Difference between revisions of "How did buddha-nature thought develop?"

Revision as of 00:44, 11 October 2018

The theory of buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha, for the most part)--that all sentient beings somehow possess the innate buddhahood or potential to become buddhas--seems to have appeared in India as early as the Second Century CE before spreading to China and Tibet and beyond. The concept seems to have initially been taught as a means of inspiration, offered in response to the seeming nihilism of Madhyamaka emptiness-theory, as well as to the Yogācāra doctrine of Three Natures which restricted buddhahood to only a select few. For this reason scholars mostly agree that buddha-nature theory developed alongside--rather than part of--the two main Indian Mayāyāna Buddhist doctrinal schools, and great thinkers of each have both embraced it and rejected elements of the teaching. Buddha-nature was taught in a handful of early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra and the Śrīmālādevīsūtra, and systematized first in the Ratnagotravibhāga, a treatise composed before the year 498 (when it was brought to China). From there it appears to have permeated most Buddhist schools, becoming a significant topic of debate among them.

Revision as of 00:42, 11 October 2018 (view source) AlexG (talk \| contribs) ← Older edit		Revision as of 00:44, 11 October 2018 (view source) AlexG (talk \| contribs) Newer edit →
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	The theory of buddha-nature (''tathāgatagarbha'', for the most part)--that all sentient beings somehow possess the innate buddhahood or potential to become buddhas--seems to have appeared in India in as early as the Second Century CE before spreading to China and Tibet and beyond. The concept seems to have initially been taught as a means of inspiration, offered in response to the seeming nihilism of Madhyamaka emptiness-theory, as well as to the Yogācāra doctrine of Three Natures which restricted buddhahood to only a select few. For this reason scholars mostly agree that buddha-nature theory developed alongside--rather than part of--the two main Indian Mayāyāna Buddhist doctrinal schools, and great thinkers of each have both embraced it and rejected elements of the teaching. Buddha-nature was taught in a handful of early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' and the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'', and systematized first in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', a treatise composed before the year 498 (when it was brought to China). From there it appears to have permeated most Buddhist schools, becoming a significant topic of debate among them.	+	The theory of buddha-nature (''tathāgatagarbha'', for the most part)--that all sentient beings somehow possess the innate buddhahood or potential to become buddhas--seems to have appeared in India as early as the Second Century CE before spreading to China and Tibet and beyond. The concept seems to have initially been taught as a means of inspiration, offered in response to the seeming nihilism of Madhyamaka emptiness-theory, as well as to the Yogācāra doctrine of Three Natures which restricted buddhahood to only a select few. For this reason scholars mostly agree that buddha-nature theory developed alongside--rather than part of--the two main Indian Mayāyāna Buddhist doctrinal schools, and great thinkers of each have both embraced it and rejected elements of the teaching. Buddha-nature was taught in a handful of early Mahāyāna sūtras such as the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' and the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'', and systematized first in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', a treatise composed before the year 498 (when it was brought to China). From there it appears to have permeated most Buddhist schools, becoming a significant topic of debate among them.