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Nibbāna

Nibbāna is often left untranslated and/or is unclear.

Translations for nibbāna can sometimes be found in glossaries yet they may not be used as such in the texts themselves, this tends to make things a bit abstract and unclear. And extinction, extinguishing, unbinding don't make it clear enough. When it comes to translating nibbāna there are a few points to take into account:

  1. It is a word which would be ordinarily used by ordinarily people. People do have a perception of what nibbāna is even when they don't directly know it for themselves.
  2. It is seen as positive.
  3. It has to do with stilling, stopping, specifically regarding greed, hate and delusion.
  4. It is a highest goal; it comes after freedom, emancipation.

I use peace for nibbāna. Let's check it against the points above:

  1. People know what peace is, even though they might not have experienced it directly or fully by themselves.
  2. Peace is seen as positive.
  3. It can be understood that with greed, hate and delusion it isn't peaceful; then there is no real peace.
  4. Freedom, but for what purpose? For doing what you like? Then you are not really free; a slave of desires. But freedom in order to have the ultimate peace? That surely is the highest.

Many questions about nibbāna are not that careful or valid, this because nibbāna has become abstract. If instead of 'Is nibbāna not boring?', 'Is peace not boring?' was asked, it would already be easier to see that with boredom peace would be lacking. So this way this translation clarifies and is taking the points above into account as well.

Pāḷi-English

Nibbāna (nt.) peace.