The Great Skilled Doctor

“Also, next, oh good man! For example, a good doctor knows all about medicines and prescriptions. Moreover, it has an extensive knowledge of innumerable charms. This doctor, received in audience by the king, said: ‘Oh King! You have a disease that will take your life’. The king replied: 'You have not seen inside me. How can you say that I have a disease that will surely take my life’? The doctor also said: 'If you do not believe me, please take this purgative. Once you have taken it, you, King, can look inside yourself’. The king deliberately did not take the purgative. The good doctor, through charms, used means [to show] that, in the hidden parts of the king’s body, rashes and abscesses came out, and also pus mixed with worms and blood. Seeing this, the king became greatly frightened and praised the skill of the doctor: 'Well done, well done! I did not accept what you said before. Now I know that you do great things for me’. He then went to respect the doctor like his own father. The same is the case with this Mahayana Great Nirvana Sutra. From all beings, whether greedy or not, this sutra extracts defilements. All these beings see this sutra even in their dreams, respect and make offerings to him. This is similar to the king who respects the skilled doctor. This great skilled doctor does not diagnose a person who is sure to die. The same is the case with this Mahayana Great Nirvana Sutra. The exception is the icchantika: he has no means to be healed.

Also, next, oh good man! A good doctor knows eight ways of treatment and cures all diseases. But he cannot cure a person who is on the brink of death. The same is true for all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They heal all sinful people. Only a person on the brink of death, i.e., the icchantika, cannot be cured.”

Read More on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 16 - On the Bodhisattva.