Nirvana without Remainder Is Not a State of Samadhi

Question: After an arhat enters nirvana without remainder, is this nirvana a state of samādhi?

Answer: In a state of samādhi, there should be a master within it—one who enters the state of samādhi and will later emerge from it. However, in nirvana, there is no master; no one enters nirvana. The five aggregates and eighteen elements of the arhat are completely extinguished, and the mental faculty is also extinguished, so there is no arhat. Since no one enters nirvana without remainder, no one emerges from it either. Therefore, it is said that nirvana without remainder does not belong to the state of samādhi.

That which has emergence and entry is a conditioned phenomenon subject to birth, cessation, and change; it is not an eternal dharma. Thus, the eighth consciousness neither enters nirvana without remainder nor emerges from it. The eighth consciousness is not within nirvana without remainder, nor is it outside of it; it is neither identical to nor different from nirvana without remainder.

The eighth consciousness is the dharma abandoned by the mundane world; it does not associate with any mundane dharmas. After the mundane dharmas—the five aggregates and eighteen elements—are extinguished, the eighth consciousness does not perish along with them. It remains peacefully independent, which is why nirvana without remainder exists. Otherwise, without it, after the five aggregates and eighteen elements are extinguished, everything would end completely—nothing would exist, and there would be no future or subsequent lives. When the five aggregates and eighteen elements arise, the eighth consciousness does not come into being along with them; it was already present, fully formed, requiring no birth.