Buddha-nature (as Depicted in the Lankavatara-sutra)
by Nguyen Dac Sy | 2012 | 70,344 words
This page relates ‘Concept of Buddha-nature’ of the study on (the thought of) Buddha-nature as it is presented in the Lankavatara-sutra (in English). The text represents an ancient Mahayana teaching from the 3rd century CE in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and Bodhisattva Mahamati, while discussing topics such as Yogacara, Buddha-nature, Alayavijnana (the primacy of consciousness) and the Atman (Self).
The Concept of Buddha-nature
The Buddha-nature, as declared by the Buddha, is “the deepest and the most difficult state to see and only the Buddha can know it well; however, when one reads the sūtras, one can very well see it because of the power of faith” (所有佛性如是甚深難得知見. 唯佛能知. 非諸聲聞緣覺所及. 隨順契經以信故知)[1] . Therefore, based on the Buddhist canon with the belief in the existence of the Buddha-nature hidden within all beings, it is possible to study the thought of Buddhanature as it is depicted in Buddhist scriptures.
The doctrine of Buddha-nature was first presented in the third century CE in the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (Dafangguangrulaicangjing)[2] . The sūtra introduced the doctrine and illustrated it with nine illustrations of the word garbha, such as womb, store, calyx, husk, and seed. The Tathāgatagarbha is likened to the Buddha hidden in pedals of flower; to honey in bees, to a noble son hidden in the womb of an inferior, ugly woman; to a seed hidden in a useless husk-covering; and to a store of treasure hidden beneath a poor man’s house.[3] The concept was further developed in later Mahāyāna scriptures like the Śrīmālāsūtra (The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā)[4] where the Buddha-nature refers to an inner potential that enables beings to become the Buddhas. The sūtra also identifies the Buddha-nature as the Dharmakāya (fashen) of the Buddha, which pervades all beings but is still covered by defilements (kleśakośa) in unenlightened living beings.
The English term Buddha-nature refers to the Chinese term foxing (佛性);however, its exact Sanskrit equivalent is not apparent. Some scholars suggested its Sanskrit equivalents that are the Buddhatā, Buddhadhātu, or Buddhagotra.[5] This problem may result from the missing of Sanskrit equivalent scriptures and the various Chinese translations. For example, the Sanskrit term Buddhatā in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra[6] is translated into Chinese fotixing or foti (the essence of the Buddha) in the Tang version.[7]
There are many approaches to define the Buddha-nature according to its ontology, epistemology and soteriology, etc.; but this way is usually appropriate to study the Buddha-nature in a particular scripture with its limited issues. In Mahāyāna scriptures, the Buddha-nature is usually covered with both aspects that are individuality and universality.
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
Taisho Tripiṭaka (CBETA 2011) [T16n666] & 667
[3]:
Robert E. Buswell (ed.), Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. II, p.827; Brian Edward Brown, The Buddha Nature: Aṅguttaranikāya Study of the Tathāgatagarbha and Ālayavijñāna, pp. 125-130.
[4]:
The full title is Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra (勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經), Taisho Tripiṭaka (CBETA 2011) [T12n353], p. 217a-23b.
[6]:
Laṇkā, p. 57.
[7]:
Taisho Tripiṭaka (CBETA 2011) [T16n672], p. 0608a18.