Buddha-nature (as Depicted in the Lankavatara-sutra)
by Nguyen Dac Sy | 2012 | 70,344 words
This page relates ‘Summary (the Tathagatagarbha literature)’ 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).
Summary (the Tathagatagarbha literature)
In summary, the class of Buddhist scriptures known as the Tathagatagarbha literature presents a transition from the Prajñāpāramitā literature of Mādhyamika which teach perfection of wisdom, i.e. Emptiness (śūnyatā) to the Yogācāra’s scriptures which teach the doctrines of consciousness-only and Ālayavijñāna.
According to the Tathāgatagarbha scriptures, the Buddha and Nirvāṇa, unlike compounded, conditioned phenomena, are not empty of intrinsic existence, but merely empty of the impermanent, the painful and the no-Self. In the Śrīmālāsūtra the Buddha is seen as empty of all defilement and ignorance, not of intrinsic Reality. The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra supports such a vision and views Ultimate Emptiness as the Buddhist cognition “jñāna” which perceives both Emptiness and non-Emptiness, wherein the Empty is the totality of saṃsāra and the Non-empty is great nirvāṇa. The Buddha in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra further indicates that to view absolutely everything as empty is an unbalanced approach and constitutes a deviation from the middle path of Buddhism. Moreover, this particular Sūtra contains a passage in which the Buddha criticizes those who view the Tathāgatagarbha, which is the inherent, immortal Buddha-element, in each being as empty.
Scriptures of the middle period of the Tathāgatagarbha literature, represent the thought of the Buddha-nature which is the fundamental essence of all the dharmas but hidden within all living beings. The concept of Ālayavijñāna appearing in this period is representative of the unreal and impermanent dharmas, whereas the Buddha-nature is their nature. Ālayavijñāna plays the role of the supporter or function when it transforms into like mirror wisdom to realize the Buddha-nature.
The later period of the Tathāgatagarbha includes the text which presents the immanent absolute reality called Dharmadhātu (absolute realm), Bhutātathatā (Real Suchness) or Tathatā (Suchness or Thusness) which contains the unreal and impermanent world (representatively Ālayavijñāna) and permanent hidden nature (Buddha-nature), like two sides of a palm. In some scripture, such as the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the Ālayavijñāna and Tathāgatagarbha are identical, only different in names.
Thus, the thought of the Buddha-nature presented in many scriptures of the so-called Tathāgatagarbha literature is one of the important doctrines of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The thought of the Buddhanature is also found in other Mahāyāna texts such as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka (the Lotus Sūtra), Śūraṃgamasūtra (Dafodingshoulengyanjing),[1] etc., but these texts do not directly mention the term Buddha-nature or Tathāgatagarbha; so they do not classify into the Tathāgatagarbha literature.
The next chapter which is the main content of the thesis will present the thought of the Buddha-nature in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, the text belongs to the later period of the Tathāgatagarbha literature and occupies a very important role in Chinese Buddhism.