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. This

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 Dhanna,

however, the Blessed One can be pointed out; for the Dharma has been

preached by the Blessed One.

  "You are my children, I am your father; through me you have 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 savior 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.

  "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."