Note f32 — ZEN AS CHINESE INTERPRETATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Ata etasmāt kāraṇan mahāmate mayedam uktaṁ: yāṁ ca rātriṁ tathāgato ’bhisambuddho yāṁ ca rātriṁ parinirvāsyati atrāntara ekam api aksharaṁ tathāgatena na udāhṛitaṁ na udāharishyati.—Laṅkāvatāra, Chap. III., p. 144. See also Chapter VII., p. 240. (For this reason, O Mahāmati, I say unto you: During the time that elapsed between the night of the Tathagata’s Enlightenment and the night of his entrance into Nirvana, not one word, not one statement was given out by him.)