Nonorigination and Nirvāṇa in the Early Tathāgatagarbha Literature

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|ArticleTitle=Nonorigination and Nirvāṇa in the Early Tathāgatagarbha Literature
|AuthorPage=People/Grosnick, W.
|ArticleSummary=One of the most interesting notions found in the early ''tathāgatagarbha'' literature is the idea that ''nirvāṇa'' should be understood as nonorigination (''anutpāda''). This idea is explicitly formulated in two texts, the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', the only ''śāstra'' extant in Sanskrit which is completely devoted to the ''tathāgatagarbha'' and Buddha-nature teachings, and the ''Jñānālokālaṅkārasūtra'', the ''sūtra'' upon which the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' bases its exposition of nonorigination. The ''Jñānālokālaṅkārasūtra'' itself does not speak of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' or Buddha-nature doctrines, but the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' takes the ''Jñānālokālaṅkārasūtra'' explanation of nonorigination and links it to the view of ''nirvāṇa'' found in two of the important early ''sūtras'' that do speak of the ''tathāgatagarbha'', the ''Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa'' and the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra''. This interpretation of ''nirvāṇa'' in terms of nonorigination is of considerable importance in understanding the early ''tathāgatagarbha'' teaching, for it clarifies certain notions frequently associated with the ''tathāgatagarbha'' like the "natural purity of mind" (''cittaprakṛtiviśuddhi'')—notions which have been hotly debated ever since the doctrine's inception. It may also tell us something about the conceptual issues which divided the schools of early Buddhism and so hold clues for understanding the origin of Mahāyāna Buddhism. (Grosnick, "Nonorigination and ''Nirvāṇa''," 33)<br><br>
[https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8547/2454 Read more here . . .]
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