是故舍利弗！我为设方便，
说诸尽苦道，示之以涅槃；
我虽说涅槃，是亦非真灭；
诸法从本来，常自寂灭相；
佛子行道已，来世得作佛。
《妙法莲华经》
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That is why, Sāriputra, For their sake I established skillful means, Taught ways to end sufferings, And showed them nirvāna. Though I have taught nirvāna, It is not true cessation. All phenomena from the very beginning, Have always had the marks of quiescence and cessation. When children of the Buddha Have taken this path, In a future life They will become Buddhas.
The Lotus Sutra
Translation of the scriptural passage referenced Gene Reeves’ The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of A Buddhist Classic (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008), 90-91.
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那么，由此来看就知道，世尊虽然说了涅槃，那涅槃并不是断灭空，不是真实的断灭。因为涅槃之中就是如来藏，而如来藏恒住不坏，性如金刚，无有一法可以坏灭祂，所以涅槃不是“真灭”。这就由“诸法从本来，常自寂灭相”，来证实无余涅槃不是真的断灭而成为空无。
《法华经讲义》第三辑，页119-120
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From this passage, we can see that although the World-Honored One spoke of nirvā?a, this nirvā?a is not nihilistic emptiness or actual cessation. The reason is that within nirvā?a lies the tath?gatagarbha. The tath?gatagarbha is imperishable and abides everlastingly due to its diamond-like nature. It cannot be destroyed or extinguished by any phenomenon, and hence is not actual cessation. The statement “all phenomena from the very beginning have always had the marks of quiescence and extinction” confirms the fact that nirvā?a without remainder is not a state of nothingness resulting from cessation.
A Discourse on the Lotus Sutra, vol. 3, 119-120.
