《大般涅槃經》（以下簡稱《涅槃經》）的敘述方法採用了傳統的設問法，在設問之下又分別以雙邊對揚、雙邊否定以及雙邊肯定等方法來表達它特有的觀點。一般而言，雙邊對揚是以同一層面中兩個不同的觀點做對照，藉由對比方法呈現出二者的不同與優劣，以達到對治的效果。但《涅槃經》的雙邊對揚卻非如此，用以對照的兩者非但不是同一層面的事物，且非單純的對治關係，後者往往是前者的超越，代表著深一層的理念。雙邊否定在《涅槃經》中，有時代表真理或實相不能掛搭於前者，且不能黏滯於後者，只有在雙邊否定中才能被逼顯出來。有時則用以表現佛陀「示現」的各種形態，不拘於此，也不拘於彼。這種情形下的雙邊否定通常是用以表示佛陀的慈悲與智慧，說明佛陀為了救度眾生而歷經無數的生命形態。至於雙邊肯定，《涅槃經》以「智者見空及與不空」來表示。智者所見的「空」不是二乘所見的「空」，而是修行《涅槃經》所證得的「空」。其所見的「不空」則是指「空」所呈現的境界。這個「空」，雖呈現一無煩惱的清淨，但卻不是斷滅式的空無；相反的是豐盛而圓滿的常樂我淨，《涅槃經》稱之為「不空」。為了表達既是「空」又是「不空」的生命境界，《涅槃經》特別採用「雙邊肯定」法。

The narrative frame of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Nirvāṇa Sūtra) takes the form of traditional catechism, along with the use of meditative methods such as double inquisition, double negation, and double affi rmation that express its peculiar viewpoint. The method of double inquisition in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra is different from its conventional definition elsewhere, which means the way of juxtaposing and thus comparing two different perspectives on the same level in order to solve one of the perspectives as a problem with the help of the other. In the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, however, the two compared perspectives are no longer on the same level, and the relation between the two perspectives is more than that between a problem and a solution. The latter usually transcends the former, embodying an idea obtained from further thinking. The method of double negation serves mainly two functions in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. Sometimes it is used to designate that truth can neither dwell in the former perspective nor stagnate in the latter, and that it can thus only be told in a manner of neither-this-nor-that. Sometimes it is used to describe the prātihāya of the Buddha, which never takes a fi xed from. In this case, double negation demonstrates the uncountable life-forms the Buddha has lived through while enlightening and delivering people. As for the method of double affirmation, it takes the form of “the wise one sees both emptiness and non-emptiness” in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. Here, the “emptiness” witnessed by the wise one does not designate suffering (duḥkha), vanity (śūnya), non-essence (anātmya), and impermanence (anitya) claimed by Hinayāna Buddhism, but what is realised and gained through the trayah samādhayah practice of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Emptiness and non-emptiness becomes the two sides of the same coin. “Emptiness” depicts the pure state of mind of the wise one free from all the disturbances, whilst “non-emptiness” characterises the richness of his life refined by practices such as saptatriṃśad bodhy-pakṣya-dharmāḥ, saṃgraha-vastu, and catvāry apramāṇān, which not only eliminate disturbances but also perfect a life mature and enriched. The use of these meditative methods sufficiently expresses profound ideas unprecedented in traditional canons.