Āryākṣayamatinirdeśa-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra:
"Any sūtrānta which explains in a variety of different terms
a self, a sentient being, a living being, a personality, a person,
an individual, one born from a human, a human, an agent, an
experiencer — teaching an owner in what is ownerless — those sutras
are called "of provisional meaning". Any sūtrānta which teaches
emptiness, the signless, the wishless, the unconditioned, the
non-arisen, the unproduced, the insubstantial, the non-existence of
self, the non-existence of sentient beings, the non-existence of
living beings, the non-existence of individuals, the non-existence
of an owner up to the doors of liberation, those are called
"definitive meaning". This is taught in the sūtrāntas of of
definitive meaning but is not taught in the sūtrāntas of the
provisional meaning."
