Buddha nature

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Buddha-nature ( skt. Buddha-dhātu, tathāgata-dhātu ; Chinese  佛性 , Pinyin fóxìng , W.-G. fo-hsing ; ed. 불성, bulseong ; Japanese 仏 性 busshō; viet. Phật tính; tib . : bde gshegs snying po ) is in much of the Mahayana - Buddhism , especially in the Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen and Tibetan Vajrayana universal, innate ability and potency of living beings to Buddha to be.

Historical variants

The origins of Buddha-nature in Mahayana lie in the exposition of the Lotus Sutra , the Nirvana Sutra , the Tathagatagarbha Sutra, in Vajrayana also in the teachings of non- dual systems of practice such as Lamdre , Dzogchen and Mahamudra .

There the Buddha-nature is also referred to as the nature of the mind or as clear light of primal awareness . In the Nirvana Sutra, Buddha-nature ( Buddha-dhatu ) is explained by the Buddha himself as “the true self” of the Buddha and described as “permanent, firm and eternal” ( nitya , dhruva , sasvata ). It is also equated with the Dharmakaya .

In the Nirvana Sutra it says: “The essence of the self is the subtle Tathagatagarbha” (Chapter: Tathagatagarbha). Buddha-nature is described as indestructible and unborn, because it cannot be influenced by external influences or psychological changes. It is a term of transcendence . The Buddha-nature teachings contrast the ordinary perception of an unenlightened being as a relative reality with the perception of an enlightened being. This nondual enlightened perception is called absolute reality . From the perspective of absolute reality, relative and absolute reality are inseparable.

In contrast, the teachings of the void Shunyata and of the non-self anatta relate to what has arisen in a conditioned manner. Buddha-nature is further represented in the Tathagatagarbha Sutras as the indwelling, incomprehensible, uncreated, blissful, and immortal Buddha-essence ( svabhava ) of all living beings.

According to the Nirvana Sutra, this Tathagatagarbha - another word for Buddha-nature - is the true self, the self of the Buddha, who knows no death. According to the Nirvana Sutra:

“All things ( dharma ) are not without the self. The self is real ( tattva ), the self is firm ( dhruva ), the self is virtue ( guna ), the self is eternal ( nitya ), and the self is peace ”(Chapter: Grief).

The Mahayana Angulimaliya Sutra also asserts that the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-nature) is to be found in every being without exception:

“All things ( dharma ) have the Tathagatagarbha as their essence ( svabhava ) ... Even if all the Buddhas diligently searched for it themselves, they would not find a Tathagatagarbha that is not eternal ( sasvata ), because the eternal Dhatu, the Buddha-nature, who Dhatu, endowed with endless major qualities and the minor qualities (of a Buddha), is present in all beings. Even if all Buddhas were diligently looking for it themselves, they would not find a Tathagatagarbha that is not fixed ( dhruva ), for the fixed dhatu, the buddha nature, the dhatu endowed with endless main qualities and the lesser qualities (of a Buddha) is present in all beings. "

See also

literature

  • Brian Edward Brown: The Buddha Nature. A Study of the Tathagatagarbha and Alayavijnana. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi 1994.
  • Dalai Lama : The Buddha Nature - Death and Immortality in Buddhism. Aquamarin Verlag, Grafing 1996, ISBN 3-89427-079-9 (book in the form of conversations, Peter Michel asks the Dalai Lama)
  • Namkhai Norbu : Dzogchen: The original state. Oddiyana Edition, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-9801635-0-4
  • Tony Page (ed.), Kosho Yamamoto (transl.): The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra. Nirvana Publications, London 2000, ISBN 978-1903036068 . Digitized version (PDF; 2.6 MB)
  • Karma-Glin-Pa, John Myrdhin Reynolds (transl.): Self-Liberation: Through seeing with naked awareness. Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca-New York 2000, ISBN 1-55939-144-8
  • Sallie B. King: Buddha Nature. State University of New York Press 1991, ISBN 0-7914-0428-5
  • Manjushrimitra , Namkhai Norbu (transl.), Kennard Lipman (transl.): Primordial Experience: An Introduction to Rdzogs-Chen Meditation. Shambhala Publications, Boston & London 2001, ISBN 978-1570628986 .
  • Longchen Rabjam , Tulku Thondup: Buddha Nature - Dzogchen in Practice. Opus Verlag, Leopoldshöhe 2010, ISBN 978-3939699040
  • Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer : Buddhism. Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-50867-7 .
  • Michael Zimmermann : "Tathagatagarbha." In: Buddhism Past and Present. Vol. 4, Continuing Academic Education, Hamburg: University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa-Institute, Department for Indian and Tibetan Studies, pp. 235–249, 2000. PDF ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  • Michael Zimmermann: A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. Biblotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica VI, The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University 2002 ( digitized version (6.1 MB; PDF))
  • Michael Zimmermann: The Tathagatagarbhasutra: Its Basic Structure and Relation to the Lotus Sutra. Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University for the Academic Year 1998, pp. 143–168 ( PDF )
  • Klaus-Dieter Matthes: Tibetan interpretations of Buddha nature in comparison. Numata Center for Buddhist Studies ( Memento from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Hamburg, 2002/2004. PDF ( Memento from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Zimmermann : How the doctrine of Buddha nature came about. In: Tibet and Buddhism. April May June, 2006 Issue 77, pp. 20–24 PDF 2.3 kB; 5 pages on www.tibet.de
  2. ↑ Klaus-Dieter Mathes: Tibetan interpretations of the Buddha nature in comparison. ( [1] on https://info-buddhismus.de/ )