'Nirvana' means 'a blowing out' — not of the self, but of greed, hatred, and delusion. An extinguished fire.
In Buddhism, the final liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering; a state of perfect bliss and peace; informally, an ideal or idyllic condition.
From Sanskrit 'nirvāṇa' (निर्वाण, a blowing out, extinction, disappearance), from 'nis-' (निस्, out, away) + 'vāti' (वाति, it blows), from the root 'vā' (वा, to blow), from PIE *h₂weh₁- (to blow). Nirvana literally means 'a blowing out' — like the extinguishing of a flame. In Buddhist philosophy, what is 'blown out' is not the self or consciousness but the three fires of greed (rāga), hatred (dveṣa), and delusion (moha). The metaphor is of cooling: a mind
Nirvana literally means 'blown out' — like a candle flame extinguished. But the Buddha was careful about what is extinguished: not the soul (he denied there was one) but the three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. When asked what happens to an enlightened person after death, the Buddha compared it to asking which direction a fire goes when it goes out. The question, he said