Bhikkhu Bodhi on Nibbāna

[NgXinZhao]

@Ceisiwr

Nibbana isn’t a state of existence, but neither is it nothingness.

I think it’s important to define nothingness too.

"Level 9th of Nothing" - Does this sound like Nibbana to you?

I analysed this in SBS internal forum, let’s see if I can reproduce the main points. 5 things in Buddhism approaches nothingness. I leave out emptiness here. The 4th jhāna brahma realm where one is unconscious. As soon as perception arises the being falls from that realm. It could be the cessation experienced by outsiders who had claimed some cessation experience or enlightenment. Formless attainments, where form fades away. It’s nothing to the materialist. The 3rd formless attainment …

I would map “the highest level of nothingness, without any possibility of anything arising again” to Parinibbana, or after the death of an arahant.