Nirvana - the final goal of life?

[DS Star]

"Nirvana is not a place; it is a mental state for us to achieve to experience or final salvation. We cannot say the Buddha has gone somewhere or is existing somewhere but he experiences the nirvanic bliss or the final goal of life" Ven. Dr K Sri Dhammanda

But as Mahayana or Vajrayana Buddhists, we emphasize on altruistic motivation, of becoming Buddha for the sake of saving all sentient beings, of Bodhicitta and Bodhisattva-hood...

So is Nirvana our final goal of life?

[eyesoftara]

For the Mahayana of which the Tibetan Traditions or Vajrayana or Diamond Path is a sub school, the ultimate goal is full enlightenment. Full enlightenment entails the attainment of Omniscience of phenomena ie the experience of the Ultimate Truth of all things and experiences. It is said that words cannot describe this fully but the best description for me is of becoming one with the Ultimate Truth or Dharmakaya.

Hence, the final goal of Mahayana/Vajrayana traditions is not Nirvana, which according to the tradition means self liberation, which is egolessness.   

[Matibhadra]

Thank you DS Star for the interesting question, and Eyesoftara for the penetrating answer.

I would just add that full enlightenment is the achievement not only of the dharmakaya, which is nature of ultimate reality, but also of the rupakaya (that is, sambhogakaya plus nirmanakaya), which is the nature of deceptive reality, and which allows buddhas to communicate with sentient beings, and therefore to fulfill their bodhisattva promise to bring each and every sentient being to the very same full enlightenment.

[Freyr Aesiragnorak]

This is a very interesting question, a couple of my friends were just discussing it the other day in fact. On this issue I'm going to agree with jspitanga. It is only once we achieve full enlightenment that we achieve the 3 bodies as mentioned. My friends told me that this is exactly the case with how Manjushri appears to us. Now we all know that Manjushri is a fully enlightened being and commonly refereed to as the Buddha of Wisdom but in the form (rupakaya) that we common depict him, he appears as a 10th ground bodhisattva. Why? Because he needs to be closer to us to assist us in our spiritual practice, due to our delusions and negative karma.   

[RedLantern]

Nirvana literally means extinguishing or unbinding,the implication is that it is freedom from what ever binds you. From the burning passion of desire,jealousy and ignorance. Once these are totally overcome,a state of bliss is achieved.  There is no longer the need of the cycle of birth and death. All karmic debts are settled.

[DS Star]

Thank you all for responding to my question.

Does this mean that achieving Nirvana is not the final goal for Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists but achieving 'full enlightenment' is?

Because only when we are the Fully Enlightened Buddha (Samyak SamBuddha) then we are able to fulfill the wish for saving all sentient beings as we will be obtaining the rupakayas as well?

[fruven]

I would say the Buddha presented Nirvana as the state one could achieve after the escape from suffering. People set their own goal in life, be it this life or next life, or it could no goal at all, just aimlessly living. I think that applies for most people.

If we want to end the sufferings then it is achievable, and by following the paths as laid out by the Buddha. Life itself is suffering as we continuously reborn into samsara.

[Matibhadra]

Does this mean that achieving Nirvana is not the final goal for Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists but achieving 'full enlightenment' is?

According to Mahayana teachings, even Hinayanists will eventually hear the thunderous sound of the drums of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, awakening them to the need of achieving full enlightenment for the sake of all mother sentient beings.

In this sense, Hinayana and Mahayana merge into ”Ekayana”, or ”One Vehicle”.

Because only when we are the Fully Enlightened Buddha (Samyak SamBuddha) then we are able to fulfill the wish for saving all sentient beings as we will be obtaining the rupakayas as well?

Sure. However, Hinayanists do have the wish to save all sentient beings as well, which is their infinite love and compassion, but they believe that, except for the rare bodhisattva, they themselves and other sentient beings can at best become arhats, and that the only way to help all sentient beings to become arhats is becoming arhats themselves; therefore, they become arhats and enter nirvana for the sake of all sentient beings. Therefore, even Hinayanists are wonderfully altruistic.

Still, Mahayanists understand that their happiness will never be complete if they merely become arhats in nirvana, incapable of further and ceaselessly helping all mother sentient beings until samsara is empty, and therefore generate great love and compassion for all sentient beings, like a mother for her only child, and then bodhichitta, or the wish and then the vow to attain a buddhahood endowed with a dharmakaya and a rupakaya, so that all mother sentient beings may also achieve exactly the same state, after themselves, together with themselves, or even before themselves, as exemplified by Buddha Shakyamuni, Maitreya, and Manjushri.

[MoMo]

An alternative view from the Theravadin side of view, an interesting information to know.

Nibbana in Theravada perspective-by Sayadaw U Dhammapiya
http://www.dhammadownload.com/File-Library/Dr-U-Dhammapiya/NibbanaInTheravadaPerspective-Eng-DrUDhammapiya.pdf

[psylotripitaka]

The words 'nirvana' and 'enlightenment' mean different things depending on which vehicle is being explained, and so these two words are used interchangeably sometimes, such as referring to the full enlightenment of a Buddha as 'The Great Nirvana'.

Generally speaking, nirvana in Sutra is a permanent liberation from suffering, but it is not free from all faults, therefore it is not the final goal, enlightenment, which is completely free from the two obstructions. Sutra nirvana is the result of realizing emptiness directly with a gross mind.

Even from the point of view of Highest Yoga Tantra, a more qualified Nirvana is achieved by realizing emptiness directly with the very subtle mind of clear light, but it is still not the final goal. This nirvana, which is the achievement of meaning clear light and pure illusory body, are not completely free from obstructions. By continuing to meditate on emptiness with the union of meaning clear light and the pure illusory body, the full enlightenment of Buddhas final vehicle is achieved.

Therefore, generally speaking, from the point of view of both Sutra and Tantra, nirvana is not a final destination.