The Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa ("Exposition of Non-Decrease and Non-Increase") is a Buddhist sutra belonging to the Tathagatagarbha class of sutras. It is noteworthy for its teaching (delivered, in this text, by the Buddha to Sariputra) that Nirvana is not cessation of being or utter vacuity, but is the realm of the Tathagatagarbha, the unfabricated, utterly pure and everlasting essence of all creatures and beings. The Buddha links the Tathagatagarbha to the spotless immaculacy of the "Dharmakaya" (ultimate true nature of the Buddha) ...

Read more here: » Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa: Encyclopedia - Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa

Including:

• Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Tathagatagarbha in Zen
• Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Buddha-bots
• Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Texts

Read more here: » Tathagatagarbha doctrine: Encyclopedia - Tathagatagarbha doctrine

Buddha-nature (Awakened-nature) has been connected in recent decades with the developments of robotics and the possible eventual creation of artificial intelligence. In the 1970s, the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori popularized the idea that robots, under certain conditions, may possess Buddha-nature. Mori has since founded an institute to study the metaphysical implications of such technology. The implication or the question is, can a perfect simulation of intelligent outward behaviour really light the inner spark of a self-aware c ...

See also:

Tathagatagarbha doctrine, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Tathagatagarbha in Zen, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Buddha-bots, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Texts

Read more here: » Tathagatagarbha doctrine: Encyclopedia II - Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Buddha-bots

Atman is a Sanskrit word, normally translated as 'soul' or 'self' (also ego). In Buddhism, the concept of Atman is the prime consequence of ignorance, – itself the cause of all misery - the foundation of Samsara itself. In a number of sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, as well as in certain Buddhist Tantras, however, the term "Atman" is used in a dual sense, in some instances denoting the impermanent, mundane ego (attachment to which needs to be overcome), and on other occasions explicitly referring to the ultimately real, p ...

Including:

• Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman
• Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism
• Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism
• Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya
• Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics
• Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia - Atman Buddhism

In modern-Western manifestations of the Zen Buddhist tradition, it is considered insufficient simply to understand Buddha-nature intellectually. Rather it must be experienced and felt directly, in one's entire mind and body together. Enlightenment in a certain sense consists of a direct experience of one's authentic identity, which is traditionally described as śūnyata (emptiness), the ultimate reality of Buddha-nature. The Zen tradition often uses parables to try to explain the Buddha-nature: according to one story, a monk once app ...

See also:

Tathagatagarbha doctrine, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Tathagatagarbha in Zen, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Buddha-bots, Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Texts

Read more here: » Tathagatagarbha doctrine: Encyclopedia II - Tathagatagarbha doctrine - Tathagatagarbha in Zen

Candrakirti contextualises Atman as follows: Atman is an essence of things that does not depend on others; it is an intrinsic nature. The non-existence of that is selflessness. -- Bodhisattvayogacaryācatuḥśatakaṭikā 256.1.7 In the 'Abhidharma pitaka', which deals with metaphysics, the prime doctrine which allows pure Buddhist philosophy to successfully explain all phenomena is that all things happen with cause. 'Atman' is a conceptual attachment to oneself that promotes a f ...

See also:

Atman Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman, Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya, Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics, Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism

As Atman is identified as the cause of Samsara, it is not merely cognate with the various concepts of Atman as found in Hindu philosophy (atman (Hinduism)), and indeed the specific identification of what Atman is, is an essential philosophical concept for the Buddhist meditator. If Atman were not to exist at all, then we would all be naturally free from Samsara. What this entails is that Atman is identified as existing as a concept - more specifically, as a cognitive obscuration; moreover, it is this specific cogni ...

See also:

Atman Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman, Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya, Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics, Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism

Atman is a Sanskrit word (Pali: Attan), normally translated as 'soul' or 'Self'. In Buddhist sutra, the Atman is the “light (dipam), the only refuge” [DN 2.100]. As contrasted to the 5-aggregates, which are anatman (Pali: anatta), are not the Soul, are “na me so atta” (are not my Soul). At no time or location in the Nikayas is the Atman rejected. What has Buddhism to say of the Self? "That's not my Self" (na me so atta); this, and the term "non Self-ishness" (anatta) predicated of the world and all "things" (sabbe dhamma anatt ...

See also:

Atman Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman, Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya, Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics, Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya

With the doctrine of anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman) Buddhism maintains that the concept of ātman is unnecessary and counterproductive as an explanatory device for analyzing action, causality, karma, and reincarnation in a Buddhist context. Buddhists account for these and other "self"-related phenomena by other means, such as pratātya-samutpāda, the skandhas, and, for some schools, a pudgala. Thus it is not necessary for Buddhists to posit an ātman, and they further regard it as undesirable to do so, as they believe it provides ...

See also:

Atman Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman, Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya, Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics, Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics

Not all Buddhist scriptures, however, deny the reality of atman. Within the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, there exists an important class of sutras (influential upon Ch'an and Zen Buddhism), generally known as Tathagatagarbha sutras ("Buddha-Matrix" or "Buddha-Embryo" sutras), a number of which affirm that, in contradistinction to the impermanent "mundane self" of the five "skandhas"(the physical and mental components of the mutable ego), there does exist an eternal True Self, which is in fact none other than the Buddha himself in his ...

See also:

Atman Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The need for Buddhists to understand Atman, Atman Buddhism - The definition of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - The ontological status of Atman in Buddhism, Atman Buddhism - Atman in Nikaya, Atman Buddhism - The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics, Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Read more here: » Atman Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Atman Buddhism - Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived in what is now Northern India and Nepal between 566 and 483 BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following his death. It continued to spread into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. With approximately 708 million followers, Buddhism is a major world religion whose adherents are called Buddhists. Buddhist denominations are historically categ ...

Including:

• Buddhism - What is a Buddha?
• Buddhism - Origins
• Buddhism - Principles of Buddhism
• Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths
• Buddhism - The Noble Eightfold Path
• Buddhism - Practices of Buddhism
• Buddhism - Refuge in The Three Jewels
• Buddhism - The Five Precepts
• Buddhism - Meditation
• Buddhism - Buddha-dhatu Buddha-Principle, Buddha-nature
• Buddhism - Other principles and practices
• Buddhism - Vegetarianism
• Buddhism - Buddhist religious philosophy and branches
• Buddhism - Buddhism after the Buddha
• Buddhism - Principal schools of Buddhist philosophy
• Buddhism - Scriptures
• Buddhism - Relations with other Eastern faiths
• Buddhism - Buddhism in the modern world
• Buddhism - Buddhism and the West
• Buddhism - Buddhism
• Buddhism - Related systems and religions
• Buddhism - References and Links
• Buddhism - References
• Buddhism - Footnotes
• Buddhism - External links

Read more here: » Buddhism

Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, "Buddha-dhatu" - "Buddha Element", "Buddha-Principle") is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. The Buddha-nature ("Buddha-dhatu") is taught to be a truly real eternal potential or principle, present in all sentient beings, for awakening and becoming Enlightened. The Buddha-nature doctrine relates to the possession by sentient beings of the innate buddha-mind or buddha-element ("Buddha-dhatu"), which is, prior to the full attainment of buddhahood, not fully actualized, or at ...

Including:

• Buddha-nature - Development of Buddha-nature
• Buddha-nature - Buddha-nature vs. atman

Read more here: » Buddha-nature

Śūnyatā, शून्यता (Sanskrit, Pali: suññatā), or "Emptiness," is a term for an aspect of the Buddhist metaphysical critique as well as Buddhist epistemology and phenomenology. Shunyata signifies that everything one encounters in life is empty of soul, permanence, and self-nature. Everything is inter-related, never self-sufficient or independent; nothing has independent reality. Yet shunyata never connotes nihilism, which Buddhist doctrine considers to be a delusion, just as it considers materialism to be a del ...

Including:

• Shunyata - Origin and development of śūnyatā
• Shunyata - Śunyata in presecular Buddhism in the Nikayas
• Shunyata - Śunyata in the Heart Sutra
• Shunyata - Śunyata in Nāgārjuna
• Shunyata - Śunyata in the Tathagatagarbha Sutras

Read more here: » Shunyata: Encyclopedia - Shunyata

Buddhism, a religion and philosophy from ancient India, is based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, of the Shakyas. His lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 483 BCE; it spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the five centuries following his death. Missionaries would carry Buddhism throughout Central Asia, Sri Lanka, Tibet, as well as East Asian countries such as China, Korea, and Japan in the following two millenia. Buddhism is classified as an Ārya dharma ("Noble religion") and is one ...

Including:

• Buddhism - What is a Buddha?
• Buddhism - Origins
• Buddhism - Principles of Buddhism
• Buddhism - The Three Marks of Existence
• Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths
• Buddhism - The Noble Eightfold Path
• Buddhism - Practices of Buddhism
• Buddhism - Refuge in The Three Jewels
• Buddhism - The Five Precepts
• Buddhism - Meditation
• Buddhism - Buddha-dhatu Buddha-Principle Buddha-nature
• Buddhism - Other principles and practices
• Buddhism - Vegetarianism
• Buddhism - Buddhist religious philosophy and branches
• Buddhism - Buddhism after the Buddha
• Buddhism - Principal schools of Buddhist philosophy
• Buddhism - Scriptures
• Buddhism - Relations with other Eastern faiths
• Buddhism - Buddhism in the modern world
• Buddhism - Buddhism and the West
• Buddhism - Buddhism
• Buddhism - Related systems and religions
• Buddhism - References and Links
• Buddhism - References
• Buddhism - Footnotes
• Buddhism - External links

Read more here: » Buddhism: Encyclopedia - Buddhism

Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehankyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Note that this is one of two Buddhist texts having approximately the same title, the other being part of the Pali Canon. However, both for historical reasons and for the sake of clarity, the former is generally referred to by its Sanskrit title, Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (or simply "Nirvana Sutra"), and the latter by its Pali title, Mahaparinib ...

Including:

• Nirvana Sutra - Overview
• Nirvana Sutra - Versions
• Nirvana Sutra - Quotations from the Nirvana Sutra
• Nirvana Sutra - Textual history
• Nirvana Sutra - English edition

Read more here: » Nirvana Sutra: Encyclopedia - Nirvana Sutra

Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, "Buddha-dhatu" - "Buddha Element", "Buddha-Principle") is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. The Buddha-nature ("Buddha-dhatu") is taught to be a truly real eternal potential or principle, present in all sentient beings, for awakening and becoming Enlightened. The Buddha-nature doctrine relates to the possession by sentient beings of the innate buddha-mind or buddha-element ("Buddha-dhatu"), which is, prior to the full attainment of buddhahood, not fully actualized, or at ...

Including:

• Buddha-nature - Development of Buddha-nature
• Buddha-nature - Buddha-nature vs. atman

Read more here: » Buddha-nature: Encyclopedia - Buddha-nature

Buddhism - The Three Marks of Existence. According to the Buddhist tradition, all phenomena (dharmas) are marked by three characteristics, sometimes referred to as the Dharma seals, that is anicca(impermanence), dukkha (suffering) and Anatta (no self) Main Article: Anicca (Pāli; Sanskrit: anitya): All compounded phenomena (things and experiences) are inconstant, unsteady, and impermanent. (Practically) everything is made up of parts, and is dependent on the right condit ...

See also:

Buddhism, Buddhism - Headline text, Buddhism - What is a Buddha?, Buddhism - Origins, Buddhism - Principles of Buddhism, Buddhism - The Three Marks of Existence, Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths, Buddhism - The Noble Eightfold Path, Buddhism - Practices of Buddhism, Buddhism - Refuge in The Three Jewels, Buddhism - The Five Precepts, Buddhism - Meditation, Buddhism - Buddha-dhatu Buddha-Principle Buddha-nature, Buddhism - Other principles and practices, Buddhism - Vegetarianism, Buddhism - Buddhist religious philosophy and branches, Buddhism - Buddhism after the Buddha, Buddhism - Principal schools of Buddhist philosophy, Buddhism - Scriptures, Buddhism - Relations with other Eastern faiths, Buddhism - Buddhism in the modern world, Buddhism - Buddhism and the West, Buddhism - Buddhism, Buddhism - Related systems and religions, Buddhism - References and Links, Buddhism - References, Buddhism - Footnotes, Buddhism - External links

Read more here: » Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Buddhism - Principles of Buddhism

Sunnata. (Skt. Shunyata) "Emptiness" (sunnata) in Pali contexts is not the metaphysical Zero (Nonbeing as the principle of Being, Infinite Possibility as distinguished from Indefinite Actuality), but a characteristic of this world, as in S IV.295 96, where it has been explained that when the Almsman returns from a deathlike Contemplation in which consciousness and feeling have been arrested, "three touches touch him,” "emptiness (sunnato)," "formlessness (animito)" and "making no plans (appanihito phasso)," and he discriminates (viveka) ac ...

See also:

Shunyata, Shunyata - Origin and development of śūnyatā, Shunyata - Śunyata in presecular Buddhism in the Nikayas, Shunyata - Śunyata in the Heart Sutra, Shunyata - Śunyata in Nāgārjuna, Shunyata - Śunyata in the Tathagatagarbha Sutras

Read more here: » Shunyata: Encyclopedia II - Shunyata - Śunyata in presecular Buddhism in the Nikayas

Unlike the Western concept of "soul" or some interpretations of the Indian "atman", Buddha-nature is not considered an isolated essence of a particular individual, but rather a single unified essence shared by all beings with Buddha-nature. (Though such an essence would still be in violation of some interpretations of anatta, as for example that of Nagarjuna, which attacks all essences; similarly, a trans-personal self shared by multiple beings exists already within the Hindu context in some monistic and/or pantheistic interpretations of the atman, and such concept ...

See also:

Buddha-nature, Buddha-nature - Development of Buddha-nature, Buddha-nature - Buddha-nature vs. atman

Read more here: » Buddha-nature: Encyclopedia II - Buddha-nature - Buddha-nature vs. atman

The text contained in the Faxian and Tibetan translations is roughly equivalent to just the first quarter of the greatly expanded Dharmaksema version. Given that all known Sanskrit fragments correspond solely to material found in the Faxian and Tibetan versions, and the corresponding part of Dharmakshema, it is generally accepted that this portion of the text was compiled in India, possibly, as the text itself hints, somewhere in southern India, before it was transferred to Kashmir. The additional material in the long Dharmakshema ...

See also:

Nirvana Sutra, Nirvana Sutra - Overview, Nirvana Sutra - Versions, Nirvana Sutra - Quotations from the Nirvana Sutra, Nirvana Sutra - Textual history, Nirvana Sutra - English edition

Read more here: » Nirvana Sutra: Encyclopedia II - Nirvana Sutra - Textual history