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<div class="h1 large explore-page-bg text-center m-0" style="padding: 2em 0;">Discover</div>
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<div class="position-relative section-header pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">New to Buddhism or to the concept of buddha-nature? Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, and books from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make buddha-nature easily understandable and accessible to a general audience.




Buddha-Nature in East Asia
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Multimedia
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<div class="text-80 text-muted position-absolute" style="bottom: 7px; right: 10px;">[[Site Guide|Complete Site Guide]]</div>
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|header=Buddha-Nature: What is it? How is it different from soul?
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<div class="position-relative my-lg-5 font-italic">Begin Discovering Your Buddha-Nature</div>
|content="Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
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<div class="position-relative p-5 text-120">Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, books, and translations of primary sources from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make the concept of buddha-nature understandable and accessible to a general audience.</div>
|header=The Ideas
 
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<div class="h2 position-relative pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Tibet
|content=Is buddha-nature already perfected and simply obscured by delusion, or is it a seed or potential that must be cultivated and perfected? Is buddha-nature a definitive or provisional teaching? Is it the mind's natural luminosity, or is it the same as emptiness? These are questions that cut to the heart of Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine regarding the nature of enlightenment, reality, and the Path. This page introduces some of the key questions in buddha-nature theory, framed in terms of binaries.
 
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|header=The Topics
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|content=In the latter stages of its historical development in India, the idea of buddha-nature emerged as one of the most salient features of the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition. As this form of Buddhism spread beyond the cultural milieu of ancient India, the importance of buddha-nature became evermore pronounced. In East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, buddha-nature came to be a major keystone in the assimilation and adaptation of the Indian scriptural tradition. And, as these forms of Buddhism expanded upon that Indian heritage and developed their own literary expression of the Buddhist teachings, buddha-nature continued to be a major theme that was revisited again and again. Thus buddha-nature was weaved into the very fabric of these Buddhist traditions. Below you will find a list of pertinent topics related to buddha-nature, along with some of the major themes in which it played a crucial role.
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|link=Media/We_Are_Enlightened_by_Nature
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|content=Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche provides encouragement that we are all enlightened by nature, and the path is a process of discovering that enlightened nature.
|header=The People
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|content=As one of the key doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism, buddha-nature has been taught by many of the greatest masters of India, China, Tibet, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea for well over a thousand years. Here you will find introductions to the many authors who have written on the topic, from the luminaries of Indian Madhyamaka to the great saints of Japan and Tibet. Also in this section, you will find pages for the many contemporary scholars and teachers who have written and spoken on buddha-nature. Simply filter the entire list using the search/filter bar below.
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|link=Media/Discovering_Buddha_Nature:_Talk_by_Yongey_Mingyur_Rinpoche
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|header=Discovering Buddha Nature: Talk by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
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|link=History
|content=Mingyur Rinpoche describes buddha-nature with the metaphor of a diamond covered in mud, explaining how the innate purity of awareness can be obscured, but never changed.
|header=The History
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|content=The doctrine of buddha-nature became widespread in India in the first centuries of the Common Era. Although the ideas have roots that stretch back to the earliest teachings of the Buddha, the concept of tathāgatagarbha—"womb or seed of buddhahood"—was first taught in Mahāyāna communities. It was related to, but most likely distinct from both Madhyamaka and Yogācāra, the dominant schools of the Mahāyāna, emerging primarily from a corpus of scripture collectively known as Tathāgatagarbha sūtras and a commentary on them known as the Ratnagotravibhāga. As these scriptures circulated in India and were translated into Chinese and Tibetan, buddha-nature theory spread and was ultimately integrated—albeit with significant differences—into all philosophical schools and traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism, from Japanese Zen to Tibetan Mahāmudrā.
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|link=Media/Dealing_with_Depression:_Interview_with_Jetsunma_Tenzin_Palmo_on_Study_Buddhism
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|header=Dealing with Depression: Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Study Buddhism
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|content=Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses buddha-nature beautifully for a general audience.
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|header=The Literature
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|content=Texts and multilingual resources.
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|link=Media/What_Is_Buddha-Nature?_by_Wulstan_Fletcher
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|header=What Is Buddha-Nature? by Wulstan Fletcher
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|content=Wulstan Fletcher explains buddha-nature as the deepest aspect of oneself, a wellspring of goodness and wisdom that is always present.
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|text=The Bibliography
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|link=Media/On_How_Beginning_Students_Might_Engage_with_Buddha-Nature_Teachings_by_Ringu_Tulku
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|header=On How Beginning Students Might Engage with Buddha-Nature Teachings by Ringu Tulku
|link=Primary_Sources
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/cf/Ringu_Tulku-267x358.jpg
|text=The Source Texts
|content=Ringu Tulku talks about how beginning students might start to orient themselves toward buddha-nature teachings in practice. He explains that it is important to recognize that everybody has the seed of wisdom and compassion within them.  
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|text=The Ratnagotravibhāga
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|header=Buddha Nature: What Is It? How Is It Different from soul? A Teaching from Zasep Tulku
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|content="Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
|link=Texts/Ratnagotravibhāga_Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra/Root_Verses
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|text=The Multilingual Root Verses
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|link=Media/Dzongsar_Jamyang_Khyentse_Rinpoche_Talks_about_Buddha-Nature
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|header=Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Talks about Buddha-Nature
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|header=The Library
|content=Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche talks about buddha-nature and offers a brief guided meditation.
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/79/Library-unsplash.jpg/320px-Library-unsplash.jpg
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|content=A curated space for publications on buddha-nature.
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|link=Media/Matthieu_Ricard:_Is_Buddha-Nature_a_Seed_to_Be_Cultivated_or_Something_that_Must_Be_Revealed?
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|header=Matthieu Ricard: Is Buddha-Nature a Seed to Be Cultivated or Something that Must Be Revealed?
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/79/Library-unsplash.jpg/320px-Library-unsplash.jpg
|content=In an excerpt from "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho, Matthieu Ricard answers this common question.
|text=The Complete Library
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|text=Books
|header=The 17th Karmapa on the Nature of All Beings
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|content=H.H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, comments on a quote of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje: "The nature of all beings is always Buddha" (འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་).
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|header=The Fourteenth Dalai Lama on Buddha-Nature
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|content=The Dalai Lama delivers an address entitled "Buddha-Nature" to members of the Theosophical Society in America on July 21st, 1981. His comments on buddha-nature come after a series of preliminary remarks, at 14 min, 23 secs.
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/7f/Articles.jpeg/320px-Articles.jpeg
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|link=Library/Interviews
 
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/1/15/Mic.jpg/320px-Mic.jpg
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|text=Interviews
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|link=Library/Sutras
|link=Articles/On_Buddhanature—and_What_It_Is_Not
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/d/d8/Sutra_alt.jpeg
|header=On Buddhanature—and What It Is Not, by Khandro Rinpoche
|text=Sutras
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/c/ce/Khandro_Rinpoche_RigpaWiki.jpg/433px-Khandro_Rinpoche_RigpaWiki.jpg
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|content="Buddhism must always be seen as a skillful means for realizing the most basic aspect of human life: one's inherent buddhanature."
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|link=Library/Commentaries
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|link=Articles/Emptiness–Buddhanature
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|header=Emptiness–Buddhanature, by Traleg Kyabgon
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/c0/Traleg-Rinpoche_LionsRoar.jpg
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|content="Our true nature is buddhanature and that buddhanature is the nature of all sentient beings."
|link=Library/People
|watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/a/a3/Asanga_and_Maitreya.jpg/168px-Asanga_and_Maitreya.jpg
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|link=Articles/Lasting_Happiness
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|header=Lasting Happiness, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
|link=Library/Multimedia
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/b/bc/YMR_LamaYadi_LamaTrinley_KhenpoKunga_0534_FLT-1.jpg
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/b/b9/Media.jpeg/320px-Media.jpeg
|content="... We don’t have to look outside the present moment to experience wisdom, compassion, and the boundless purity of our true nature."
|text=Multimedia
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|link=Glossary
|link=Articles/This_Is_My_Mind,_Luminous_and_Empty
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/72/Search-reduced.jpg/320px-Search-reduced.jpg
|header=This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
|text=Terms Glossary
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/2/28/Tsoknyi_TsoknyiRinpocheWebsite.jpg
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|content="That something, when I was old enough to fit words to it, is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings.... In many Buddhist teachings, it’s known as buddhanature."
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/7f/Articles.jpeg/320px-Articles.jpeg
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|text=The Bibliography
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|link=Articles/Spotless_from_the_Start
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|header=Spotless from the Start
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/57/Khyentse_Dzongsar_Wikipedia.jpg
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|content="In order to overcome the five main obstacles facing a bodhisattva," says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, "we must realize that all beings are primordially pure."
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|watermark=Article
|header=The Buddha-Nature Themes
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/c/c1/Christine-wehrmeier-DnVNH2_GY5g-unsplash.jpg/400px-Christine-wehrmeier-DnVNH2_GY5g-unsplash.jpg
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|content=Here you will find some examples of major themes in which the influence of buddha-nature is readily apparent.
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|link=Articles/The_Sky_Dragon's_Profound_Roar
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|header=The Sky Dragon's Profound Roar, by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/a/a8/Khen_Tsultrim.jpg
{{MiniTileCustom
|content="We practice the genuine dharma because it is a method for clearing away the temporary stains that obscure our vision of the true nature of mind."
|link=The Seven Vajra Topics
|watermark=Article
|text=The Seven Vajra Topics
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/7e/Maitreya_teaching_in_Tushita.jpg/268px-Maitreya_teaching_in_Tushita.jpg
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|link=The Nine Similes
|text=The Nine Similes
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/5/57/Buddha_Within.jpg
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|page=Books/Our_Human_Potential
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|link=The Traditions of Ngok and Tsen
|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
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|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Hopkins,_J.|Jeffrey Hopkins]]
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|link=Other-Emptiness and the Great Middle Way
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/c7/Luminosity.jpg
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|authorimage=People/Rinchen,_Sonam
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|name=[[People/Rinchen,_Sonam.|Geshe Sonam Rinchen]]
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/d/d8/Tigles.jpeg/242px-Tigles.jpeg
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|title=Carefree Dignity
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|text=Tantra & Buddha-Nature
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|image=File:Samsāra, Nirvāna, and Buddha Nature-front.jpg
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|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
|link=Contemporary Masters on Buddha-Nature
|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Chodron,_T.|Thubten Chodron]]
|text=Contemporary Masters on Buddha-Nature
|title=Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/7/7e/Maitreya_teaching_in_Tushita.jpg/268px-Maitreya_teaching_in_Tushita.jpg
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|page=Books/Progressive_Stages_of_Meditation_on_Emptiness_(2016)
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|image=File:Progressive_Stages_of_Meditation_on_Emptiness_(2016)-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Gyamtso,_Khenpo_Tsultrim
|name=[[People/Gyamtso,_Khenpo_Tsultrim|Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso]]
|title=Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness
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{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Fundamental_Potential_for_Enlightenment_in_Tibetan_Buddhism
|image=File:The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Loden,_Thubten
|name=[[People/Loden,_Thubten|Thubten Loden]]
|title=The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment
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<div class="h2 position-relative pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in East Asia</div>
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|link=Media/Buddha-Nature_—_Episode_22_of_True_Words:_A_Shingon_Buddhist_Podcast
|header=Buddha-Nature by Rev. George Kosho Finch
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/84/Finch_Rev._George_Kosho_patheos.jpg
|content=This week's topic is Buddha Nature, in Sanskrit: ''tathāgatagarbha'' (如来藏). All sentient beings are considered to be in possession of the Buddha Nature, the potential to attain enlightenment.
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|link=Media/It_Is_Your_Buddha_Nature_That_Sees,_Hears_and_Speaks!―Dharma_Talk_by_Daehaeng_Kun_Sunim
|header=It Is Your Buddha-Nature That Sees, Hears, and Speaks!
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/3/37/Daehaeng_Wikipedia.jpg
|content=Daehaeng Kun Sunim, a Seon (Zen) master and Buddhist nun from Korea, responds to questions about the concept of ''Juingong'' (the underlying mind) from an audience member.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Trusting_in_Our_Own_Buddha_Nature
|header=Trusting in Our Own Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/6/68/Sattizahn_Ed_SFZC.jpg
|content=Rinso Ed Sattizahn gives a dharma talk at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on the topic of buddha-nature. He touches on selections from Dōgen's ''Genjōkōan'' to illustrate this Buddhist teaching.
|watermark=Audio
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/One's_True_Mind_and_Inherent_Nature_by_Sheng_Yen
|header=One's True Mind and Inherent Nature by Sheng Yen
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/c9/ShengYen_Tricycle.jpeg
|content=Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the buddha-nature.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Kokyo_Henkel_on_Buddha-Nature
|header=The Cloudless Sky of Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/56/Henkel_Kokyo_personal_website.jpg
|content=Rev. Kokyo Henkel teaches on "The Cloudless Sky of Buddha Nature" at the San Francisco Zen Center on September 6, 2011.
|watermark=Audio
}}
</div>
</div>
<div class="vienna-gradient pt-5 pb-4">
</div>
<div class="section-header pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Featured Articles</div>
<div class="vienna-gradient pt-5 pb-4">
<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 pt-4">
 
{{LocalTile
<div class="h4 position-relative pl-4">Articles</div>
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-4
|link=Events
|header=Events
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/9/97/Vienna_2019_-_Day_2_-_July_17th_-_01.jpg/800px-Vienna_2019_-_Day_2_-_July_17th_-_01.jpg
|content=This page of events related to the Buddha-Nature project includes recordings from scholarly meetings, special interviews and speeches, as well as online events hosted by Tsadra Foundation.
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-4
|link=Topic_of_the_week
|header=Topic of the week
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/a/a2/Pecha-pixabay.jpg/800px-Pecha-pixabay.jpg
|content=Read regular posts from the writer-in-digital-residence, Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho.
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-4
|link=Buddha-Nature_Event-19_September_2020
|header=Celebrating Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/5/57/Buddha_Life_Deeds_-_Activity_-_Cropped.jpg/800px-Buddha_Life_Deeds_-_Activity_-_Cropped.jpg
|content=Live Event: Celebrating Buddha-Nature · Join us on Zoom or Facebook live as we celebrate Buddha-Nature teachings.
|watermark=Event
}}
</div>


<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 py-4">
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Mind_Is_Buddha
|header=Mind Is Buddha
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/9/99/Arnold_Geoffrey_Shugen_Wikipedia.jpg
|content=Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Everything_Is_Buddhanature
|header=Everything Is Buddhanature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/3/35/Blacker_Melissa_Personal_Website.jpg
|content=Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Trust_Practice,_Practice_Trust
|header=Trust Practice, Practice Trust
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/6/64/Chayat_Sherry_zen_studies_society.jpg
|content=When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Impermanence_is_Buddha_Nature
|header=Impermanence Is Buddha Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/88/Fischer_norman.jpg
|content=Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/On_the_Awakening_of_Faith_in_the_Mahāyāna
|header=On the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna''
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|content=An introduction to the ''Awakening of Faith'', an immensely important treatise popular in all traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/The_Path_of_Gratitude
|header=The Path of Gratitude
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/f/fb/Jeff_wilson_dailybuddhism.jpg
|content=In Shin Buddhism, we don’t practice to achieve anything—not enlightenment, good karma, a favorable rebirth, or material rewards. We practice simply to give thanks for what we have received.
|watermark=Article
}}
</div>


<div class="h4 position-relative pl-4">Books</div>


<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Books</div>
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap py-4">
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{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/No_River_to_Cross
|page=Books/No_River_to_Cross
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|name=[[People/Daehaeng|Daehaeng]]
|name=[[People/Daehaeng|Daehaeng]]
|title=No River to Cross
|title=No River to Cross
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_Reconsidered_-_Vol_1
|page=Books/Zen_Mind,_Beginner's_Mind
|authorimage=People/Higgins, D.
|authorimage=People/Suzuki,_S.
|name=[[People/Higgins, D.|Higgins]] & [[Draszczyk, M.|Draszczyk]]
|name=[[People/Suzuki,_S.|Suzuki]]
|title=Buddha Nature Reconsidered
|title=Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mahāyāna_Faith
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_(Sallie_King)
|authorimage=People/Lusthaus, D.
|authorimage=People/King,_S.
|name=[[People/Jorgensen, J.|Jorgensen]] & [[People/Lusthaus, D.|Lusthaus]], et al.
|name=[[People/King,_S.|King]]
|title=Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith
|title=Buddha Nature
|classes=px-4
}}
</div>
</div>
 
{{FeaturedItem
|page=Primary_Sources
|description=<div class="h2 mt-2 mb-4 pl-4 border-bottom-rightfade">Study the Sources</div>
<div class="pr-lg-5 pl-4">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 ''Gyü 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) and the ''Vajrasamādhisūtra'' were the most influential treatises in spreading buddha-nature theory. And in Japan, the Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253), whose instructional lectures were collected in his ''Shōbōgenzo'', also wrote extensively on the topic of buddha-nature. All of these important buddha-nature texts have been translated into English by leading scholars and translators. Below is a selection of these works:</div>
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/c/c7/Maitreya_statue.jpg/431px-Maitreya_statue.jpg
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|imageposition=right
|imageclasses=flip-h
|additionalcontent=<div class="border-top-redfade py-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap"></div>
}}
<div class="h2 position-relative pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Translation</div>
 
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap py-4">
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/A_Buddha_Within:_The_Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
|authorimage=People/Zimmermann, M.
|name=[[People/Zimmermann, M.|Zimmermann]]
|title=A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
|classes=px-4
}}  
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Nirvana_Sutra_Volume_I
|authorimage=People/Blum,_M.
|name=[[People/Blum,_M.|Blum]]
|title=The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Lion's_Roar_of_Queen_Śrīmālā
|authorimage=People/Wayman,_A.
|name=[[People/Wayman,_A.|Alex Wayman]] & [[People/Wayman,_H.|Hideko Wayman]]
|title=The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Lankavatara_Sutra:_A_Zen_Text
|image=File:Lankavatara Sutra Translation Commentary-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Red_Pine
|name=[[People/Red_Pine|Red Pine]]
|title=The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature:_The_Mahayana_Uttaratantra_Shastra
|image=File:Buddha Nature The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Fuchs,_R.
|name=[[People/Fuchs,_R.|Fuchs]]
|title=Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mahāyāna_Faith
|authorimage=People/Lusthaus, D.
|name=[[People/Jorgensen, J.|Jorgensen]] & [[People/Lusthaus, D.|Lusthaus]]
|title=Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Formation_of_Ch'an_Ideology_in_China_and_Korea
|image=File:The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Buswell,_R.
|name=[[People/Buswell,_R.|Buswell]]
|title=The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea (The ''Vajrasamādhi Sūtra'')
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Heart_of_Dōgen's_Shōbōgenzō
|image=File:The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Waddell,_N.
|name=[[People/Waddell,_N.|Waddell]] & [[People/Abe, M.|Abe]]
|title=The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
|classes=px-4
}}
</div>
 
<div class="h2 position-relative pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">More Scholarship on Buddha-Nature</div>
 
{{FeaturedItem
|page=Articles/Karl_Brunnhölzl_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
|title=Karl Brunnhölzl's Buddha-Nature Interview
|description=In an interview with the Tsadra Foundation, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses why one might study buddha-nature, the purpose of the buddha-nature teachings, and the concept of the innate luminosity of mind.
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/e/e1/Brunnholzl_Karl_Mitra-Karl.jpg
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|additionalcontent=<div class="py-3 mb-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap row">
{{CustomSmallSessionTile
|classes=col-md-4 text-70
|title=Why Study Buddha-Nature?
|bottomLeftLabel=Interview Clip
|minutes=2:07
|link=Media/Why_Study_Buddha-Nature?_by_Karl_Brunnhölzl
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{CustomSmallSessionTile
|page=Books/The_Other_Emptiness:_Rethinking_the_Zhentong_Buddhist_Discourse_in_Tibet
|classes=col-md-4 text-70
|authorimage=People/Sheehy, M.
|title=The Purpose of Buddha-Nature Teachings
|name=[[People/Sheehy, M.|Sheehy]] & [[People/Mathes, K.|Mathes]]
|bottomLeftLabel=Interview Clip
|title=The Other Emptiness
|minutes=3:38
|link=Media/What_Is_the_Purpose_of_Buddha-Nature_Teachings?_by_Karl_Brunnhölzl
}}
{{CustomSmallSessionTile
|classes=col-md-4 text-70
|title=What Is Luminosity?
|bottomLeftLabel=Interview Clip
|minutes=4:21
|link=Media/What_Is_Luminosity?_by_Karl_Brunnhölzl
}}
}}
</div>
</div>
<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2">[[Karl Brunnhölzl]]'s Seminal Work on Buddha-Nature</div>
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|query=[[Books/When_the_Clouds_Part]]
|classes=mt-2 mb-4 col-lg-6
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<div class="row">
{{FeaturedItem
<div class="col-lg-9 pr-lg-0">
|page=People/Gardner,_A.
{{FeaturedItem
|title=First Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Alex Gardner
|page=Articles/Karl_Brunnhölzl_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
|description=Alex Gardner served as the writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation's Buddha-Nature Project from 2017-2019. Read his introductory articles on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and the history of buddha-nature theory.
|title=Interview with Karl Brunnhölzl on Buddha-Nature
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap">
|description=In this wide-ranging video interview, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses buddha-nature and the key topics related to it. He begins by defining buddha-nature and then moves on to discuss such topics as the debate that the doctrine has generated, the concepts of emptiness and luminosity, and how buddha-nature relates to Vajrayana practice.
{{RelatedButton
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/f/f5/Brunnholzl-2017_Square.png/600px-Brunnholzl-2017_Square.png
|link=/index.php/Articles/On_the_Ratnagotravibhāga
|textclasses=karl-gradient pl-1 pt-2 pb-3
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|additionalcontent=<div class="py-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap row">
|text=On the Ratnagotravibhāga
{{#ask: [[Media/What Is Buddha-Nature? by Karl Brunnhölzl]]OR[[Media/Emptiness or Luminosity: What's the Deal? by Karl Brunnhölzl]]
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|link=/index.php/Articles/A_History_of_Buddha-Nature_Theory:_The_Literature_and_Traditions
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|sort=VideoNumberInEvent
|text=A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
|order=asc
|label-right=Article
|format=template
|target=_blank
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|wrapperclasses=my-3 depth-0
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/81/Gardner_Alex_Kitchen.jpg
<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Karl Brunnhölzl]]</div>
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|link=/index.php/Books/When_the_Clouds_Part
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/2/28/When_the_Clouds_Part-front.jpg/399px-When_the_Clouds_Part-front.jpg
|text=When the Clouds Part
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{{RelatedButton
|link=/index.php/Books/The_Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/3/30/Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky-front.jpg/404px-Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky-front.jpg
|text=The Center of the Sunlit Sky
|label-right=Book
|target=_blank
|wrapperclasses=my-2 depth-0
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{{RelatedButton
|link=/index.php/Books/Luminous_Heart
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/c/c1/Luminous_Heart-front.jpg/412px-Luminous_Heart-front.jpg
|text=Luminous Heart
|label-right=Book
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</div>
<div class="row phuntso-gradient m-0">
<div class="col-12 p-0">
{{FeaturedItem
|page=People/Phuntsho,_Karma
|title=New Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho, 2020-2022
|description=<p>The writer-in-digital-residence is the recipient of a grant designed to support Tsadra Foundation’s Buddhist literacy projects that connect the larger public with academic research and advance understanding of specific aspects of Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Writers help to curate this online resource and write essays on the history, philosophy, and practices associated with buddha-nature teachings and tathāgatagarbha theory in Tibet. These essays are addressed to an audience of educated readers of Buddhist materials and Buddhist practitioners.</p>


<p>Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. He was a researcher at CNRS, Paris, a Research Associate at Department of Social Anthropology and the Spalding Fellow for Comparative Religion at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and Research Consultant at University of Virginia. An author of over hundred books and articles including the authoritative History of Bhutan and Mipham’s Dialectics and the Debates on Emptiness, he speaks and writes extensively on Bhutan and Buddhism. [[Karma Phuntsho|Read a complete bio]].</p>
{{FeaturedItem
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/b/bb/Phuntsho%2C_Karma-OFFICIAL.jpg
|page=People/Phuntsho,_Karma
|imageposition=right
|title=Current Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho
|textclasses=pl-lg-5 pt-3 pb-3
|description=Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Read his weekly blog on topics related to Buddhism and buddha-nature, visit his "Ask the Writer-in-Residence" page to get answers to your questions, or watch the ongoing video series "Conversations on Buddha-Nature."
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{{RelatedButton
|link=https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Topic_of_the_week
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|text=Topic of the Week
|label-right=Blog
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|link=https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Ask_the_writer-in-residence
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|text=Ask the Writer-in-Residence
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{{RelatedButton
|link=https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Conversations_on_Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/b/bb/Phuntsho%2C_Karma-OFFICIAL.jpg
|text=Conversations on Buddha-Nature
|label-right=Video Series
|target=_blank
|wrapperclasses=my-3 depth-0
}}
}}
</div>
</div>
</div>
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/1/14/Tricycle_Bhutan-Karma-Phuntsho.jpg/800px-Tricycle_Bhutan-Karma-Phuntsho.jpg
|imageposition=left
|imagelink=https://tricycle.org/magazine/bhutan-on-the-brink/
|textclasses=alex-gradient pt-3 pb-2
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<div>
<div class="h2 position-relative pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Discover More Resources</div>
{{FeaturedItem
|page=Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia
|title=Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia: The 2019 Vienna Symposium
|description=[[Image:Vienna-Symposium-Banner-for-Workshops-Meetings-Tsadra-website.jpg|450px|class=h-auto p-0 col col-sm-6 col-lg-4 float-sm-right mt-2 mb-2 mb-sm-0 ml-sm-3 rounded|link=Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia|]]Increased attention to the tathāgatagarbha doctrine in the last decade has lead to significant publications and meetings on the topic of buddha-nature and related themes. Scholars in Asia, Europe, and the Americas have published new translations and studies of the foundational scriptures and commentaries, and are examining the history and literature of the doctrine. In July 2019 Tsadra Foundation partnered with the University of Vienna to bring many of these scholars together for an international symposium titled Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia. The presentations are available here and the edited papers will be published in a collection of essays from Wisdom Publications. <br> <span class="float-right">[[Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia|See all presentations <i class="fad fa-long-arrow-right rotate-45 fa-xs"></i>]]</span>
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{{#ask: [[Media/Klaus-Dieter_Mathes_at_the_2019_Tathagatagarbha_Symposium]]OR[[Media/Khenpo_Ngawang_Jorden_at_the_2019_Tathāgatagarbha_Symposium]]OR[[Media/Jacqueline_Stone_at_the_2019_Tathāgatagarbha_Symposium]]
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<div class="section-header mt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">From the experts</div>
<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 pt-0 pb-5">
<div class="row klaus-gradient m-0">
{{LocalTile
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<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Klaus-Dieter Mathes]]</div>
|header=The Literature
<div class="d-flex justify-content-around flex-wrap">
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/d/d0/Sutra.jpg
{{RelatedButton
|content=Texts and multilingual resources
|link=/index.php/Books/A_Direct_Path_to_the_Buddha_Within:_Go_Lotsāwa%27s_Mahāmudrā_Interpretation_of_the_Ratnagotravibhāga
|left-bottom-label=expand
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/7/77/A_Direct_Path_to_the_Buddha_Within-front.jpg
|extracontent=
|text=A Direct Path to the Buddha Within
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|extracontent=
|description=In this video interview Wulstan Fletcher discusses Mipham's and Longchenpa's approach to buddha-nature as well as his personal experiences with buddha-nature teachings and how they have influenced his practice.
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{{#ask: [[Media/On_Mipham_and_the_Nyingma_Approach_to_Buddha-Nature_by_Wulstan_Fletcher]]OR[[Media/On_His_Personal_Encounter_with_Buddha-Nature_Teachings_by_Wulstan_Fletcher]]
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<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mb-2 text-center">[[Elizabeth Callahan]]</div>
<div class="h2 pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">More on Buddha-Nature</div>
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<div class="pl-lg-5 pr-lg-4">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.<p class="featured-link">[[Primary Sources|Read more on the sources for buddha-nature teachings...]]</p></div>
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<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Traditional expositions</div>
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{{#ask: [[Media/Buddha_Nature_by_Ringu_Tulku_Rinpoche_(Part_1_of_3)]]OR[[Media/A_Discourse_on_the_Uttaratantra_by_14th_Dalai_Lama_in_Holland_(Part_1_of_4)]]OR[[Media/Buddha_Potential_1:_Uttaratantra_by_Kirti_Tsenshab_Rinpoche_at_Land_of_Medicine_Buddha_(Part_1_of_9)]]OR[[Media/Mahayana_Uttaratantra_Shastra:_Taught_by_Khenpo_Sodargye,_May_2019_(part_1)]]OR[[Media/Teachings_on_the_Uttaratantra_by_Gyumed_Khensur_Rinpoche_Lobsang_Jampa_by_Do_Ngak_Kunphen_Ling,_Redding,_CT_and_the_Mahayana_Sutra_and_Tantra_Center_of_NJ_(Part_1_of_16)]]OR[[Media/Tulku_Orgyen_Phuntsok_Buddha_Nature_Class:_Teachings_on_the_Uttaratantra_1of_6]]
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Latest revision as of 21:43, 12 December 2024


Begin Discovering Your Buddha-Nature

Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, books, and translations of primary sources from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make the concept of buddha-nature understandable and accessible to a general audience.
Buddha-Nature in Tibet
Complete Site Guide
Multimedia
Video
We Are Enlightened by Nature
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche provides encouragement that we are all enlightened by nature, and the path is a process of discovering that enlightened nature.
Video
Discovering Buddha Nature: Talk by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur Rinpoche describes buddha-nature with the metaphor of a diamond covered in mud, explaining how the innate purity of awareness can be obscured, but never changed.
Video
Dealing with Depression: Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Study Buddhism
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses buddha-nature beautifully for a general audience.
Video
What Is Buddha-Nature? by Wulstan Fletcher
Wulstan Fletcher explains buddha-nature as the deepest aspect of oneself, a wellspring of goodness and wisdom that is always present.
Video
On How Beginning Students Might Engage with Buddha-Nature Teachings by Ringu Tulku
Ringu Tulku talks about how beginning students might start to orient themselves toward buddha-nature teachings in practice. He explains that it is important to recognize that everybody has the seed of wisdom and compassion within them.
Video
Buddha Nature: What Is It? How Is It Different from soul? A Teaching from Zasep Tulku
"Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
Video
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Talks about Buddha-Nature
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche talks about buddha-nature and offers a brief guided meditation.
Video
Matthieu Ricard: Is Buddha-Nature a Seed to Be Cultivated or Something that Must Be Revealed?
In an excerpt from "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho, Matthieu Ricard answers this common question.
Video
The 17th Karmapa on the Nature of All Beings
H.H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, comments on a quote of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje: "The nature of all beings is always Buddha" (འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་).
Video
The Fourteenth Dalai Lama on Buddha-Nature
The Dalai Lama delivers an address entitled "Buddha-Nature" to members of the Theosophical Society in America on July 21st, 1981. His comments on buddha-nature come after a series of preliminary remarks, at 14 min, 23 secs.
Articles
Article
On Buddhanature—and What It Is Not, by Khandro Rinpoche
"Buddhism must always be seen as a skillful means for realizing the most basic aspect of human life: one's inherent buddhanature."
Article
Emptiness–Buddhanature, by Traleg Kyabgon
"Our true nature is buddhanature and that buddhanature is the nature of all sentient beings."
Article
Lasting Happiness, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
"... We don’t have to look outside the present moment to experience wisdom, compassion, and the boundless purity of our true nature."
Article
This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
"That something, when I was old enough to fit words to it, is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings.... In many Buddhist teachings, it’s known as buddhanature."
Article
Spotless from the Start
"In order to overcome the five main obstacles facing a bodhisattva," says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, "we must realize that all beings are primordially pure."
Article
The Sky Dragon's Profound Roar, by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
"We practice the genuine dharma because it is a method for clearing away the temporary stains that obscure our vision of the true nature of mind."
Books

Our Human Potential-front.jpeg

14th Dalai Lama & Jeffrey Hopkins
Our Human Potential

Buddha Nature (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)-front.jpg

Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Buddha Nature

Carefree Dignity-front.jpg

Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Carefree Dignity

Samsāra, Nirvāna, and Buddha Nature-front.jpg

14th Dalai Lama & Thubten Chodron
Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature

Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness (2016)-front.jpg

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness

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Thubten Loden
The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment
Buddha-Nature in East Asia
Multimedia
Audio
Buddha-Nature by Rev. George Kosho Finch
This week's topic is Buddha Nature, in Sanskrit: tathāgatagarbha (如来藏). All sentient beings are considered to be in possession of the Buddha Nature, the potential to attain enlightenment.
Video
It Is Your Buddha-Nature That Sees, Hears, and Speaks!
Daehaeng Kun Sunim, a Seon (Zen) master and Buddhist nun from Korea, responds to questions about the concept of Juingong (the underlying mind) from an audience member.
Audio
Trusting in Our Own Buddha-Nature
Rinso Ed Sattizahn gives a dharma talk at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on the topic of buddha-nature. He touches on selections from Dōgen's Genjōkōan to illustrate this Buddhist teaching.
Video
One's True Mind and Inherent Nature by Sheng Yen
Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the buddha-nature.
Audio
The Cloudless Sky of Buddha-Nature
Rev. Kokyo Henkel teaches on "The Cloudless Sky of Buddha Nature" at the San Francisco Zen Center on September 6, 2011.
Articles
Article
Mind Is Buddha
Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
Article
Everything Is Buddhanature
Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature.
Article
Trust Practice, Practice Trust
When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
Article
Impermanence Is Buddha Nature
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice.
Article
On the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna
An introduction to the Awakening of Faith, an immensely important treatise popular in all traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.
Article
The Path of Gratitude
In Shin Buddhism, we don’t practice to achieve anything—not enlightenment, good karma, a favorable rebirth, or material rewards. We practice simply to give thanks for what we have received.
Books

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Daehaeng
No River to Cross

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Suzuki
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

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King
Buddha Nature
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 Gyü 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) and the Vajrasamādhisūtra were the most influential treatises in spreading buddha-nature theory. And in Japan, the Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253), whose instructional lectures were collected in his Shōbōgenzo, also wrote extensively on the topic of buddha-nature. All of these important buddha-nature texts have been translated into English by leading scholars and translators. Below is a selection of these works:
Buddha-Nature in Translation

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Zimmermann
A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

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Blum
The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1

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Alex Wayman & Hideko Wayman
The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā

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Red Pine
The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text

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Fuchs
Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra

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Jorgensen & Lusthaus
Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith

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Buswell
The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea (The Vajrasamādhi Sūtra)

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Waddell & Abe
The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
More Scholarship on Buddha-Nature
Karl Brunnhölzl's Buddha-Nature Interview
In an interview with the Tsadra Foundation, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses why one might study buddha-nature, the purpose of the buddha-nature teachings, and the concept of the innate luminosity of mind.
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Why Study Buddha-Nature?
Interview Clip
2:07 min
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The Purpose of Buddha-Nature Teachings
Interview Clip
3:38 min
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What Is Luminosity?
Interview Clip
4:21 min
Karl Brunnhölzl's Seminal Work on Buddha-Nature
Book
When the Clouds Part
"Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sūtra sources of the tathāgatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyü tradition. Most important, the translator’s introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahāyānottaratantra as a basis for Mahāmudrā instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyü, and Jonang schools that use the Mahāyānottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize one’s own buddha nature. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2014.
First Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Alex Gardner
Alex Gardner served as the writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation's Buddha-Nature Project from 2017-2019. Read his introductory articles on the Ratnagotravibhāga and the history of buddha-nature theory.

On the Ratnagotravibhāga

Article

A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions

Article
Current Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho
Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Read his weekly blog on topics related to Buddhism and buddha-nature, visit his "Ask the Writer-in-Residence" page to get answers to your questions, or watch the ongoing video series "Conversations on Buddha-Nature."

Topic of the Week

Blog

Ask the Writer-in-Residence

Q & A

Conversations on Buddha-Nature

Video Series
Discover More Resources
The Literature
Texts and multilingual resources
expand

The Bibliography

The Source Texts

The Ratnagotravibhāga

The Multilingual Root Verses
The Library
A curated space for publications on buddha-nature
expand

The Complete Library

Books

Dissertations

Articles

Interviews

Sutras

Commentaries

People

Multimedia

Terms Glossary

The Bibliography
More on Buddha-Nature
Explore
Read and watch academic presentations, interviews, books, and articles.
Go deeper

Ask the writer-in-residence

Questions Answered

The Ratnagotravibhāga

Study

Events

Watch & Listen

Topic of the week

Read, Watch & Listen
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The purpose of the buddha-nature website is to provide a resource hub for trustworthy information for learning about and teaching the concept of buddha-nature, its associated texts, teachings, lineages, and relevant Buddhist ideas. Unique content will be shared here, but the site will primarily act as a broker for other projects and authors that have already created quality materials, which we will curate for a wide range of audiences.

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