The sutra approaches the tension between impermanence and an eternal Buddha-essence by working with two distinct levels of understanding. On the conventional level, all compounded phenomena, including the Buddha’s physical body and the five aggregates, are subject to arising and passing away. The Buddha’s final passing is thus a real event in the realm of conditioned existence, vividly illustrating the universal law of impermanence. At the same time, the text speaks of an ultimate level, where the Buddha’s true nature is identified with an unconditioned reality—variously described as Buddha-nature, Tathāgata-garbha, or dharmakāya—that does not arise and therefore does not cease. Impermanence is not denied; rather, it is carefully restricted to what is conditioned, leaving room for an unchanging ground that is not produced by causes and conditions.

Within this framework, the sutra reinterprets earlier teachings on non-self by distinguishing between a false and a true self. The ordinary, grasped sense of “I”—tied to body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness—is declared empty and impermanent, and thus rightly taught as non-self to cut attachment. Yet the text also speaks of a “true Self,” identified with Buddha-nature or the Buddha’s dharmakāya, characterized as permanent, pure, blissful, and unchanging. This is not a return to a crude ego, but a way of naming the ultimate reality that remains when clinging to the transient aggregates has been relinquished. Non-self then functions as a skillful means, clearing away identification with what is unstable so that the enduring Buddha-essence can be realized.

The Buddha’s death is thus portrayed as both genuine and pedagogical. On the one hand, the disappearance of the physical form underscores that even the most exalted body is not exempt from decay. On the other hand, the sutra insists that the Tathāgata, as dharmakāya or Buddha-nature, is “always abiding,” not subject to birth and death. The apparent finality of the Buddha’s passing serves as a powerful teaching device, directing attention away from reliance on a particular historical manifestation and toward the ever-present, unconditioned reality that the Buddha embodies.

Extending this vision, the sutra affirms that the same Buddha-nature abides in all sentient beings. The empirical personality of each being—shifting thoughts, emotions, and identities—is impermanent and lacks a fixed self, yet beneath these changing layers lies an innate Buddha-essence that is beginningless and deathless. Awakening is described as the uncovering of this already-present nature once the obscurations, themselves impermanent, are removed. In this way, the doctrine of impermanence is preserved in full force for the realm of phenomena, while an eternal Buddha-essence is upheld as the ultimate reality that both the Buddha and all beings share.