One of the most fascinating parts of the Pali Canon is the account of the Buddha’s death in “The Buddha’s Final Nibbana,” where nibbana in Pali is nirvana in Sanskrit.[1] It is the longest sutra in the canon, too. According to the text, the Buddha spent the three months of the rainy season, which extends from July to October, at Beluva, a village outside Vesali, the principal city of the Vajjis. Ananda, the Buddha’s faithful attendant, is with him throughout. And so are other attendants and a multitude of monks. The first signs of trouble start with the rainy season:

When the Blessed One had entered upon the rainy season he fell seriously ill, suffering severe pains as though he were close to death. Without complaining, the Blessed One accepted the pains mindfully and with full awareness. Then it occurred to the Blessed One: “It would not be right for me to reach the final nibbana without my having addressed those attending on me and having taken my leave of the community of monks. Suppose I should suppress this illness by force and live by controlling the vital energy.”[2]

Thus he addressed Ananda while referring to himself as the Tathagata, which was an epithet he often used for himself (it refers to someone who has reached awakening, and it means “one like this”):

“I am an old and aged man, Ananda, an elder who has done his time and reached old age. I have turned eighty, and just as a worn-out cart is kept going with the help of repairs, so it seems is the Tathagata’s body kept going with repairs. The only time that the Tathagata can make his body comfortable is when he lives having attained a state of mental concentration without sensation, and specific feelings cease through not paying attention to any sensations.”[3]

The Buddha was quite specific about the time of his death, as well, which coincided with the end of the rainy season:

“The Tathagata’s final nibbana will not be long: three months from now he will attain final nibbana.”[4]

At the end of the specified period, the Buddha addressed all those assembled for his final nirvana:

Then the Blessed One addressed the monks: “Well, monks, now I take my leave of you: it is of the nature of things to decay, but if you are attentive, you will succeed!”

These were the Tathagata’s last words. Then the Blessed One entered the first absorption. Emerging from that, he entered the second absorption. Emerging from that, he entered the third absorption. Emerging from that, he entered the fourth absorption. Emerging from that, he entered the sphere of infinity of space. Emerging from that, he entered the sphere of infinity of consciousness. Emerging from that, he entered the sphere of nothingness. Emerging from that, he entered the sphere of neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. Emerging from that, he entered the cessation of conception and feeling. Then the venerable Ananda said to the venerable Anurudddha: “The Blessed One has attained final nibbana, Anuruddha.”[5]

Here, Anuruddha is another of the Buddha’s faithful attendants. Interestingly, the first time in the sutra where anything supernatural happens is just after his death:

And when the Blessed One attained final peace, with his final nibbana, the earth quaked, frightening, making the hairs stand on end, and claps of thunder rent the sky.[6]

At this point, one of the leading gods in the Hindu pantheon makes an appearance and recites some verses about the Buddha’s death. But the Buddha was down to earth about his own death all the way through the account. More important, absorption was a welcome way for him to control his pain. He approached everything he was facing in most pragmatic terms. This is the most fascinating part of the entire sutra. Upon careful reading, the Buddha was only a man. And an old and decrepit one by his own account. As such, he was facing death, and death is what expects us all. There were no supernatural tricks anyplace in the Buddha’s conception of death. There is no afterlife. There is no paradise, either. Just death. Wonderful. Yes, I love the man to the point of tears.

Footnotes

1. Sayings of the Buddha: A Selection of Suttas from the Pali Nikayas, translated by Rupert Gethin, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 37-97.

2. Op. cit., p. 57.

3. Op. cit., p. 58.

4. Op. cit., p. 60.

5. Op. cit., p. 89.

6. Op. cit., p. 90.