ETERNAL Buddha Nature:
".. good man! I take all things as non-eternal. How do I know? Because of the causal relations. If anything arises out of causality, I see them as non-eternal. The Buddha Nature is birthlessness and deathlessness; it is no going, no coming. It is no past, no future, and no present. It is not one that comes out of cause; it is no making of no cause. It is not one made; it is no maker. It is no outer form or not no form; it is not one with a name, nor is it one with no name; it is no name and no matter. It is not long, not short. It is not one come out in five groups, eighteen realms, and twelve spheres. Because of this, we say eternal. The Buddha Nature is the Tathagata; the Tathagata is the Law, and the Law is eternal. Eternal is the Tathagata, the Tathagata are the Bodhisattvas and the Bodhisattvas are eternal.
Because of this, what comes out of cause is not called eternal."
(Nirvana Sutra, Book 13, chapt. 19c,)
hummmm....this makes sense to me.
Posted by: Bohnee at May 7, 2008 03:38 AMI can undertand how finite things are not eternal. But I can not understand how anything or anyone could be eternal. And aren't the three truths supposed to say that saying something is eternal or empty are both wrong?
Posted by: clown hidden at May 7, 2008 01:36 PMSince we are not Buddhas in this Human Body, I don't see how we can understand, I could be wrong. Remember, I once told you, Buddhism is not cause and effect, Nichiren does not talk about Karma, Buddha in the Lotus Sutra doesn't talk about Karma in the middle 8 chapters, I guess you are going to have to tell me. There is only one truth, not three, that is the difference between TenTai's ichinen sanzen and Ichinen Sanzen for us in the Later Day. Read Nichiren's letters. The truth the Buddha revealed was his lifespan, that was the secret that contained all the truth. But remember, in our human body, with human brain, we are not going to get it, we are left with the Lotus Sutra, and told to remember.
Maltz
Posted by: Bruce Maltz at May 7, 2008 02:22 PM