“‘Just as the lotus-flowers do not grow in the dry land, but in the dark-colored, waterly mire, O son of good family, it is even so [with intelligence (_prajñâ_ or _bodhi_)] In non-activity and eternal annihilation which are cherished by the Çrâvakas and the Pratyekabuddhas, there is no opportunity for the seeds and sprouts of Buddhahood to grow. Intelligence can grow only in the mire and dirt of passion and sin. It is by virtue of passion and sin that the seeds and sprouts of Buddhahood are able to grow. “‘O son of good family! Just as no seeds can grow in the air, but in the filthy, muddy soil,--and there even luxuriously,--O son of good family, it is even so [with the Bodhi]. It does not grow out of non-activity and eternal annihilation. It is only out of the mountainous masses of egoistic, selfish thoughts that Intelligence is awakened and grows to the incomprehensible wisdom of Buddha-seeds. “‘O son of good family! Just as we cannot obtain {352} priceless pearls unless we dive into the depths of the four great oceans, O son of good family, it is even so [with Intelligence]. If we do not dive deep into the mighty ocean of passion and sin, how could we get hold of the precious gem of Buddha-essence? Let it therefore be understood that the primordial seeds of Intelligence draw their vitality from the midst of passion and sin.’” In a Pauline epistle we read, “From the foulness of the soil, the beauty of new life grows.” And Emerson sings: “Let me go where’er I will, I hear a sky-born music still. ’Tis not in the high stars alone, Nor in the cup of budding flowers, Nor in the redbreast’s mellow tone, Nor in the bow that smiles in showers, But in the mud and scum of things. There always, always, something sings.” Do we not see here a most explicit statement of the Mahâyânistic sentiment? _Nirvâna and Samsâra are One._ The most remarkable feature in the Mahâyânistic conception of Nirvâna is expressed in this formula: “Yas kleças so bodhi, yas samsâras tat nirvânam.” What is sin or passion, that is Intelligence, what is birth and death (or transmigration), that is Nirvâna. This is a rather bold and revolutionising proposition in the dogmatic history of Buddhism. But it is no more than the natural development of the spirit that was breathed by its founder. {353} In the _Viçeṣacinta-brahma-paripṛccha Sûtra_,[149] it is said that (chap. II): “Samsâra is Nirvâna, because there is, when viewed from the ultimate nature of the Dharmakâya, nothing going out of, nor coming into, existence, [samsâra being only apparent]: Nirvâna is samsâra, when it is coveted and adhered to.”