In Theravāda Buddhism, nirvāṇa (Pāli: nibbāna) is understood as the complete cessation of suffering and the final extinguishing of all mental defilements—greed, hatred, and delusion. It is not conceived as a place or a heavenly realm, but as the unconditioned reality beyond birth, aging, and death, where the fires of craving and attachment are fully quenched. This state is described as the end of the cycle of rebirth (saṃsāra) and the cessation of all karmic formations that sustain that cycle. Classical descriptions often speak of it both negatively—as “extinction,” “cessation,” or “unbinding”—and positively as peace, the deathless, and the highest happiness. In this sense, nirvāṇa is liberation from all forms of unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), grounded in the realization that there is no permanent, unchanging self to cling to.

Theravāda teaching also distinguishes between nibbāna “with residue” and “without residue.” Nibbāna with residue refers to the realization attained by a living arahant whose mind has been fully liberated, while the physical body and the results of past karma still persist. Nibbāna without residue designates the final cessation at the death of such an arahant, when the aggregates no longer arise and there is no further rebirth. Both aspects point to the same unconditioned reality, viewed from different standpoints: one while life continues, the other when all conditioned processes have come to an end.

The path to this realization is articulated through the Noble Eightfold Path, which gathers together ethical discipline, mental cultivation, and wisdom. Right Understanding and Right Intention foster a clear grasp of the Four Noble Truths, dependent origination, and the three characteristics of existence—impermanence, suffering, and non-self. Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood establish a foundation of moral purity (sīla), restraining harmful bodily and verbal conduct. Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration cultivate a collected, lucid mind (samādhi), often deepened through meditative absorptions (jhānas), which then supports penetrating insight (paññā) into the true nature of phenomena.

Through this integrated training, the practitioner gradually weakens and ultimately eradicates the fetters and defilements that bind beings to saṃsāra. As insight matures, craving and the illusion of a permanent self lose their footing, and the mind directly realizes the unconditioned. The culmination of this process is arahantship, the complete destruction of greed, hatred, and delusion, which is identified in Theravāda as the attainment of nibbāna. In this way, nirvāṇa is not merely an abstract ideal, but the lived possibility of perfect peace, wisdom, and freedom from suffering.