A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
From Buddha-Nature
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| + | |BookEssay=A Buddha Within is a study and translation of the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, one of the earliest Indian scriptures to promote buddha-nature. The short sūtra contains nine similes for buddha-nature that can be divided into two categories: potential and perfected. These include the metaphor of a seed and gold hidden under a poor person's house. In the first buddha-nature must be grown and developed; in the second it is already perfected and must just be revealed. In both cases, however, buddha-nature is already present, and no fundamental transformation is needed to become a buddha: the promise is made that buddhahood is already present in all sentient beings. Zimmerman argues that the sūtra is best read as an ethical treatise: encouragement to pursue enlightenment. | ||
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| + | The first 100 pages of the book are Zimmerman's commentary on the sūtra and its place in Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan Buddhism. He argues that there were two recensions of the scripture in India, the earliest of which went to China, and the later which was translated fourteen times into Tibetan. Key to his argument is that the Chinese translations do not contain the first simile of a pure white lotus growing in a muddy swamp; this, the sole passage to use the terms tathāgatagarbha, was thus added later, after the term had gained popularity. Zimmerman surveys the doctrinal issues raised by the scripture, including the relationship between buddha-nature theory and Yogacāra in China, and zhentong and rangtong in the Tibetan context. The remainder of the book is an analysis of each recension and translation, an English translation incorporating all recensions and translations, and a critical edition of the Tibetan and Chinese; there is no surviving Sanskrit version. | ||
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Revision as of 10:58, 25 July 2018
A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
Book
Book
Michael Zimmermann's A Buddha Within is a comprehensive edition of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (TGS) and an annotated English translation based on Tibetan materials. It includes "an analysis of the textual history of the TGS, an interpretation of the term tathāgatagarbha, a discussion of the authors' ideas as reflected in the sūtra, and the specification of the place of the TGS in Indian Buddhist history"(8). Key sections include an analysis of the term tathāgatagarbha (39), a detailed discussion of terms related to buddha-nature (50-62), and a discussion of the sources, motives, and reception of the text in India, Tibet, China, and in the twentieth century (67-90).
| Citation | Zimmermann, Michael. A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra; The Earliest Exposition of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India. Biblotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica 6. Tokyo: International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, 2002. http://lirs.ru/lib/Tathagatagarbhasutra,Zimmermann,2002.pdf. |
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- Tathāgatagarbhasūtra - Āryatathāgatagarbhanāmamahāyānasūtra - ('Phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo). In Derge Kangyur D258, mdo sde, vol. 66, za 245b2-259b4. See rKTs etexts, Columbia AIBS, ACIP etexts,
.
