佛垂般涅槃略說教誡經 1.21

1.21

「汝等比丘，勿懷憂惱。若我住世一劫會亦當滅，會而不離終不可得。自利利人法皆具足，若我久住更無所益。應可度者，若天上人間皆悉已度，其未度者，皆亦已作得度因緣。自今已後，我諸弟子展轉行之，則是如來法身常在而不滅也。是故當知，世皆無常，會必有離，勿懷憂也。世相如是，當勤精進早求解脫，以智慧明滅諸癡闇。世實危脆無牢強者，我今得滅如除惡病。此是應捨罪惡之物，假名為身，沒在生老病死大海，何有智者得除滅之，如殺怨賊而不歡喜？

"Bhikṣus, do not harbour sorrow or distress. Even if I were to remain in the world for an eon, meeting must inevitably end in parting; that there should be meeting without separation is utterly impossible. The Dharma for benefiting oneself and benefiting others is fully complete; if I were to remain long, there would be no further benefit. Those who could be saved, whether in the heavens or among humans, have all been saved; and for those not yet saved, the causes and conditions for being saved have all been established. From now on, if my disciples practice this in succession from one to another, this will be the Tathāgata's Dharma-body enduring constantly without extinction. Therefore, you should know that all things in the world are impermanent; meeting must have parting. Do not harbour sorrow! The nature of the world is like this: you should be diligent and zealous, seeking early liberation, and with the light of wisdom destroy the darkness of delusion. The world is indeed fragile, with nothing firm or strong. My attainment of extinction now is like ridding myself of an evil disease. This is something evil and full of faults that ought to be discarded, provisionally named a 'body', submerged in the great ocean of birth, aging, illness, and death. How could any wise person, when ridding and extinguishing it—as if killing a hostile bandit—not rejoice?