Arahats stay in their nirvana for eons, i read that from books.
U see, the whole point of Buddhism is liberation, so if Arahats are
already liberated, imo, there should be no need to call them back.
Might as well say, the whole point of practising Buddhism is to
have arahats, they are already liberated and then Buddhas come and
preach Dhamma to teach people to be liberated.
But when u say Buddha Shakyamuni, it's different. That was his
job as a Buddha to show the way. He remained in samsara to teach
people the way to liberation. But Arahats are already liberated,
why is there a need for them to come back as bodhisattvas. If they
were to remain in nirvana(which is the whole point of Buddhism),
then isn't it better? Somemore, there are countless buddhas. As if
these countless buddhas can't do the job of liberating more
sentient beings? No offense to those countless buddhas.
Mr Whyliketah , i was quite interested about what you mentioned
about countless Buddha . The matter of fact is very simple .
Can tell me how many friends you have ,as in really close
friends .10 ? 100 ? 1000 ?
you certainly cant reach more than 100 in your lifetime becos
you will lost some of their contact information
Similarly Buddhas of Past Aeons also do not have close affinity
to your friend except you yourself wad .So if countless Buddha dont
know your close friend well , do you think they able to guide your
close friend ? affinity is a results of cause and condition .Its
already stated in the Buddha's time, that even some of his sangha
still reborn in hell ,bcos there nothing the Buddha can do
,when karmic offense is that great .
Arhats doesnt have a skilful means to save sentient beings ,
they view it unnecessary to learnt .May i ask you if you are a
Banker , would you listen to a beggar words of advice of salvation
or someone who is your colleague ?
Anyway Arhat nirvana is NOT complete , according to Tientai
school , they are in the Residual land which is much inferior than
the Splendour of True Fruition of Amitabha Pureland .