In consonance with this, researcher on the
Nirvana Sutra, Dr. Tony Page, comments:
On the specific question of the supramundane or nirvanic Self, it is apparent that the [Nirvana] Sutra does assert an eternally abiding entity or
dharma what we might call the Buddha-Self, since the Buddha utters the equation Self = Buddha - as an ever-enduring reality of the highest order. That Buddha-Self is one with Nirvana.
[61] Positive language
According to some scholars, the language used in the Tathāgatagarbha genre of sutras can be seen as an attempt to state orthodox Buddhist teachings of
dependent origination using positive language instead. Yamamoto points out that this affirmative characterization of nirvana pertains to a supposedly higher form of nirvanathat of Great Nirvana. Speaking of the 'Bodhisattva Highly Virtuous King' chapter of the
Nirvana Sutra, Yamamoto quotes the scripture itself:
What is nirvana? ...this is as in the case in which one who has hunger has peace and bliss as he has taken a little food.
[62]
Yamamoto continues with the quotation, adding his own comment:
But such a nirvāna cannot be called Great Nirvāna". And it [i.e. the Buddhas new revelation regarding nirvana] goes on to dwell on the Great Self, Great Bliss, and Great Purity, all of which, along with the Eternal, constitute the four attributes of Great Nirvana.
[63] Quotations
Gautama Buddha:
- "Where there is nothing; where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvāṇa do I call itthe utter extinction of aging and dying."
- "There is that dimension where there is neither earth, nor water, nor fire, nor wind; neither dimension of the infinitude of space, nor dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, nor dimension of nothingness, nor dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; neither this world, nor the next world, nor sun, nor moon. And there, I say, there is neither coming, nor going, nor stasis; neither passing away nor arising: without stance, without foundation, without support [mental object]. This, just this, is the end of stress." [Udana VIII.1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana
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