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Buddha-Nature in Comparative Perspective

In this interview, Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses buddha-nature and the key ideas behind it, the controversies it generates, and some of the related Buddhist philosophy in comparative perspective.

Emptiness or Luminosity: What's the Deal?

Karl Brunnhölzl discusses the qualities of buddha-nature as they relate to emptiness or luminosity with insightful comments about how to relate to each concept in our practice.

When the Clouds Part

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The Center of the Sunlit Sky

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Luminous Heart

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Philosophical Ideas

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Dzogchen & Buddha-Nature

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Selected Bibliography & Resources

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The experts on buddha-nature

Klaus-Dieter Mathes

A Direct Path to the Buddha Within

Book

Mi bskyod rdo rje on Buddha Nature and its Adventitious Stains

Article

Buddha-Nature in Comparative Perspective

In this interview, Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses buddha-nature and the key ideas behind it, the controversies it generates, and some of the related Buddhist philosophy in comparative perspective.

On the Ratnagotravibhāga

Alex Gardner

On the Ratnagotravibhāga

Article

The History

Topic Page

The Doctrine

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Publications

Brunnhölzl

When the Clouds Part

Higgins & Draszczyk

Mahāmudrā and the Middle Way

Takasaki

A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga

Hubbard & Swanson

Pruning the Bodhi Tree

Study the sources

The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra and several others. The famous Laṅkāvatārasūtra was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, or "Gyu Lama" as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (大乗起信論) was the most influential treatise in spreading buddha-nature theory.

Read more on the sources for buddha-nature teachings...

The Ratnagotravibhāga

Source Text

The Root Verses

Study Resource

Verse I.28

Point of Interest

Traditional expositions

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Dorjee Dudjom

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

Dzogchen - Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition. Skt. महासन्धि Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན།

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

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

An important sūtra source for the Ratnagotravibhāga, particularly for its discussion of the nine examples that illustrate how all sentient beings possess buddha-nature.

"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.

Descent into Laṅka Sūtra, a very influential text in East Asia and Nepal.

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

The Awakening of Faith is a key source text for buddha-nature theory in East Asian Buddhism.

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

The Awakening of Faith is a key source text for buddha-nature theory in East Asian Buddhism.