The Buddha Nature of All Beings

“Oh, good man! I once lived in Nairanjana River, and said to Ananda: ‘Now, I want to bathe in the River. Give me my robe and washing powder’. Then, I entered the water. All the birds in the air, and those in water and on land came and watched. Then, there were also 500 Brahmacarins, who lived near the River. They came to me and said: 'How can you hope to gain the Adamantine Body? If Gautama does not talk about the 'not-is', will follow him and accord with the rules of food'.
Oh, good man! I, at that time, with the wisdom of mind-reading, fathomed the mind of the Brahmacarins and told them: ‘What do you mean by saying that I talk of ‘not-is’?’ All the Brahmacarins said: 'You, Gautama, established previously, here and there in the sutras, that all beings do not possess the ‘Self '. Now, you say that there is no 'Self'. How can you say that this is not the theory of 'not-is'? If [there is] no 'Self’, who upholds the precepts and who violates [them]'? I, the Buddha, said: 'I never said that all beings do not have the' Self ', I have always said that all beings possess the Buddha Nature. Is not the Buddha Nature the 'Self'? Thus, I never talked of 'not-is'. All beings do not see the Buddha Nature. Hence, [for they, there are] the non-Eternal, non-Self, the non-Bliss, and non-Purity. These are the visions of 'not-is'. Then, all the Brahmacarins, on hearing that the Buddha Nature is the 'Self', aspired to unsurpassed Bodhi mind, and then, renouncing the world, practiced the way of Bodhi. All the birds in the air, and those in water and on land aspired to unsurpassed Bodhi, and having aspired, abandoned their bodies.

Oh, good man! This Buddha Nature, truth to say, is not the 'Self'. For the benefit of all beings, I say 'Self'."

Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 33, on the Bodhisattva Lion's Roar 1.

the buddha nature of all beings.mp3