Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra - Quotations From The Nirvana Sutra

Quotations From The Nirvana Sutra

The Buddha on his eternal and blissful ultimate nature as he stands on the brink of physical death:

If you perceive things truly, you will become free from attachment, separated from them, you will indeed be liberated. I have well crossed the watery waste of existence. I abide in bliss, having transcended suffering, therefore I am devoid of unending desire, I have eliminated attachment and gained Liberation . There is no old age, sickness or death for me, my life is forever without end. I proceed burning bright like a flame. You must not think that I shall cease to exist. Consider the Tathagata to be like Sumeru: though I shall pass into Nirvana here, that supreme bliss is my true nature .

On the eternal nature of the Buddha-Tathagata:

The Buddha-Tathagatas are not eternally extinguished in Nirvana like the heat of an iron ball that is quickly extinguished when cast into water. Moreover, it is thus: just as the heat of an iron ball is extinguished when thrown into water, the Tathagata is likewise; when the immeasurable mental afflictions have been extinguished, it is similar to when an iron ball is cast into water - although the heat is extinguished, the substance / nature of the iron remains. In that way, when the Tathagata has completely extinguished the fire of the mental afflictions that have been accumulated over countless aeons, the nature of the diamond Tathagata permanently endures - not transforming and not diminishing.

On his teaching of "non-Self" (the "worldly self", which ultimately does not exist eternally, but obscures the True Self) and the tathagata-garbha:

When I have taught non-Self, fools uphold the teaching that there is no Self. The wise know that such is conventional speech, and they are free from doubts.

When I have taught that the tathagata-garbha is empty, fools meditatively cultivate that it is extinction, subject to destruction and imperfect. The wise know that it is unchanging, stable and eternal.

... just as cow's milk is delicious, so too is the taste of this Sutra similar to that. Those who abandon the teaching given in this sutra concerning the tathagata-garbha are just like cattle. For example, just as people who intend to commit suicide will cause themselves extreme misery, similarly you should know that those ungrateful people who reject the tathagata-garbha and teach non-Self cause themselves extreme misery.

In contrast to the illusory, conditioned, worldly self, the Self of the Buddha is real and enduring:

The Tathagata's Body is not causally conditioned. Because it is not causally conditioned, it is said to have the Self; if it has the Self, then it is also Eternal, Blissful and Pure.

On the True Self:

The Tathagata also teaches, for the sake of all beings, that, truly, there is the Self in all phenomena.