Buddha Nature

The following terms refer to the same thing: Self-Nature, True Nature, Original Nature, Dharma Nature, True Mark, True Mind, True Emptiness, True Thusness, Dharma Body, Original Face, Emptiness, Prajna, Nirvana, etc.

According to the Mahayana view, (buddha-nature) is the true, immutable, and eternal nature of all beings. Since all beings possess buddha-nature, it is possible for them to attain enlightenment and become a buddha, regardless of what level of existence they occupy ...

The answer to the question whether buddha-nature is immanent in beings is an essential determining factor for the association of a given school with Theravada or Mahayana, the two great currents within Buddhism.

In Theravada this notion is unknown; here the potential to become a buddha is not ascribed to every being.

By contrast the Mahayana sees the attainment of buddhahood as the highest goal; it can be attained through the inherent buddha-nature of every being through appropriate spiritual practice. (The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.)

See also "Dharma Nature."

 (See also: Buddha Nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddha-Nature (buddhata): In Mahayana Buddhism, undifferientiated absolute existence behind all appearances, functionally the same as nirvana, emptiness, suchness, and the Eternal Buddha.

 (See also: Buddha-Nature, Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddha-nature: The original nature of all people, which is harmonious and non-dualistic. This is always present, whether it is ever realized or not. It is a concrete expression used to signify perfection.

 (See also: Buddha-nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddha: Sanskrit meaning Enlightened One. There are many who have attained Buddhahood, or supreme enlightenment. The best known is Siddhartha Gautama Buddha (586-511 BC). He was born in northeastern India and received spiritual enlightment through meditation. During his lifetime, his spiritual insights and teachings became a major alternative to Hinduism throughout India.

(See also: Buddha, Alternative Health, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharma Nature

The intrinsic nature of all things. Used interchangeably with "emptiness," "reality." See also "Buddha Nature."

 (See also: Dharma Nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Self-Nature

One's own Original Nature, one's own Buddha Nature.

 (See also: Self-Nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Five Natures

The natures of

(1)  Bodhisattvas,

(2)  Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas,

(3)  ordinary good people,

(4)  agnostics,

(5)  heretics.

 (See also: Five Natures, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddha Skt., Pali, lit., “awakened one.”

 1. A person who has achieved the enlightenment that leads to release from the cycle of existence (samsara) and has thereby attained complete liberation (nirvana). The content of his teaching, which is based on the experience of enlightenment, is the four noble truths. A buddha has overcome every kind of craving (trishna); although even he also has pleasant and unpleasant sensations, he is not ruled by them and remains innerly untouched by them. After his death he is not reborn again.

 Two kinds of buddhas are distinguished: the pratyeka-buddha, who is completely enlight ened but does not expound the teaching; and the samyak-sambuddha, who expounds for the wel fare of all beings the teaching that he has discov ered anew. A samyak-sambuddha is omniscient (sarvajnata) and possesses the ten powers of a buddha (dashabala) and the four certainties. The buddha of our age is Shakyamuni. (See also Buddha 2.)

 Shakyamuni Buddha, the historical Buddha, is not the first and only buddha. Already in the early Hinayana texts, six buddhas who preceded him in earlier epochs are mentioned: Vipashyin (Pali, Vipassi), Shikin (Sikhi), Vishvabhu (Vessabhu), Krakuchchanda (Kakusandha), Konagamana, and Kashyapa (Kassapa). The buddha who will follow Sh?kyamuni in a future age and renew the dharma is Maitreya. Be yond these, one finds indications in the litera ture of thirteen further buddhas, of which the most important is Dipamkara, whose disci ple Shakyamuni was in his previous existence as the ascetic Sumedha. The stories of these leg endary buddhas are contained in the Buddhavamsa, a work from the Khuddaka nikaya.

 2. The historical Buddha. He was born in 563 BCE, the son of a prince of the Shakyas, whose small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas lies in present-day Nepal. His first name was Siddhartha, his family name Gauta ma. Hence he is also called Gautama Buddha. (For the story of his life, see Siddhartha Gauta ma.) During his life as a wandering ascetic, he was known as Shakyamuni, the “Silent Sage of the Shakyas.” In order to distinguish the historical Buddha from the transcendent buddhas (see buddha 3), he is generally called Shakyamuni Buddha or Buddha Shakyamuni.

 3. The “buddha principle,” which manifests itself in the most various forms. Whereas in Hinayana only the existence of one buddha in every age is accepted (in which case the Buddha is considered an earthly being who teaches hu mans), for the Mahayana there are countless transcendent buddhas. According to the Mahayana teaching of the trikaya, the buddha principle manifests itself in three principal forms, the so-called three bodies (trikaya). In this sense the transcendent buddhas represent embodiments of various aspects of the buddha principle.

 4. A synonym for the absolute, ultimate reality devoid of form, color, and all other properties—buddha-nature.

From The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen,

By Michael S. Diener, Franz-Karl Erhard, Ingrid Fischer-Schreiber

Translated by Michael H. Kohn

 (See also: Buddha, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Seed of Buddhahood

(Jpn.: busshu)

The cause for attaining Buddhahood. The Buddha nature inherent in ordinary people, or the innate potential to become a Buddha; also the Buddha's teaching, which clarifies and enables people to realize their Buddha nature.

Bodhisattva practice, the practice required of a bodhisattva, is also regarded as the seed of Buddhahood. One ensures the cause for realizing enlightenment by receiving the Buddha's teaching, the seed of Buddhahood. Based on the Lotus Sutra, T'ien-t'ai (538-597) interpreted the seed of Buddhahood as the doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, and Nichiren (1222-1282) defined it as the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

See: Sowing maturing and harvesting

(See also: Seed of Buddhahood, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Rhinoceros Used in the mystical schools of Northern Buddhism to signify a pratyeka buddha, a translation of the Sanskrit khadga. The nature of the rhinoceros is to be alone, walk alone, live alone, intent on its own affairs and more or less oblivious of what does not concern these.

Transferring the idea of the solitary individual intent upon his own purposes, however spiritually high, to the pratyeka buddhas gives an outline of the entire Mahayana Buddhist doctrine.

Instead of khadga, the ancient Buddhist writers frequently used eka-sringa (one-horned), likewise signifying rhinoceros with the reference to the one-pointed spiritual self-interest and spiritual selfishness, of the prayeka buddhas.

Eka-sringa-rishi is the rhinoceros-rishi.

(See also: Rhinoceros, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Fundamental nature of enlightenment

(Jpn.: gampon-no-hossho)

Enlightenment to the fundamental nature of all things and phenomena. It is contrasted with fundamental darkness. Also, the Buddha nature that is inherent in life.

(See also: Fundamental nature of enlightenment, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Vajrapani (Sanskrit), or Manjushri, the Dhyani-Bodhisattva (as the spiritual reflex, or the son of the Dhyani.Buddhas, on earth) born directly from the subjective form of existence; a deity worshipped by the profane as a god, and by Initiates as a subjective Force, the real nature of which is known only to, and explained by, the highest Initiates of the Yogacharya School.

(See also: Vajrapani, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Bhikshu (Sanskrit). In Pali Bihkhu. The name given to the first followers of Sakyamuni Buddha. Lit., "mendicant scholar". The Sanskrit Chinese Dictionary explains the term correctly by dividing Bhikshus into two classes of Sramanas (Buddhist monks and priests), viz., "esoteric mendicants who control their nature by the (religious) law, and exoteric mendicants who control their nature by diet;" and it adds, less correctly: "every true Bhikshu is supposed to work miracles".

(See also: Bhikshu, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Expedient Means chapter

(Jpn.: Hoben-bon)

The second chapter of the Lotus Sutra, in which Shakyamuni Buddha reveals that the purpose of a Buddha's advent in the world is to lead all people to enlightenment. Shakyamuni shows that all people have the potential for Buddhahood, namely, that Buddhahood is not separate from ordinary people but is inherent in their lives.

This principal chapter of the theoretical teaching (first half of the Lotus Sutra), together with the "Life Span" (sixteenth) chapter of the essential teaching (latter half ), constitutes one of the two pivotal chapters of the entire sutra. At the beginning of this chapter, Shakyamuni arises from the deep meditation he had entered in the Immeasurable Meanings Sutra, the prologue to the Lotus Sutra, and addresses Shariputra, declaring that the wisdom of the Buddhas is infinitely profound and immeasurable, far beyond the comprehension of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones. Only Buddhas, he says, can realize the true aspect of all phenomena, which consists of appearance, nature, entity, power, influence, internal cause, relation, latent effect, manifest effect, and consistency from beginning to end.

This revelation that all living beings of the Ten Worlds are innately endowed with and can manifest the true aspect identified as "the ten factors of life" establishes a theoretical basis for the subsequent assertion that all people have the potential to attain Buddhahood. Based on this passage, T'ien-t'ai (538-597) established the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life.

Shakyamuni then reveals that the Buddhas make their advent for "one great reason": to enable all people to attain the same enlightenment as themselves. According to the chapter, their purpose is "to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom." Shakyamuni goes on to state that the three vehicles, or the teachings for voicehearers, cause-awakened ones, and bodhisattvas, are not ends in themselves, but are expedient means by which he leads people to the one Buddha vehicle. This concept is referred to as "the replacement of the three vehicles with the one vehicle."

(See also: Expedient Means chapter, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Buddha of Compassion One who, having gained the right to nirvana, renounces it to return to help all living beings. "They are men who have raised themselves from humanity into quasi-divinity; and this is done by letting the light imprisoned within, the light of the inner god, pour forth and manifest itself through the humanity of the man, through the human soul of the man. Through sacrifice and abandoning of all that is mean and wrong, ignoble and paltry and selfish: through opening up the inner nature so that the god within may shine forth; in other words, through self-directed evolution, they have raised themselves from mere manhood into becoming god-men, man-gods -- human divinities.

"They are called 'Buddhas of Compassion' because they feel their unity with all that is, and therefore feel intimate magnetic sympathy with all that is, and this is more and more the case as they evolve, until finally their consciousness blends with that of the universe and lives eternally and immortally, because it is at one with the universe. 'The dewdrop slips into the shining sea' -- its origin. . . . The Buddhas of Compassion, existing in their various degrees of evolution, form a sublime hierarchy extending from the Silent Watcher on our planet downwards through these various degrees unto themselves, and even beyond themselves to their chelas or disciples" (OG 23-4).

They are in contrast to the Pratyeka Buddhas, whose goal is to win spiritual liberation for themselves alone and who do not renounce nirvana.

(See also: Buddha of Compassion, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Six stages of practice

(Jpn.: roku-soku)

Also, six identities. Six stages in the practice of the Lotus Sutra formulated by T'ien-t'ai (538-597) in Great Concentration and Insight. They are as follows:

(1)         The stage of being a Buddha in theory. At this stage one has not yet heard the correct teaching and is ignorant of Buddhism. Nevertheless, a single moment of life is in itself identical to the truth of the matrix of the Thus Come One; in other words, one is a potential Buddha.

(2)         The stage of hearing the name and words of the truth. At this stage through the spoken or written word one comes to an intellectual understanding that one has the Buddha nature and that all phenomena are manifestations of the Buddhist Law. This may take place through reading or hearing the words of the sutras.

(3)         The stage of perception and action. Here one perceives the truth of the Buddha nature within oneself through practice, the truth and the wisdom to perceive it are in accord with each other, and one's words match one's actions.

(4)         The stage of resemblance to enlightenment. At this stage, one eliminates the first two of the three categories of illusion and attains purification of the six sense organs. Having advanced this far, one's wisdom resembles that of a Buddha. In terms of the fifty-two stages of practice, this stage corresponds to the first ten stages, the ten stages of faith.

(5)         The stage of progressive awakening. This is the stage at which one eradicates all illusions except fundamental darkness and awakens progressively to the truth of one's Buddha nature. In terms of the fifty-two stages, it corresponds to the eleventh (the first stage of security) through the fifty-first (the stage of near-perfect enlightenment).

(6)         The stage of ultimate enlightenment, or the highest stage of practice. At this stage, one finally eliminates fundamental darkness and fully manifests the Buddha nature. This corresponds to the stage of perfect enlightenment, the last of the fifty-two stages.

T'ien-t'ai taught that all people at whatever stage of practice are equally endowed with the potential for Buddhahood. In this way he prevented his disciples from falling into the error of self-deprecation or becoming discouraged. On the other hand, possessing the Buddha nature is not the same as attaining Buddhahood. T'ien-t'ai therefore divided practice into six progressive stages to prevent his disciples from falling into the error of arrogance and relaxing their efforts. In Great Concentration and Insight, he states: "If one lacks faith, one will object that it pertains to the lofty realm of the sages, something far beyond the capacity of one's own wisdom to understand. If one lacks wisdom, one will become puffed up with arrogance and will claim to be the equal of the Buddha."

The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings gives Nichiren's (1222-1282) interpretation of the six stages of practice: "Speaking in terms of the six stages of practice, the Thus Come One in this 'Life Span' chapter is an ordinary mortal who is in the first stage, that of being a Buddha in theory. When one reverently accepts Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, one is in the next stage, that of hearing the name and words of the truth. That is, one has for the first time heard the daimoku. When, having heard the daimoku, one proceeds to put it into practice, this is the third stage, that of perception and action. In this stage, one perceives the object of devotion that embodies the three thousand realms in a single moment of life. When one succeeds in overcoming various illusions and obstacles, this is the fourth stage, that of resemblance to enlightenment. When one sets out to convert others, this is the fifth stage, that of progressive awakening. And when one comes at last to the realization that one is a Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, then one is a Buddha of the sixth and highest stage, that of ultimate enlightenment.

"Speaking of the chapter as a whole, the idea of gradually overcoming delusions is not the ultimate meaning of the 'Life Span' chapter. You should understand that the ultimate meaning of this chapter is that ordinary mortals, just as they are in their original state of being, are Buddhas.

"And if you ask what is the action or practice carried out by the Buddha eternally endowed with the three bodies, it is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

(See also: Six stages of practice, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Inherent enlightenment

(Jpn.: hongaku)

Also, original enlightenment; or, depending on context, originally enlightened or eternally enlightened. Enlightenment, or Buddhahood, that is originally inherent in human life. Often used as an equivalent of the Buddha nature.

The concept of inherent or original enlightenment is contrasted with acquired enlightenment (shikaku), the view that enlightenment occurs as a result of carrying out Buddhist practice, dispelling illusions, and developing wisdom.

In the Tendai school of Japan, the doctrine of inherent or original enlightenment was taken to the extreme with the argument that ordinary people were already Buddhas even before engaging in Buddhist practice, and that the world as it is equals the world of enlightenment. Critics asserted that this view led to complacency in Buddhist practice.

(See also: Inherent enlightenment, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)

Triratna, or Ratnatraya (Sanskrit) The Three Jewels, the technical term for the well-known formula "Buddha, Dharma and Sangha" (or Samgha), the two latter terms meaning, in modern interpretation, "religious law" (Dharma), and the "priesthood" (Sangha).

Esoteric Philosophy, however, would regard this as a very loose rendering. The words "Buddha, Dharma and Sangha", ought to be pronounced as in the days of Gautama, the Lord Buddha, namely "Bodhi, Dharma and Sangha and interpreted to mean "Wisdom, its laws and priests ", the latter in the sense of " spiritual exponents ", or adepts. Buddha, however, being regarded as personified " Bodhi" on earth, a true avatar of Adi-Buddha, Dharma gradually came to be regarded as his own particular law, and Sangha as his own special priesthood. Nevertheless, it is the profane of the later (now modern) teachings who have shown a greater degree of natural intuition than the actual interpreters of Dharma, the Buddhist priests.

The people see the Triratna in the three statues of Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara and Maitreya Buddha; i.e., in Boundless Light" or Universal Wisdom, an impersonal principle which is the correct meaning of Adi-Buddha; in the "Supreme Lord" of the Bodhisattvas, or Avalokiteshvara; and in Maitreya Buddha, the symbol of the terrestrial and human Buddha, the "Manushi Buddha ". Thus, even though the uninitiated do call these three statues "the Buddhas of the Past, the Present and the Future ", still every follower of true philosophical Buddhism - called "atheistical" by Mr. Eitel -  would explain the term Triratna correctly. The philosopher of the Yogacharya School would say - as well he could - "Dharma is not a person but an unconditioned and underived entity, combining in itself the spiritual and material principles of the universe, whilst from Dharma proceeded, by emanation, Buddha [ Bodhi rather], as the creative energy which produced, in conjunction with Dharma, the third factor in the trinity, viz., ‘Samgha’, which is the comprehensive sum total of all real life." Samgha, then, is not and cannot be that which it is now understood to be, namely, the actual " priesthood"; for the latter is not the sum total of all real life, but only of religious life.

The real primitive significance of the word Samgha or "Sangha" applies to the Arhats or Bhikshus, or the "initiates", alone, that is to say to the real exponents of Dharma - the divine law and wisdom, coming to them as a reflex light from the one "boundless light ". Such is its philosophical meaning. And yet, far from satisfying the scholars of the Western races, this seems only to irritate them; for E. J. Eitel, of Hongkong, remarks, as to the above: " Thus the dogma of a Triratna, originating from three primitive articles of faith, and at one time culminating in the conception of three persons, a trinity in unity, has degenerated into a metaphysical theory of the evolution of three abstract principles "! And if one of the ablest European scholars will sacrifice every philosophical ideal to gross anthropomorphism, then what can Buddhism with its subtle metaphysics expect at the hands of ignorant missionaries?

(See also: Triratna, Ratnatraya, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Trisharana (Sanskrit). The same as" Triratna "and accepted by both the Northern and Southern Churches of Buddhism.

After the death of the Buddha it was adopted by the councils as a mere kind of formula fidei, enjoining "to take refuge in Buddha ", "to take refuge in Dharma ", and "to take refuge in Sangha ", or his Church, in the sense in which it is now interpreted; but it is not in this sense that the "Light of Asia" would have taught the formula. Of Trikaya, Mr. E. J. Eitel, of Hongkong, tells us in his Handbook of Chinese Buddhism that this "tricho-tomism was taught with regard to the nature of all Buddhas.

Bodhi being the characteristic of a Buddha"  - a distinction was made between "essential Bodhi" as the attribute of the Dharmakaya, i.e., "essential body"; "reflected Bodhi" as the attribute of Sambhogakaya; and "practical Bodhi" as the attribute of Nirmanakaya. Buddha combining in himself these three conditions of existence, was said to be living at the same time in three different spheres.

Now, this shows how greatly misunderstood is the purely pantheistical and philosophical teaching. Without stopping to enquire how even a Dharmakaya vesture can have any "attribute" in Nirvana, which state is shown, in philosophical Brahmanism as much as in Buddhism, to be absolutely devoid of any attribute as conceived by human finite thought - it will be sufficient to point to the following  -

(1) the Nirmanakaya vesture is preferred by the "Buddhas of Compassion" to that of the Dharmakaya state, precisely because the latter precludes him who attains it from any communication or relation with the finite, i.e., with humanity;

(2) it is not Buddha (Gautama, the mortal man, or any other personal Buddha) who lives ubiquitously in "three different spheres, at the same time ", but Bodhi, the universal and abstract principle of divine wisdom, symbolised in philosophy by Adi-Buddha.

It is the latter that is ubiquitous because it is the universal essence or principle. It is Bodhi, or the spirit of Buddhaship, which, having resolved itself into its primordial homogeneous essence and merged into it, as Brahma (the universe) merges into Parabrahm, the ABSOLUTENESS - that is meant under the name of "essential Bodhi ". For the Nirvanee, or Dhyani Buddha, must be supposed - by living in Arupadhatu, the formless state, and in Dharmakaya - to be that " essential Bodhi" itself. It is the Dhyani Bodhisattvas, the primordial rays of the universal Bodhi, who live in "reflected Bodhi" in Rapadhatu, or the world of subjective "forms" ; and it is the Nirmanakayas (plural) who upon ceasing their lives of " practical Bodhi", in the "enlightened" or Buddha forms, remain voluntarily in the Kamadhatu (the world of desire), whether in objective forms on earth or in subjective states in its sphere (the second Buddhakshetra). This they do in order to watch over, protect and help mankind.

Thus, it is neither one Buddha who is meant, nor any particular avatar of the collective Dhyani Buddhas, but verily Adi-Bodhi - the first Logos, whose primordial ray is Mahabuddhi, the Universal Soul, ALAYA, whose flame is ubiquitous, and whose influence has a different sphere in each of the three forms of existence, because, once again, it is Universal Being itself or the reflex of the Absolute. Hence, if it is philosophical to speak of Bodhi, which "as Dhyani Buddha rules in the domain of the spiritual" (fourth Buddhakshetra or region of Buddha); and of the Dhyani Bodhisattvas "ruling in the third Buddhakshetra "or the domain of ideation; and even of the Manushi Buddhas, who are in the second Buddhakshetra as Nirmanakayas - to apply the "idea of a unity in trinity" to three personalities - is highly unphilosophical.

(See also: Trisharana, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary, )

Enlightenment of plants

(Jpn.: somoku-jobutsu)

Also, enlightenment of insentient beings. The enlightenment of grass, trees, rocks, the land itself, or anything else that has neither emotion nor consciousness.

The doctrine that insentient beings can attain Buddhahood derives from T'ien-t'ai's doctrine of three thousand realms in a single moment of life. One of the component principles of this doctrine is the realm of the environment, or the insentient objective world.

The doctrine teaches the mutually inclusive relationship of living beings and their environments, or that of sentient and insentient beings, thereby revealing that both manifest the same state of life. Therefore, when living beings manifest the state of Buddhahood, their environment simultaneously manifests the state of Buddhahood as well.

In The Diamond Scalpel, Miao-lo (711-782) refuted the arguments of Ch'eng-kuan, the fourth patriarch of the Chinese Flower Garland (Hua-yen) school, who asserted that insentient beings do not possess the Buddha nature. Miao-lo wrote, "A plant, a tree, a pebble, a speck of dust-each has the Buddha nature, and each is endowed with cause and effect and with the function to manifest and the wisdom to realize its Buddha nature."

(See also: Enlightenment of plants, Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment, Buddhism Enlightenment Dictionary)