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Discover Buddha-Nature

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What is buddha-nature?

What is buddha-nature? more

• We already all have buddha-nature!

• What is the main source of buddha-nature teachings? Read On the Ratnagotravibhāga

• Learn about the "Three Reasons" in Verse_I.28

• Traditional Study Guide

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Is buddha-nature emptiness or luminosity?

Is buddha-nature emptiness or luminosity? more

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How did buddha-nature thought develop?

The theory of buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha, for the most part)--that all sentient beings somehow possess the innate buddhahood or potential to become buddhas--seems to have appeared in India as early as the Second Century CE before spreading to China and Tibet and beyond. The concept seems to have initially been taught as a means of inspiration, offered in response to the seeming nihilism of Madhyamaka emptiness-theory, as well as to the Yogācāra doctrine of Three Natures which restricted buddhahood to only a select few. For this reason scholars mostly agree that buddha-nature theory developed alongside--rather than part of--the two main Indian Mayāyāna Buddhist doctrinal schools, and great thinkers of each have both embraced it and rejected elements of the teaching. Buddha-nature was taught in a handful of early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra and the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, and systematized first in the Ratnagotravibhāga, a treatise composed before the year 498 (when it was brought to China). From there it appears to have permeated most Buddhist schools, becoming a significant topic of debate among them. more

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How do I engage with buddha-nature in my practice?

How do I engage with buddha-nature in my practice? more

• Practicing buddha-nature
• Revealing buddha-nature
• Talking about buddha-nature

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śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt. शून्यता Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ Ch. 空,空門

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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

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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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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

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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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These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

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