The Buddha Omnipresent
And the Blessed One thus addressed the brethren:
"Those only who do not believe, call me Gotama, but you call me
the Buddha, the Blessed One, the Teacher. And this is right, for
I have in this life entered Nirvana, while the life of Gotama has
been extinguished.
"Self has disappeared and the truth has taken its abode in me.
Th
s body of mine is Gotama's body and it will be dissolved in
due time, and after its dissolution no one, neither God nor man,
will see Gotama again. But the truth remains. The Buddha will not
die; the Buddha will continue to live in the holy body of the
law.
"The extinction of the Blessed One will be by that passing away
in which nothing remains that could tend to the formation of
another self. Nor will it be possible to point out the Blessed
One as being here or there. But it will be like a flame in a
great body of blazing fire. That flame has ceased; it has
vanished and it cannot be said that it is here or there. In the
body of the Dharma, however, the Blessed One can be pointed out;
for the Dharma has been preached by the Blessed One.
"Ye are my children, I am your father; through me have ye been
released from your sufferings.
"I myself having reached the other shore, help others to cross
the stream; I myself having attained salvation, am a saviour of
others; being comforted, I comfort others and lead them to the
place of refuge.
"I shall fill with joy all the beings whose limbs languish; I
shall give happiness to those who are dying from distress; I
shall extend to them succor and deliverance. 7
"I was born into the world as the king of truth for the salvation
of the world.
"The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which
I devote myself is truth. The topic of my conversation is truth.
My thoughts are always in the truth. For lo! my self has become
the truth.
"Whosoever comprehendeth the truth will see the Blessed One, for
the truth has been preached by the Blessed One."