The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism

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TopicsThe doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism

Topic: The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism

Books

Book
A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
A translation, study, and annotated editions of the Tibetan and Chinese translations of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra.
Zimmermann, Michael. A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra; The Earliest Exposition of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India. Biblotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica 6. Tokyo: International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, 2002. http://lirs.ru/lib/Tathagatagarbhasutra,Zimmermann,2002.pdf.
Book
A Distant Mirror
In this book, an international team of fourteen scholars investigates the Chinese reception of Indian Buddhist ideas, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Topics include Buddhist logic and epistemology (pramāṇa, yinming); commentaries on Indian Buddhist texts; Chinese readings of systems as diverse as Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and tathāgatagarbha; the working out of Indian concepts and problematics in new Chinese works; and previously under-studied Chinese evidence for developments in India. The authors aim to consider the ways that these Chinese materials might furnish evidence of broader Buddhist trends, thereby problematizing a prevalent notion of “sinification”, which has led scholars to consider such materials predominantly in terms of trends ostensibly distinctive to China. The volume also tries to go beyond seeing sixth- and seventh-century China primarily as the age of the formation and establishment of the Chinese Buddhist “schools”. The authors attempt to view the ideas under study on their own terms, as valid Buddhist ideas engendered in a rich, “liminal” space of interchange between two large traditions. (Source: Hamburg University Press)
Lin, Chen-kuo, and Michael Radich, eds. A Distant Mirror: Articulating Indic Ideas in Sixth and Seventh Century Chinese Buddhism. Hamburg Buddhist Studies 3. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press, 2014. https://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/volltexte/2014/146/pdf/HamburgUP_HBS03_LinRadich_Mirror.pdf.
Book
Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice
This publication presents the academic papers presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference which took place at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand, in 2012. The theme of this large conference was "Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice" and it brought together over 33 Buddhist studies scholars. Of particular relevance to the topic of buddha-nature is Tadeuz Skorupki's paper, "Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism" (43–64).
Dhammasami, Khammai, Padmasiri de Silva, Sarah Shaw, Dion Peoples, Jamie Cresswell, and Toshiichi Endo, eds. Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd IABU Conference, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand. Ayutthaya, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, 2012. http://btmar.org/files/pdf/buddhist_philosophy_and_meditation_practice.pdf.
Book
Early Ch'an in China and Tibet
Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism was popularized in the West by writers such as D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts as a kind of 'romantic abstraction' outside of history. The papers in this volume, originally presented at a unique conference sponsored by U.C. Berkeley and the San Francisco Zen Center, go a long way

towards revealing the complex historical development of Ch'an theory and practice both in China and Tibet.
      The papers on China reveal Ch' an not as a single line of transmission from Bodhidharma, but as a complex of contending and even hostile factions. Furthermore, the view which sees Ch'an as the sinicization of Buddhism through Taoism is questioned through an examination of the Taoism that was actually prevalent during the establishment of Ch' an in China.
      The papers on Tibet take us to the heart of the controversies surrounding the origins of Buddhism in that country, based on exciting research into the Tunhuang materials, the indigenous rDzogs-chen system, and the 'Sudden vs. Gradual Enlightenment' controversy.
      Of particular note in this volume is the inclusion of several translations of papers by noted Japanese scholars who have led the way in this type of research,

made available to the Western reader for the first time. (Source: inside jacket)
Lai, Whalen, and Lewis R. Lancaster, eds. Early Ch’an in China and Tibet. Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series 5. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1983.
Book
Nyoraizō to Busshō
This book is part of a 10-volume "Series on Mahayana Buddhism" published between 2011 and 2014. The series consists of the contributions of over seventy authors from Japan and other countries. Mahayana Buddhism is an ideological movement that came into existence in the early years of the first millennium CE through the inheritance of the teachings of Buddhism as developed by the Buddha in India in the fifth century BCE, as well as through the development of new sutras both during and since that time. Throughout the following several hundred years, Mahayana Buddhism played a major role in deepening the development of Buddhist thought, particularly regarding epistemology and ontology. Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha nature, the themes of this book, are ideas developed in the final stages of Mahayana Buddhism, which had a significant effect on the formation of Buddhist thought in East Asia and Tibet. Especially in China, Mahayana Buddhism has received attention for both merging with the philosophy of Huayan Buddhism and for affecting the theoretical form of Neo-Confucianism, as well as for providing theoretical support for the leaders of the Xinhai Revolution.
      Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha nature are technical terms that indicate the existence of the true nature of the Buddha or Tathāgata who has attained enlightenment through totally unclouded insight (prajñā), within all living things, though these living things may be covered with the impurity of worldly desire and be seemingly incapable of attaining enlightenment. In essence, these terms refer to the fact that the Buddha or Tathāgata resides within the nature of all living things. The notions of Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha nature make assertions about the nature of enlightenment or salvation for living things still trapped in an unenlightened condition of suffering. They do so from the ideological position of those Tathāgatas or Buddhas who have already realized truth and been released from suffering and unenlightenment. These ideas are expressed as a kind of theodicy and soteriology, as they deal with the challenge of how super-temporal, absolute truth appears at a historical or personal level. Ideas that originate in the mature period of the history of an ideology produce higher-level notions that allow concepts born in various contexts in the previous history of the ideology to coexist. The ideas of Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha nature, which point to the Tathāgata or Buddha that dwells within all living things, encompass both all living things and Tathāgata, and so exist at a higher conceptual level than either.
      There are two foundations of the ideas of Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha nature, which simultaneously problematize both unenlightenment and enlightenment: the features of soteriology in general religious thought, and the view of truth that is unique to Buddhism. Soteriology, as conceived of in general religious thought, considers the world in a dualistic fashion, as being split into the world of humanity and the world of gods, the world of suffering and the world of liberation, the endless cycle of life and death (samsara) and supreme enlightenment (nirvana). On the one hand is a relative, limited, and impermanent world, and on the other an absolute, infinite, and eternal world. The movement from the former aspect to the latter is not ceaseless but, rather, requires a change in the dimension of our existence, such as religious conversion or enlightenment. The experience of the individual transforms the aspect of the world, which formerly appeared as a single layer, thus exposing its mysterious and unseen facets. In contrast to many religions, which end their exposition at this point, Mahayana Buddhism takes the appearance of this duality itself as a subjective experience and seeks to reach the point at which both aspects ultimately become indistinguishable. The scenery of this world as seen from the world of libreration, worldly desire purified by enlightenment, Samsara illuminated by nirvana are all accepted as they are, without the necessity of any negation or denial. The duality of the world is therefore overcome, and a higher-level equality emerges that still acknowledges individual differences. (Source Accessed June 29, 2020)
Shimoda, Masahiro, ed. Nyoraizō to Busshō (Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha Nature). Vol. 8 of Shirīzu Daijō Bukkyō (Series on Mahāyāna Buddhism). Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 2014.
Book
On Being Buddha
What is it like to be a Buddha? Is there only one Buddha or are there many? What can Buddhas do and what do they know? Is there anything they cannot do and cannot know? These and associated questions were much discussed by Buddhist thinkers in India, and a complex and subtle set of doctrinal positions was developed to deal with them. This is the first book in a western language to treat these doctrines about Buddha from a philosophical and thoroughly critical viewpoint.

The book shows that Buddhist thinkers were driven, when theorizing about Buddha, by a basic intuition that Buddha must be maximally perfect, and that pursuing the implications of this intuition led them into some conceptual dilemmas that show considerable similarity to some of those treated by western theists. The Indian Buddhist tradition of thought about these matters is presented here as thoroughly systematic, analytical, and doctrinal.

The book's analysis is based almost entirely upon original sources in their original languages. All extracts discussed are translated into English and the book is accessible to nonspecialists, while still treating material that has not been much discussed by western scholars.

(Source: back cover)
Griffiths, Paul J. On Being Buddha: The Classical Doctrine of Buddhahood. SUNY Series, Toward a Comparative Philosophy of Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
Book
Philosophy, Grammar, and Indology: Essays in Honour of Professor Gustav Roth
This book contains thirty-four essays written by eminent philosophers and indologists in honor of the erudite scholar of Indian studies, Professor Gustav Roth.
Prasad, Hari Shankar, ed. Philosophy, Grammar, and Indology: Essays in Honour of Professor Gustav Roth. Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series 20. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1992.
Book
Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there is an ongoing debate about whether the gzhan stong system was "invented" by Tibetans, in particular by Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan (1292–1361), or whether there are Indian precursors of that view. Here, I will (1) discuss evidence for a number of typical positions of the gzhan stong system in several Indian texts, (2) provide a sketch of the transmission of the five works of Maitreya from India to Tibet and the beginning of a Tibetan gzhan stong tradition preceding Dol po pa, and (3) trace some typical gzhan stong assertions in a few early Tibetan works before Dol po pa that are considered by Tibetan writers as belonging to the gzhan stong system. (Brunnhölzl, introduction, 9)
Brunnhölzl, Karl. Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 74. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2011.
Book
The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha and Ālayavijñāna
One of the fundamental tenets of Mahayana Buddhism animating and grounding the doctrine and discipline of its spiritual path, is the inherent potentiality of all animate beings to attain the supreme and perfect enlightenment of Buddhahood. This book examines the ontological presuppositions and the corresponding soteriological-epistemological principles that sustain and define such a theory. Within the field of Buddhist studies, such a work provides a comprehensive context in which to interpret the influence and major insights of the various Buddhist schools. Thus, the dynamics of the Buddha Nature, though non-thematic and implicit, is at the heart of Zen praxis, while it is a significant articulation in Kegon, Tendai, and Shingon thought. More specifically, the book seeks to establish a coherent metaphysics of absolute suchness (Tathatā), synthesizing the variant traditions of the Tathagata-embryo (Tathāgatagarbha) and the Storehouse Consciousness (Ālayavijñāna).



The book's contribution to the broader field of the History of Religions rests in its presentation and analysis of the Buddhist Enlightenment as the salvific-transformational moment in which Tathatā 'awakens' to itself, comes to perfect self-realization as the Absolute suchness of reality, in and through phenomenal human consciousness. The book is an interpretation of the Buddhist Path as the spontaneous self-emergence of 'embryonic' absolute knowledge as it comes to free itself from the concealments of adventitious defilements, and possess itself in fully self-explicitated self-consciousness as the 'Highest Truth' and unconditional nature of all existence; it does so only in the form of omniscient wisdom.

(Source: Book jacket inside cover)
Brown, Brian Edward. The Buddha Nature: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha and Ālayavijñāna. Buddhist Tradition Series 11. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991. https://archive.org/details/tathagatgarbhabuddhanatureastudyofthetathagatagarbhaandalayavijnanabrianedwardbr/mode/2up.
Book
The Buddhist Self
A methodical examination of Indian teaching about the tathāgatagarbha (“Buddha-nature”) and foundational Buddhist teachings about 'not-self' (anātman). In 2021 The Buddhist Self was awarded the Toshihide Numata Book Award.
Jones, Christopher V. The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2020.

Articles

Article
A Fragment of the "Uttaratantra" in Sanskrit
A study and facsimile of a Sanskrit fragment of the Ratnagotravibhāga, published before the complete Sanskrit text became available.
Bailey, Harold W., and E. H. Johnston. "A Fragment of the Uttaratantra in Sanskrit." Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies 8, no. 1 (1935): 77–89.
Article
A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
A lengthy historical survey of buddha-nature theory through the literature and traditions, based on academic scholarship.
Gardner, Alex. "A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, October 9, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/A_History_of_Buddha-Nature_Theory:_The_Literature_and_Traditions.
Article
A Note on Ratnagotravibhāga I.52 = Bhagavadgītā XIII.32
Gokhale, Vasudeva Vishnunath. "A Note on Ratnagotravibhāga I.52 = Bhagavadgītā XIII.32." In Studies in Indology and Buddhology: Presented in Honour of Professor Susumu Yamaguchi on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday, edited by Gadjin Nagao, 90–91. Kyoto: Hozokan, 1955.
Gokhale, Vasudeva Vishnunath. "A Note on Ratnagotravibhāga I.52 = Bhagavadgītā XIII.32." In Studies in Indology and Buddhology: Presented in Honour of Professor Susumu Yamaguchi on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday, edited by Gadjin Nagao, 90–91. Kyoto: Hozokan, 1955.
Article
A Self-Aggrandizing Vehicle: Tathāgatagarbha, Tīrthikas, and the True Self
This article concerns the Indian tathāgatagarbha literature: Mahāyānist works, produced no later than the early fifth century, which assert that all sentient beings possess already the qualities of a Buddha. Early works of this tradition—perhaps even the earliest that are available to us—explain possession of the tathāgatagarbha to constitute the existence of the self (ātman). These sources, foremost the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra, show evidence that their authors faced strong opposition from audiences committed to the more conventional Buddhist doctrine of anātman, but contend defensively that the ātman that they teach is nothing like any notion of selfhood found in non-Buddhist religious traditions.
      With reference to two of these 'ātmavādin’ tathāgatagarbha works, I present evidence that authors of this tradition used the idea of a Buddhist doctrine of the self to undermine non-Buddhist accounts of liberation: not only describing them as deficient, but as having been created (nirmita) by the Buddha himself. Such claims expand the boundaries of the Buddha’s sphere of influence, after the description of his activities found in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra: a clear influence upon these tathāgatagarbha sources. Other Mahāyānist literature of an ‘ekayānist’ orientation used this strategy also: i.e. that any teaching regarding liberation from saṃsāra finds its origin in the activities of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, but has its definitive expression in the Buddhist dharma. The tathāgatagarbha presented as a Buddhist doctrine of the self can hence be understood as a complement to a certain understanding of the Mahāyāna, here the archetype of all paths that claim to deliver an end to saṃsāra, and to an account of the Buddha as the architect of all ostensibly non-Buddhist accounts of liberation.
Jones, Christopher V. "A Self-Aggrandizing Vehicle: Tathāgatagarbha, Tīrthikas, and the True Self." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 39 (2016): 115–70.
Article
Buddha Nature as Myth
William G. Grosnick, in his essay "Buddha Nature as Myth", makes a distinction between "empirically verifiable propositions", statements that make claims about the nature of reality whose truth both is and is expected to be capable of clear articulation and demonstration, and "mythic views of reality" that provide a nonverifiable framework of great religious power for the expression of fundamentally important religious orientations. He then argues that Buddha Nature thought—at least as expressed in the early Indic sūtras devoted to it—is of the latter kind. Its function, he suggests, is to provide a mythic orientation toward the world and the religious potential of the individual Buddhist, and so to make the practice of Buddhism possible. It is just because "all beings universally possess Buddha Nature" that the practice of the path is possible. (Griffiths and Keenan, introduction to Buddha Nature, 4)
Grosnick, William. "Buddha Nature as Myth." In Buddha Nature: A Festschrift in Honor of Minoru Kiyota, edited by Paul J. Griffiths and John P. Keenan, 65–74. Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1990.
Article
Can All Beings Potentially Attain Awakening? Gotra-theory in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra
The Mahāyāna has sometimes been associated with the doctrine that all sentient beings will attain complete awakening, a doctrine which is often linked to some conception of the "embryo of the Tathāgata (tathāgatagarbha)'"`UNIQ--ref-0000162B-QINU`"'. However, according to an alternate Mahāyāna doctrine, only some sentient beings will attain the complete awakening of a buddha — and some may even be excluded from attaining any form of awakening at all. In this paper, I will examine just such a doctrine, as it is found in an Indian Yogācāra treatise, the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra ("Ornament to the Mahāyāna Sūtras"; abbr., MSA), a Sanskrit verse-text, and its prose commentary, the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra-bhāṣya (MSABh),'"`UNIQ--ref-0000162C-QINU`"'. Particular Tibetan and Chinese sources attribute the composition of the MSA to the bodhisattva Maitreya'"`UNIQ--ref-0000162D-QINU`"', which gives us some indication of the importance this text was understood to have within certain traditions. Nevertheless, the authorship and date of the verse-text and its commentary are not certain; I hypothesize that the MSA/Bh may be dated to the fourth century CE (perhaps c. 350 CE)'"`UNIQ--ref-0000162E-QINU`"'. It is my hope that an examination of such a source may contribute to the study of the various ways in which the contours of the Mahāyāna have been drawn from a doctrinal perspective. In the MSA/Bh, one way in which the limits of the Mahāyāna are defined is through the employment of the gotra-theory, a theory which identifies the soteriological potentialities of individuals through reference to their spiritual "family" or "lineage." So in order to understand this text's discursive construction of the category "Mahāyāna," we must understand its concept of gotra. (D'Amato, "Can All Beings Potentially Gain Awakening," 115–16)
D'Amato, Mario. "Can All Beings Potentially Attain Awakening? Gotra-theory in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 26, no. 1 (2003): 115–38. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8933/2826.
Article
Luminous Mind among the Logicians—An Analysis of Pramāṇavārttika II.205–211
Roger R. Jackson, in his essay "Luminous Mind Among the Logicians", treats the Indo-Tibetan commentarial discussions of the affirmation of the mind's natural luminosity (prabhāsvaratā) found in Pramāṇavārttika II.208. Such an affIrmation, as he shows, has deep roots in the Buddhist tradition, and is usually connected with tathāgatagarbha thought. That it is also affirmed by Dharmakīrti and discussed extensively by his commentators in India and Tibet shows that it is not without significance for the logicoepistemological tradition represented by Dignāga and his successors. The idea that the mind is naturally luminous or radiant and that its defIlements have only an adventitious status is of obvious relevance to Buddhist soteriology; it affirms that, in some important sense, the goal of Buddhist religious practice has already been attained or is already present. The importance of Jackson's study is that it shows the same idea to be relevant also to Buddhist epistemological theory: it is precisely the mind's natural radiance that makes apprehension of things as they really are a possibility. It is this metaphysical and epistemological fact which leads Jackson to categorize Dharmakīrti and his school as epistemological optimists. (Griffiths and Keenan, introduction to Buddha Nature, 5)
Jackson, Roger R. "Luminous Mind among the Logicians—An Analysis of Pramāṇavārttika II.205–211." In Buddha Nature: A Festschrift in Honor of Minoru Kiyota, edited by Paul J. Griffiths and John P. Keenan, 95–123. Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1990.
Article
Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai
Thanks to several previous studies, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra (MPNS) has been proved to shift its central thought from the buddhakāya idea to the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea. The present author has shown in another paper (Suzuki [1999]) that the movement between the buddhakāya idea and the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea appears in the larger context including the MPNS, and has extracted this context from the various Mahāyāna sūtras under the name of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra-Group (MPNS-G), which consists of the Mahāmeghasūtra (MMS), the MPNS, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra (AMS) and the Mahābherisūtra (MBhS). While the AMS is a direct successor of the MPNS, the MBhS succeeds the MPNS critically and shifts back its central thought from the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea to the buddhakāya idea again.
      The MPNS-G declares or suggests the non-emptiness of the tathāgata. This is reinterpretation of the pratītyasamutpāda and the śūnyatā idea, and follows the rule of the historical Buddhist hermeneutics. It is especially worthwhile to note that the MBhS, like the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra in the Vijñāptimātra idea, devaluates the śūnyatā idea as imperfect. This quite negative attitude toward the śūnyatā idea does not appear in any other Indian texts on the tathāgatagarbha idea including the MPNS and the AMS. Aiming at establishing the theory that every sentient being is able to perform religious efforts and become buddha on account of the nonemptiness and the eternalness of the tathāgata, the MBhS must reject any sūtra concerning the śūnyatā idea as imperfect. Though the MPNS is a pioneer in reinterpretation of the the śúnyatā idea, the MPNS cannot devaluate it perfectly because the śūnyatā idea is one of the main backgrounds to the MPNS. The MBhS's decisive attitude toward the śūnyatā idea devaluation becomes possible by having the MPNS as its basis. (Source: UTokyo Repository)
Suzuki, Takayasu. "Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai" (The Non-emptiness of the Tathāgata in the Mahāparinirvānasūtra-Group). Tōyō bunka kenkyūsho kiyō (Bulletin of Institute of Oriental Culture) 139 (2000): 109–46.
Article
Original Purity and the Arising of Delusion
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs: The varying answers given to the single question of whether the mind is pure by nature or defiled by nature form a convenient lenses through which to view the development of Yogācāra thought. If the mind is pure, then where do the defilements originate? If it is defiled, where does purity originate? Though the classical formulation of Asaṇga and Vasubandhu sees consciousness as paratantric, the source of defilement yet only the support of purity (an important distinction that necessitates an external source of purity), another view which was taken up by Yogācāran thinkers is that of the originally pure mind (viśuddhi cittaprakṛiti); a third schema brings the structure of consciousness together with that purity as seen, for example, within the *Mahāyāna śraddhotpādaśāstra (The Awakening of Mahāyāna Faith). (Hubbard, introductory remarks, 1)
Hubbard, Jamie. "Original Purity and the Origin of Delusion." Online Publications of Jamie Hubbard, October 31, 2008 (originally written in 1994). https://sophia.smith.edu/~jhubbard/publications/papers/OriginalPurity.pdf
Article
Painting Space with Colors: Tathāgatagarbha in the Mahāyānasūtrâlaṅkāra-Corpus IX.22-37
The early history of Tathagatagarbha thought in India remains obscure. In

attempting to elucidate it much depends upon how one chooses to categorize Tathagatagarbha as a system, upon the decisions one makes as to which terms, concepts, argument-patterns and so forth must be present in order for it to be proper to characterize some text or text-fragment as representing that system. These are large questions, much too large to enter upon in this paper; my purpose here is much more limited. I intend to offer a reasonably detailed exposition of a set of sixteen verses from the ninth chapter of the Mahāyānasūtrâlaṅkāra [MSA] (IX.22- 37). These verses deal, or so the bhāṣya tells us, with the "profundity of the undefiled realm" (anāsravadhātugāmbhīrya), and they conclude (37) with the only use of the term tathāgatagarbha in the entire text There is little doubt that this is one of the few early occurrences of the term in Indian Buddhist texts surviving in Sanskrit; a relatively detailed study of these verses may perhaps shed some light upon the historical and doctrinal questions just mentioned.
          The systematic question underlying my comments upon these verses throughout will be: what is the relation between the ground of awakening, that which makes it possible, and the fact of awakening, its essential properties?

          In what follows I shall provide ftrst a brief introduction to the of the MSA-corpus; I shall then place MSA IX.22-37 in its context within the text as a whole, and shall translate the verses in full and offer expository comments on them, drawing in so doing upon the surviving Indic commentaries. (Griffiths, Painting Space with Colors, 41–42)
Griffiths, Paul J. "Painting Space with Colors: Tathāgatagarbha in the Mahāyānasūtrâlaṅkāra-Corpus IX.22–37." In Buddha Nature: A Festschrift in Honor of Minoru Kiyota, edited by Paul J. Griffiths and John P. Keenan, 41–63. Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1990.
Article
Ratnākaraśānti no shochosaku ni okeru nyoraizō rikai no niruikei
Ratnākaraśānti (ca. 11th cent.) is one of the most influential figures in the final phase of Indian Buddhism, and more than thirty works are available in Tibetan translations (some of them are also available in Sanskrit originals). However, previous studies have pointed out that some works are of another person with the same namesake, because, among the works attributed to him, we find some serious diversity in their doctrinal systems. The present paper focuses on the diversity in interpretation of the Buddha-nature doctrine.
      We can find two types of interpretation, i.e., (1) that in accord with the yānatraya doctrine (in the Prajñāpāramitopadeśa, Muktāvalī, and Kusumāñjali), and (2) that in accord with the ekayāna doctrine (in the Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣya and Triyānavyavasthāna). The two positions are clearly contradicting each other. The first interpretation (1) is based on traditional Yogācāra doctrine that admits the gotrabheda doctrine ("differences of spiritual potentials"), while the second (2) premises the Madhyamaka doctrine that does not accept the gotrabheda doctrine on the ultimate level and claims all beings equally have the same potential to become a buddha.
      Furthermore, the existence of the diversity between the two interpretations is supported by other doctrinal issues, for instance, two different attitudes toward the understanding of Abhisamayālaṃkāra I.39.
      As a conclusion, the doctrinal position in the Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣya and Triyānavyavasthāna is different from that of the Prajñāpāramitopadeśa etc. The aim of the present paper is to show the clear diversity attested in the works attributed to Ratnākaraśānti, which will, hopefully, contribute to solving the question of the authorship of the works, i.e., whether they are composed by one person or not. (Source: Academia.edu)
Kano, Kazuo. "Ratnākaraśānti no shochosaku ni okeru nyoraizō rikai no niruikei" (Two Different Positions Toward the Buddha-nature Doctrine Found in Ratnākaraśānti's Compositions). Mikkyō Bunka (Journal of Esoteric Buddhism) 226 (2011): 7–35.
Article
Ratnākaraśānti’s Understanding of Buddha-nature
Ratnākaraśānti (ca. 11th cent.) is one of the most influential figures in the final phase of Indian Buddhism, and more than thirty works are available in Tibetan translations (some of them are also available in Sanskrit originals). However, previous studies have pointed out that some works are of another person with the same namesake, because, among the works attributed to him, we find some serious diversity in their doctrinal systems. The present paper focuses on the diversity in interpretation of the Buddha-nature doctrine. We can find two types of interpretation, i.e., (1) that in accord with the yānatraya doctrine (in the Prajñāpāramitopadeśa, Muktāvalī, and Kusumāñjali), and (2) that in accord with the ekayāna doctrine (in the Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣya and Triyānavyavasthāna). The two positions are clearly contradicting each other. The first interpretation (1) is based on traditional Yogācāra doctrine that admits the gotrabheda doctrine (“differences of spiritual potentials”), while the second (2) premises the Madhyamaka doctrine that does not accept the gotrabheda doctrine on the ultimate level and claims all beings equally have the same potential to become a buddha. Furthermore, the existence of the diversity between the two interpretations is supported by other doctrinal issues, for instance, two different attitudes toward the understanding of Abhisamayālaṃkāra I.39. As a conclusion, the doctrinal position in the Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣya and Triyānavyavasthāna is different from that of the Prajñāpāramitopadeśa etc. The aim of the present paper is to show the clear diversity attested in the works attributed to Ratnākaraśānti, which will, hopefully, contribute to solving the question of the authorship of the works, i.e., whether they are composed by one person or not. (Source: Academia.edu)
Kano, Kazuo. "Ratnākaraśānti’s Understanding of Buddha-Nature." China Tibetology 25, no. 2 (2015): 52–77.
Article
Reconsidering the "Essence" of Indian Buddha-Nature Literature
This paper is published in Acta Asiatica no.118, which concerns recent scholarship on tathāgatagarbha, or Buddha-nature thought, in Indian literature. In light of recent reassessments of the development of tathāgatagarbha thought in India, this paper considers instances in which tathāgatagarbha is unpacked to refer to some "essence" (dhātu) of a Buddha present in all sentient beings. My observation is that this articulation of Buddha-nature teaching is found throughout Indian tathāgatagarbha literature, from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra through to supposedly "basic" materials of the Ratnagotravibhāga, but is conspicuously absent where Buddhist authors are invested in (re)interpreting Buddha-nature in terms of the basic nature of the mind: an influential innovation that I believe is first evident in the Śrīmālā Sūtra. (Source Accessed April 3, 2020)
Jones, Christopher V. "Reconsidering the 'Essence' of Indian Buddha-Nature Literature." In "What is Tathāgatagarbha: Buddha-Nature or Buddha Within?" Edited by Saitō Akira. Special issue, Acta Asiatica 118 (2020): 57–78.
Article
Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman: Self Where There Is No-Self
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Humans have long grappled with the question of the nature of our Self, defined here as the ultimate reality inherent to our individual being. Religious traditions can be a great place to look when attempting to understand this aspect of our humanity. Broadly speaking, when contemplating ideas of Self in Buddhism and Hinduism, the relationship between the Buddhist notion of Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha) and the Hindu notion of Self (ātman), is an intriguing one: How can we understand them to be similar or different? How do the Buddhist concepts of emptiness (śūnyatā) and mind-only (cittamātra) relate to the concepts of tathāgatagarbha and ātman? Is emptiness contrary to these ideas? Are tathāgatagarbha and the Hindu teaching that ātman is equal to brahman (ultimate reality), both expressions of a non-dualistic state of mind? Although it is commonly taught that Hinduism and Buddhism differ in their understanding of Self, one thing that becomes apparent is that these are not simple questions, perhaps mainly because their answers are contextual. There are many answers that come from many different types of Hindus and Buddhists in various places. For this paper, I will be looking at commentary on the Buddhist text the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra and its use of the concept of a permanent Self and how this relates to emptiness (śūnyatā) and skillful means (upāya). This paper seeks to support my claim that, through skillful means, ātman and anātman (no-Self) are both saying something quite similar—despite the apparent paradoxical nature of this statement—and will look at Buddha-nature in the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra as a way to understand and help articulate this thought. (Laughlin, "Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman," 57)
Laughlin, Aaron Alexander. "Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman: Self Where There Is No-Self." IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Humboldt State University 3 (2019): 57–61. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest/vol3/iss1/11
Article
Textual and Philosophical Problems in the Translation and Transmission of Tathāgatagarbha Texts
This article examines philological problems relating to descriptions defining the tathāgatagarbha, or "buddha-nature," in Sanskrit sūtras and exegetical literature, together with the variant Tibetan translations of these descriptions in the bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur. Attention is called also to some possible philosophical implications of these variant descriptions.
Ruegg, David Seyfort. "Textual and Philosophical Problems in the Translation and Transmission of Tathāgatagarbha Texts: Sanskrit Avinirmuktakleśakośa, Amuktajña/Amuktajñāna, and Tathāgatagarbhaśūnyatārthanaya and Their Tibetan Translations in the bKa' 'gyur and bsTan 'gyur." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 78, no. 2 (2015): 317–32.
Article
The Ambiguity of the Buddha-Nature Concept in India and China
This paper has three aims. First, to demonstrate the irreducible ambiguity of what we may very generally call the Buddha's real or essential nature (as we find it in certain Mahāyāna texts). Secondly, to give an explanation of how this ambiguity arose within the Mahāyāna. Thirdly, to see how the Chinese handled this ambiguity. Since my argument takes some time to unfold, I give a summary straightaway without supporting evidence
      The concept of the Buddha's real or essential nature is referred to by (or better: rests upon) many different Sanskrit terms - e.g. (tathāgata-)dhātu, (buddha-)gotra, (tathāgata-)garbha, dharmatā, dharma-kāya, buddhatā. Other terms that are closely related are Tathatā, āśraya, prakṛti, prabhāsvara-citta, dharma-dhātu, buddha-jñāna.'"`UNIQ--ref-000001DC-QINU`"' So when we speak of the Buddha-nature (which is how I will abbreviate the more cumbersome 'the Buddha's real or essential nature' from now on), we are tacitly drawing upon some or all of these terms, which have their own ramifications and interrelations, of course. This is a very complex situation and I want to try and clarify it by approaching it from two angles. First, historically, I want to propose that Buddhism in India always had within it three strands which tended to view and understand the Dharma from their own standpoint; these strands are those of śīla, samādhi and prajñā (see p. 262 for details). Secondly, conceptually, I propose a number of what may be called conceptual nets or images (e.g. withinness, foundation, nature/being—see p. 263 for details) that can be applied to the concept of the Buddha-nature, and which (a) tend to hang together as a group, but in addition (b) each of the conceptual nets to a large extent determines the sort of terminology that is used when speaking of the Buddha-nature. Part of my argument is that works like the RGV (and to a lesser degree, the ŚMS) represent a systematization of the different terms (and hence, tacitly, the conceptual nets that give rise to these terms) that were available at the time that the Mahāyāna was growing to maturity.'"`UNIQ--ref-000001DD-QINU`"' This period of the Mahāyāna is usually referred to as the third turning of the Dharma-cakra; it involved a fundamental shift in the axis of Buddhism which led to a bhedābheda philosophy (i.e. the Absolute is both distinct and non-distinct from its attributes). Finally, we look at what the Chinese made of all this. They settled on the term fo hsing to mean 'Buddha-nature', but we find that hsing is used to translate different Sanskrit terms (e.g. prakṛti, gotra, bhāva—see p. 267 for details), and that these Sanskrit terms are themselves translated by other words than hsing (e.g. t'i, shen, chen, shih). In other words, the inherent ambiguities in the Sanskrit terminology are replaced by inherent ambiguities in the Chinese terminology. In addition, because garbha (which nearly always means 'embryo' in Sanskrit) is translated by ts'ang, ( = 'womb'; lit. 'storehouse'), a certain vacuum was created in the Chinese vocabulary which the terms fo hsing and fo hsin ( = buddha-citta) neatly filled. (Rawlinson, introductory remarks, 259–60)
Rawlinson, Andrew. "The Ambiguity of the Buddha-Nature Concept in India and China." In Early Ch’an in China and Tibet, edited by Whalen Lai and Lewis Lancaster, 259-79. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1983.
Article
The Buddhist Notion of an 'Immanent Absolute' (tathāgatagarbha) as a Problem in Hermeneutics
As a religious and philosophical tradition works out its own stock of ideas and encounters fresh ones among its neighbours, it must very often generate responses to developing tensions and oppositions unless it is simply to turn in on itself, both ossifying and isolating itself from its intellectual and human environment. Buddhism has not ossified and isolated itself in this way, and it has met such challenges not only in its spread outside the Indian subcontinent—in Central, East and Southeast Asia, and now also in Europe and

America—but also, and no less importantly, in the course of its development within historical India itself.
      One way in which Buddhism has responded to these intellectual and cultural encounters can be related to hermeneutics: that is, the modes by which a tradition explains its sources and thereby interprets (or reinterprets) itself in a continuing process of reactivation and renewal of its heritage.[1]
      In the case of Buddhism this process—perhaps comparable in part to what in another context is now frequently referred to as aggiornamento—had both endogenous and exogenous causes. It was, in other words, set in train both by internal, systemically generated requirements and tensions within the Buddhist tradition as it evolved in geographical space and historical time, and by external impulses received from its intellectual and social environment, which could be, according to the case, either positive or negative in character.
      The purpose of this paper is to explore this process with respect to the Buddhist hermeneutics of the ideas of non-self (anatman) and of a spiritual matrix or germ (gotra, tathagatagarbha or Buddha-nature) and the relationship of this pair of ideas to Vedantic notions and Brahmanical social groups in classical India. Reference will be made also to certain exegetical developments that either originated in Tibet or were at least fully realized there for the first time. Our analysis will revolve around the fact that, however historically antithetical and structurally contrasting these two ideas are in Buddhism, they in fact have not invariably been treated by Buddhist hermeneuticians as contradictory or even as systematically exclusive of each other.
      Because of its philosophical and religious significance in the fields of soteriology and gnoseology, the Mahāyānist theory of the tathāgatagarbha—the Germ of Buddhahood latent in all sentient beings—occupies a crucial position in Buddhist thought, and indeed in Indian thought as a whole. In virtue of both their extent and their contents, the sūtras treating the tathāgatagarbha—and the systematically related doctrines of the natural luminosity (prakṛtiprabhāsvaratā) of mind (citta) and the spiritual germ existent by nature (prakṛtistha-gotra)[2]—are amongst the most important in the Mahāyāna. The idea that the doctrine of the tathāgatagarbha and Buddha-nature is one of the supreme teachings of the Mahāyāna is explicitly stated in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sutra.[3]

      Mahāyānist doctrine is in large part concerned with the path (marga) of the Bodhisattva and supreme and perfect awakening (bodhi), that is, the state of a Buddha. The terms tathāgatagarbha and gotra are used to denote the base or support for practice of the path, and hence the 'cause' (hetu: dhatu) for attainment of the fruit (phala) of buddhahood. Even when the texts do not employ the term tathāgatagarbha to designate this factor as the one which makes it possible for all living beings ultimately to attain liberation and Buddhahood, the importance of the theme of the tathāgatagarbha is basic to the soteriology and gnoseology of the Mahāyāna. (Ruegg, "The Buddhist Notion of an 'Immanent Absolute'," 229–30)
Ruegg, David Seyfort. "The Buddhist Notion of an 'Immanent Absolute' (tathāgatagarbha) as a Problem in Hermeneutics." In The Buddhist Heritage, edited by Tadeusz Skorupski, 229–45. Tring, UK: The Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1989.
Article
The Doctrine of Buddha-Nature in Mahāyāna Buddhism
The doctrine of Buddha-Nature (Buddhadhātu) is one of the most important doctrines in Mahayana Buddhism. This doctrine can be found in a number of Mahayana texts that were composed at least by the 3rd to the 5th century C. E., and traces of this doctrine can be found in the development of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Buddhism. The doctrine of Buddha-nature basically teaches that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature and that they can all attain Buddhahood. The Buddha-nature is described as pure and immaculate, free from emotional and conceptual defilements that plague sentient beings.
See, Tony Sin-Heng. "The Doctrine of Buddha-Nature in Mahāyāna Buddhism." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities 9, no. 1 (2016): 47–56. http://www.ojs.mcu.ac.th/index.php/jiabu/article/view/863.
Article
The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra
In the Buddhist Canon, there are two main corpuses of texts which go by the name Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra (henceforth abbreviated to MNS) and have as their main concern the recounting of the events and dialogues of the last days of the Buddha. The first, presumably of earlier origin, is a comprehensive compendium of Hīnayāna ideas and precepts. It exists today in its Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese versions, and for its attention to factual details has been resorted to as the principal source of reference in most standard studies of the Buddha's life. As for the second, only its Chinese and Tibetan translations are still extant.[1] While it also relates some of the well-known episodes of the final months of the Buddha Śākyamuni, notably his illness and the last meal offered by Cunda, such narrations are treated in the work merely as convenient spring-boards for the expression of such standard Mahayana ideas as the eternal nature of Buddhahood and expedience as method of instruction. Both in style and content, this corpus exhibits the disregard of historical particulars and the fascination with the supernatural and the ideal which characterize Mahāyāna writings in general. As a Mahāyāna sūtra, it is of rather late date, for it mentions such influential "middle Mahāyāna" works as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and the Śūraṃgamasaṃādhi-nirdeśa in its text, and so could not have been compiled before the second century A.D.[2] It is this Mahāyāna version of the MNS which we are going to examine in our present study. (Liu, introduction, 63)
Liu, Ming-Wood. "The Doctrine of the Buddha-Nature in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-Sūtra." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5, no. 2 (1982): 63–94. https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8578/2485.
Article
The Process of Awakening in Early Texts on Buddha-Nature in India
The aim of this paper is to throw some light on the question of how the authors of early texts on buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha, buddhadhātu etc.) in India, in the first centuries of the Common Era, perceived the process of awakening, i.e., how they imagined the actual realization of this buddha-nature, and how they described this process in terms of their own underlying vision. As far as I can see, the discussions of the last twenty years or so about the question of whether buddha-nature thought might actually be Buddhist at all[1] have lost their immediate punch and relevance, and might already have become an historical topic to be studied in its own right. New approaches have entered the world of academic Buddhist Studies. They have shown Buddhism to be a multilayered phenomenon to be studied on many diverse levels, and honored it as such, taking into consideration not only doctrinal aspects of the religion, but also the contexts in which these doctrines came into existence, as much as their assumed social ramifications. I have never doubted that the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature, alongside other notions, has always been of central interest for the Mahāyāna movement. It is an idea which can be found expressed in many of the sūtras of the Mahāyāna – not only those explicitly dedicated to the elucidation of this issue, but also in texts which in certain passages subscribe to the theory in passing, so to say.[2] (Zimmermann, introduction, 513–14)
Notes
  1. An excellent summary of the positions put forward by the proponents of the idea that buddha-nature is not Buddhist, on the one hand, and criticism of this position, on the other, is found in Hubbard and Swanson, 1997. It is my understanding that the representatives of the so-called Critical Buddhism movement (hihan bukkyō 批判仏教) started out with the aim of reforming certain deplorable states of affairs in Japanese Buddhism, but quickly turned against much of what characterizes the history of Buddhist ideas in India and beyond. Though their immediate aim was thus laudable, the normativity of their approach makes it difficult for a critical scholar of the intellectual history of Buddhism to accept their criticisms.
  2. The most comprehensive discussion of the scriptures on buddha-nature in India is still Takasaki, 1974.
Zimmermann, Michael. "The Process of Awakening in Early Texts on Buddha-Nature in India." In A Distant Mirror: Articulating Indic Ideas in Sixth and Seventh Century Chinese Buddhism, edited by Chen-kuo Lin and Michael Radich, 513–28. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press, 2014. https://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/volltexte/2014/146/chapter/HamburgUP_HWS03_Zimmermann_LinRadich_Mirror.pdf.
Article
The Sentient Reflexivity of Buddha Nature
Buddha Nature, or tathagatagarbha in Sanskrit, is a core element of Buddhist philosophical discourse and doctrinal debate. Who or what possesses Buddha Nature, how it manifests itself, and what role it plays in Buddhist soteriology have been sustained questions in actual Buddhist practices and in the works of Buddhologists from ancient times to the present. Based on the author’s textual interpretation, this paper attempts to present a threefold argument: Buddha Nature is not separate from its alleged opposite, sentience; it is not a tangible substance but a state of being whose felt meaning is only metaphorically conveyed; and finally it is a heuristic device or a means of provoking a Buddhist or anyone who takes interest in Buddhism, to visualize the inner complexity of his or her sentient mode of being.
Yü, Dan Smyer. "The Sentient Reflexivity of Buddha Nature: Metaphorizing Tathagatagarbha." The Religious Cultures in the World 6 (2012): 13–22.
Article
Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy
This article aims at providing an outlook on the possible origin of tathāgatagarbha theory with a special reference to its relation to the soteriological and formal solutions found in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Through comparative textual analysis, the first work of this tradition, Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra, is shown as a text providing a metaphysical foundation for the postulate of universal Buddhahood posited by the Lotus Sutra. The realization of this postulate was possible through the implementation of 'Buddha-wisdom' (tathāgatajñāna) — a quality intrinsic to all living beings, which comes from the Tathāgata's all-encompassing compassion — taken from the "Manifestation of the Tathāgata" chapter of Avataṃsaka. By combining these influences the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra is presented as a culmination of an important soteriological trend of the early Mahāyāna, and at the same time the starting point for an influential 'buddha-nature' tradition. (Source accessed June 26, 2020)
Zapart, Jarosław. "Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy" (The All-Pervading Foundation of Enlightenment: Early Developments of Tathāgatagarbha Teachings). Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture 1, no. 1 (2012): 127–48. https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/2724/JZ_-_O_formowaniu_tg.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Source Texts

Text
RKTSK 232
Mahāmeghasūtra. (T. Sprin chen po'i mdo; C. Dafangdeng wuxiang jing/Dayun jing; J. Daihōdō musōkyō/Daiungyō; K. Taebangdǔng musang kyǒng/Taeun kyǒng 大方等無想經/大雲經). In Sanskrit, the "Great Cloud Sūtra"; it is also known in China as the Dafangdeng wuxiang jing. The Mahāmeghasūtra contains the teachings given by the Buddha to the bodhisattva "Great Cloud Secret Storehouse" (C. Dayunmizang) on the inconceivable means of attaining liberation, samādhi, and the power of dhāraṇīs. The Buddha also declares that tathāgatas remain forever present in the dharma and the saṃgha despite having entered parinirvāṇa and that they are always endowed with the four qualities of nirvāṇa mentioned in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, namely, permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood (see guṇapāramitā). The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra's influence on the Mahāmeghasūtra can also be witnessed in the story of the goddess "Pure Light" (C. Jingguang). Having heard the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra in her past life, the goddess is told by the Buddha that she will be reborn as a universal monarch (cakravartin). The sūtra is often cited for its prophecy of the advent of Nāgārjuna, as well as for its injunctions against meat-eating. It was also recited in order to induce rain. In China, commentators on the Mahāmeghasūtra identified the newly enthroned Empress Wu Zetian as the reincarnation of the goddess, seeking thereby to legitimize her rule. As Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–683) of the Tang dynasty suffered from increasingly ill health, his ambitious and pious wife Empress Wu took over the imperial administration. After her husband's death she exiled the legitimate heir Zhongzong (r. 683–684, 703–710) and usurped the throne. One of the many measures she took to gain the support of the people was the publication and circulation of the Mahāmeghasūtra. Two translations by Zhu Fonian and Dharmakṣema were available at the time. Wu Zetian also ordered the establishment of monasteries called Dayunsi ("Great Cloud Monastery") in every prefecture of the empire. (Source: "Mahāmeghasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 500. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Text
Sajjana: Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa
One of only two extant Sanskrit texts that comment on the Uttaratantra, this highly original work by Sajjana presents a contemplative approach to Maitreya's treatise from an author that was the veritable source for the Tibetan exegetical traditions spawned by his students Ngok Loden Sherab and Tsen Khawoche.
Text
Vairocanarakṣita: Mahāyānottaratantraśāstraṭippaṇī
One of only two extant Sanskrit commentaries to the Uttaratantra, the other being the pith instruction composed by Sajjana. However, this work seems to have not been translated into Tibetan and thus it had little, if any, influence on the development of the Tibetan exegesis of the Uttaratantra.

Interviews

Interview
Book Launch: Revisiting Buddha-Nature in India and China by Dr. Christopher Jones and Dr. Li Zijie
In this online book-launch event, Dr. Christopher Jones and Dr. Li Zijie discuss their new books on the topic of buddha-nature. Below are the respective abstracts from each author:


The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2020) by Christopher Jones

It has long been recognized that Indian Buddhist writings concerned with buddha-nature, or more narrowly the enigmatic expression tathāgatagarbha, have a complex relationship with foundational Buddhist teachings about 'not-self' (anātman). Drawing upon and developing recent scholarship concerning the relative ages of Indian Buddhist works that deal with buddha-nature, The Buddhist Self explores the likely trajectory of this complex relationship. Constituent chapters deal with all Indian texts, across Indic, Chinese and Tibetan sources, that deal with buddha-nature and the matter of how far it should be conceptualized in terms of selfhood. I argue that it is likely that our earliest sources for teaching about tathāgatagarbha, perhaps beginning with the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra, are those which understood this term to refer to what could also be called the self (ātman). It is only later in the development of tathāgatagarbha literature that teachings about buddha-nature were elaborated to stress that this is not, after all, something of a caveat to teachings about absence of self. As such, teaching about tathāgatagarbha was perhaps originally presented as the Buddha's revelation of what is enduring and precious in the constitution of all sentient beings, and was in part a dynamic move to enter wider Indian discourse about the nature and value of the self. In 2021 The Buddhist Self was awarded the Toshihide Numata Book Award.


Kukyō ichijō hōshōron to higashiajia bukkyō: Go—nana seiki no nyoraizō, shinnyo, shushō no kenkyū『究竟一乗宝性論』と東アジア仏教 ── 五—七世紀の如来蔵・真如・種姓説の研究 [The Ratnagotravibhāga and East Asian Buddhism: A Study on the Tathāgatagarbha, Tathatā and Gotra between the 5th and 7th Centuries] (Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai, 2020) by Li Zijie


My monograph explores theories on tathāgatagarbha, tathatā and gotra in East Asian Buddhism between the 5th and the 7th centuries, with a focus on the influence of the Ratnagotravibhāga [Chin. Jiujing yisheng baoxing lun 究竟一乘寶性論]. There are major differences between the Sanskrit text and its Chinese translation of the Ratnagotravibhāga, which had an immeasurable influence on East Asian Buddhism and has yet to be explored. I furthermore discuss the background, such as the Pusa dichi jing 菩薩地持經 and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra [Chin. Lengqie jing 楞伽經], and the influence of the Ratnagotravibhāga on the Dasheng qixin lun 大乘起信論, Jizang 吉藏, Huiyuan of Jingying temple 淨影寺慧遠, Fazang 法藏, and some writings in Korean and Japanese Buddhism.
Jones, Christopher, and Li Zijie. "Book Launch: Revisiting Buddha-Nature in India and China." Produced by SOAS (University of London), Centre of Buddhist Studies, February 18, 2021. Video, 1:47:49. https://youtu.be/8mKnUnmp4zw.

Multimedia

Video
Christopher V. Jones at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Christopher Jones discusses the development of the concept of buddha-nature in the first five hundred years of the Common Era. He postulates that the most likely trajectory of buddha-nature thought in India entailed a reimagining of the expression tathāgatagarbha away from its contentious "ātmavādin" origins.
Jones, Christopher V. "Selfhood, Secrecy, Singularity: Reassessing the Early Life of the Tathāgatagarbha in India." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzGpIOwFYc.
Video
David Higgins at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
David Higgins explores the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s (1507–1554) prolific writings on tathāgatagarbha, which contain several extended discussions on the topic of how buddha-nature relates to different conceptions of selfhood.
Higgins, David. "Buddha-Nature and Selfhood." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 41:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHzI1PxptpI.
Video
Karl Brunnhölzl: Buddha-Nature Sings Its Song: Tathāgatagarbha and Its Equivalents in the Indian Dohā Tradition
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "Buddha-Nature Sings Its Song: Tathāgatagarbha and Its Equivalents in the Indian Dohā Tradition." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 15:31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJJ98iRuBxU
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "Buddha-Nature Sings Its Song: Tathāgatagarbha and Its Equivalents in the Indian Dohā Tradition." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 15:31. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJJ98iRuBxU
Video
Michael Zimmermann at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
In light of the argument that the theory of Buddha-nature is non-Buddhist, Michael Zimmerman summarizes more recent research on the earliest history of buddha-nature thought in India and discusses possible reasons for why the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature made its appearance.
Zimmermann, Michael. "New Research on the Concept of Buddha-Nature in India: The Beginnings." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYkBSSAJ-zo.

An important sūtra source for the Ratnagotravibhāga, particularly for its discussion of the nine examples that illustrate how all sentient beings possess buddha-nature.

The Awakening of Faith is a key source text for buddha-nature theory in East Asian Buddhism.

amalavijñāna - The ninth consciousness, the immaculate pure mind. Ch. 啊摩羅識,無垢識

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

Descent into Laṅka Sūtra, a very influential text in East Asia and Nepal.

bīja - A seed, commonly used figuratively in the sense of something which has the potential to develop or grow, and likewise as the basic cause for this development or growth. Skt. बीज Tib. ས་བོན་ Ch. 無漏種

anātman - The nonexistence of the self as a permanent, unchanging entity. Skt. अनात्मन् Tib. བདག་མེད་པ་ Ch. 无我

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

"This sūtra became an important scriptural source for the discussion of buddha-nature in China and is famous for associating the term buddhadhātu with tathāgatagarbha.

buddhadhātu - A synonym for tathāgatagarbha widely used throughout the East Asian Buddhist traditions, as found in its translations as the Chinese term fó xìng and Japanese term busshō. Skt. बुद्धधातु Tib. སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཁམས་ Ch. 佛性

One of the tathāgatagarbha sūtras.

AMS - Aṅgulimālīyasūtra

Cittamātra - Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna. Skt. चित्तमात्र Tib. སེམས་ཙམ་

Brahman - Brahman is the universal principle, supreme truth or ultimate reality in the Hindu religion considered to be absolute, eternal and blissful. A metaphysical concept, it is described as the single binding unity behind the diversity of all that exists. In Buddhism, while this metaphysical principle is not presented, one finds frequent mention of the deity named Brahmā, who is the personification of this principle. Skt. ब्रह्मन् Tib. ཚངས་པ།

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

bodhi - Enlightenment or awakening. In Tibetan it is translated as "purified" (byang) and "perfected" (chub), which corresponds to Siddhartha Gautama's achievement of purifying all obscurations and perfecting or attaining all qualities associated with a buddha. Skt. बोधि Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་ Ch. 菩提,悟,覺

buddhadhātu - A synonym for tathāgatagarbha widely used throughout the East Asian Buddhist traditions, as found in its translations as the Chinese term fó xìng and Japanese term busshō. Skt. बुद्धधातु Tib. སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཁམས་ Ch. 佛性

Tsen Tradition - Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. བཙན་ལུགས་

One of the sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, which is only extant in its Chinese translation.

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