Quoted from Kyle:
The Āryākṣayamatinirdeśa-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra sets out the criteria for a sūtra of definitive meaning:
'Any sūtrānta which explains in a variety of different terms a self, a
sentient being, a living being, a personality, a person, an individual,
one born from a human, a human, an agent, an experiencer — teaching an
owner in what is ownerless — those sutras are called "of provisional
meaning". Any sūtrānta which teaches emptiness, the signless, the
wishless, the unconditioned, the non-arisen, the unproduced, the
insubstantial, the non-existence of self, the non-existence of sentient
beings, the non-existence of living beings, the non-existence of
individuals, the non-existence of an owner up to the doors of
liberation, those are called "definitive meaning". This is taught in the
sūtrāntas of of definitive meaning but is not taught in the sūtrāntas
of the provisional meaning.'
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Also, taken from Malcolm's Dharmawheel signature:
[A]nything at all that is well spoken is the word of the Buddha.
--
Ārya-adhyāśaya-sañcodana-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra
The different sūtras in accord with the emptiness
taught by the Sugata are definitive in meaning;
One can understand that all of those Dharmas in
which a sentient being, individual, or person are taught are provisional in meaning.
--
Samadhirāja Sūtra
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Kyle Dixon:
level 3
I thought that some of the sutras were by advanced practicioners those who became bodhisatvas after the death of the Buddha.
Sure,
but in Mahāyāna the "Buddha" is not relegated to the historical figure,
Śākyamuni, and in fact the Mahāyāna sūtras state that the "Buddha"
should not be seen as name and form at all. Which means the definition
of the Buddha is not limited to the historical figure.
For
this reason "buddhavacana" or "the word of the Buddha" in Mahāyāna
becomes whatever is "said well", meaning an exposition that accords with
the fundamental principles of karma, rebirth, dependent origination,
bodhicitta, etc.
This is because the
Buddha is not name and form, meaning the Buddha is not the rūpakāya, but
rather the Buddha is the nature of your mind, the dharmakāya.
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