Back in samsara again

Sentient beings entangled in samsara never pass over into nirvana for a good reason.  From the perspective of Zen we can think of samsara as being the unawakened mind that is blindly entangled in its phenomena, forever craving and seeking to be what it is not.  On the same track, it is awakened Mind that frees itself from samsara realizing nirvana which is increate.  The commentary to the Pali Udana underscores this.  

"For it is due to the release (vimokkhena) of the mind (cittassa) that a being is spoken of as "liberated" (vimutto).  For there is said: "It is through cleansing the mind (citta) that beings are purified (S.iii.151) and "(Just when your) mind (cittam) becames released (mutto) from the âsavas without clinging" (Ud 24)" (UdA 223–224).

All sentient beings are not liberated.  All have fallen into samsara by craving or desiring Mind's appearances which are completely empty and illusory.  In the final analysis, sentient beings constantly reinforce the life of samsara—not nirvana.

The belief that samsara will eventually turn into nirvana, just as a ball of string eventually unwinds itself when going downhill, is a belief that is not found in Buddhism—in fact, it goes against Buddhism.  It was a theory advanced by a contemporary of the Buddha, Makkhali Gosala.  He believed that everyone eventually becomes purified in samsara (he was considered to be one of the worst sophists by the Buddha). 

When we take into consideration just how we become entangled in samsara, it stands to reason that we cannot sit around and do nothing expecting nirvana.  Even just sitting doing nothing, the Buddha Mind, which we have not yet realized, is constantly being occluded by our desires and previous karma.  We don't understand that the substance of Mind is so pure and subtle that the slightest desire occludes and hides its pure nature from us.  Once again, we fall back into samsara.

 

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