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JAINISM AND BUDDHISM
it is an indescribable condition. Relying on the description of Nirvâna, as given in the Pali books, they strongly maintain that Nirvana is not annihilation.
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66 The Hindu Organ," Jaffna, (Ceylon) dated the 19th May, 1932, contains an article on the subject of Nirvana by the Buddhist Monk B. Anand Maitreya, Belangoda, (Ceylon). Therein says the learned monk :
Nirvana is not nothingness. As regards those things which do not tend to freedom from sorrow, the Buddha was silent. This is because his only aim was to lead the suffering world to real happiness. Nirvana is holiness. Though it is neither this nor that, Nirvana is not nothingness, yet it is a third possibility."
In "Buddhist Wisdom, The mystery of the self", George Grimm (Munich, Germany, akademiestrasse 19/II) says:
"It is characteristic of modern materialism to have chosen the first alternative, that of absolute annihilation, despite the Buddha's repeated assurances that he does not teach annihilation, but on the contrary, shows a way to the Imperishable, the Deathless." (Page 86). Again he says:
"The Buddha further explains and teaches that extinction applies only to the three flames of lust, hate and delusion (the three kinds of thirst for sensation) and for this reason he defines Nibbânam, the goal of sainthood, as Tanha Nibbanam, literally, the extinction of thirst. holy life with
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