Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

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तथागतगर्भसूत्र

འཕགས་པ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

'phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo

大方廣如來藏經

Dà fāng děng rú lái cáng jīng

D258 · T666,667

SOURCE TEXT

The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (TGS) is a relatively short text that represents the starting point of a number of works in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism centering around the idea that all living beings have the buddha-nature. The genesis of the term tathāgatagarbha (in Tibetan de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po, in Chinese rulai zang 如來藏, the key term of this strand of Buddhism and the title of the sūtra), can be observed in the textual history of the TGS. (Zimmermann, A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, p. 7)

Relevance to Buddha-nature

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

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Scholarly notes

The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (Scripture on the Embryo of the Tathāgatas) is a relatively short text, extant in four versions – two Chinese and two Tibetan:

1. the Dafangdeng rulaizang jing (大方等如來藏經; T. 666), ascribed to Buddhabhadra (佛陀跋陀羅; 359–429 ce);

2. the Dafangguang rulaizang jing (大方廣如來藏經; T. 667), ascribed to Amoghavajra (不空; 705–774 ce);

3. the De bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po’i mdo (D 258/Q 924); and

4. a second Tibetan translation, ’Phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo, known so far only from the Bathang Kanjur kept in the Newark Museum (Zimmermann, 2002).

      Two other Chinese translations that may have existed are no longer extant (Zimmermann, 2002, 69–75). Portions of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra are cited in the above-mentioned Ratnagotravibhāg, the only known Sanskrit text to preserve such citations, and several key formulations in the Ratnagotravibhāga clearly derive from the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. In particular, the nine similes at the core of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra comprise the skeleton of portions of both the Ratnagotravibhāga and its commentary, the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā (see below).
      The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra has been translated into English, with extensive annotations, by M. Zimmermann (2002) and earlier (from Chinese) by W. Grosnick (1995). Important studies include those by Takasaki Jikidō (1974, 40–68), Matsumoto Shirō (1994, 411–543), and Nakamura Zuiryū (1963).
      The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra has long been regarded as the first scripture to propound the tathāgatagarbha doctrine. However, it is striking that the actual term “tathāgatagarbha” is not central to the text but rather appears only in introductory sections, which M. Zimmermann argues were later additions (2002, 29–32, 39–40). Instead (or in addition), the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra refers to the hidden potential for buddhahood by means of a wide variety of terms, most prominent among which are *tathāgatatva, *buddhatva, *tathāgatakāya (and other terms denoting special Buddha bodies, in contrast to the ordinary bodies borne by unawakened sentient beings), and terms denoting types of jñāna (Zimmermann, 2002, 50–62).
      The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra opens in Rājagṛha (present-day Rajgir) and describes a miraculous display by the Buddha of a myriad tathāgatas seated in the calyx of each of a copious array of gigantic lotuses floating in the sky, which then blacken and rot away. The body of the scripture follows, giving nine similes for the hidden potential of sentient beings to attain liberation. According to the similes, this hidden potential resembles the following:

1. brightly shining tathāgatas sitting inside withered, rotting lotus flowers;

2. honey inside a hive fiercely guarded by bees;

3. the kernel of a cereal grain, encased in the husk;

4. a gold nugget in a pile of excrement;

5. a hidden treasure buried beneath the house of a poor person;

6. the sprout inside a seed;

7. a statuary image of a tathāgata wrapped in rotten rags and dropped by the wayside in a dangerous wasteland;

8. the embryo of a cakravartin (universal monarch) carried in the womb of an unsuspecting and destitute mother; and

9. golden figures within the grubby clay molds that are used to cast them, before the mold is broken.

The sūtra closes by describing the merit that accrues to one who propagates the text and deprecates the comparative value of the veneration of the buddhas. As an illustration of the power of the text, there follows a story of a past buddha, Sadāpramutkaraśmi, who always emitted a great and wondrous light from his body; he preached the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra at the request of the bodhisattva *Anantaraśmi, and countless bodhisattvas attained supreme and perfect awakening as a result. The Buddha’s disciple Ānanda then asks from how many buddhas one must hear the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, in order to become perfected (niryāta) and is told that it varies from a hundred buddhas to a myriad. Brief sections then praise one who holds the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra in his or her hands, and onlookers delight and rejoice.

(Source: Radich, Michael. "Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures." In Vol. 1, Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism: Literature and Languages, edited by Jonathan A. Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger, 261-62. Leiden: Brill, 2015.)

Description from When the Clouds Part

The earliest one among these sūtras is the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra,^[1] which primarily consists of detailed descriptions of the nine examples for all sentient beings possessing the tathāgata heart that are also found in the Uttaratantra. The central and repeated message of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra is that all beings bear a fully perfect buddha within themselves. However, these beings are not buddhas yet because they are not aware of the buddhahood that lies within them, which is obscured by the cocoons of afflictions and needs to be pointed out. Still, the true nature of all beings is not different from that of a buddha, and beings will manifest as buddhas once the obscuring afflictions have been removed. As Takasaki (1974) and Zimmermann (1998) point out, this topic is closely related to, and based on, the passage in the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra about buddha wisdom being present in all beings^[2] (which precedes the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra and is also quoted in RGVV).^[3] Zimmermann (1998 and 2002) also points out some relationships and similarities between the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra and the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Mahābherīsūtra, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, and the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. (p. 12)

The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra is preserved in one Tibetan (D258, fifteen folios) and two Chinese translations (Taishō 666 and 667). For a detailed study and translation of this sūtra, see Zimmermann 2002 (see also Takasaki 1974, Diana M. Paul 1980, Grosnick 1995, and Zimmermann 1998). Note that, due to the largely general nature of the sketches of the teachings on tathāgatagarbha in this and the following sūtras, I do not always provide page references.
In the Chinese version, this is found in the section called Tathāgatotpattisaṃbhavanirdeśa.
J22–24.

Text Metadata

Other Titles	~ ārya-tathāgatagarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra ~ Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra
Text exists in	~ Tibetan ~ Chinese
Canonical Genre	~ Kangyur · Sūtra · mdo sde · Sūtranta
Literary Genre	~ Sūtras - mdo

Notes

85. For more details on this paracanonical translation see Zimmermann 1998.
86. See Zimmermann 2002: 173–177.

Zimmermann, Michael. "A Preliminary Analysis of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra as Found in the Lang Kanjur." In "Establishing the Succession of the Sakya Lamas of Näsar Gompa and Lang Gompa in Dolpo (Nepal)," by Klaus-Dieter Mathes. Appendix, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 47 (2003): 104–5. http://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x00040b80.pdf.

Zimmermann, Michael. "A Preliminary Analysis of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra as Found in the Lang Kanjur." In "Establishing the Succession of the Sakya Lamas of Näsar Gompa and Lang Gompa in Dolpo (Nepal)," by Klaus-Dieter Mathes. Appendix, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 47 (2003): 104–5. http://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x00040b80.pdf.;A Preliminary Analysis of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra as Found in the Lang Kanjur;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

Article

A Second Tibetan Translation of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra in the Newark Manuscript Kanjur from Bathang: A Translation of the Early Period (snga dar)

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Among the Tibetan Collection of the Newark Museum in Newark (New Jersey) there is an incomplete manuscript Kanjur from Bathang in Khams (East Tibet). In spite of the fact that this Kanjur was already donated to the museum as early as 1920 it is surprising that it has only recently become the object of a scholarly treatment of some length.[1] In his critical edition of the Mahāsūtras (cp. n. 1), Peter Skilling has used internal criteria to prove that the Bathang Kanjur is affiliated to neither the Tshal pa lineage nor to the Them spangs ma lineage of textual transmission. Its independent character can also be ascertained by external kanjurological criteria: the collection of the texts, its grouping and its order within the volumes are unique. It becomes, therefore, very plausible that "the Newark Kanjur belongs to an old and independent textual transmission that predates the compilation of the Tshal pa and Them spangs ma collections."[2]
Contained in the ta volume of the sūtra section (mdo bsde ta) of this Kanjur is the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (TGS).[3] In the process of editing the Tibetan text of this important Mahāyāna work, of which no Indic copies have come down to us, I used most of the available, historically relevant Kanjurs.[4] Among these 13 versions alone the TGS found in this Kanjur from Bathang represents a different, second translation (Bth). As the existence of two independent Tibetan translations of the same Indic text are of rare occurrence, this study intends to throw light on the differences between the two Tibetan texts, to describe the particular features of Bth and finally to classify it within the history of Tibetan translation activities. (Zimmermann, introductory remarks, 33–35)

Notes

For a description of the Kanjur cp. Eleanor Olson, Catalogue of the Newark Museum Tibetan Collection, Vol. III, Newark 1971, p. 114, dating it to the 16th century; the most detailed analysis of the 23 volumes of the Kanjur can be found in Peter Skilling's unpublished article Kanjur Manuscripts in the Newark Museum: A Preliminary Report, Nandapurī 1995; the only study including some texts of this Kanjur in a textcritical edition is Peter Skilling's (ed.) Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha, Vol. I: Texts, Oxford 1994 (The Pali Text Society, Sacred Books of the Buddhists Vol. XLIV).
Skilling, Kanjur Manuscripts. . . . , p. 4.
Vol. ta, folios 245b1–258a8. The title at the beginning of the volume reads de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po zhes bya ba'i mdo' . The title at the beginning of the sūtra itself runs: de bzhin gshyes <pa'i> snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo. It seems remarkable that the Tibetan equivalent for Skt. ārya, 'phags pa, does not appear in the titles of the Bathang translation whereas it is common to all the other major Kanjurs. The spelling mdo bsde can be found "consistently on all tags" (Skilling, Kanjur Manuscripts. . . , p. 6, n. 16).
The critical edition of the TGS is part of a Ph.D. thesis to be submitted at the University of Hamburg. The collation comprises the versions of the TGS as contained in the Kanjurs from Berlin, Derge, Lithang, London, Narthang, Peking (Ōtani reprint), Phug brag (three versions), Stog, Tabo (fragmentary) and Tokyo (Toyo Bunko) compared with the two Chinese translations. Bth will be appended as a diplomatic edition.

Zimmermann, Michael. "A Second Tibetan Translation of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra in the Newark Manuscript Kanjur from Bathang: A Translation of the Early Period (snga dar)." Transactions of the International Conference of Eastern Studies 43 (1998): 33-50. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/zimmermann/tohoku-gakkai-1998-tathagatagarbha.pdf.

Zimmermann, Michael. "A Second Tibetan Translation of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra in the Newark Manuscript Kanjur from Bathang: A Translation of the Early Period (snga dar)." Transactions of the International Conference of Eastern Studies 43 (1998): 33-50. https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/zimmermann/tohoku-gakkai-1998-tathagatagarbha.pdf.;A Second Tibetan Translation of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra in the Newark Manuscript Kanjur from Bathang: A Translation of the Early Period (snga dar);Textual study;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

Article

A Study of the Early-Stage Translations of Foxing 佛性 in Chinese Buddhism: The Da Banniepan Jing 大般涅槃經 Trans. Dharmakṣema and the Da Fangdeng Rulaizang Jing 大方等如來藏經 Trans. Buddhabhadra

The Da fangdeng rulaizang jing 大方等如來藏經 (Skt. Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra), translated by Buddhabhadra 佛陀跋陀羅 (358–429) is one of the early Chinese Buddhist canon texts where the term foxing 佛性 (Jp. busshō; Buddha-nature) is clearly used to express Buddha-nature. However, the term foxing cannot be confirmed in other extant translations of the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra. Another early text in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經 (Skt. Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra), translated by Dharmakṣema 曇無讖 (385?–433), also used the term foxing, which cannot be correspondingly confirmed in the surviving Sanskrit fragments of this scripture. Some significant differences in foxing between the Sanskrit fragments and Dharmakṣema's translation of this sutra belong to the first twelve fascicles of Dharmakṣema's translation completed under his collaborators' support when he had not mastered the Chinese language. It is very likely that Faxian 法顯 (337–422) translated a version of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra that featured buddhadhātu as foxing. Buddhabhadra, in the same period, translated a version of the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra, in which he favoured the term foxing over a literal translation of the Sanskrit. As another contemporary monk with these two, Dharmakṣema translated the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra, going further than Faxian by using the term foxing regularly. These texts influenced the Dilun monastic tradition 地論宗. Among these, the term foxing and its Sinicism explanations played the most significant role, influencing the whole of the Chinese and even East Asian Buddhist thought.

Li, Zijie. "A Study of the Early-Stage Translations of Foxing 佛性 in Chinese Buddhism: The Da Banniepan Jing 大般涅槃經 Trans. Dharmakṣema and the Da Fangdeng Rulaizang Jing 大方等如來藏經 Trans. Buddhabhadra." Religions 13, no. 7 (2022): 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070619.

Li, Zijie. "A Study of the Early-Stage Translations of Foxing 佛性 in Chinese Buddhism: The Da Banniepan Jing 大般涅槃經 Trans. Dharmakṣema and the Da Fangdeng Rulaizang Jing 大方等如來藏經 Trans. Buddhabhadra." Religions 13, no. 7 (2022): 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070619.;A Study of the Early-Stage Translations of Foxing 佛性 in Chinese Buddhism: The Da Banniepan Jing 大般涅槃經 Trans. Dharmakṣema and the Da Fangdeng Rulaizang Jing 大方等如來藏經 Trans. Buddhabhadra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Dharmakṣema;Buddhabhadra;Zijie Li

PhD Diss

Chen, Shu-hui: Affirmation in Negation: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory in the Light of the Bodhisattva Practices

The Tathāgatagarbha theory, also known as the Buddha-nature theory, is one of the most influential Mahāyāna doctrines in the East Asian Buddhism. In 1989, it was severely criticized by some Japanese scholars, namely, Shiro Matsumoto and Noriaki Hakamaya, for being contradictory to the Buddha's teaching of non-self (anātman) and accused of being a non-Buddhist theory in disguise. The purpose of this study is to refute such an accusation and to demonstrate the relationship between this theory and the Bodhisattva practices which are the very core of the Mahāyāna Buddhism.
This dissertation begins with definitions of the term "tathāgatagarbha" and some of its synonyms which are followed by a brief review of the historical development of the Tathāgatagarbha theory from India to China. With these as the background knowledge, it is easier to point out the fallacies of the two Japanese scholars' criticism on this theory. A key issue in their criticism is that they viewed the Tathāgatagarbha theory as the ātman of the Upaniṣads in disguise. It is therefore necessary to discuss not only the distinction between the ātman mentioned in the Tathāgatagarbha theory and that in the Upaniṣads but also the controversy over the issue of ātman versus anātman among the Buddhist scholars.
In the discussion to clarify the issue of ātman in the Tathāgatagarbha theory, it is demonstrated that the ātman in the Tathāgatagarbha theory is not only uncontradictory to the doctrine of anātman in Buddhism but very important to the Bodhisattva practices in the Mahāyāna Buddhism. It functions as a unity for the Bodhisattvas to voluntarily return to the world of saṃsāra again and again. Furthermore, the purport of the entire theory, that all sentient beings are endowed with the essence of the Buddha, supports various Bodhisattva practices such as the aspiration to save all beings in the world, the six perfections, etc. In a word, the Tathāgatagarbha theory is an excellent representative of the soteriology of the Mahāyāna Buddhism. Included in the end of this dissertation is an annotated translation of the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra. (Source Accessed May 26, 2020)

Chen, Shu-hui Jennifer. "Affirmation in Negation: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory in the Light of the Bodhisattva Practices." PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998.

Chen, Shu-hui Jennifer. "Affirmation in Negation: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory in the Light of the Bodhisattva Practices." PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998.;Affirmation in Negation: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory in the Light of the Bodhisattva Practices;tathāgatagarbha;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Matsumoto, S.;Hakamaya, N.;Critical Buddhism;anātman;ātman;gotra;dharmadhātu;dharmakāya;buddhadhātu;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;Ghanavyūhasūtra;Fo xing lun;Dasheng qixin lun;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;icchantika;Tien Tai;Zen - Chan;Madhyamaka;Yogācāra;ālayavijñāna;paramārthasatya;Shu-hui Jennifer Chen; Affirmation in Negation: A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory in the Light of the Bodhisattva Practices

Article

All Buddhas and All Living Beings Are Just This One Mind: Teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors on Buddha Nature, Empty Awareness, and Nonduality—Compiled by Kokyo Henkel

This is a compilation of several sources that speak about buddha-nature. These include:

Pabhassara Sutta
Kevaddha Sutta
Nibbana Sutta
Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra
Samdhinirmochana Sutra
Mahaparinirvana Sutra
Shrimaladevi Sutra
Tathagatagarbha Sutra
Lankavatara Sutra
Bodhidharma’s Breakthrough Sermon
Sengcan’s Song of the Trusting Mind
Hongren’s Treatise on the Supreme Vehicle
Huineng’s Platform Sutra
Yongjia’s Song of Realizing the Way
Shitou’s Record
Shitou’s Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage
Dongshan’s Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi
Caoshan’s Verse
Guishan’s Record
Mazu’s Record
Baizhang’s Record
Huangbo’s Transmission of Mind
Linji’s Record
Nanquan’s Record
Changsha’s Record
Yunmen’s Record
Yuanwu’s Letters
Hongzhi’s Record
Dogen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
Ejo’s Absorption in the Treasury of Light
Keizan’s Transmission of Light
32nd Ancestor Hongren
34th Ancestor Qingyuan
38th Ancestor Dongshan
40th Ancestor Dongan
46th Ancestor Tanxia
49th Ancestor Xuedou
52nd Ancestor Dogen
53rd Ancestor Ejo
Chinul’s Complete Sudden Attainment of Buddhahood
Chinul’s Secrets of Cultivating the Mind
Bassui’s One Mind
Bankei’s Record
Hakuin’s Four Cognitions
Menzan’s Self-Enjoyment Samadhi
Shunryu Suzuki’s Mind Waves (from "Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind")
Shunryu Suzuki’s Resuming Big Mind (from "Not Always So")
Padmasambhava’s Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal’s Clarifying the Natural State
Karma Chagmey’s Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen

Jamgon Mipham’s Lamp that Dispels Darkness

Henkel, Kokyo. "All Buddhas and All Living Beings are Just This One Mind: Teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors on Buddha Nature, Empty Awareness, and Nonduality." Unpublished manuscript. n.d., PDF file. https://kokyohenkel.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127410773/one_mind_buddha_nature_-_kokyo.pdf.

Henkel, Kokyo. "All Buddhas and All Living Beings are Just This One Mind: Teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors on Buddha Nature, Empty Awareness, and Nonduality." Unpublished manuscript. n.d., PDF file. https://kokyohenkel.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/7/4/127410773/one_mind_buddha_nature_-_kokyo.pdf.;All Buddhas and All Living Beings Are Just This One Mind: Teachings of the Buddhas and Zen Ancestors on Buddha Nature, Empty Awareness, and Nonduality—Compiled by Kokyo Henkel;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Japanese Buddhism;Shōbōgenzō;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Kokyo Henkel;Kokyo Yakai (Luminous Owl, Midnight Liberation 光梟夜解);&nbsp

Video

Anne Burchardi: On the Sutra Sources for the Uttaratantra and Her Work on the Dharanishvarajasutra

See The Illustrations of the Nine Examples of the Buddha-Nature from the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra by Sofia Burchardi.

Burchardi, Anne. "On the Sutra Sources for the Uttaratantra and Her Work on the Dharanishvarajasutra." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, December 18, 2021. Video, 8:43. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htbHopiQeYg.

Burchardi, Anne. "On the Sutra Sources for the Uttaratantra and Her Work on the Dharanishvarajasutra." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, December 18, 2021. Video, 8:43. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htbHopiQeYg.;Anne Burchardi: On the Sutra Sources for the Uttaratantra and Her Work on the Dharanishvarajasutra;Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Anne Burchardi: On the Sutra Sources for the Uttaratantra and Her Work on the Dharanishvarajasutra

Interview

Buddha by Nature or Buddha by Nurture: Deliberations on the Buddha-Nature Theory in the Nyingma Tradition by Dorji Wangchuk: Conversations on Buddha-Nature

Wangchuk, Dorji. "Buddha by Nature or Buddha by Nurture: Deliberations on the Buddha-Nature Theory in the Nyingma Tradition." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, July 31, 2021. Video, 1:21:34. https://youtu.be/xC06_wvq_cI.

Wangchuk, Dorji. "Buddha by Nature or Buddha by Nurture: Deliberations on the Buddha-Nature Theory in the Nyingma Tradition." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, July 31, 2021. Video, 1:21:34. https://youtu.be/xC06_wvq_cI.;Buddha by Nature or Buddha by Nurture: Deliberations on the Buddha-Nature Theory in the Nyingma Tradition by Dorji Wangchuk: Conversations on Buddha-Nature;gzhan stong;Nyingma;rang stong;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Klong chen pa;Mi pham rgya mtsho;Rong zom chos kyi bzang po;Dorji Wangchuk

Video

Christopher V. Jones at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

Christopher Jones discusses the development of the concept of buddha-nature in the first five hundred years of the Common Era. He postulates that the most likely trajectory of buddha-nature thought in India entailed a reimagining of the expression tathāgatagarbha away from its contentious "ātmavādin" origins.

Jones, Christopher V. "Selfhood, Secrecy, Singularity: Reassessing the Early Life of the Tathāgatagarbha in India." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzGpIOwFYc.

Jones, Christopher V. "Selfhood, Secrecy, Singularity: Reassessing the Early Life of the Tathāgatagarbha in India." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:01. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzGpIOwFYc.;Christopher V. Jones at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium;History of buddha-nature in India;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;Takasaki, J.;Radich, M.;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Buddha-nature as Self - Atman;tathāgatagarbha;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;buddhadhātu;dharmakāya;Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Aṅgulimālīyasūtra;Mahābherīsūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;ātman;ekayāna;Terminology;Christopher V. Jones; Selfhood, Secrecy, Singularity: Reassessing the Early Life of the Tathāgatagarbha in India

Video

Donald S. Lopez, Jr. - Keynote of the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

In his keynote lecture to the Vienna Tathāgatagarbha Symposium, Donald Lopez provides an overview of the history and influence of tathāgatagarbha doctrine as well as its various interpretations across the Mahāyāna world.

Lopez, Donald S., Jr. “Tathāgatagarbha: A Brief History.” Keynote lecture at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 40:17. https://youtu.be/0SSSdNNbeu8.

Lopez, Donald S., Jr. “Tathāgatagarbha: A Brief History.” Keynote lecture at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 40:17. https://youtu.be/0SSSdNNbeu8.;Donald S. Lopez, Jr. - Keynote of the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;History of buddha-nature in China;History of buddha-nature in India;History of buddha-nature in Japan;History;Bde gshegs snying po gsal ba'i rgyan;guṇapāramitā;tathāgatagarbha;tathatā;Dasheng qixin lun;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Aṅgulimālīyasūtra;ālayavijñāna;Schopen, G.;Obermiller, E.;Bhāvaviveka;Burnouf, E.;Asaṅga;Vasubandhu;Gimello, R.;Tsong kha pa;Lcang skya rol pa'i rdo rje;Donald S. Lopez, Jr.; Tathāgatagarbha: A Brief History

Video

Klaus-Dieter Mathes at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s position on Buddha-nature. He describes how his student Zhangtön Sönam Drakpa defends his teacher's position by arguing that one faces eight undesired consequences if one does not strictly differentiate buddha-nature from the ground consciousness.

Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. “Zhang ston Bsod nams grags pa’s Defense of Dol po pa’s Clear-Cut Distinction between Buddha Nature and the Ground Consciousness.” Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 40:48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ALrY63cho.

Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. “Zhang ston Bsod nams grags pa’s Defense of Dol po pa’s Clear-Cut Distinction between Buddha Nature and the Ground Consciousness.” Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 40:48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ALrY63cho.;Klaus-Dieter Mathes at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium;Zhentong;Dol po pa;Zhang ston bsod nams grags pa;'gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;ālayavijñāna;Jonang;Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta;'gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal;Karmapa, 3rd;Yogācāra;trisvabhāva;parikalpitasvabhāva;paratantrasvabhāva;pariniṣpannasvabhāva;Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa;Klaus-Dieter Mathes; Zhang ston Bsod nams grags pa’s Defense of Dol po pa’s Clear-Cut Distinction between Buddha Nature and the Ground Consciousness

Book

Le Soutra de l'essence de Tathāgata

Le Soutra de l’essence de Tathagata, texte remarquable du bouddhisme ancien, ouvre en grand l’espace vide et central de l’intériorité, de l’irrationalité insaisissable et infinie présente en tous : un « univers » grandiose, une ouverture sans appui ni référence, le fin fond de l’intériorité qui est le théâtre de toutes les possibilités et de l’imagination créatrice si chère aux tantras. Il réaffirme ainsi combien la libération dépasse le cadre de la raison, combien l’éveil et la liberté restent nécessairement déraisonnables. (Source: Claire Lumière)

Agate, Marc, trans. Le Soutra de l'essence de Tathāgata (Ārya-tathāgatagarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra). Saint-Cannat, France: Éditions Claire Lumière, 2018.

Agate, Marc, trans. Le Soutra de l'essence de Tathāgata (Ārya-tathāgatagarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra). Saint-Cannat, France: Éditions Claire Lumière, 2018.;Le Soutra de l'essence de Tathāgata;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Marc Agate; Le Soutra de l'essence de tathagata (Ārya-tathāgatagarbha-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra)

Video

Michael Zimmermann at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

In light of the argument that the theory of Buddha-nature is non-Buddhist, Michael Zimmerman summarizes more recent research on the earliest history of buddha-nature thought in India and discusses possible reasons for why the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature made its appearance.

Zimmermann, Michael. "New Research on the Concept of Buddha-Nature in India: The Beginnings." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYkBSSAJ-zo.

Zimmermann, Michael. "New Research on the Concept of Buddha-Nature in India: The Beginnings." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 45:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYkBSSAJ-zo.;Michael Zimmermann at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;History of buddha-nature in India;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;tathāgatagarbha;Defining buddha-nature;Radich, M.;Critical Buddhism;Terminology;Michael Zimmermann; New Research on the Concept of Buddha-Nature in India: The Beginnings

Article

Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai

Thanks to several previous studies, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra (MPNS) has been proved to shift its central thought from the buddhakāya idea to the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea. The present author has shown in another paper (Suzuki [1999]) that the movement between the buddhakāya idea and the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea appears in the larger context including the MPNS, and has extracted this context from the various Mahāyāna sūtras under the name of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra-Group (MPNS-G), which consists of the Mahāmeghasūtra (MMS), the MPNS, the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra (AMS) and the Mahābherisūtra (MBhS). While the AMS is a direct successor of the MPNS, the MBhS succeeds the MPNS critically and shifts back its central thought from the tathāgatagarbha/buddhadhātu idea to the buddhakāya idea again.
The MPNS-G declares or suggests the non-emptiness of the tathāgata. This is reinterpretation of the pratītyasamutpāda and the śūnyatā idea, and follows the rule of the historical Buddhist hermeneutics. It is especially worthwhile to note that the MBhS, like the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra in the Vijñāptimātra idea, devaluates the śūnyatā idea as imperfect. This quite negative attitude toward the śūnyatā idea does not appear in any other Indian texts on the tathāgatagarbha idea including the MPNS and the AMS. Aiming at establishing the theory that every sentient being is able to perform religious efforts and become buddha on account of the nonemptiness and the eternalness of the tathāgata, the MBhS must reject any sūtra concerning the śūnyatā idea as imperfect. Though the MPNS is a pioneer in reinterpretation of the the śúnyatā idea, the MPNS cannot devaluate it perfectly because the śūnyatā idea is one of the main backgrounds to the MPNS. The MBhS's decisive attitude toward the śūnyatā idea devaluation becomes possible by having the MPNS as its basis. (Source: UTokyo Repository)

Suzuki, Takayasu. "Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai" (The Non-emptiness of the Tathāgata in the Mahāparinirvānasūtra-Group). Tōyō bunka kenkyūsho kiyō (Bulletin of Institute of Oriental Culture) 139 (2000): 109–46.

Suzuki, Takayasu. "Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai" (The Non-emptiness of the Tathāgata in the Mahāparinirvānasūtra-Group). Tōyō bunka kenkyūsho kiyō (Bulletin of Institute of Oriental Culture) 139 (2000): 109–46.;Nehangyō kyōtengun ni okeru kū to jitsuzai;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;tathāgatagarbha;Buddha-nature as Luminosity;buddhadhātu;pratītyasamutpāda;śūnyatā;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Terminology;Doctrine;Takayasu Suzuki;&nbsp

Article

Nyraizōkyō saiko: Busshō no kyūyu wo chūshin to shite

Zimmermann, Michael. "Nyraizōkyō saiko: Busshō no kyūyu wo chūshin to shite" (Reconsidering the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra Focusing on the Nine Similes of Buddha-nature). In Nyoraizō to Busshō (Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha Nature), edited by Masahiro Shimoda, 97–139. Vol. 8 of Shirīzu Daijō Bukkyō (Series on Mahāyāna Buddhism). Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 2014.

Zimmermann, Michael. "Nyraizōkyō saiko: Busshō no kyūyu wo chūshin to shite" (Reconsidering the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra Focusing on the Nine Similes of Buddha-nature). In Nyoraizō to Busshō (Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha Nature), edited by Masahiro Shimoda, 97–139. Vol. 8 of Shirīzu Daijō Bukkyō (Series on Mahāyāna Buddhism). Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 2014.

Zimmermann, Michael. "Nyraizōkyō saiko: Busshō no kyūyu wo chūshin to shite" (Reconsidering the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra Focusing on the Nine Similes of Buddha-nature). In Nyoraizō to Busshō (Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha Nature), edited by Masahiro Shimoda, 97–139. Vol. 8 of Shirīzu Daijō Bukkyō (Series on Mahāyāna Buddhism). Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 2014.;Nyraizōkyō saiko: Busshō no kyūyu wo chūshin to shite;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;tathāgatagarbha;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

Article

Pointing Out Ordinary Mind

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents the essential teachings of Mahamudra and its three main approaches to practice, each offering effective methods for directly pointing out mind’s true nature.

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, (The 7th). "Pointing Out Ordinary Mind." Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, August 15, 2018.

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, (The 7th). "Pointing Out Ordinary Mind." Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, August 15, 2018.;Pointing Out Ordinary Mind;Buddha-nature as Emptiness;Buddha-nature as Luminosity;Vajrayana;nature of mind;Ordinary Mind;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Mahamudra;Kagyu;Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche;&nbsp

Article

Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

There is no traditional rubric of tathāgatagarbha scriptures, though modem scholars (e.g. Takasaki, 1974) have treated several scriptures as belonging to a thematic class, namely the ;;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta, the Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra, the (Mahāyāna) Mahaaparinirvāṇamahāsūtra, the Mahāmeghasūtra, the *Mahābherīhārakasūtra, and the Mahāyāna Aṅgulimālīya (or Aṅgulimālīyasūtra). This classification is based in the first instance on the use of these and related works as proof texts in the Indian treatise Ratnagotravibhāga (Mahāyānottaratantra). The category is thus in some sense conceptually coherent even in an Indian context. Moreover, many of these texts take on a very significant role in East Asia where, again, they are often appealed to in various groupings.

The notion of tathāgatagarbha (embryo of the tathāgatas), a Mahāyāna innovation, signifies the presence in every sentient being of the innate capacity for buddhahood. Although different traditions interpret it variously, the basic idea is either that all beings are already awakened, but simply do not recognize it, or that all beings possess the capacity, and for some the certainty, of attaining buddhahood, but adventitious defilements (āgantukakleśa) for the moment prevent the realization of this potential. (Radich, "Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras," 261)

Radich, Michael. "Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures." In Vol. 1 of Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism: Literature and Languages, edited by Jonathan A. Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger 261–73. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Radich, Michael. "Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures." In Vol. 1 of Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism: Literature and Languages, edited by Jonathan A. Silk, Oskar von Hinüber, and Vincent Eltschinger 261–73. Leiden: Brill, 2015.;Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures;Doctrine;Textual study;tathāgatagarbha;Aṅgulimālīyasūtra;Mahābherīsūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Michael Radich;&nbsp

Article

The Buddha Lies Hidden Within: Discourse on the Buddha Nature (The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra)

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Buddha Lies Hidden Within: Discourse on the Buddha Nature (The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra)." In Vol. 1, The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, edited by Jack Miles, Wendy Doniger, Donald S. Lopez Jr., and James Robson, 1022–44. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Buddha Lies Hidden Within: Discourse on the Buddha Nature (The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra)." In Vol. 1, The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, edited by Jack Miles, Wendy Doniger, Donald S. Lopez Jr., and James Robson, 1022–44. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Buddha Lies Hidden Within: Discourse on the Buddha Nature (The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra)." In Vol. 1, The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, edited by Jack Miles, Wendy Doniger, Donald S. Lopez Jr., and James Robson, 1022–44. New York: W. W. Norton, 2015.;The Buddha Lies Hidden Within: Discourse on the Buddha Nature (The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra);Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

Article

The Tabo Fragments and the Stemma of the Tibetan Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Until now several scholars have dealt with Tibetan texts of the manuscript collection of Tabo monastery in Spiti District, Himachal Pradesh, India.[1] With this short contribution I would like to throw light on the Tabo fragments of one of the Tibetan translations of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, in Tibetan De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po'i mdo. l shall focus on the textual characteristics and the relation of the Tabo fragments to the versions of the sūtra contained in the other main Kanjurs. It is strictly to be kept in mind that all conclusions drawn from the presentation of the material and its evaluation can only claim validity for the De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po'i mdo. My conclusions are not meant to provide a characterization of the Tabo Kanjur in general. Though, regarding the position of the manuscript in the general, Kanjur stemma, there seem to be certain tendencies common to all the texts of the Kanjur found in Tabo and analysed until now, each work should be seen as an individual case. Only when a sufficient number of studies will have been executed and will repeatedly confirm the results shall we be able to draw conclusions of a more general nature. (Zimmermann, introductory remarks, 177)

Notes

See the studies in East and West 44–1, 1994, and SCHERRER-SCHAUB / STEINKELLNER 1999; further PAGEL 1999: 165–210.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Tabo Fragments and the Stemma of the Tibetan Tathāgatagarbhasūtra." In The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism: Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000, edited by Helmut Eimer and David Germano, 177-96. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library 2/10. Leiden: Brill, 2002.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Tabo Fragments and the Stemma of the Tibetan Tathāgatagarbhasūtra." In The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism: Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Leiden 2000, edited by Helmut Eimer and David Germano, 177-96. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library 2/10. Leiden: Brill, 2002.;The Tabo Fragments and the Stemma of the Tibetan Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

Book

The Tathāgata Store

The aim of Mahayana teachings is for everyone, out of compassion for all sentient beings, to attain Buddhahood. The reason one can attain Buddhahood is that one possesses the Tathagata store (tathagata-garbha), which is one's inherent pure mind or Buddha nature.

The Introduction chapter of this book, Rulu's seventh, explores the origin of the concept of the Tathagata store, and discusses how teachings on the Tathagata store have come to be accepted in China as the mainstream of Mahayana teachings and a distinct school of thought, standing apart from and along with the Madhyamaka School and the Yogacara School. Highlights of teachings on the Tathagata store presented in this chapter include why all sentient beings possess the Tathagata store, meanings of the dharma body and its four virtues, a comparison between the self claimed by those on non-Buddhist paths and a true self taught by the Buddha, meanings of one's Buddha nature, and how one's Tathagata store and alaya consciousness (alaya-vijnana) are unified.

This book presents the English translations of six sutras selected from the Chinese Buddhist Canon. The Mahavaipulya Sutra of the Tathagata Store gives a basic teaching and describes by nine analogies that one's Tathagata store is shrouded by one's afflictions. The Sutra of Neither Increase Nor Decrease reveals that the Tathagata store is a Tathagata's dharma body, and that the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. The Sutra of Shrimala's Lion’s Roar gives teachings on one's afflictions that shroud one's Tathagata store and inspires all sentient beings to ride the One Vehicle to attain Buddhahood. The Mahayana version of the Sutra of Angulimalika reveals that as one's Tathagata store transcends all dharmas, all dharmas are one's Tathagata store. The Sutra of the Unsurpassed Reliance teaches one to rely on one's Tathagata store in order to walk the bodhi path to Buddhahood. The Sutra of the Vajra Samadhi reveals that one's inherent awareness, the pure awareness of one's true mind, has a mass of benefits. This book will benefit readers at all levels and can serve as a basis for scholarly research. (Source: Author House)

Rulu, trans. The Tathāgata Store: Selected Mahāyāna Sūtras. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2016.

Rulu, trans. The Tathāgata Store: Selected Mahāyāna Sūtras. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2016.;The Tathāgata Store;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Aṅgulimālīyasūtra;Vajrasamādhisūtra;Rulu; The Tathāgata Store: Selected Mahāyāna Sūtras

Article

The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra

Grosnick, William. "The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra." In Buddhism in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 92–106. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.

Grosnick, William. "The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra." In Buddhism in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 92–106. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.

Grosnick, William. "The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra." In Buddhism in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 92–106. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995.;The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra;tathāgatagarbha;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;William Grosnick;&nbsp

Article

The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra: Its Basic Structure and Relation to the Lotus Sūtra

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

In his comprehensive study of the development of the tathāgatagarbha teaching, J. Takasaki also deals with the sūtra which bears the name of this Mahāyāna philosophical current.[1] The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (TGS) has generally been referred to as the earliest expression of this doctrine and the term tathāgatagarbha itself seems to have been coined by this very sūtra. In this paper I intend to introduce the textual history and doctrinal content of the TGS and offer some speculations concerning the possible motivations lying behind its compilation. By pointing out some interesting parallels concerning the structure and formulations in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra (SP), I shall then suggest that the SP and the TGS carry a similar compositional line. Finally, I shall determine the position and role of the TGS in Mahāyāna Buddhism as a sūtra presupposing the doctrine of the SP and providing its metaphysical foundation. (Zimmermann, introductory remarks, 143–44)

Notes

Jikidō Takasaki 高崎直道, Nyoraizō shisō no keisei (Formation of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory), Tokyo 1974 (Shunjū-sha): pp. 40–68.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra: Its Basic Structure and Relation to the Lotus Sūtra." Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University 2 (1999): 143–68. http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/content/pdf/aririab/Vol.%202%20(1999)%20[rev.4Aug2010].pdf.

Zimmermann, Michael. "The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra: Its Basic Structure and Relation to the Lotus Sūtra." Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University 2 (1999): 143–68. http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/content/pdf/aririab/Vol.%202%20(1999)%20[rev.4Aug2010].pdf.;The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra: Its Basic Structure and Relation to the Lotus Sūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;tathāgatagarbha;Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra;Michael Zimmermann;&nbsp

PhD Diss

Sy, N.: Thought of Buddha Nature as Depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra

Abstract

Buddhism, as a religion arose in ancient India and developed in various parts of the world, aims at the unique goal that is providing welfare and happiness for human beings. The real happiness brought to mankind by Buddhism is not a satisfaction of self-requirement, but a spiritual benefit coming from enlightenment of the absolute truth, emancipation of the ego of things and persons, and free from the hindrances of passion and ignorance. Buddhism that is mainly based on teachings of the Buddha delivered at different places on different occasions continues to develop and adapt to the new challenges in the form of thought, different cultures, religions, customs and tradition of the people wherever it went. However, all the Buddha’s teachings originate in the enlightenment of the Buddha.
      All traditions of Buddhism accept that the Buddha attained enlightenment through stages of meditation that led to the Buddhahood endowed with transcendent wisdom and compassion. According to some Mahāyāna scriptures, the Buddhahood is nothing other than the Buddhanature which is the inherent essence within all beings. The doctrine of the Buddha-nature presented in several Mahāyāna scriptures of the so-called Tathāgatagarbha literature was formed in about the third century CE. There is no evidence that the doctrine of Buddha-nature formed a school in India like the Śūnyatā (Emptiness) of the Mādhyamika or the Vijñaptimātratā (Consciousness-only) of the Yogācāra School, but the Buddha-nature plays an important role in the religious life of Mahāyāna Buddhism in the East and Southeast Asian countries because it provides a faith of the permanence and immortality due to a declaration that all sentient beings possess the innate Buddha-nature and have a potentiality of becoming the Buddhas.
      Although most of the followers of Mahāyāna Buddhism believe the doctrine of the Buddha-nature and constantly try their best endeavor to attain the goal of Buddhahood, there were a lot of opinions that criticize the doctrine of the Buddha-nature by asserting that it is not Buddhist because this idea of the Buddha-nature seems to be akin to the permanent Self (ātman/brahman) presented in the Vedānta of Brahmanism. Conversely, according to some other scholars, the Buddha nature or Tathāgatagarbha referred in some Mahāyāna Sūtras does not represent a substantial self or ego; it is rather a positive language to express the thought of śūnyatā and to represent the potentiality of realizing the Buddhahood through Buddhist practices. Modern scholars today fall into an unending discussion about the similarity or difference between the Buddha-nature and Brahman but no one compares the date of these doctrines. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is an attempt to clarify the Buddhist orthodoxy of the doctrine of the Buddha-nature through chronological comparison of the date of Buddha-nature with that of Brahman. Based on the Laṅkāvatārasūtra and other scriptures, the work attempt to elucidate that the Buddhist thought of the Buddha-nature had existed prior the Vedāntic thought of Brahman. Indeed, the thesis shows that while the doctrine of the Buddha-nature had come into existence in the third century CE in the Tathāgatagarbha literature, the Vedāntic doctrine of Brahman appeared for the first time in the sixth century CE. Consequently, although the Buddha-nature is closely akin to Brahman/ātman of the Vedānta, the doctrine of the Buddha-nature is originally a thought of Buddhism. For this reason, the writer chose the topic entitled “Thought of Buddha-nature as Depicted in the LaṅkāvatāraSūtra” for the Ph.D. thesis.
Study on the Buddha-nature is a task which cannot be carried out without the important texts, teachings, practices and historical movements of Buddhism. This study is mainly based upon the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, a Buddhist text of the later period of the Tathāgatagarbha literature, in which the thought of the Buddha-nature is depicted in relationship with most of the Mahāyāna concepts such as the Buddhatā, Tathāgatagarbha, Ālayavijñāna, Dharmakāya, Mind-only, etc. Especially, the Laṅkāvatārasūtra emphasizes the practice of self-realization and sudden enlightenment of the Buddha-nature. It is also said that the Sūtra was handed down by Bodhidharma to his heir disciple Hui-ke 慧可 as the proof of enlightenment in Chan (Zen) Buddhism.
      This thesis is an attempt to investigate and criticize the philosophical and religious thought of the Buddha-nature as depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. In so doing, we have taken into consideration the following principle themes:

      1. Evolution of the Buddha-nature Concept
      2. The Buddha-nature in the Tathāgatagarbha Literature
      3. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra and Hindu Philosophy
      4. The Thought of Buddha-nature in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra
      5. The Practice of Buddha-Nature in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra
      6. Further Development of the Concept of Buddha-nature in
          China

Structurally, therefore, excluding the introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of six major chapters in accordance with the above six main themes respectively.

Sy, Nguyen Dac. "Thought of Buddha Nature as Depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra." PhD diss., University of Delhi, 2012. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/28355.

Sy, Nguyen Dac. "Thought of Buddha Nature as Depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra." PhD diss., University of Delhi, 2012. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/28355.;Thought of Buddha Nature as Depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra;Laṅkāvatārasūtra;tathāgatagarbha;dharmakāya;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Chinese Buddhism;prabhāsvaracitta;Buddha-nature as Luminosity;Madhyamaka;Yogācāra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Śrīmālādevīsūtra;Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Fo xing lun;Dasheng qixin lun;ālayavijñāna;ātman;Daosheng;Zen - Chan;Tien Tai;Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārakārikā;Nguyen Dac Sy;Thought of Buddha Nature as Depicted in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra

Article

Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy

This article aims at providing an outlook on the possible origin of tathāgatagarbha theory with a special reference to its relation to the soteriological and formal solutions found in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Through comparative textual analysis, the first work of this tradition, Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra, is shown as a text providing a metaphysical foundation for the postulate of universal Buddhahood posited by the Lotus Sutra. The realization of this postulate was possible through the implementation of 'Buddha-wisdom' (tathāgatajñāna) — a quality intrinsic to all living beings, which comes from the Tathāgata's all-encompassing compassion — taken from the "Manifestation of the Tathāgata" chapter of Avataṃsaka. By combining these influences the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra is presented as a culmination of an important soteriological trend of the early Mahāyāna, and at the same time the starting point for an influential 'buddha-nature' tradition. (Source accessed June 26, 2020)

Zapart, Jarosław. "Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy" (The All-Pervading Foundation of Enlightenment: Early Developments of Tathāgatagarbha Teachings). Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture 1, no. 1 (2012): 127–48. https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/2724/JZ_-_O_formowaniu_tg.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Zapart, Jarosław. "Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy" (The All-Pervading Foundation of Enlightenment: Early Developments of Tathāgatagarbha Teachings). Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture 1, no. 1 (2012): 127–48. https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/2724/JZ_-_O_formowaniu_tg.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y;Wszechprzenikliwa podstawa oświecenia, czyli o formowaniu się koncepcji tathagatagarbhy;tathāgatagarbha;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra;History of buddha-nature in India;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;Jarosław Zapart;&nbsp

Translations & Scholarship

Book

A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

A translation, study, and annotated editions of the Tibetan and Chinese translations of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra.

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.

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.;A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;History of buddha-nature in India;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;tathāgatagarbha;Textual study;Michael Zimmermann; A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra;The Earliest Exposition of the Buddha-Nature Teaching in India

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[1] The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra is preserved in one Tibetan (D258, fifteen folios) and two Chinese translations (Taishō 666 and 667). For a detailed study and translation of this sūtra, see Zimmermann 2002 (see also Takasaki 1974, Diana M. Paul 1980, Grosnick 1995, and Zimmermann 1998). Note that, due to the largely general nature of the sketches of the teachings on tathāgatagarbha in this and the following sūtras, I do not always provide page references.

[2] In the Chinese version, this is found in the section called Tathāgatotpattisaṃbhavanirdeśa.

[3] J22–24.

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 |PopupSummary=An important sūtra source for the ''Uttaratantra'', particularly for its discussion of the nine examples that illustrate how all sentient beings possess buddha-nature.
 |BuNayKarlDescription=The earliest one among these sūtras is the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'',<ref>The ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'' is preserved in one Tibetan (D258, fifteen folios) and two Chinese translations (Taishō 666 and 667). For a detailed study and translation of this sūtra, see Zimmermann 2002 (see also Takasaki 1974, Diana M. Paul 1980, Grosnick 1995, and Zimmermann 1998). Note that, due to the largely general nature of the sketches of the teachings on ''tathāgatagarbha'' in this and the following sūtras, I do not always provide page references.</ref> which primarily consists of detailed descriptions of the nine examples for all sentient beings possessing the tathāgata heart that are also found in the ''Uttaratantra''. The central and repeated message of the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'' is that all beings bear a fully perfect buddha within themselves. However, these beings are not buddhas yet because they are not aware of the buddhahood that lies within them, which is obscured by the cocoons of afflictions and needs to be pointed out. Still, the true nature of all beings is not different from that of a buddha, and beings will manifest as buddhas once the obscuring afflictions have been removed. As Takasaki (1974) and Zimmermann (1998) point out, this topic is closely related to, and based on, the passage in the ''Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra'' about buddha wisdom being present in all beings<ref> In the Chinese version, this is found in the section called ''Tathāgatotpattisaṃbhavanirdeśa''.</ref> (which precedes the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra and is also quoted in RGVV).<ref>J22–24.</ref> Zimmermann (1998 and 2002) also points out some relationships and similarities between the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'' and the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', the ''Mahābherīsūtra'', the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra'', and the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra''. (p. 12)
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