What the sutta’s describe about Nibbana (a quit large selection of texts)
The imperishable state of Nibbana
“Those who before in another world,'–so said the venerable Hemaka,–'explained to me the doctrine of Gotama, saying, “So it was, so it will be,” all that (was only) oral tradition, all that (was only) something that increased (my) doubts. I took no pleasure in that, but tell thou me the Dhamma that destroys desire, O Muni, which if a man has understood, and he wanders about thoughtful, he may cross desire in the world”
Buddha: ‘"In this world (much) has been seen, heard, and thought; the destruction of passion and of wish for the dear objects that have been perceived, O Hemaka, is the imperishable state of Nibbana. Those who, having understood this, are thoughtful, calm, because they have seen the Dhamma, tranquil and divine, such have crossed desire in this world’ (Snp5.9)
“That wise mendicant here rid of desire and lust has found the peace free of death, Nibbana, the state that does not pass”. (Snp1.11)
“He should discard all the fetters
And make a refuge for himself;
Let him fare as with head ablaze,
Yearning for the imperishable state.” (SN22.95)
“When the wise man is in the midst of fools,
they do not know him if he does not speak.
But they know him when he speaks,
teaching the deathless state”. (AN4.48, SN21.7)
"The born, become, produced,
made, fabricated, impermanent,
fabricated of aging & death,
a nest of illnesses, perishing,
come-into-being through nourishment
and the guide [that is craving]—
is unfit for delight.
The escape from that
Is calm, permanent,
a sphere beyond conjecture,
unborn, unproduced,
the sorrowless, stainless state,
the cessation of stressful qualities,
stilling-of-fabrications, bliss. (Iti43)
"Who has no more indulgences
No more perplexity since he knows
Through having reached the Deathless Sphere:
He is the one I call a brahmin (MN98)
"To the insuperable, the unchangeable (Nibbana), whose likeness is nowhere, I shall certainly go; in this (Nibbana) there will be no doubt (left) for me, so know (me to be) of a dispossessed mind (Snp5.17)
“There is, monks, an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned. If, monks there were not that unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, you could not know an escape here from the born, become, made, and conditioned. But because there is an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned, therefore you do know an escape from the born, become, made, and conditioned.” (Ud8.3)
Nibbana, the unsurpassed security from bondage
“The creature devoted to proliferation, who is delighted with proliferation, has failed to attain nibbana, the unsurpassed security from bondage. But one who has abandoned proliferation, who finds delight in non-proliferation, has attained nibbana, the unsurpassed security from bondage. (AN6.14 and endless others)
Nibbana, arrived at when craving is forsaken
“By what is the world tightly fettered?
What is its means of travelling about?
What is it that one must forsake
In order to say, ‘Nibbana’?”
“The world is tightly fettered by delight;
Thought is its means of travelling about.
Craving is what one must forsake
In order to say, 'Nibbana.”’ (SN1.64)
Nibbana, cessation of existence
"Friend Sariputta, apart from faith, apart from personal reference, apart from oral tradition, apart from reasoned reflection, apart from acceptance of a view after considering it , I know this, I see this: 'Nibbana is the cessation of existence’.
(…)
“Friend, though I have clearly seen as it really is with correct wisdom, ‘Nibbana is the cessation of existence,’ I am not an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed. Suppose, friend, there was a well along a desert road, but it had neither a rope nor a bucket. Then a man would come along, oppressed and afflicted by the heat, tired, parched, and thirsty. He would look down into the well and the knowledge would occur to him, ‘There is water,’ but he would not be able to make bodily contact with it. So too, friend, though I have clearly seen as it really is with correct wisdom, ‘Nibbana is the cessation of existence,’ I am not an arahant, one whose taints are destroyed.”
Sariputta describes a state of concentration that is not a jhana or perceiving this world or another world but still percipient. He describes it like this:
“One perception arose and another perception ceased in me: 'The cessation of existence is nibbana; the cessation of existence is nibbana. Just as, when a fire of twigs is burning, one flame arises and another flame ceases, so one perception arose and another perception ceased in me: 'The cessation of existence is nibbana; the cessation of existence is nibbana. On that occasion, friend, I was percipient: 'The cessation of existence is nibbana” (AN10.7)
Nibbana, a designation for the destruction of lobha, dosa and moha
“Friend Sariputta, it is said, ‘Nibbana, Nibbana.’ What now is Nibbana?”
"The destruction of lust, the destruction of hatred, the destruction of delusion: this, friend, is called Nibbana (SN38.1A)
Nibbana, perfect peace, free from fear
“He always sleeps well,
the brahmin who has attained nibbana,
cooled off, without acquisitions,
not tainted by sensual pleasures.
Having cut off all attachments,
having removed anguish in the heart,
the peaceful one sleeps well,
having attained peace of mind”. (AN3.35)
“The all-conquering heroic sage,
Freed from every bond is he;
He has reached that perfect peace,
Nibbāna which is free from fear. (Iti112, AN4.23))
“There is no fire like greed, no crime like hate, no suffering like the aggregates, no bliss beyond peace. (Dhp202)
"Cut off your affection in the manner of a man who plucks with his hand an autumn lotus. Cultivate only the path to peace, Nibbana, as made known by the Exalted One… (Dhp285)
Nibbana is pure
“This prince will reach the summit of perfect enlightenment, he will turn the wheel of the Dhamma, he who sees what is exceedingly pure (i.e. Nibbana), this (prince) feels for the welfare of the multitude, and his religion will be widely spread. (Snp3.11)
Nibbana, the Truth that is hard to see
“And it is hard to see this truth, namely, the stilling of all sankhara, the relinquishing of all attachments, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, Nibbana. (MN26)
“It’s hard to see what they call the ‘uninclined’, for the truth is not easy to see. For one who has penetrated craving, who knows and sees, there is nothing. (Ud8.2)
'What is not false, the Nibbana that the noble conceive as true, they verily from the comprehension of truth are free from desire (and) perfectly happy. (Snp3.12)
Nibbana, a matchless island
“For those who stand in the middle of the water, O Kappa,'–so said Bhagavat,–‘in the formidable stream that has set in, for those overcome by decay and death, I will tell thee of an island, O Kappa.’
'This matchless island, possessing nothing (and) grasping after nothing, I call Nibbana, the destruction of decay and death (Snp5.11)
Nibbana is the greatest bliss
"Hunger is the worst illness, conditions are the worst suffering. For one who truly knows this, Nibbana is the ultimate happiness. (Dhp203)
"Penance and chastity, discernment of the noble truths, and the realisation of Nibbana, this is the highest blessing. (Snp2.4)
“The greatest of all gains is health,
Nibbana is the greatest bliss,
The eightfold path is the best of paths
For it leads safely to the Deathless.” (MN75)
"The delightful expanse of level ground’: this is a designation for Nibbana. (SN22.84)
""Dispassion for the world is happiness for one who has gone beyond sensual pleasures. But dispelling the conceit ‘I am’ is truly the ultimate happiness.” (Ud2.1)
(This is called Nibbana in this very life in AN9.1)
“For the dependent there is agitation, for the independent there is no agitation.
“When there is no agitation there is calm, when there is calm there is no inclining.
“When there is no inclining, there is no coming or going.
“When there is no coming or going, there is no passing away and rebirth.
“When there is no passing away and rebirth, there is no here or hereafter or in between the two— just this is the end of suffering.” (Ud8.4)
“Strenuous for obtaining the supreme good (i.e. Nibbana), with a mind free from attachment, not living in idleness, being firm, endowed with bodily and mental strength, let one wander alone like a rhinoceros. (Snp1.3)
"Bhikkhus, (1) it is possible that a bhikkhu who considers nibbana to be happiness will possess a conviction in conformity [with the teaching]. (2) It is possible that one who possesses a conviction in conformity [with the teaching] will enter upon the fixed course of rightness. (3) It is possible that one who enters upon the fixed course of rightness will realize the fruit of stream-entry, (4) the fruit of once-returning, (5) the fruit of non-returning, (6) or arahantship. (AN6.101)
“Happiness, friends, is this nibbana. Happiness, friends, is this nibbana.”
When this was said, the Venerable Udayi said to the Venerable Sariputta: “But, friend Sariputta, what happiness could there be here when nothing is felt here?”
"Just this, friend, is the happiness here, that nothing is felt here. (AN9.34)
Nibbana as ground, destination and final goal
The Path has the deathless (nibbana) as its ground (also the enlightment factors and powers, all qualities)
. . - "Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu develops right view . . . right concentration, which has the Deathless as its ground, the Deathless as its destination, as its final goal (SN45.139, SN45.161))
“You weren’t able to grasp the limit to questioning. For, Radha the holy life is lived with Nibbana as its ground, Nibbana as its destination, Nibbana as its final goa1." (SN23.1)
Nibbana, a dimension beyond the world?
“There is, mendicants, that dimension where there is no earth, no water, no fire, no wind; no dimension of infinite space, no dimension of infinite consciousness, no dimension of nothingness, no dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; no this world, no other world, no moon or sun. There, mendicants, I say there is no coming or going or remaining or passing away or reappearing. It is not established, does not proceed, and has no support. Just this is the end of suffering.” (Ud8.1)
Two Nibbana elements
“These, bhikkhus, are the two Nibbāna-elements.”
These two Nibbāna-elements were made known
By the Seeing One, stable and unattached:
One is the element seen here and now
With residue, but with the cord of being destroyed;
The other, having no residue for the future,
Is that wherein all modes of being utterly cease.
Having understood the unconditioned state,
Released in mind with the cord of being destroyed,
They have attained to the Dhamma-essence.
Delighting in the destruction (of craving),
Those stable ones have abandoned all being. (Iti44)
Other designations for Nibbana
"Bhikkhus, I will teach you the truth and the path leading to the truth… … I will teach you the far shore . … the subtle . … the very difficult to see … . the unaging … . the stable .,. the undisintegrating . . the unrnanifest … . the unproliferated . … the peaceful . . . the deathless … the sublime … the auspicious …the secure . . … the destruction of craving . . . the wonderful … . the amazing … the unailing … the unailing state … Nibbana… . the unafflicted … dispassion … purity … freedom …the unadhesive … the island … the shelter … the asylum … the refuge . (SN43.13-43)
Nibbana, the deathless element
“Some time later the Venerable Anuruddha abandoned those three qualities and stopped attending to them. Instead, he directed his mind to the deathless element. Then, dwelling alone, withdrawn, heedful, ardent, and resolute, in no long time the Venerable Anuruddha realized for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, that unsurpassed consummation of the spiritual life for the sake of which clansmen rightly go forth from the household life into homelessness, and haying entered upon it, he dwelled in it. He directly knew: “Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.” And the Venerable Anuruddha became one of the arahants.( AN3.130)
“Those of us who are Dhamma specialists will praise those bhikkhus who are meditators. Thus should you train yourselves. For what reason? Because, friends, these persons are astounding and rare in the world who dwell having touched the deathless element with the body. (AN6.46)
"Bhikkhus, possessing six qualities, the householder Tapussa has reached certainty about the Tathagata and become a seer of the deathless, one who lives having realized the deathless. What six? Unwavering confidence in the Buddha, unwavering confidence in the Dhamma, unwavering confidence in the Sangha, noble virtuous behavior, noble knowledge, and noble liberation. Possessing these six qualities, the householder Tapussa has reached certainty about the Tathagata and become a seer of the deathless (AN6.119)
"When it was said: ‘Bhikkhus, I say that the destruction of the taints occurs in dependence on the first jhana,’ for what reason was this said? Here, secluded from sensual pleasures. . . a bhikkhu enters and dwells in the first jhana … . : He considers whatever phenomena exist there pertaining to form, feeling, perception, volitional activities, and consciousness as impermanent, suffering, an illness, a boil, a dart, misery, affliction, alien, disintegrating, empty, and non-self. He turns his mind away from those phenomena and directs it to the deathless element thus: 'This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbana If he is firm in this, he attains the destruction of the taints. But if he does not attain the destruction of the taints because of that lust for the Dhamma, because of that delight in the Damma then, with the utter destruction of the five lower fetters, he becomes one of spontaneous birth, due to attain final nibbana there without ever returning from that world. (AN9.36)
Search for Nibbana is the search for the not aging, not ailing, not dying
"There are, bhikkhus, these four noble quests. What four? (1) Here someone who is himself subject to old age, having understood the danger in what is subject, to old age, seeks the unaging unsurpassed security from bondage, nibbana; (2) who is himself subject to illness, having understood the danger in what is subject to illness, seeks the illness-free, unsurpassed security from bondage, nibbana; (3) who is himself subject to death, having understood the danger in what is subject to death, seeks the deathless, unsurpassed security from bondage, nibbana; (AN4.255)
Nibbana is neither dark nor bright
"Six ‘species’: Here, (a) one born in dark conditions lives a dark life, (b) one born in dark conditions lives a bright life, (c) one born in dark conditions attains Nibbana, which is neither dark nor bright, (d) one born in bright conditions lives a dark life, (e) one born in bright conditions leads a bright life, (f) one born in bright conditions attains Nibbana which is neither dark nor bright. (DN33)
Directly knowing or seeing Nibbana
"He directly knows Nibbana as Nibbana. Having directly known Nibbana as Nibbana, he should not conceive [himself as] Nibbana, he should not conceive [himself] in Nibbana, he should not conceive [himself apart] from Nibbana, he should not conceive Nibbana to be 'mine/ he should not delight in Nibbana. Why is that? So that he may fully understand it, I say. (MN1)
"Zeal then arose in me as I clearly saw nibbana.
Now I am incapable of indulging in sensual pleasures. (AN3.39)
Not obsessed by lust hate and delusion …”one does not intend for his own affliction, for the affliction of others, or for the affliction of both, and he does not experience mental suffering and dejection. It is in this way, too, that nibbana is directly visible".
… "When, brahmin, one experiences the remainderless destruction of lust, the remainderless destruction of hatred, and the remainderless destruction of delusion, it is in this way, too, that nibbana is directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise/. (AN3.55)
“It is said, friend, 'directly visible nibbana, directly visible nibbana. In what way has the Blessed One spoken of directly visible nibbana?”…(my words) jhana is a directly visible nibbana in provisional sense…but when all defilements are uprooted it is directly visible in a non-provisional sense (AN9.47)
(the same is said for final Nibbana and security in next sutta’s)
Nibbana, no agatation because of no clinging
“Bhikkhus, when ignorance is abandoned and true knowledge has arisen in a bhikkhu, then with the fading away of ignorance and the arising of true knowledge he no longer clings to sensual pleasures, no longer clings to views, no longer clings to rules and observances, no longer clings to a doctrine of self. When he does not cling, he is not agitated. When he is not agitated, he personally attains Nibbana. He understands: ‘Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.’” (MN11, MN37, and many others)
Merging with Nibbana
"Just as the river Ganges inclines towards the sea, slopes towards the sea, flows towards the sea, and merges with the sea, so too Master Gotama’s assembly with its homeless ones and its householders inclines towards Nibbana, slopes towards Nibbana, flows towards Nibbana, and merges with Nibbana. (MN73)
"Just as, whatever streams in the world flow into the great ocean and however much rain falls into it from the sky, neither a decrease nor a. filling up can. be seen in the great ocean, so too, even if many bhikkhus attain final nibbana by way of the nibbana element without residue remaining, neither a decrease nor a filling up can be seen in the nibbana element. This is the fifth astounding and amazing quality that the bhikkhus see in this Dhamma and discipline (AN8.19)
Final Nibbana past all measure
“These and also other great and mighty
Paccekabuddhas no more led to being -
Honour these sages who, transcending craving,
Have attained final Nibbana, past all measure.” (MN116)
Nibbana a state without suffering and conflict
"Here, bhikkhus, disengagement from the pursuit of self-mortification - painful, ignoble, and unbeneficial - is a state without suffering, vexation, despair, and fever, and it is the right way. Therefore this is a state without conflict.
"Here, bhikkhus, the Middle Way discovered by the Tathagata avoids both these extremes; giving vision, giving knowledge, it leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbana. It is a state without suffering…and it is the right way. Therefore this is a state without conflict. (MN139)