The archenemy of Buddhism

What some contemporary Buddhists dont seem to understand is the Buddha is only ruling out self as far as samsara is concernednot the real self. The lord or protector self, that is, the ntha self of the Dhammapada (ntha is a frequent epithet of Buddha) is the Tathagata (i.e., attained spirit or suchness) which is absolute and beyond samsara. This will become apparent in Mahayana Buddhism in the rather large Mahayana Sutra, The Mahaparinirvana.

Samsara is a place that is impermanent and filled with endless suffering. Nothing a sentient being might cling to in the world of samsara will release them from its bonds. No real self can found in it, either, since the only possible self is the ntha or lord self which transcends samsara. Hence, all that makes up samsara is not the self. This might explain why some contemporary Buddhists wrongly believe there is no self because they believe the Buddha has ruled out self, completely. But he did not. This is an incomplete and inaccurate picture. The lord self is never ruled out. Indeed, how can the lord self rule out the lord self?

Buddhists who disagree with this; who call such ideas Vedanta Buddhism know very little about Buddhism and even less about Vedanta. One would not be off the mark to call Buddhism the mother of Vedanta. If we have to look for those who are the archenemy of Buddhism, it is not to be found in Hinduism. It is to be found in contemporary Buddhism which is trying to repackage and sell samsara under the name of Buddhism, to the secular materialists.