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JAINISM AND BUDDHISM
CHAPTER I . NIRVANA, MOKSHA OR LIBERATION THE meaning of the word Nirvana is extinction,
while the word Moksha means “liberation.” Extinction of the mundane condition is Nirvana ; and liberation from the same is Moksha. Both the terms thus contain and express the same idea. It is generally supposed that Buddhism preaches the philosophy of “transitoriness” or “ destruction ; ” that it does not believe in the indestructibility of the soul or in the permanence of Nirvåna. It is this supposition which has led to the general notion that the word Nirvana means total destruction or annihilation. The old Pali books of Buddhism, however, show that the Nirvana of Buddhism is not “annihilation,” but is a positive condition of the soul. As a result of elucidative discussions with the Principals of the Vidyalankar College, Kelaniya, and the Vidyodaya College, Colombo, (Ceylon) and with the English-educated Buddhist Monk, Narad Maitreya of Vajrarama Bambalpitiya (Ceylon), as well as with other Buddhist monks of Ceylon, I have come to know that Nirvậna is neither annihilation nor non-existence of the soul, but that
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