What attains Nibbána?

This question must necessarily be set aside as irrelevant, for Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent entity or an immortal soul. As right now and here there is neither a permanent ego nor an identical being, it is needless to say that there is no ‘I’ in Nibbána.

The Visuddhi Magga states-

"Misery only doth exist, none miserable;

nor doer is there,

nought save the deed is found;

Nibbána is, but the man who seeks it

The path exists, but not the traveler on it."

The chief difference between the Buddhist and the Hindu conception of Nibbána lies in the fact that Buddhists view their goal without an eternal soul and creator, whilst Hindus do.

This is the reason why Buddhism can neither be called Eternalism nor Nihilism. In Nibbána nothing is eternalized, nor is anything annihilated.

As Sir Edwin Arnold says:-

"If any teach Nirvana is to cease,

Say unto such they lie

If any teach Nirvana is to live,

Say unto such they err,"

The Light of Asia