The Fire of Wisdom

Bodhisattva Kasyapa said again to the Buddha: "If the flame of illusion dies, the Tathagata must also die. This indicates that there can be no a land where the Tathagata is eternal. This is similar to the situation in which the scum of the cast iron cannot be seen when the red color disappears. The same applies to the Tathagata and illusion. Gone, there is no other pace to go to. And it's like in the case of iron. When the heat and the red color are gone, nothing remains to be seen there. The same applies to the Tathagata. Once extinguished, what remains is non-eternal. With the end of the fire of illusion, he enters Nirvana. This tells us that the Tathagata is non-eternal."

"Oh good man! The iron about which you speak refers to common mortals. When the illusion ends, the common mortal comes about again (the cycle of birth and death). That is why we say non-eternal. This is not the case with the Tathagata. Having gone, there is no resurgence. Hence, eternal."

Kasyapa further said to the Buddha: "If we place the colorless iron back into the fire, the red color will return. If so with the Tathagata, the illusion will take form again. If the illusion takes form again, this is nothing more that the non-eternal."

The Buddha said: "Oh Kasyapa! Do not say that the Tathagata is non-Eternal. Why not? Because the Tathagata is the Eternal. Oh good man! When wood is burnt, the extinction comes, and there remain behind the ashes. When the illusion ends, what remains is Nirvana. All such parables as of the torn clothing, beheading, and broken crockery enunciate the same truth. All these things have such names as torn clothing, beheading, and broken crockery. Oh Kasyapa! The iron that has become cold can be heated again. But this is not the case with the Tathagata. Once the illusion is gone, what remains is utmost purity and coolness. The blazing flame never comes back again. Oh Kasyapa! Know that the situation of innumerable beings is like that of iron. With the blazing fire of Wisdom free from 'asvaras' [defilements], I now burn off the bonds of illusion of all beings."

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 7 - On the Four Aspects.