Questions
The Questions
(Is this moving in the right direction? what other basic questions are there?)
General Audience Questions
Why are buddha-nature teachings controversial? Is buddha-nature like a soul? What’s the difference? What does buddha-nature have to do with enlightenment?
Traditional Questions
List of key questions that major Tibetan writers have asked
Dharma Audience Questions
What does it mean to “practice” buddha-nature? What does buddha-nature mean for my practice? What does it mean to have buddha-nature? That we are fundamentally good, and that we have an inborn potential to be free
What does it mean if we did not have buddha-nature? That we are not guaranteed liberation
What does "luminosity" mean in this context? It refers to "self-reflexive awareness" which means awareness naturally aware of itself. Other English terms used for the same concept include "clarity," but this word fails to evoke the active aspect of luminosity. The mind's natural state is not passive like a piece of glass, but actively engaging with the phenomenal world.
Is buddha-nature the same thing as a self? Critics of the theory would say yes, but adherents disagree, arguing that there is nothing individual about buddha-nature. It is instead the fundamental nature of consciousness, a shared characteristic rather than a separate entity.
How does one practice? Different Buddhist traditions engage with buddha-nature in different ways. Some speak of revealing what is already perfect, others speak of perfecting what is now only a potential.
