Reason 9 of 10
Nirvana is the fire going out. Jesus offers life.
Nibbana means extinguishment: the ending of greed, hate and delusion, and finally of any further birth. The Buddha would not say whether the freed one exists after death. Jesus promises eternal life: knowing God, face to face.
What extinguishment means
Nibbana (Sanskrit nirvana) literally means going out, like a fire. Sariputta, the Buddha's chief disciple, defined it as the ending of greed, hate and delusion. When Vacchagotta asked where a freed person goes after death, the Buddha refused every option: reborn, not reborn, both, neither. He asked which direction a fire goes when it goes out. When the Buddha himself died, Anuruddha said the liberation of his heart was like the extinguishing of a lamp.
“Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘extinguishment’. What is extinguishment?” “Reverend, the ending of greed, hate, and delusion is called extinguishment.”
Samyutta Nikaya 38.1:2.1-2.4, A Question About Extinguishment (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
“But worthy Gotama, when a mendicant’s mind is freed like this, where are they reborn?” “‘They’re reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.” “Well then, are they not reborn?” “‘They’re not reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.” “Well then, are they both reborn and not reborn?” “‘They’re both reborn and not reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.” “Well then, are they neither reborn nor not reborn?” “‘They’re neither reborn nor not reborn’ doesn’t apply, Vaccha.”
Majjhima Nikaya 72:16.1-16.8, With Vacchagotta on Fire (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
“Suppose that fire burning in front of you was extinguished. Would you know: ‘This fire in front of me is quenched’?” “Yes, I would, worthy Gotama.” “But Vaccha, suppose they were to ask you: ‘This fire in front of you that is quenched: in what direction did it go— east, south, west, or north?’ How would you answer?” “It doesn’t apply, worthy Gotama. The fire depended on grass and logs as fuel. When that runs out, and no more fuel is added, the fire is reckoned to have become quenched due to lack of fuel.”
Majjhima Nikaya 72:19.11-19.18, With Vacchagotta on Fire (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
“In the same way, Vaccha, any form by which a realized one might be described has been given up, cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, and unable to arise in the future. A realized one is freed from reckoning in terms of form. They’re deep, immeasurable, and hard to fathom, like the ocean. ‘They’re reborn’, ‘they’re not reborn’, ‘they’re both reborn and not reborn’, ‘they’re neither reborn nor not reborn’—none of these apply.
Majjhima Nikaya 72:20.1-20.4, With Vacchagotta on Fire (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
The liberation of his heart was like the extinguishing of a lamp.”
Digha Nikaya 16:6.10.21-6.10.22, The Great Discourse on the Buddha’s Extinguishment (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
The goal Buddhism cannot describe
The ending of greed, hate and delusion is a real good, and the Bible also calls us to put them to death. But the final goal of Buddhism is described by what it is not. It cannot be called existence or non-existence. There is no one there to love and no one to be loved.
The Bible's goal is not less than personal; it is more. Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ. It is a city, a wedding feast, a home, a face. Sin, death and tears end; love does not.
3This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
John 17:3 (WEB) · context
3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-4 (WEB) · context
12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 (WEB) · context
11You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
Psalms 16:11 (WEB) · context
Peace with God now
Many people come to Buddhism looking for peace. Jesus offers peace too: not the peace of a flame going out, but peace with God, through forgiveness, which the world cannot give or take away.
27Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
John 14:27 (WEB) · context
1Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
Romans 5:1 (WEB) · context
7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 (WEB) · context
What Buddhists answer
Buddhists answer that nibbana is not annihilation: the Buddha rejected annihilationism as firmly as eternalism, and called nibbana the highest happiness (Dhammapada 204). It is beyond words, not nothing. Mahayana traditions speak of Buddha-nature and of Buddhas who continue to act for the good of beings.
Health is the ultimate blessing; contentment, the ultimate wealth; trust is the ultimate family; extinguishment, the ultimate happiness.
Dhammapada 204, 15. Happiness (tr. Bhikkhu Sujato) · context
Why that answer falls short
We take that seriously. But a goal beyond every description is not a hope you can hold onto, and the early texts give no one to meet there. Mahayana belief in Buddhas who keep helping beings is itself a later development, and it shows the heart reaching for what the Bible says is real: a living, personal God who does not abandon his people.
Where scholars and traditions differ
- Scholars and Buddhist teachers disagree about whether final nibbana (parinibbana) is best described as cessation or as an indescribable state of existence; the Pali texts are deliberately reticent.
Sources
- Earliest source Samyutta Nikaya 38.1; Majjhima Nikaya 72 (Aggivacchagotta Sutta); Digha Nikaya 16.6.10. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0), SuttaCentral.
- Steven Collins, Nirvana and Other Buddhist Felicities (Cambridge University Press, 1998).