The final Nirvana

93. The Buddha then entered into meditation, deeper and deeper, until his mind was purely balanced and steadily focused. And then he passed away. Thus, the Buddha, the Blessed One, had attained that final freedom known as nirvana. Soon after the death of the Buddha a meeting of 500 arahants was held to collect together all his teachings. They were memorised and handed down from one generation of monks to the next. In this way, the teachings of the Buddha were not lost, and we can still hear them today.