With roots stretching back to the eighth century, the notion of
tathāgatagarbha was initially introduced into the lexicon of what would become the
Nyingma tradition through scholastic works that sought to reconcile the philosophy of
Madhyamaka and
Yogācāra, as well as through tantric literature that presented advanced paradigms for the path and the immediacy of enlightenment. Over the centuries these two streams of influence wove themselves together to help form the basis of a unique synthesis of
sūtra-based philosophical inquiry and tantric theories of praxis that would come to define the
Nyingma approach. At the pinnacle of this system are the teachings of
Dzogchen, the
Great Perfection, the supreme vantage to which all these intertwined approaches aspire. As such, this lofty perspective has a tendency to draw everything it encounters into its fold and reimagine it in its own image. The relationship between
Dzogchen and buddha-nature is one example of this trend, though one which is deeply intertwined with the development of the
Nyingma view.