Questions

The Questions

What does it mean to have buddha-nature?

That we are fundamentally good, and that we have an inborn potential to be free

What does it mean if we did not have buddha-nature? That we are not guaranteed liberation

What does "luminosity" mean in this context? It refers to "self-reflexive awareness" which means awareness naturally aware of itself. Other English terms used for the same concept include "clarity," but this word fails to evoke the active aspect of luminosity. The mind's natural state is not passive like a piece of glass, but actively engaging with the phenomenal world.

Is buddha-nature the same thing as a self? Critics of the theory would say yes, but adherents disagree, arguing that there is nothing individual about buddha-nature. It is instead the fundamental nature of consciousness, a shared characteristic rather than a separate entity.

How does one practice?

Different Buddhist traditions engage with buddha-nature in different ways. Some speak of revealing what is already perfect, others speak of perfecting what is now only a potential.

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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

svasaṃvedana - An important term for the Yogācāra that refers to a consciousness of consciousness itself, or how one knows that they know something. It was a hotly debated topic that was disputed by followers of the Madhyamaka. In Tibet it would later become a common Dzogchen term, though with the entirely different meaning of one's own innate awareness (rig pa), a crucial concept in the Dzogchen teachings. Skt. स्वसंवेदन Tib. རང་རིག་ Ch. 自證分

ātman - Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena. Skt. आत्मन् Tib. བདག་ Ch. 我,灵魂