Buddha-nature

"Busshō" redirects here. For Dōgen's book from the Shōbōgenzō, see Busshō (Shōbōgenzō).
The moon and its light hidden by the clouds is a metaphor for the luminous mind of Buddha-nature, which is always shining but can be hidden or covered over by the afflictions.[1][note 1]
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In Buddhist philosophy and soteriology, Buddha-nature (Chinese: fóxìng 佛性, Japanese: busshō, Sanskrit: buddhatā, buddha-svabhāva) is the innate potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all sentient beings already have a pure Buddha-essence within themselves.[2][3][4][5][6] "Buddha-nature" is the common English translation for several related Mahāyāna Buddhist terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu, but also sugatagarbha, and buddhagarbha. Tathāgatagarbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone one" (tathāgata),[note 2] and can also mean "containing a tathāgata". Buddhadhātu can mean "buddha-element", "buddha-realm", or "buddha-substrate".[note 3]

Buddha-nature has a wide range of (sometimes conflicting) meanings in Indian Buddhism and later in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist literature. Broadly speaking, it refers to the belief that the luminous mind,[8][9][10] "the natural and true state of the mind",[11] which is pure (visuddhi) mind undefiled by afflictions,[8] is inherently present in every sentient being, and is eternal and unchanging.[12][13][14] It will shine forth when it is cleansed of the defilements, that is, when the nature of mind is recognized for what it is.

The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (2nd century CE), which was very influential in the Chinese reception of these teachings,[15] linked the concept of tathāgatagārbha with the buddhadhātu.[16] The term buddhadhātu originally referred to the relics of Gautama Buddha. In the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, it came to be used in place of the concept of tathāgatagārbha, reshaping the worship of physical relics of the historical Buddha into worship of the inner Buddha as a principle of salvation.[17]

The primordial or undefiled mind, the tathāgatagārbha, is also often equated with the Buddhist philosophical concept of emptiness (śūnyatā, a Mādhyamaka concept);[9] with the storehouse-consciousness (ālāyavijñāna, a Yogācāra concept);[9] and with the interpenetration of all dharmas (in East Asian traditions like Huayan). The belief in Buddha-nature is central to East Asian Buddhism, which relies on key Buddha-nature sources like the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. In Tibetan Buddhism, the concept of Buddha-nature is equally important and often studied through the key Indian treatise on Buddha-nature, the Ratnagotravibhāga (3rd–5th century CE).

  1. ^ Bielefeldt (2015), p. 153.
  2. ^ Brunnholzl 2014, p. 3.
  3. ^ Wayman 1990, p. 45.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Heng-Ching Shih, The Significance Of 'Tathagatagarbha' – A Positive Expression Of 'Sunyata'
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Trainor 2004, p. 207.
  8. ^ a b Wayman 1990, p. 42.
  9. ^ a b c Brunnholzl 2014, p. 54.
  10. ^ Sharf 2014.
  11. ^ Gregory 1991, p. 288-289.
  12. ^ King 1991, p. 112: "The final form of expression indicating that tathāgatagārbha or Buddha nature involves a substantialist monistic theory is found is those passages stating that the tathāgatagārbha, dharmakāya, nirvāṇa, or Buddha nature is beyond cause and conditions, is unborn, quiescent, or unchanging."
  13. ^ Ch’an Master Sheng-yen (1999). Complete Enlightenment: Zen Comments on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment. Shambhala Publications. p. 165. ISBN 9781570624001. Buddha-nature, however, is universal and unchanging. It is impossible for it to exist at one point and not at another. It transcends space, time, and movement.
  14. ^ Duckworth, Douglas Samuel (2008). Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition. State University of New York Press. p. XIV. ISBN 9780791477984. The unchanging, permanent status attributed to Buddha-nature is a radical departure is a departure from the language emphasizing impermanence within the discourses of early Buddhism. Indeed the language of Buddha-nature is strikingly similar to the very positions that Buddhists often argue against, demonstrating a decisive break from the early Buddhist triad of impermanence (anitya), suffering (duḥkha), and selflessness (anātman)
  15. ^ Lai 2003, p. [page needed].
  16. ^ King 1991, p. 14.
  17. ^ Jikido 2000, p. 73.


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