Buddha nature
Buddha nature — when the Buddha became enlightened he realized that all beings without exception have the same nature and potential for enlightenment, and this is known as buddha nature.
Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche says:
- It is because this ground or sugatagarbha or potential is common to all beings that they are capable of attaining enlightenment. If they did not have such a ground then they could never become buddhas.
- For example: a stone doesn’t have the ‘ground’ or potential to produce oil, and so no matter how much you might press it and grind it—even if you use modern tools and machinery—you will never extract any oil. A sesame seed, on the other hand, does have the potential to produce oil, and by pressing it in the right way, sesame oil can and will be produced. So it is because the potential exists as part of our basic nature that we can become buddhas.
Terms for Buddha Nature
The usual term for ‘buddha nature’ in the Mahayana teachings is tathagatagarbha, but in the Vajrayana the term is sugatagarbha.
- Essence of the Bliss Gone (Skt. sugatagarbha; Tib. deshek nyingpo; Wyl. bde gshegs snying po)
- Essence of the Thus Gone (Skt. tathāgatagarbha; Tib. deshek nyingpo; Wyl. de gshegs snying po or de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po)
- Class/Family/Lineage/Heritage/Gene/Potential (Skt. gotra; Tib. rik; Wyl. rigs)
- Element (Skt. dhātu; Tib. kham; Wyl. khams)
Treatises
Further Reading
- S.K. Hookham, Buddha Within: Tathagatagarbha Doctrine According to the Shentong Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga , SUNY Press, 1992
- Douglas S. Duckworth, Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition