Basic Program: Buddha Nature, Essence of Enlightenment by Don Handrick

{{Article |ArticleLayout=Alternate Source |ArticleTitle=Basic Program: Buddha Nature, Essence of Enlightenment by Don Handrick |TilePhoto=File:Handrick Don personal website.jpg |AlternateSourceName=archive.org |AlternateSourceLink=https://archive.org/details/BuddhaNatureEssenceOfEnlightenment2014/Essence_of_Enlightenment_01_2014-05-28.mp3 |AuthorPage=People/Handrick, D. |PubDate=2014/05/28 |ArticleContent=What is enlightenment? How is it possible? Who can achieve it? One of Mahayana Buddhism’s most important teachings is the doctrine of Tathāgatagarbha, or Buddha Nature, the innate pure and changeless essence of the mind which gives rise to the fundamental potential for each being to attain full enlightenment or Buddhahood. This course in the FPMT Basic Program utilizes the first chapter of Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum, a text replete with rich poetic imagery and metaphor, to explore this profound and inspiring topic. Taught by Don Handrick. (Source Accessed Nov 16, 2020)

The main text that is used in the course is a translation of the first chapter of the Ratnagotravibhāga by Jeffrey Hopkins and Joe Wilson called "The Tathāgata Essence."

For a three-part video series by Don Handrick on the Uttaratantra, click here

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

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

Uttaratantra - The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra. Skt. उत्तरतन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་ Ch. 寶性論

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