Samsara and Nirvana Are Like Flowers in the Sky

The birth and death, nirvana, and so forth are all like illusory flowers; the essence of the Tathāgatagarbha is neither birth and death nor illusory flowers. Only the Tathāgatagarbha is not an illusory flower; apart from this, all phenomena are illusory flowers. No matter how sacred, unique, precious, majestic, rare, or however exalted a phenomenon may appear—including attaining Buddhahood, propagating the Dharma to benefit sentient beings, and all undertakings—all are like dreams and illusory flowers. Only after a bodhisattva realizes this truth can the mind come to rest, and indeed, the mind is able to rest.