Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t16.3

c7.s3.t16.3

(i) ETHICAL. The ethical conception of Nirvāṇa has received the largest amount of attention in the Pāli texts as well as in the writings of modern scholars. The Nikāyas abound in terms and passages expressive of the ethical conception of Nirvāṇa so much so that Dr. Stede wrote as late as 1923 that "Nibbāna is purely and solely an ethical state to be reached in this birth by ethical practices, contemplation, and insight. It is therefore not transcendental".¹ This opinion is not supported by facts. Throughout the Nikāyas, Nibbāna is described as the destruction (khaya) of attachment (rāga), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha), of desire (taṇhā), impressions (saṅkhārā), and firm grasp of wrong ideas (upādāna), of impurities (āsava) and afflictions (kilesa), and of desire for existence (bhava), birth (jāti), old age, death (jarāmaraṇa), and thus of misery (dukkha). In describing the positive aspect of Nibbāna, the Nikāyas state that it is a condition which is very happy (accantasukha), imperishable (accuta), steady (acala, dhīra), tranquil (santa) and free from fear (akutobhaya). It is the state of the highest bliss (amata). The ethical conception of Nirvāṇa appealed so much to the Buddhist authors that they wrote literary pieces of great poetical excellence in order to pay glowing tributes to the attainment of same.