Is Buddhism concentrated completely on achieving enlightenment?
Answer Hi Nicole, Thank you for asking me. First we need to define what “enlightenment” means in Buddhism. It means being “awaken” from the ignorance of existence. It is a state whereby all negative traits are eradicated. All Buddhists strive to achieve such a state, although it is quite imposssible to achieve in one life-time. The other way of looking at “enlightenment” is its ultimate result, that is Nibbana. When we talk about enlightenment, we will definitely have to refer to the accompanying result, i.e. Nibbana (or Nirvana in Sanskrit). Nibbana means extinction of desires, and complete eradication of the 3 roots of defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion. Without any trace of these defilements, there will no longer be any clinging to future rebirth. Without birth, one will not be subject to the dictates of this unsatisfactory existence. One is no longer subject to conditions. One’s existence is free from conditioning.
