The life of a Buddha cannot be discussed in terms of a beginning or an end, because the true reality of life has no beginning or end. Though it may seem contradictory, this is in keeping with the three truths of emptiness, provisional reality, and the Middle Way. The life of the Buddha has no birth or death because it is a selfless expression of the dynamic and interdependent nature of life. However, as a part of the dynamic interplay of all things, the Buddha’s enlightenment unfolds in terms of this world’s concepts of birth and death, striving and awakening. From the perspective of the Middle Way, the Buddha’s enlightened life is what it is and cannot be defined as either transcendent or mundane, though it displays both aspects.