Sentient Beings and Nirvana

Question: Are sentient beings perpetually abiding in nirvana, or do they return to nirvana only after attaining nirvana without remainder?

Answer: After attaining nirvana without remainder, only the inherently pure original mind remains, with none of the five aggregates existing. Thus, there are no sentient beings. Since there are no sentient beings, who enters nirvana? Who returns to nirvana? There is neither one who enters nirvana nor one who returns to it.

Nirvana represents the pure Dharma realm, representing the inherently pure mind—unborn, undying, formless, without inside or outside, tranquil and unmoving. Sentient beings can neither depart from nor enter nirvana. Regarding the relationship between sentient beings and nirvana: sentient beings in their entirety are nirvana itself. This is like the relationship between gold and gold objects. Though the forms of gold objects vary immensely, every gold object, from inside to outside, is nothing but gold. There is no concept of a gold object needing to return to gold. Every single phenomenon of the five-aggregate body and mind of sentient beings is created by the pure nirvana mind; in essence, all are pure nirvana. There is no concept of re-entering nirvana or returning to it.

Sentient beings have never left nirvana and can never depart from it. Yet, due to ignorance, they perpetually abide in nirvana without realizing it, deludedly rushing about in agitation everywhere, falsely undergoing the suffering of birth, death, and rebirth. Therefore, nirvana requires no returning or entering. Sentient beings are merely obscured by ignorance and do not recognize it. Once they recognize it, they are immediately pure, immediately tranquil and liberated, with no more birth, death, or bondage. When gold is everywhere, why cling to gold objects!

Dedication Prayer: We dedicate all the merit from Dharma propagation and group practice on our online platform to all beings in the Dharma realm, to the people of the world. We pray for world peace, that wars cease; that conflicts do not arise, and weapons are forever laid down; that all disasters completely subside! We pray that the people of all nations unite in mutual aid, extending kindness to one another; for favorable weather and harmonious seasons, that nations prosper and people live in peace! May all beings deeply believe in cause and effect, embrace compassion and refrain from killing; widely cultivate good affinities and wholesome deeds; believe in the Buddha, learn the Dharma, and increase their roots of goodness; recognize suffering, abandon its causes, aspire to cessation, and cultivate the path; close the doors to the evil destinies and open the path to nirvana! May Buddhism flourish eternally, the true Dharma abide forever; may the burning house of the three realms transform into the lotus land of ultimate bliss!