Composed more than 2,000 years ago, the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta is one of the longest and oldest texts in the Pāli Canon. It has a central place in the Dīgha Nikāya (Long Discourses) of the Sutta Pitaka. In this Sutta’s title, Pari means “final”, nibbāna means “extinction” or physical death, and sutta is Pāli for “sūtra”. Sensing his death approaching, the Buddha journeys back to his homeland accompanied only by his devoted nephew and disciple, Ānanda. Having taught for more than forty years, and now in his eighties, Gautama Buddha offers some of his most mature and foundational teachings in this sutta. Sometimes we imagine nibbāna as a heavenly release from suffering, a glorious final escape from saṃsara. Many Mahāyāna sūtras portray the Buddha as a transcendent, supernatural being beyond the limits of the physical world. The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta, however, offers a radically different vision. In contrast to religious traditions that present their founders as godlike and untouched by human frailty, this sutta reveals Gautama Buddha at his most deeply human. Instead of presenting an imaginary story about the Buddha returning to his homeland in triumph, surrounded by worshippers at the time of his death, the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta gives a starkly human account. It describes in intimate detail how Gautama Buddha grows progressively sicker and weaker, unable to complete his journey home before dying in the forest. Here, the Buddha is portrayed as an elderly man — fully human and dying. He tells Ānanda his pain and the great effort required simply to keep going: “I am frail, old, aged, far gone in years. This is my eightieth year, and my life is spent. Even as an old cart is held together with splints and patches, so too the body of the Tathāgata keeps going only with the help of crutches and supports…”
 Yet, despite these hardships, the Buddha continues to cherish life, to deepen his practice, and to guide and support others until the very end. In this way, he becomes a true role model for us as spiritual practitioners. Beside him, Ānanda is depicted as a younger man facing the loss of his teacher and uncle, experiencing the grief, fear, and tenderness that arise when caring for a loved one at the end of life. Through this experience, he continues to learn and grow. For this reason, the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta speaks directly to the human heart and is genuinely, profoundly moving. As a hospice caregiver, Issan Koyama found deep inspiration in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta. Reading it again now, he is reminded of the final days of other great teachers like Sawaki Rōshi, and of how Uchiyama Rōshi incorporated his own aging and suffering into his teachings to assist others. Issan sees many striking parallels between their practice and teachings during their final days and those of Gautama Buddha. Their words and actions continue to inspiration and guidance on how to live, how to grow old, and how to face death. In this lecture series, Issan draws on the work of contemporary Buddhist philologists who apply scientific methods to the examination of ancient texts to determine their authenticity, original form and meaning. Their research helps uncover the oldest and most essential layers beneath the redundancies, repetitions and embellishments added in later centuries. With this new way of reading ancient scriptures, a goldmine of Buddhist wisdom has been exposed. It is remarkable that teachings recorded more than 2,000 years ago can speak to us with such immediacy, offering inspiration and insights as beneficial to us today as they were when first recorded. Encountering them may redirect and refresh our own practice in fortuitous ways.