.jpg)
Buddha-nature
Sign in to savethumb|The Moonlight|moon and its light hidden by the clouds is a metaphor for the [[luminous mind of Buddha-nature, which is always shining but can be hidden or covered over by the afflictions.]]
Article
42 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- ''Tathāgatagarbha''
- Compound
- Asian translations
- Western translations
- ''Buddhadhātu''
- Indian Sutra sources
- Historical precursors
- ''Avatamsaka'' and ''Lotus Sutras''
- ''Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra'' and ''Nirvana Sūtra''
- Other important buddha-nature sutras
- Indian commentaries
- ''Ratnagotravibhāga''
- Other possible Indian treatises on buddha-nature
- Madhyamaka school
- Yogācāra school
- East Asian Buddhism
- ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna''
- Strong tathāgatagarbha theory versus weak tathāgatagarbha theory
- In Chinese Yogacara and Madhyamaka
- In Tiantai
- In Huayan
- In Chan Buddhism
- Japanese Buddhism
- Tibetan Buddhism
- Nyingma
- Sakya
- Jonang
- Kagyu
- Gelug
- Rimé movement
- Modern scholarship
- Essential self
- Emptiness
- Critical Buddhist interpretation
- Multiple meanings
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|The Moonlight|moon and its light hidden by the clouds is a metaphor for the [[luminous mind of Buddha-nature, which is always shining but can be hidden or covered over by the afflictions.]]
In Buddhist philosophy and soteriology, Buddha-nature (Chinese: , Japanese: , , Sanskrit: or ) is the innate potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all sentient beings already have a pure Buddha-essence within themselves. "Buddha-nature" is the common English translation for several related Mahāyāna Buddhist terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha () and buddhadhātu, but also sugatagarbha, and buddhagarbha. Tathāgatagarbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone one" (tathāgata), and can also mean "containing a tathāgata". Buddhadhātu can mean "buddha-element", "buddha-realm", or "buddha-substrate".