ananda
Early Buddhist
I prefer the Pali Nikayas, the earliest Buddhist scriptures, generally dated approximately five centuries before the first Mahayana writings.Indeed, you are correct. It is a Sanskrit term from a Mahayana text. Perhaps this is not as early as you prefer. I guess I don't know how early early Buddhism is.
Parinibbana is distinct from samsara, but only in reference to the absence or presence of dukkha and sukkha. I haven't read of any reference to ontological "being-ness" in parinibbana, in the early Pali texts. Using my earlier example, that's like asking if a digital pet (a "being", in a sense) exists or doesn't exist within the quantum substrate - from which that pet arises - when that substrate is at rest. It is an irrelevant question, and does not apply.Right, that is the idea. Do the Pali texts see nirvana as ontologically distinct from samsara? Is nirvana thought to have inherent being?
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