea and land, could not explain to the fish the real nature of land.’ The fish too could not ggrasp what land was as it was acquainted the water. In the same way the Arahants, who are acquainted with mundane and the supramundane cannot define exactly what supramundane is by mundane terms, nor can a worlding understand the supramundane merely by mundane knowledge. It is a supramundane state which is to be realised by one’s own intuitive knowledge.

What Nibbana is not, one can definitely say. What it precisely is, one cannot adequately express in conventional terms. It is for self-realization.
 

Sopadisesa and Anupadisesa Nibbana Dhatu

These are not two kinds of Nibbana, but one single Nibbana receiving its name according to the way it is experienced before and after death,

Nibbana is attainable in this present life. Buddhism does not state that its ultimate goal could be reached only in a life beyond. When Nibbana is realised in this life with the body remaining, it is called Sopadisesa Nibbana Dharu. When an Arahant attains Pari Nibbana, after the dissolution of the body, without any remainder of physical existence, it is called Anupadisesa Nibbana Dhatu.
 

Three Distinct Characteristics of Nibbana

Contrasting Nibbana with Samsara, the Buddha says that the former is eternal - Dhuva, desirable - Subha and happy - Sukha.

According to Buddhism everything cosmic, and hypercosmic is classed under two divisions - namely, things conditioned by causes - Sankhata and things not conditioned by any cause-Asankhata.

Nibbana is not conditioned by any cause, Hence there is neither an arising nor a passing away. It is birthless, decayless, deathless. It is neither a cause nor an effect. All conditioned things - and to this category belongs everything in this universe - are, on the contrary, constantly changing without remaining for two consecutive moments the same.

Everything that has sprung from a cause must inevitably pass away, and as such is undesirable-Asubha.

That which is transient and undesirable certainly cannot be happy - Sukha. Nibbana, being non-conditioned, that which has not arisen from a cause, is, in contradistinction to phenomenal existence, eternal, desirable, and happy.

The happiness of Nibbana should be differentiated from ordinary happiness. Nibbanic bliss arises as the result of calming down passions - Vupasama, unlike the worldly happiness which results from the gratification of some desire - Vedayita.

In conventional terms the Buddha says-Nibbanam paramam sukham - Nibbana is the highest bliss.

It is bliss supreme because it is not a kind of happiness that is experienced by che senses. It is a positive blissful state of relief.

The very fact of the cessation of suffering is ordinarily termed happiness, which too is not an appropriate word to depict its real nature.
 

Where is Nibbana?

                             .
"Just as fire is not stored up in any particular place but arises when the necessary conditions exist, so Nibbana is not said co be existing in a particular place, but is attained when the necessary conditions are fulfilled.”

In the Rohitassa Sutta the Buddha says;-“In this very one fathom-long body, along with its perceptions and thoughts, do I proclaim the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path leading to the cessation of the world.”

Here world means suffering. The cessation of the World, therefore, means the cessation of suffering, which is Nibbana,

One’s Nibbana is dependent upon this one-fathom body, It is not something that created itself, nor is it something to be created.

Nibbana is not a sort of heaven where a transcendental ego resides, but an attainment (Dhamma) which is within the reach of all.
 

What attains Nibbana?

This question must necessarily be set aside as irrelevant, for Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent entity or an immortal soul.  As right now and here there is neither a permanent ego nor an identical being, it is needless to say that there is no ‘I’ in Nibbana.

The Visuddhi Magga states-

“Misery only doth exist, none miserable;
Nor doer is there,
nought save the deed is found;
Nibbana is, but the man who seeks it
The path exists, but not the traveller on it."

The chief difference between the Buddhist and the Hindu conception of Nibbana lies in the fact that Buddhists view their goal without an eternal soul and creator, whilst Hindus do.

This is the reason why Buddhism can neither be called Eternalism nor Nihilism. In Nibbana nothing is eternalized, nor is anything annihilated.

As Sir Edwin Arnold says:-
“If any teach Nirvana is to cease,
Say unto such they lie
If any teach Nirvana is to live,
Say unto such they err,”

The Light of Asia