Third Kind of People

"The third person intends to cross the great river of birth and death. Devoid of good, it sinks amid the waters. His proximity to a Good Teacher of the Way is his getting out. The Tathagata is the All-Knower. He is eternal and immutable. For the sake of beings, he talks about the unsurpassed Way. All beings possess the Buddha Nature. The Tathagata does not go into extinction. It's the same with the Dharma and Sangha, too. There is no extinction. Not having done away with his innate quality, the icchantika cannot attain unsurpassed Enlightenment. He very needs do away with it, (his innate quality), and then he will attain it [Enlightenment]. Thus, he believes. Through faith, he practices the pure precepts. In practicing the pure precepts, he upholds, recites, copies and expounds the 12 types of sutras and speaks of them extensively for the benefit of beings. He delights in giving and practicing Wisdom. Born sharp-minded, he abides firmly in faith and Wisdom, and does not draw back in his determination. This is like the situation of the third person on the banks of the river Ganges."

Read more on the Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 39, on Bodhisattva Lion's Roar 7.

third kind of people.mp3