如來之性 常樂我淨 衆生佛性 亦復如是 衆生見者 謂之無常 苦空無我 此是邪見 非正見也 如來所說 常樂我淨 是名正見 依正見故 得見佛性
rú lái zhī xìng cháng lè wǒ jìng zhòng shēng fó xìng yì fù rú shì zhòng shēng jiàn zhě wèi zhī wú cháng kǔ kōng wú wǒ cǐ shì xié jiàn fēi zhèng jiàn yě rú lái suǒ shuō cháng lè wǒ jìng shì míng zhèng jiàn yī zhèng jiàn gù dé jiàn fó xìng
Key Message
The nature of enlightenment is permanent, blissful, free, and pure. This is true nirvāṇa.
▸This is one of the most important passages in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, directly declaring the scripture's core teaching — 'permanence, bliss, self, and purity' (常樂我淨).
This is one of the most important passages in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, directly declaring the scripture's core teaching — 'permanence, bliss, self, and purity' (常樂我淨). The nature of the Tathāgata (如來之性) possesses the four virtues of being permanent (常), blissful (樂), having a true self (我), and pure (淨), and the Buddha-nature (佛性) of sentient beings is exactly the same. The Buddha declares that sentient beings who view the Tathāgata and the Buddha-nature as 'impermanent (無常), suffering (苦), empty (空), and without self (無我)' hold wrong views (邪見), and that 'permanence, bliss, self, and purity' as taught by the Tathāgata is right view (正見). Although this teaching appears to negate the three marks of early Buddhism — impermanence, suffering, and no-self — in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra this is presented as a higher-level teaching that corrects the misunderstanding of sentient beings.