Is Parinirvana the final enlightenment?

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Tenma
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Is Parinirvana the final enlightenment?

Post by Tenma »

So some confusion.

I noticed that there a masters that attain parinirvana, but still continue rebirth as humans or in Buddha fields(based on bodhisattva vows?)

However, I also noticed that there is this thing with Theravada seeing parinirvana as the final state(correct me if I'm wrong).

What is the final stage of enlightenment? How does one know they even reached it(or is it unnoticeable?)? If the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, how does he continue on throughout his life and suffer karma? Is parinirvana his final state where one is truly enlightened and free of karma? If so, then what's with Buddha Fields and Buddhas residing there? If they attained liberation, shouldn't they be ceasing? Or are they bodhisattvas as tathgatas? For example, Amitabha.

Clarifications please, thanks!
Sentient Light
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Re: Is Parinirvana the final enlightenment?

Post by Sentient Light »

Parinirvana is what it's called when a Buddha dies. In Sravakayana teachings, it is also when arhats die.

I think you're confusing nirvana and parinirvana. Nirvana is enlightenment in this life, with the residue of existence still perpetuating until the causes fueling it have been extinguished. Parinirvana is the final extinguishing of all the fetters, and release into the dharmadhatu.
If so, then what's with Buddha Fields and Buddhas residing there? If they attained liberation, shouldn't they be ceasing?
Not until they die. After Amitabha dies, he enters parinirvana. His Pure Land disappears and is immediately replaced by Avalokitesvrara's Pure Land, when she becomes a Buddha, and when she dies / enters parinirvana, Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva awakens as a Buddha and establishes his Pure Land. Likewise, Sakyamuni's Pure Land is gone (or going), and when Maitreya Buddha awakens, he will establish his Pure Land here on earth.
The Buddha said, “Good man, although Amitābha Buddha’s lifespan will last innumerable hundreds, thousands, and koṭis of kalpas, it will finally come to an end. Good man, after incalculable distant kalpas to come, Amitābha Buddha will enter parinirvāṇa. After His parinirvāṇa, the true Dharma will continue for as long as His lifespan. The number of sentient beings that will be delivered will equal that during His life. After Amitābha’s parinirvāṇa, some sentient beings there will not be able to see a Buddha. However, Bodhisattvas who have attained the Thinking-of-Buddhas Samādhi will constantly see Amitābha Buddha. Furthermore, good man, after His parinirvāṇa, all the precious things, such as bathing ponds, lotus flowers, and jeweled trees in lines, will continue to sound Dharma tones, in the same way as during that Buddha’s life.

“Good man, [the night] Amitābha Buddha’s true Dharma ends, after the midnight period, when the dawn breaks, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, seated cross-legged under the bodhi tree made of the seven treasures, will attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi. He will be called Universal Radiance Virtue Mountain King, the Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyak-Saṁbuddha, Knowledge and Action Perfected, Sugata, Understanding the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher to Gods and Humans, Buddha the World-Honored One. His Buddha Land will be naturally made of the seven treasures. Even in kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, Buddha-Bhagavāns will not be able to finish describing its splendors. Good man, I now give you an analogy. As Golden Light Lion Frolic Tathāgata’s land was magnificent, Universal Radiance Virtue Mountain King Tathāgata’s land will surpass it billions of times, koṭis of times, koṭis of billions of times, even beyond reckoning. The names ‘voice-hearers’ and ‘Pratyekabuddhas’ will be nonexistent in that Buddha’s land. Only Bodhisattvas will fill His land.”

Flower Virtue Store Bodhisattva asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, will that Buddha’s land still be called Peace and Bliss?”

The Buddha replied, “Good man, that Buddha’s land will be called Adorned with Gathering of Multitudinous Treasures. Good man, until His parinirvāṇa, Universal Radiance Virtue Mountain King Tathāgata will be attended personally by Great Might Arrived Bodhisattva and will receive his offerings. After His parinirvāṇa, His true Dharma will be upheld [by Great Might Arrived Bodhisattva] until its end. After the end of the true Dharma, Great Might Arrived Bodhisattva will, in that land, attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi. He will be called Well Established Virtue Treasure King, the Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyak-Saṁbuddha, Knowledge and Action Perfected, Sugata, Understanding the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher to Gods and Humans, Buddha the World-Honored One. His land, His radiance, His lifespan, His Bodhisattvas, and even the duration of His Dharma will be just like those of Universal Radiance Virtue Mountain King Tathāgata. If, among good men and good women, there are those who have heard the name Well Established Virtue Treasure King Tathāgata, they will not regress from their resolve to attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi.
:buddha1: Nam mô A di đà Phật :buddha1:
:bow: Nam mô Quan Thế Âm Bồ tát :bow:
:bow: Nam mô Đại Thế Chi Bồ Tát :bow:

:buddha1: Nam mô Bổn sư Thích ca mâu ni Phật :buddha1:
:bow: Nam mô Di lặc Bồ tát :bow:
:bow: Nam mô Địa tạng vương Bồ tát :bow:
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Grigoris
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Re: Is Parinirvana the final enlightenment?

Post by Grigoris »

The question has been answered. This topic is now closed.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Grigoris
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Re: Is Parinirvana the final enlightenment?

Post by Grigoris »

jmlee369 asked me to add the following post:

The concept of Buddhahood in Mahayana is quite different from how it is envisioned in sravakayana, and there are a few threads dealing with this on the forum. However, to give a different perspective from that quoted in the Sūtra of the Prophecy Bestowed upon Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva quoted in the above post, here is a quote from the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva’s Vast Great Perfect Unobstructed Great Compassion Heart Dharani Sutra:
“Uncountable kalpas before, he [Avalokitesvara] had already been a Buddha named True Dharma Brightness Tathagata. Because of the power of his great compassionate vows, and in order to call upon all Bodhisattvas to comfort and please all living beings, he appears as a Bodhisattva.”
Also, as the introduction to the Lotus Sutra from this newly released translation from Tibetan states: “The Lotus Sūtra is celebrated, particularly in East Asia, for its presentation of crucial elements of the Mahāyāna tradition, such as the doctrine that there is only one yāna, or “vehicle”; the distinction between expedient and definite teachings; and the notion that the Buddha’s life, enlightenment, and parinirvāṇa were simply manifestations of his transcendent buddhahood, while he continues to teach eternally.” http://read.84000.co/translation/toh113 ... uhnxOYSEVs
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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