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118-537: Buddha-nature has a wide range of (sometimes conflicting) meanings in Indian Buddhism and later in East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist literature. Broadly speaking, it refers to the belief that the luminous mind , "the natural and true state of the mind ", which is pure ( visuddhi ) mind undefiled by afflictions , is inherently present in every sentient being , and is eternal and unchanging. It will shine forth when it

236-599: A Middle Way between the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification , in which self-restraint and compassion are central elements. According to tradition, as recorded in the Pali Canon and the Agamas, Siddhārtha Gautama attained awakening sitting under a pipal tree, now known as the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya , India. Gautama referred to himself as the tathagata , the "thus-gone";

354-503: A Buddhist monastery. With the Gupta dynasty (~4th to 6th century), the growth in ritualistic Mahayana Buddhism, mutual influence between Hinduism and Buddhism, The differences between Buddhism and Hinduism blurred, and Vaishnavism, Shaivism and other Hindu traditions became increasingly popular, and Brahmins developed a new relationship with the state. As the system grew, Buddhist monasteries gradually lost control of land revenue. In parallel,

472-491: A Marathi text, Dhamramrita, where he gives the names of 16 Buddhist orders. Vidyadhar Johrapurkar noted that among them, the names Sataghare, Dongare, Navaghare, Kavishvar, Vasanik and Ichchhabhojanik still survive in Maharashtra as family names. The mahavihara at Ratnagiri, Odisha seems to have continued with a reduced community, and some renovation of buildings, until the 16th century, perhaps funded by foreign pilgrims as it

590-652: A collection of visual and tactile phenomena might be mentally constructed into what is conventionally referred to as a "table"; but, beyond its constituent elements, a construct such as "table" lacks intrinsic existence ( sabhāva ). According to Peter Harvey, sabhāva in the Theravāda Abhidhamma is something conditional and interdependent: "They are dhammas because they uphold their own nature [sabhaava]. They are dhammas because they are upheld by conditions or they are upheld according to their own nature" (Asl.39). Here 'own-nature' would mean characteristic nature, which

708-577: A copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place. Under the kings of the Pala Empire (c. 730-1130), large mahavihars flourished in what is now Bihar and Bengal, with considerable royal patronage. Tantric Buddhism dominated in this region and period, and was spread to Tibet. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahavihars stood out: Vikramashila , the premier university of the era; Nalanda , past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura , Odantapurā , and Jaggadala . The five monasteries formed

826-625: A decline of the Buddhist Sangha , especially in the wake of the Hun invasion from central Asia. Xuanzang, the most famous of Chinese travellers, found "millions of monasteries" in north-western India reduced to ruins by the Huns. The Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent was the first great iconoclastic invasion into South Asia. By the end of the twelfth century, Buddhism had mostly disappeared, with

944-627: A network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them. During this period [Pala dynasty] Mahayana Buddhism reached its zenith of sophistication, while tantric Buddhism flourished throughout India and surrounding lands. This

1062-523: A part of the decline of Buddhist monasteries was because it was detached from everyday life in India and did not participate in the ritual social aspects such as the rites of passage (marriage, funeral, birth of child) like other religions. Svabhava Svabhava ( Sanskrit : स्वभाव , svabhāva; Pali : सभाव , sabhāva; Chinese : 自性 ; pinyin : zìxìng ; Tibetan : རང་བཞིན , Wylie : rang-bzhin ) literally means "own-being" or "own-becoming". It

1180-503: A single theory which sees self, world, mind and ultimate realty as an integrated "one mind", which is the ultimate substratum of all things (including samsara and nirvana). In the Awakening of Faith the "one mind" has two aspects, namely "the aspect of enlightenment," (which is tathata , suchness, the true nature of things), and "the aspect of nonenlightenment" ( samsara , the cycle of birth and death, defilement and ignorance). This text

1298-612: A small group of monks who were all known to each other. It was only by the fifth century that Mahayana elements began to appear in Buddha images although it is speculated that there were earlier Mahayana images in the third-century CE. These Mahayana sculptures didn't just depict the Buddha but also Bodhisattvas and other deities. Various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism and Shaivism . The Mañjusrimulakalpa , which later came to classified under Kriyatantra , states that mantras taught in

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1416-584: A statue of the Victorious One in a tattered rag, a ruler of humankind in a destitute woman's womb, and a precious image under clay, this [buddha] element abides within all sentient beings, obscured by the defilement of the adventitious poisons. Another important and early source for buddha-nature is the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra ( often just called the Nirvana Sutra), possibly dating to

1534-563: A view of niḥsvabhāva , refuting svabhāva using the same logic employed by Madhyamaka, a freedom from extremes demonstrated succinctly via catuṣkoṭi tetralemma . As it ( rigpa ) transcends awareness and non-awareness, there are not even the imputations of awareness. This is called the Dzogpa Chenpo, free from extremes. In the context of logical analysis, Dzogchen agrees with the view of Madhyamaka as elucidated by Nāgārjuna , Chögyal Namkhai Norbu explains: ...Madhyamaka explains with

1652-497: Is [used] because emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, and so on, exist in the mind streams of all sentient beings. However, it is not something like a permanent and all-pervasive person that is the inner agent. For we find [passages] such as "All phenomena have the nature of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. What is emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness is the Tathagata." According to Candrakirti 's Madhyamakāvatārabhāsya

1770-509: Is a non-dual self-awareness. Brunnholzl also notes that for Ratnākaraśānti, this luminosity is equivalent to the Yogacara concept of the perfected nature, which he sees as an implicative negation. Ratnākaraśānti also describes this ultimate self-nature as radiance ( prakāśa , ‘shining forth’), which is the capacity to appear (pratibhāsa). The Yogācāra concept of the alaya-vijñana (store consciousness) also came to be associated by some scholars with

1888-549: Is a nonimplicative negation , (2) the luminous nature of the mind , (3) alaya-vijñana (store-consciousness), (4) all bodhisattvas and sentient beings. The term tathagatagarbha first appears in the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras , which date to the 2nd and third centuries CE. It is translated and interpreted in various ways by western translators and scholars: The term "buddha-nature" ( traditional Chinese : 佛性 ; ; pinyin : fóxìng , Japanese : busshō )

2006-568: Is cleansed of the defilements, that is, when the nature of mind is recognized for what it is. The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (2nd century CE), which was very influential in the Chinese reception of these teachings , linked the concept of tathāgatagārbha with the buddhadhātu . The term buddhadhātu originally referred to the relics of Gautama Buddha . In the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , it came to be used in place of

2124-458: Is closely related in meaning to the term tathāgatagarbha , but is not an exact translation of this term. It refers to what is essential in the human being. The corresponding Sanskrit term is buddhadhātu . It has two meanings, namely the nature of the Buddha, equivalent to the term dharmakāya , and the cause of the Buddha. The link between the cause and the result is the nature ( dhātu , see also Svabhava , Mahābhūta , and Eighteen dhātus ) which

2242-461: Is common to both, namely the dharmadhātu. Matsumoto Shirō also points out that "buddha-nature" translates the Sanskrit-term buddhadhātu, a "place to put something," a "foundation," a "locus." According to Shirō, it does not mean "original nature" or "essence," nor does it mean the "possibility of the attainment of Buddhahood," "the original nature of the Buddha," or "the essence of the Buddha." In

2360-407: Is covered over by afflictions. The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra uses nine similes to illustrate the concept: This [tathāgatagarbha] abides within the shroud of the afflictions, as should be understood through [the following nine] examples: Just like a buddha in a decaying lotus, honey amidst bees, a grain in its husk, gold in filth, a treasure underground, a shoot and so on sprouting from a little fruit,

2478-571: Is employed in The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra , one of the Seventeen Tantras of Atiyoga Upadesha . Dzogchen strictly refutes the notion of " svabhāva ", and so The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra , states specifically that dharmakāya is non-arisen and natureless: ...this meaningful supreme wisdom kāya ultimate, natureless [rang bzhin med], the state of the nonarising dharmakāya,

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2596-439: Is itself enfolded, hidden or contained by another." The Tibetan translation is de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po , which cannot be translated as "womb" ( mngal or lhums ), but as "embryonic essence", "kernel" or "heart". The term "heart" was also used by Mongolian translators. The Tibetan scholar Go Lotsawa outlined four meanings of the term Tathāgatagarbha as used by Indian Buddhist scholars generally: (1) As an emptiness that

2714-490: Is natural luminosity." Paul Williams puts forward the Madhyamaka interpretation of the buddha-nature as emptiness in the following terms: … if one is a Madhyamika then that which enables sentient beings to become buddhas must be the very factor that enables the minds of sentient beings to change into the minds of Buddhas. That which enables things to change is their simple absence of inherent existence, their emptiness. Thus

2832-631: Is near the coast accessible from South-East Asia. Buddhism also survived to the modern era in Himalayan regions such as Ladakh , with close ties to Tibet. A unique tradition survives in Nepal's Newar Buddhism . The most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India , in particular Bodh Gaya, continued to receive pilgrims from outside India throughout the medieval and modern periods, which are now greatly increased with easier air travel. In Bihar and Bengal, many Buddhist shrines and temples have remained intact with

2950-478: Is not linked to Brahmins or the caste system, since Buddhism was "not a reaction to the caste system", but aimed at the salvation of those who joined its monastic order. The 11th-century Persian traveller Al-Biruni writes that there was 'cordial hatred' between the Brahmins and Sramana Buddhists. Buddhism was also weakened by rival Hindu philosophies such as Advaita Vedanta , growth in temples and an innovation of

3068-634: Is not something inherent in a dhamma as a separate ultimate reality, but arise due to the supporting conditions both of other dhammas and previous occurrences of that dhamma. This is of significance as it makes the Mahayana critique of the Sarvastivadin's notion of own-nature largely irrelevant to the Theravada. The Vaibhāṣika school held that dharmas have a constant essence or inherent nature ( svabhāva ) which persists through past, present and future. The term

3186-420: Is of expedient meaning". Kamalasila 's (c. 740–795) Madhyamakaloka associates tathāgatagarbha with luminosity and luminosity with emptiness . According to Kamalasila the idea that all sentient beings have tathāgatagarbha means that all beings can attain full awakening and also refers to how "the term tathāgata expresses that the dharmadhātu, which is characterized by personal and phenomenal identitylessness,

3304-595: Is possible this position was similar to or associated with Carvaka . In early sāṃkhya philosophy, svabhāva was a term which was associated with prakṛti . It is the inherent capacity of prakṛti , which is independent and self caused. The Bhagavad Gītā (18.41) has nature ( svabhāva ) as a distinguishing quality differentiating the varṇā . Overzee (1992: p. 74) in her work on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) and Rāmānuja (1017–1137) highlights Rāmānuja's usage of svabhāva in relation to Brahman thus: Let us look more closely at what Rāmānuja means by

3422-463: Is regarded to be the seed from which Buddhahood grows. Wayman thus argues that the pure luminous mind doctrine formed the basis for the classic buddha-nature doctrine. Karl Brunnholzl writes that the first probable mention of the term tathāgatagarbha is in the Ekottarika Agama (though here it is used in a different way than in later texts). The passage states: If someone devotes himself to

3540-642: Is said to be unaltered (ma bcos pa), because the Basis [gzhi] is spontaneously accomplished (lhun grub) in terms of its innate potential (rtsal) for manifestation (rol pa). The non-duality between the Ultimate Nature (i.e., the unaltered appearance of all phenomena) and the Condition (i.e., the Basis of all) is called the Identity (bdag nyid). This unicum of primordial purity (ka dag) and spontaneous accomplishment (lhun grub)

3658-463: Is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, but some scholars consider it to be a different branch altogether. The practice of Buddhism lost influence in India around the 7th century CE, after the collapse of the Gupta Empire . The last large state to support Buddhism—the Pala Empire —fell in the 12th century. By the end of the 12th century, Buddhism had largely disappeared from India with

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3776-503: Is supreme. The Union of the Sun and Moon ( Tibetan : ཉི་ཟླ་ཁ་སྦྱོར , Wylie : nyi zla kha sbyor ), one of the ' seventeen tantras of the esoteric instruction cycle' ( Tibetan : མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན , Wylie : man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun ) which are a suite of tantras known variously as: nyingtik , upadesha or menngagde within Dzogchen discourse, states: Whoever meditates on

3894-566: Is the Way of Being (gnas lugs) of the Pure-and-Perfect-Mind [byang chub (kyi) sems]. The term " svabhāva " is mentioned in six verses of the first chapter of the Avadhūta Gītā : 1.5 , 1.6 , 1.44 , 1.54 , 1.58 , 1.76 . This extreme nondual yoga text shares a lot of common language with the extreme nondual yoga of Atiyoga (Dzogchen) and its standard Tibetan analogue rang-bzhin (Wylie)

4012-553: Is the intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence of beings. The concept and term svabhāva are frequently encountered in Hindu and Buddhist traditions such as Advaita Vedanta (e.g. in the Avadhūta Gītā ), Mahāyāna Buddhism (e.g. in the Ratnagotravibhāga ), Vaishnavism (e.g., the writings of Ramanuja ) and Dzogchen (e.g. in the seventeen tantras ). In the nondual Advaita Vedānta yoga text, Avadhūta Gītā , Brahman (in

4130-480: The Buddhist logic of Nāgārjuna , states: Svabhāva is by definition the subject of contradictory ascriptions. If it exists, it must belong to an existent entity, which means that it must be conditioned, dependent on other entities, and possessed of causes. But a svabhāva is by definition unconditioned, not dependent on other entities, and not caused. Thus the existence of a svabhāva is impossible. Dzogchen upholds

4248-454: The Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950. According to the 2011 Census there are 8.4 million Buddhists in India (0.70% of the total population). The Buddha was born to a Kapilvastu head of the Shakya republic named Suddhodana . He employed sramana practices in a specific way, denouncing extreme asceticism and sole concentration-meditation, which were sramanic practices. Instead, he propagated

4366-540: The Lotus Sutra details that the potential to become enlightened is universal among all people, even the historical Devadatta has the potential to become a buddha. East Asian commentaries saw these teachings as indicating that the Lotus sutra was also drawing on the concept of the universality of buddha-nature. The sutra shares other themes and ideas with the later tathāgatagarbha sūtras and thus several scholars theorize that it

4484-555: The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (T. 1442). Also preserved are a set of Āgamas ( Sūtra Piṭaka ), a complete Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma Piṭaka, and many other texts of the early Buddhist schools. Early Buddhist schools in India often divided modes of Buddhist practice into several "vehicles" ( yāna ). For example, the Vaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins are known to have employed the outlook of Buddhist practice as consisting of

4602-478: The Pāli Canon , sabhāva is absent from what are generally considered to be the earliest texts. When found in later texts (e.g., the paracanonical Milindapañha ) , it generically refers to state (of mind), character or truth. In the post-canonical Abhidhamma literature, sabhāva is used to distinguish an irreducible, dependent , momentary phenomenon ( dhamma ) from a conventionally constructed object. Thus,

4720-453: The Ratnagotra . These works are unknown in other textual traditions and scholars disagree on whether they are translations, original compositions or a mixture of the two. These works are: Indian Madhyamaka philosophers interpreted the theory as a description of emptiness and as a non implicative negation. Bhaviveka 's Tarkajvala states: [The expression] "possessing the tathagata heart"

4838-671: The Ratnagotravibhāga , all sentient beings have "the embryo of the Tathagata" in three senses: The Ratnagotravibhāga equates enlightenment with the nirvāṇa-realm and the dharmakāya . It gives a variety of synonyms for garbha , the most frequently used being gotra and dhatu . This text also explains the tathāgatagarbha in terms of luminous mind , stating that "the luminous nature of the mind Is unchanging, just like space." Takasaki Jikido notes various buddha nature treatises which exist only in Chinese and which are similar in some ways to

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4956-588: The Ratnagotravibhāga ; and [2] strong tathāgatagarbha theory, associated with such texts as the Awakening of Faith . Indian Buddhism Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion , which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar , India ). It is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha , who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE and was deemed a " Buddha " ("Awakened One" ). However, Buddhist doctrine holds that there were other Buddhas before him. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in

5074-546: The Vajrayana , the term for buddha-nature is sugatagarbha . According to Alex Wayman , the idea of the tathāgatagarbha is grounded on sayings by the Buddha that there is something called the luminous mind ( prabhasvaracitta ), "which is only adventitiously covered over by defilements ( agantuka klesha )." The luminous mind is mentioned in a passage from the Anguttara Nikaya (which has various parallels) which states that

5192-502: The bhakti movement. This rivalry undercut Buddhist patronage and popular support. The period between 400 CE and 1000 CE thus saw gains by the Vedanta school of Hinduism over Buddhism and Buddhism had vanished from Afghanistan and north India by the early 11th century as a result of the Muslim conquests of Afghanistan and incursions into India. According to some scholars such as Lars Fogelin,

5310-597: The interpenetration of all dharmas (in East Asian traditions like Huayan ). The belief in Buddha-nature is central to East Asian Buddhism , which relies on key Buddha-nature sources like the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra . In Tibetan Buddhism , the concept of Buddha-nature is equally important and often studied through the key Indian treatise on Buddha-nature, the Ratnagotravibhāga (3rd–5th century CE). The term tathāgatagarbha may mean "embryonic tathāgata", "womb of

5428-408: The tathāgatagarbha sūtras , notably the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , the Buddha states that the immortal and infinite Buddha-nature - or "true self" of the Buddha - is the indestructible svabhāva of beings, this position is clarified in the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra , which directly states that "tathāgatagarbha is not a substantial self, nor a living being, nor ‘fate,’ nor a person." In

5546-495: The 2nd century CE. Some scholars like Michael Radich argue that this is the earliest buddha-nature sutra. This sutra was very influential in the development of East Asian Buddhism . The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra linked the concept of tathāgatagarbha with the "buddhadhātu" ("buddha-nature" or "buddha-element") and it also equates these with the eternal and pure Buddha-body, the Dharmakaya, also called vajrakaya . The sutra also presents

5664-639: The 8th through 15th centuries, who were forced to flee to escape the invading Muslim army, after which the site decayed over the Islamic rule in India that followed. The last empire to support Buddhism, the Pala dynasty, fell in the 12th century, and Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji , a general of the early Delhi Sultanate , destroyed monasteries and monuments and spread Islam in Bengal. According to Randall Collins, Buddhism

5782-405: The Buddha ( buddhajñāna )," is seen by some scholars as complementary to the tathāgatagarbha concept. The Lotus Sutra , written between 100 BCE and 200 CE, also does not use the term tathāgatagarbha , but Japanese scholars suggest that a similar idea is nevertheless expressed or implied in the text. The tenth chapter emphasizes that all living beings can become a Buddha. The twelfth chapter of

5900-471: The Buddha or Bodhisattva inside, being appropriated and worshipped as a Brahmanical deity. Around the neighbourhood of Nalanda, the remains of votive stupas are worshipped as Shiva lingas . An image of the Buddha in bhūmisparśa mudrā at the village of Telhara receives full-fledged pūjā as Hanuman during Rama Navami . A sculpture of the Buddha has ended up as Vāsudeva at Gunaighar in Comilla . Abul Fazl ,

6018-873: The Buddha's lifetime. During the reign of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka , the Buddhist community split into two branches: the Mahāsāṃghika and the Sthaviravāda , each of which spread throughout India and split into numerous sub-sects. In modern times, two major branches of Buddhism exist: the Theravada in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia , and the Mahayana throughout the Himalayas and East Asia. The Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana

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6136-618: The Deer Park in Sarnath near Vārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought liberation. They, together with the Buddha, formed the first Saṅgha , the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha ) was completed. For

6254-851: The Dharmaguptaka vinaya and ordination lineage for bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs . During the early period of Chinese Buddhism , the Indian Buddhist sects recognized as important, and whose texts were studied, were the Dharmaguptakas, Mahīśāsakas , Kāśyapīyas Sarvāstivādins, and the Mahāsāṃghikas. Complete vinayas preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon include the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (T. 1421), Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya (T. 1425), Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (T. 1428), Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (T. 1435), and

6372-456: The Dharmakaya as it does in some sutras). The Yogācāra school also had a doctrine of "gotra" (lineage, family) which held that there were five categories of living beings each with their own inner nature. To make this teaching compatible with the notion of buddha-nature in all beings, Yogācāra scholars in China such as Tz'u-en (慈恩, 632–682) the first patriarch in China, advocated two types of nature:

6490-467: The Ekottarikagama, Then he has the tathagatagarbha . Even if his body cannot exhaust defilements in this life, In his next life he will attain supreme wisdom. This tathāgatagarbha idea was the result of an interplay between various strands of Buddhist thought, on the nature of human consciousness and the means of awakening. Gregory sees this doctrine as implying that enlightenment is the natural state of

6608-803: The Gangetic plains or among small monastic communities on the fringes of the subcontinent in the South and the North East. The number of monasteries that supported Mahayana Buddhism gradually started to increase. In the Gangetic plains, Nalanda mahavihara emerged and gradually became a centre of Mahayana Buddhism receiving patronisation not just from Indian rulers but also from foreign monarchs and monks. Within Nalanda, numerous scholars of note have been associated with it including Shantideva , Aryadeva , Dharmakirti and Chandrakirti . Another important centre during this period

6726-480: The Great Perfection further acknowledges the ontological identity of the macrocosmic and microcosmic realities through the threefold axiom of Condition (ngang), Ultimate Nature (rang bzhin) and Identity (bdag nyid). The Condition (ngang) is the Basis of all (kun gzhi) -- primordially pure (ka dag) and not generated by primary and instrumental causes. It is the origin of all phenomena. The Ultimate Nature (rang bzhin)

6844-421: The Gupta kings built Buddhist temples such as the one at Kushinagara, and monastic universities such as those at Nalanda, as evidenced by records left by three Chinese visitors to India. According to Hazra, Buddhism declined in part because of the rise of the Brahmins and their influence in socio-political process. According to Randall Collins, Richard Gombrich and other scholars, Buddhism's rise or decline

6962-561: The Lord's "nature". If you read his writings, you will find that he uses two distinct yet related words when referring to the nature of Brahman: svarūpa and svabhāva . In early Theravādin texts, the term " svabhāva " did not carry the technical meaning or the soteriological weight of later writings. Much of Mahāyāna Buddhism (as in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra ) denies outright that such a svabhāva exists within any being; however, while in

7080-484: The Mauryan empire through commercial connections and along trade routes. In this way, Buddhism also spread through the silk route into central Asia. The Mauryan Empire reached its peak at the time of emperor Ashoka, who converted to Buddhism after the Battle of Kalinga . This heralded a long period of stability under the Buddhist emperor. The power of the empire was vast—ambassadors were sent to other countries to propagate Buddhism . Greek envoy Megasthenes describes

7198-416: The Muslim power. Recent evidence has uncovered the existence of many late Indian Buddhist travellers and scholars who were active into the 15th and 16th centuries. The last abbot of the Bodh Gaya mahavihara in Bihar was Śāriputra who was active into the 1400s when he left India to travel in Tibet and China . Dhyānabhadra was another figure who was previously a student at Nalanda and left India in

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7316-431: The Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally by Manjushri . The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition , prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members into Shaiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas. The Samvara tantra texts adopted the pitha list from the Shaiva text Tantrasadbhava , introducing

7434-430: The Three Vehicles: In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, economic development made the merchant class increasingly important. Merchants were attracted to Buddhist teachings, which contrasted with existing Brahmin religious practices. The latter focussed on the social position of the Brahmin caste to the exclusion of the interests of other classes. Buddhism became prominent in merchant communities and then spread throughout

7552-463: The Upanishadic denotation) is the svabhāva . In the Mahāyāna Buddhadharma tradition(s) it is one of a suite of terms employed to denote the Buddha-nature , such as " gotra ". The term first appears in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad , as a possible first cause ( jagatkāraṇa ). There also seems to have been an Indian philosophical position called Svabhāvavada which was akin to naturalism which held that "things are as their nature makes them". It

7670-470: The Yogācāra school systematized the prevalent ideas on the nature of the Buddha in the Trikaya (triple body) doctrine, in which the Buddha is held to have three bodies: Nirmanakaya (transformation body which people see on earth), Sambhogakāya (a subtle body which appears to bodhisattvas) and the Dharmakāya (ultimate reality). This doctrine was also later to be synthesized with buddha-nature teachings by various sources (with buddha-nature generally referring to

7788-439: The absence of nature [svabhāva] in objects that are objective appearances this is the non-duality of appearance and emptiness, the relaxed unimpeded group of six. Svabhāva is very important in the nontheistic theology of the Bonpo Great Perfection (Dzogchen) tradition where it is part of a technical language to render macrocosm and microcosm into nonduality , as Rossi (1999: p. 58) states: The View of

7906-476: The ancient history and was inaugurated in December of 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Menander was the most famous Bactrian king. He ruled from Taxila and later from Sagala (Sialkot). He rebuilt Taxila ( Sirkap ) and Puṣkalavatī. He became Buddhist and is remembered in Buddhist records due to his discussions with a great Buddhist philosopher in the book Milinda Pañha . By 90 BC, Parthians took control of eastern Iran and around 50 BC put an end to

8024-504: The buddha-nature or tathagatagarbha as a "Self" or a true self ( ātman ), though it also attempts to argue that this claim is not incompatible with the teaching of not-self (anatman). The Nirvana sutra further claims that buddha-nature (and the Buddha's body, his Dharmakaya) is characterized by four perfections (pāramitās) or qualities: permanence ( nitya ), bliss ( sukha ), self ( ātman ), and purity ( śuddha). Other important tathāgatagarbha sutras include: The tathāgatagarbha doctrine

8142-436: The buddha-nature, the "essence" of all phenomena (which in turn were the "functions" of buddha-nature). The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana ( Dàshéng Qǐxìn Lùn ) was very influential in the development of Chinese Buddhism While the text is traditionally attributed to the Indian Aśvaghoṣa , no Sanskrit version of the text is extant. The earliest known versions are written in Chinese, and contemporary scholars believe that

8260-496: The case of Buddhism, this support was particularly important because of its high level of organization and the reliance of monks on donations from the laity. State patronage of Buddhism took the form of land grant foundations. Numerous copper plate inscriptions from India as well as Tibetan and Chinese texts suggest that the patronage of Buddhism and Buddhist monasteries in medieval India was interrupted in periods of war and political change, but broadly continued in Hindu kingdoms from

8378-405: The compounds of monasteries. Politically much of North India was under the Gupta Empire and the Southern regions were under the Vakataka dynasty . Both of the kingdoms continued the patronisation of Buddhism along with nascent Hinduism and Jainism, with the fifth-century Vakataka king, Harishena , being a patron of the Ajanta caves . Mahayana Buddhism began to gain prominence in India around

8496-423: The concept of tathāgatagārbha , reshaping the worship of physical relics of the historical Buddha into worship of the inner Buddha as a principle of salvation . The primordial or undefiled mind, the tathāgatagārbha , is also often equated with the Buddhist philosophical concept of emptiness ( śūnyatā , a Mādhyamaka concept); with the storehouse-consciousness ( ālāyavijñāna , a Yogācāra concept); and with

8614-664: The courtier of the Mughal emperor Akbar , states, "For a long time past scarce any trace of them (the Buddhists) has existed in Hindustan." When he visited Kashmir in 1597, he met with a few old men professing Buddhism, however he 'saw none among the learned'. This is can also be seen from the fact that Buddhist priests were not present amidst learned divines that came to the Ibadat Khana of Akbar at Fatehpur Sikri . Some scholars suggest that

8732-457: The decline of Buddhism may be related to economic reasons, wherein the Buddhist monasteries with large land grants focused on non-material pursuits, self-isolation of the monasteries, loss in internal discipline in the sangha , and a failure to efficiently operate the land they owned. Chinese scholars travelling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries, such as Faxian , Xuanzang , I-ching , Hui-sheng, and Sung-Yun, began to speak of

8850-421: The destruction of monasteries and stupas in medieval northwest and western India (now Pakistan and north India). In the north-western parts of medieval India, the Himalayan regions, as well as regions bordering central Asia, Buddhism had facilitated trade relations, states Lars Fogelin. With the Islamic invasion and expansion, and central Asians adopting Islam, the trade route-derived financial support sources and

8968-406: The developing tradition later regarded him to be as a Samyaksambuddha , a "Perfectly Self-Awakened One." According to tradition, he found patronage in the ruler of Magadha , emperor Bimbisāra . The emperor accepted Buddhism as a personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist " Vihāras ." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar. According to tradition, in

9086-440: The doctrine of Essence-Function to explain the tathāgatagarbha (also called "the dharma of the one mind" and original enlightenment ) as having two elements: one essential, immutable, changeless and still (the "essence"); the other an active and salvational inspirational power (function). According to Ching Keng, there are two different types of tathāgatagarbha theory: [1] weak tathāgatagarbha theory, associated with texts such as

9204-470: The early 1300s to travel to China and Korea . Other names of later Indian Buddhist figures include Vanaratna and Buddhaguptanatha. Many Indian Buddhists fled south. It is known that Buddhists continued to exist in India even after the 14th century from texts such as the Chaitanya Charitamrita . This text outlines an episode in the life of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), a Vaishnava saint, who

9322-484: The early centuries of the 2nd millennium. The Islamic invasion plundered wealth and destroyed Buddhist images, and consequent take over of land holdings of Buddhist monasteries removed one source of necessary support for the Buddhists, while the economic upheaval and new taxes on laity sapped the laity support of Buddhist monks. Monasteries and institutions such as Nalanda were abandoned by Buddhist monks or destroyed from

9440-559: The early fifth century and this text became the central source of buddha-nature doctrine in Chinese Buddhism . When Buddhism was introduced to China , it was initially understood through comparing it with native Chinese philosophies such as neo-daoism. Based on their understanding of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra some Chinese Buddhists supposed that the teaching of the buddha-nature was, as stated by that sutra,

9558-473: The economic foundations of Buddhist monasteries declined, on which the survival and growth of Buddhism was based. The arrival of Islam removed the royal patronage to the monastic tradition of Buddhism, and the replacement of Buddhists in long-distance trade by the Muslims eroded the related sources of patronage. In the Gangetic plains, Odisha, northeast and the southern regions of India, Buddhism survived through

9676-700: The exception of the Himalayan region and isolated remnants in parts of south India. However, since the 19th century, modern revivals of Buddhism have included the Maha Bodhi Society , the Vipassana movement , and the Dalit Buddhist movement spearheaded by B. R. Ambedkar . There has also been a growth in Tibetan Buddhism with the arrival of Tibetan refugees and the Tibetan government in exile to India, following

9794-452: The fifth century CE. Mahayana innovated on early Buddhism by adding several incarnations to the life of the Buddha while also revering Bodhisattvas . This contrasted with the early Buddhists who mainly revered the Buddha himself. A range of bodhisattvas were worshipped during this period including Avalokiteśvara , Tara and Manjushri among others. Faxian who had travelled to India in the fifth century noted that Mahayana Buddhists lived in

9912-465: The final Buddhist teaching, and that there is an essential truth above emptiness and the two truths . This idea was often interpreted as being similar to the ideas of the Dao , non-being ( wu ), and Principle (Li) in Chinese philosophy and developed into what was called " essence-function " thought (體用, pinyin: tǐ yòng ) which held there were two main ontological levels to reality, the most foundational being

10030-433: The four "beyond concepts," which are that something neither exists, nor does not exist, nor both exists and does not exist, nor is beyond both existing and not existing together. These are the four possibilities. What remains? Nothing. Although we are working only in an intellectual way, this can be considered the ultimate conclusion in Madhyamaka. As an analytical method, this is also correct for Dzogchen. Nagarjuna's reasoning

10148-428: The important sects relatively even-handedly. This consisted of building monasteries and religious monuments, donating property such as the income of villages for the support of monks, and exempting donated property from taxation. Donations were most often made by private persons such as wealthy merchants and female relatives of the royal family, but there were periods when the state also gave its support and protection. In

10266-511: The inherent, dynamic process towards its complete manifestation". Mundane and enlightened reality are seen as complementary: Thusness [ tathata ] defiled is the Tathagatagarbha, and Thusness undefiled is Enlightenment. In the Ratnagotravibhāga , the tathāgatagarbha is seen as having three specific characteristics: (1) dharmakaya , (2) suchness , and (3) disposition, as well as the general characteristic (4) non- conceptuality . According to

10384-423: The instructions he had left. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral traditions. The Sangha held a number of Buddhist councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice. The Early Buddhist Schools were the various schools in which pre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha (in about the 5th century BC). The earliest division

10502-656: The lamp of the teachings, the great light of the dharmakāya manifests to persons who are in accord with the meaning. The following quotation from The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra is drawn from the Lungi Terdzö : You should understand that the nature of all phenomena is that of the five aspects of Samantabhadra. What are these? you ask They are Samantabhadra as nature, Samantabhadra as adornment, Samantabhadra as teacher, Samantabhadra as awareness, and Samantabhadra as realization . Dzogchen teacher Namkhai Norbu (2001: p. 155) in discussing

10620-573: The last remnants of Greek rule in Afghanistan. By around 7 AD, an Indo-Parthian dynasty succeeded in taking control of Gandhāra . Parthians continued to support Greek artistic traditions in Gandhara. The start of the Gandhāran Greco-Buddhist art is dated to the period between 50 BC and 75 AD. The Kusana or Kushan Empire ruled large parts of north India from about 60 to 270 AD, as well as

10738-477: The latent nature found in all beings (理佛性) and the buddha-nature in practice (行佛性). The latter nature was determined by the innate seeds in the alaya. The doctrines associated with buddha-nature (Chinese: fóxìng ) and tathāgatagarbha ( rúláizàng ) were extremely influential in the development of East Asian Buddhism . The buddha-nature idea was introduced into China with the translation of the Nirvana Sutra in

10856-412: The mind is luminous but "is defiled by incoming defilements." The Mahāsāṃghika school coupled this idea with the idea of the "root consciousness" ( mulavijñana ) which serves as the basic layer of the mind and which is held to have a self-nature ( cittasvabhāva ) which is pure ( visuddhi ) and undefiled. In some of the tathagatagarbha-sutras a consciousness which is naturally pure ( prakṛti-pariśuddha )

10974-464: The mind. According to Wayman, the teachings of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (1st–3rd century CE), which say that the Buddha's knowledge is all pervasive and is present in all sentient beings were also an important step in the development of buddha-nature thought. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra does not mention the term tathāgatagarbha , but the idea of "a universal penetration of sentient beings by the wisdom of

11092-410: The next major dynasty, the Gupta Empire , with its peak c. 319 to 467, were Hindus, and the decline of Buddhism, especially in the west of north India, probably began in this period. The first half of the millennium saw the increasing isolation of the Buddhist sangha from the general public as mahaviharas looked to become more self-sufficient. A new development was also the use of Buddha images with

11210-457: The north and Balochistan in the west, to Bengal and Assam in the east, and as far south as Mysore . According to legend, emperor Ashoka was overwhelmed by guilt after the conquest of Kalinga , following which he accepted Buddhism as a personal faith with the help of his Brahmin mentors Radhasvami and Manjushri. Ashoka established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Śakyamuni Buddha , and according to Buddhist tradition

11328-680: The remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have travelled in the Gangetic Plain of Northern India and other regions. Buddha died in Kushinagar , Uttar Pradesh , India. Modern historians place his death, according to tradition at the age of 80, in the decades around 400 BC, several decades later than the date in Buddhist tradition. Followers of Buddhism called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Saugata . Other terms were Sakyan s or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India. Sakyaputto

11446-473: The same monasteries as early Buddhists and they were present to varying extents in most regions. An important early philosopher of the Mahayana school was the philosopher Nagarjuna and although most details of his life are uncertain, most biographies agree that he lived in the first/second centuries in South India . There is an ongoing debate as to the exact geographic origins of Mahayana Buddhism ranging from

11564-461: The start of the common era through early 2nd millennium CE. Modern scholarship and recent translations of Tibetan and Sanskrit Buddhist text archives, preserved in Tibetan monasteries, suggest that through much of the 1st millennium CE in medieval India (and Tibet as well as other parts of China), Buddhist monks owned property and were actively involved in trade and other economic activity, after joining

11682-452: The storehouse consciousness "is nothing but emptiness that is taught through the term 'alaya-consciousness.'" Go Lotsawa states that this statement is referencing the tathāgatagarbha doctrine. Candrakirti's Madhyamakāvatārabhāsya also argues, basing itself on the Lankavatara sutra , that "the statement of the emptiness of sentient beings being a buddha adorned with all major and minor marks

11800-596: The strongly Buddhist region of Gandhara, including much of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan . Kushan rulers were supporters of Buddhist institutions and built numerous stupas and monasteries. Some of their coins showed an image of Buddha. During this period, Gandharan Buddhism spread through the trade routes protected by the Kushans, out through the Khyber Pass into Central Asia. Gandharan Buddhist art styles also spread outward from Gandhara to other parts of Asia. The monarchs of

11918-554: The tathagatagarbha becomes emptiness itself, but specifically emptiness when applied to the mental continuum. Uniquely among Madhyamaka texts, some texts attributed to Nagarjuna , mainly poetic works like the Dharmadhatustava , Cittavajrastava , and Bodhicittavivarana, associate the term tathāgatagarbha with the luminous nature of the mind . According to Brunnholzl, "all early Indian Yogācāra masters (such as Asanga , Vasubandhu , Sthiramati , and Asvabhava), if they refer to

12036-463: The tathāgata", or "containing a tathagata". Various meanings may all be brought into mind when the term tathagatagarbha is being used. The Sanskrit term tathāgatagarbha is a compound of two terms, tathāgata and garbha : The Chinese translated the term tathāgatagarbha as rúláizàng (如来藏), or "Tathāgata's ( rúlái ) storehouse" ( zàng ). According to Brown, "storehouse" may indicate both "that which enfolds or contains something", or "that which

12154-481: The tathāgatagarbha. This can be seen in sutras like the Lankavatara , the Srimaladevi and in the translations of Paramartha . The concept of the ālaya-vijñāna originally meant defiled consciousness: defiled by the workings of the five senses and the mind . It was also seen as the mūla-vijñāna, the base-consciousness or "stream of consciousness" ( Mindstream ) from which awareness and perception spring. Around 300 CE,

12272-665: The tathāgatagārbha theory. It gives an overview of key themes found in many tathāgatagarbha sutras, and it cites the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra , the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra , Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , the Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra , the Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa and the Mahābherīharaka-sūtra . The Ratnagotravibhāga presents the tathāgatagarbha as "an ultimate, unconditional reality that is simultaneously

12390-482: The term tathāgatagarbha at all, always explain it as nothing but suchness in the sense of twofold identitylessness". Some later Yogacara scholars spoke of the tathāgatagarbha in more positive terms, such as Jñanasrimitra who in his Sakarasiddhi equates it with the appearances of lucidity ( prakāśa -rupa). Likewise, the Vikramashila scholar Ratnākaraśānti describes buddha-nature as the natural luminous mind, which

12508-434: The text is a Chinese composition. The Awakening of Faith offers an ontological synthesis of buddha-nature and Yogacara thought from the perspective of "essence-function" philosophy. It describes the "One Mind" which "includes in itself all states of being of the phenomenal and transcendental world. The Awakening of Faith tries to harmonize the ideas of the tathāgatagarbha and the storehouse consciousness (ālāyavijñāna) into

12626-597: The wealth of the Mauryan capital. Stupas , pillars , and edicts on stone remain at Sanchi , Sarnath, and Mathura , indicating the extent of the empire. Emperor Ashoka the Great (304 BC–232 BC) was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire from 273 BC to 232 BC. Ashoka reigned over most of India after a series of military campaigns. Emperor Ashoka's kingdom stretched from South Asia and beyond, from present-day parts of Afghanistan in

12744-546: Was Nagarjunakonda which emerged in the region of modern-day Andhra Pradesh where numerous Buddhist monasteries have been discovered. The earliest Buddha images in India were sculpted in Mathura and spread to Sarnath , Sravasti and Kausambi in the second and third centuries CE. These images generally depicted scenes from the life of the Buddha and were more linked with the early schools of Buddhism than with Mahayana. Inscriptions on these images show that they were sculpted by

12862-401: Was already declining in India before the 12th century, but with the pillage by Muslim invaders it nearly became extinct in India in the 1200s. In the 13th century, states Craig Lockard, Buddhist monks in India escaped to Tibet to escape Islamic persecution; while the monks in western India, states Peter Harvey, escaped persecution by moving to south Indian Hindu kingdoms that were able to resist

12980-454: Was also a key period for the consolidation of the epistemological-logical ( pramana ) school of Buddhist philosophy. Apart from the many foreign pilgrims who came to India at this time, especially from China and Tibet, there was a smaller but important flow of Indian pandits who made their way to Tibet... The decline of Buddhism has been attributed to various factors. Regardless of the religious beliefs of their kings, states usually treated all

13098-423: Was also identified as a unique mark or own characteristic ( svalaksana ) that differentiated a dharma and remained unchangeable throughout its existence. According to Vaibhāṣikas, svabhavas are those things that exist substantially ( dravyasat ) as opposed to those things which are made up of aggregations of dharmas and thus only have a nominal existence ( prajñaptisat ). Robinson (1957: p. 300) in discussing

13216-535: Was also widely discussed by Indian Mahayana scholars in treatises or commentaries, called śāstra , the most influential of which was the Ratnagotravibhāga (5th century CE). The Ratnagotravibhāga ( Investigating the Jewel Disposition ) , also called Uttaratantraśāstra ( Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum ), is a 5th century CE Indian treatise ( śāstra ) which synthesised major elements and themes of

13334-487: Was an influence on these texts. According to Zimmerman, the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra (200–250 CE) is the earliest buddha-nature text. Zimmerman argues that "the term tathāgatagarbha itself seems to have been coined in this very sutra." The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra states that all beings already have perfect Buddha body ( *tathāgatatva, *buddhatva, *tathāgatakāya ) within themselves, but do not recognize it because it

13452-482: Was another term used by Buddhists, as well as Ariyasavako and Jinaputto . Buddhist scholar Donald S. Lopez states they also used the term Bauddha . The scholar Richard Cohen in his discussion about the 5th-century Ajanta Caves , states that Bauddha is not attested therein, and was used by outsiders to describe Buddhists, except for occasional use as an adjective. The Buddha did not appoint any successor and asked his followers to work toward liberation following

13570-413: Was between the majority Mahāsāṃghika and the minority Sthaviravāda. Some existing Buddhist traditions follow the vinayas of early Buddhist schools. The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to areas such as Afghanistan, Central Asia , and China, and they had great success in doing so. Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted

13688-702: Was closely involved in the preservation and transmission of Buddhism. In 2018, excavations in Lalitgiri in Odisha by the Archaeological Survey of India revealed four monasteries along with ancient seals and inscriptions which show cultural continuity from post-Mauryan period to 13 century AD. In Ratnagiri and Konark in Odisha, Buddhist history as discovered in Lalitagiri is also shared. A museum has been made to preserve

13806-545: Was in line with an essay by Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (reign 502–549 CE), in which he postulated a pure essence, the enlightened mind, trapped in darkness, which is ignorance. By this ignorance the pure mind is trapped in samsara. This resembles the tathāgatagarba and the idea of the defilement of the luminous mind. In a similar fashion to the Awakening of Faith , the Korean Vajrasamādhi Sūtra (685 CE) uses

13924-526: Was said to have entered into a debate with Buddhists in Tamil Nadu . The Tibetan Taranatha (1575–1634) wrote a history of Indian Buddhism, which mentions Buddhism as having survived in some pockets of India during his time. He mentions the Buddhist sangha as having survived in Konkana, Kalinga, Mewad, Chittor, Abu, Saurastra, Vindhya mountains, Ratnagiri, Karnataka etc. The Jain author Gunakirti (1450-1470) wrote

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