In response to an anonymous comment

Thanks to the comment from an anonymous viewer, who guided me to realize one of the most fundamental differences between Theravada Buddhist doctrine and that of Mahayana: the historical dispute on the existence of Buddha Nature (tathagatagarbha, i.e. 如來藏). Much to our agreement, this Buddha Nature is not to be confused with an intrinsically existent self or a Self in a collective notion that is often referred to as Brahman in Hinduism. This Buddha Nature is shared by all sentient beings without exception, which is the very core belief in Mahayana Buddhism. Without recognition of this holistic nature, there will be no basis for the development of Bodhisattvayana and all other vehicles that follow as the stages of the path towards enlightenment. The levels of attainment would certainly be different based on the views and paths one take on for his/her practice. There are information readily available online about the 9 yanas or 9 vehicles of Nyingma tradition, which I hope can serve some purpose in understanding how Buddha's vast wisdom manifested in 84,000 categories of teachings to benefit beings of different faculties.

The concept of trikaya also plays a critical role in understanding the three aspects of the enlightened ones: Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. The potential of attaining or manifesting all three kayas are pervasively engrained in all beings. What it takes is to know that this is our true nature and get on with the “alchemical” process that practitioners commit themselves to to remove habitual, dualistic conceptualization and the so-called “impurity” that proliferate as byproduct (hence, the samsara). The ultimate goal is to let our clear light nature shine through and merge with the ocean of all the enlightened mind to continue to benefit other beings. Nirvana is not a state of complete annihilation or a total void. “The Buddha explains nirvāna as "the unconditioned" (asankhata) mind: a mind that has come to a point of perfect lucidity and clarity due to the cessation of the production of volitional formations. This is described by the Buddha as "deathlessness" (Pali: amata or amāravati) and as the highest spiritual attainment--the natural result that accrues to one who lives a life of virtuous conduct and practice in accordance with the Noble Eightfold Path.” (from wikipedia, source unknown). Since this is a big subject for discussion, I’ll stop here and point viewers to more credible source for information.

I was never trained in the Theravadic system but I have the strongest respect for the doctrine since the source of the teachings can be traced back to Buddha Shakyamuni’s documented words. In hopes of finding common ground amongst different school of thoughts under the Buddhist context, I decided to provide the blogs of the most revered teachers who not only have scholarly achievement from the trainings of Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, but also with supreme spiritual attainment and profound wisdom. May all benefit from learning!