Note 2 — THE DIAMOND SUTRA

By adopting the term Mieh-Tu, Chinese Buddhists appear well prepared to refute a prevalent notion that their concept of deliverance is equivalent to annihilation. Mieh usually means annihilation, but Tu—to cross over in safety, is the antithesis of annihilation. After due consideration of the significance of the terminology, perhaps it will be generally conceded that English renderings of Mieh-Tu as Deliverance or Salvation, are not without some degree of justification.

“All these I command and exhort to enter on the state of the unsurpassed Nirvana (Pari Nirvana), and for ever to free themselves from the conditions of being to which they severally belong.”—Kin-Kong-King. Beal.