Note 12 — Chapter VIII
Reading edition
Nirvana. The ultimate object of attainment for the Buddhist. The word has been translated “nothingness,” and the non-Buddhist missionaries are responsible for the commonly accepted and totally false belief that it means “extinction.” The truth is that by “Nirvana” the Buddhist means a condition which it is utterly impossible for the human mind to comprehend, but which can be attained, after thousands of reincarnations, by strict adherence to the Golden Rule—that is, by deeds and abstaining from deeds not by words and self-indulgence. It is said that the understanding of what is meant by “Nirvana” will dawn gradually on the mind of him who is tolerant and strives unselfishly.