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The Zen Master Dōgen’s Understanding of the Buddha-Nature in Light of the Historical Development of the Buddha-Nature Concept in India, China, and Japan

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. . . The present study will have a twofold purpose: 1) to examine the history of the Buddha-nature concept in an attempt to discover a central core of meaning inherent in the concept, and 2) to evaluate Dōgen's view of the Buddha-nature in the light of that central core of meaning. Parts I and II of this work, which examine the doctrinal history of the Buddha-nature concept in India and China, are devoted to the former task, and Part III, which examines Dōgen's thought concerning the Buddha-nature, is devoted to the latter. It is hoped that through the examination of Dōgen's conception of the Buddha-nature in the light of the previous articulation of the concept, it will be possible to form conclusions concerning the significance of Dōgen's thought in Buddhist doctrinal history. (Grosnick, introduction, 7–8)

Citation	Grosnick, William. "The Zen Master Dōgen’s Understanding of the Buddha-Nature in Light of the Historical Development of the Buddha-Nature Concept in India, China, and Japan." PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1979.

ContentsSources

• • • Preface and Acknowledgementiii
    • List of Abbreviationsviii
  • Introduction: The Nature and Purpose of the Present Study1
• Part One: The Indian Origins of the Buddha-Nature Doctrine15
  • Chapter I: The Origins of the Buddha-Nature Concept16
    • A. The Original Sanskrit Term for the Buddha-Nature17
    • B. The Origins of the Buddhadhātu Concept in the Tathāgatagarbha
           Literature22
    • C. The Ekayāna Origins of the Tathāgatagarbha and Buddhadhātu
           Concepts26
  • Chapter II: The Twofold Meaning of the Buddhadhātu38
    • A. The First Meaning: The Buddhadhātu as the "Store" of the
           Buddhadharmas39
    • B. The Second Meaning: The Buddhadhātu as the Basis (Āśraya) of the
           Buddhadharmas48
    • C. Tathatā and the Non-Origination of Discrimination51
    • D. Cittaprakṛti and Non-Origination59
    • E. The Buddhadhātu as the Realm of the Buddha's Wisdom61
    • F. The Positive Character of the Buddhadhātu66
  • Chapter III: The Amalgamation of the Tathāgatagarbha and Buddhadhātu Concepts with Yogācārin Teachings76
    • A. Evidence of Yogācārin-Tathāgatagarbha Syncretism76
    • B. Differences Within the Yogācārin School81
    • C. The Positive Evaluation of the Absolute in Both Yogācārin and
           Tathāgatagarbha Texts: Something "Left Over" in Emptiness85
    • D. The Buddhadhātu and Subject-Object Non-Duality89
    • E. The Tathāgatagarbha and the Three Svabhāvas100
  • Conclusion: The Central Features of the Buddhadhātu Concept in India105
• Part II: The Buddha-Nature Concept in China112
  • Chapter IV: The Introduction of the Buddha-Nature Concept to China113
    • A. The Popularity of the Buddha-Nature Concept in China113
    • B. Early Reactions to the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra123
    • C. Chih-yi132
    • D. T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen Disagreements over the Buddha-Nature135
  • Chapter V: The Ekayāna-Triyāna Controversy over the Buddha-Nature144
    • A. A Short History of the Controversy144
    • B. A Critical Appraisal of the Issues Involved in the Controversy154

Chapter VI: Ch'an Buddhist Understandings of the Buddha-Nature. 161 A. T'ang Dynasty Ch'an: The Treatment of the Buddha- Nature in its Scriptural Context. 162 B, Confusion and Corruption in Sung Dynasty Ch'an 172 Conclusion: The Main Characteristics of the Buddha- Nature Theory in China. 181 Part III: Dogen's Understanding of the Buddha-Nature. 187 Chapter VII: The Formation of Dogen's Understanding of the Buddha-Nature. . 188 A. The Tendai Concept of Original Enlightenment. 189 B. Reactions Against the Idea of Original Enlightenment • 19.!i- C. Dogen's Dilemma and Its Subsequent Resolution. 198

Chapter VIII: Dogen's Understanding of the Buddha-Nature. A. The Basic Premise of Dogen's Idea of the BuddhaNature: What is it? . B. "All-Being" and the Buddha-Nature: the Phenomenal as the Absolute. C. "All-Being" as a Realm of Subject-Object Non-Duality D. Subject-Object Non-Duality and the Enlightenment of the Insentient. E. Enlightenment as a Bodily Attainment. F. The Dynamic Quality of All-Being. G. The Buddha-Nature and Eternality. H. Time and the Buddha-Nature. Chapter IX: Dogen's Understanding of Practice and the Buddha-Nature. A. The Need to Practice the Buddha-Nature. B. The Rejection of Stages in Practice and Striving for Enlightenment. C. Practice as the Completed Activity of the Buddha. D. Everyday Life as the Stuff of Practice. E. Wrong Practice. F. Practice and the Conception of Original Enlightenment Conclusion: The Significance of Dogen's Thought Concerning the Buddha-Nature. Appendix: An Annotated Translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo Bussho Bibliography. vii 208 209 210 . 213 218 . 220 221 223 224 228 228 . 233 . 236 240 244 248 257 265 323

Dōgen. 正法眼蔵 (Shōbōgenzō), T2582, 82: https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT/ddb-bdk-sat2.php

• Manuscript Editions:
  • 75 fascicles, "original" edition, edited by Dōgen.
  • 12 fascicles Yōkōji edition.
  • 60 fascicles Eiheiji edition, edited by Giun (1253-1333).
  • 84 fascicles edition, edited by Bonsei (d. 1427) in 1419.
  • 89 fascicles edition, edited by Manzan Dōhaku (1636-1715) in 1684 at Daishōji.
  • 95 fascicles edition, edited by Kōzen (1627-1693) in 1690 at Eiheiji.

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

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tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

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ekayāna - The notion that ultimately there is only one vehicle, or means, of achieving enlightenment. Skt. एकयान Tib. ཐེག་པ་གཅིག་པ་ Ch. 一乘

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tathatā - Suchness itself, absolute reality, or thusness, as in the ultimate state of being of phenomena. Skt. तथता Tib. དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད་

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"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.

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triyāna - Commonly seen in a Mahāyāna context, the three vehicles are the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and Bodhisattvayāna, which reference the three different types of Buddhist practitioners. However, these three vehicles can also reference the three types of Buddhist teachings of the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna (or Pāramitāyāna), and the Vajrayāna. Skt. त्रियान Tib. ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་ Ch. 三乗

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