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<div class="h1 large explore-page-bg text-center m-0" style="padding: 2em 0;">Discover</div>
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<div class="position-relative section-header pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">New to Buddhism or to the concept of buddha-nature? Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, books, and translations of primary sources from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make buddha-nature understandable and accessible to a general audience.




Buddha-Nature in East Asia
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Multimedia
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<div class="position-relative my-lg-5 font-italic">Begin Discovering Your Buddha-Nature</div>
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<div class="position-absolute h-100 w-100 opac-50 offwhite-bg"></div>
 
<div class="position-relative p-5 text-120">Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, books, and translations of primary sources from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make the concept of buddha-nature understandable and accessible to a general audience.</div>
 
<div class="h2 position-relative pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Tibet


<div class="text-80 text-muted position-absolute" style="bottom: 7px; right: 10px;">[[Site Guide|Complete Site Guide]]</div>
<div class="text-60 text-muted position-absolute" style="bottom: 7px; right: 10px;">[[Site Guide|Complete Site Guide]]</div>
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{{LocalTile
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|link=Media/Buddha-Nature_—_Episode_22_of_True_Words:_A_Shingon_Buddhist_Podcast
|header=Buddha-Nature by Rev. George Kosho Finch
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/8/84/Finch_Rev._George_Kosho_patheos.jpg
|content=This week's topic is Buddha Nature, in Sanskrit: ''tathāgatagarbha'' (如来藏). All sentient beings are considered to be in possession of the Buddha Nature, the potential to attain enlightenment.
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|link=Media/It_Is_Your_Buddha_Nature_That_Sees,_Hears_and_Speaks!―Dharma_Talk_by_Daehaeng_Kun_Sunim
|header=It Is Your Buddha-Nature That Sees, Hears, and Speaks!
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/3/37/Daehaeng_Wikipedia.jpg
|content=Daehaeng Kun Sunim, a Seon (Zen) master and Buddhist nun from Korea, responds to questions about the concept of Juingong (the underlying mind) from an audience member.
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|link=Media/Trusting_in_Our_Own_Buddha_Nature
|header=Trusting in Our Own Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/6/68/Sattizahn_Ed_SFZC.jpg
|content=Rinso Ed Sattizahn gives a dharma talk at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on the topic of buddha-nature. He touches on selections from Dōgen's ''Genjōkōan'' to illustrate this Buddhist teaching
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|link=Media/One's_True_Mind_and_Inherent_Nature_by_Sheng_Yen
|header=One's True Mind and Inherent Nature by Sheng Yen
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/c9/ShengYen_Tricycle.jpeg
|content=Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the Buddha-nature.
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|link=Articles/Kokyo_Henkel_on_Buddha-Nature
|header=The Cloudless Sky of Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/5/56/Henkel_Kokyo_personal_website.jpg
|content=Rev. Kokyo Henkel teaches on "The Cloudless Sky of Buddha Nature" at the San Francisco Zen Center on September 6, 2011.
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<div class="section-header pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Featured Articles</div>
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<div class="h4 position-relative pl-4">Multimedia</div>
{{LocalTile
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|link=Articles/Mind_Is_Buddha
{{LocalTile
|header=Mind Is Buddha
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        |image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/9/99/Arnold_Geoffrey_Shugen_Wikipedia.jpg
|link=Media/We_Are_Enlightened_by_Nature
|content=Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
|header=We Are Enlightened by Nature
                                        |watermark=Article
|image={{filepath:Dzigar_Kongtrul_Rinpoche_Mangala_Shri_Bhuti.jpg|500}}
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|content=Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche provides encouragement that we are all enlightened by nature, and the path is a process of discovering that enlightened nature.
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|link=Articles/Everything_Is_Buddhanature
{{LocalTile
|header=Everything Is Buddhanature
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/3/35/Blacker_Melissa_Personal_Website.jpg
|link=Media/Discovering_Buddha_Nature:_Talk_by_Yongey_Mingyur_Rinpoche
|content=Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature.
|header=Discovering Buddha Nature: Talk by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
                                        |watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/b/bc/YMR_LamaYadi_LamaTrinley_KhenpoKunga_0534_FLT-1.jpg
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|content=Mingyur Rinpoche describes buddha-nature with the metaphor of a diamond covered in mud, explaining how the innate purity of awareness can be obscured, but never changed.
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|link=Articles/Trust_Practice,_Practice_Trust
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|header=Trust Practice, Practice Trust
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/6/64/Chayat_Sherry_zen_studies_society.jpg
|link=Media/Dealing_with_Depression:_Interview_with_Jetsunma_Tenzin_Palmo_on_Study_Buddhism
|content=When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
|header=Dealing with Depression: Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Study Buddhism
|watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/82/Jetsunma_Tenzin_Palmo.jpg
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|content=Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses buddha-nature beautifully for a general audience.
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|link=Articles/Impermanence_is_Buddha_Nature
{{LocalTile
|header=Impermanence Is Buddha Nature
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        |image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/8/88/Fischer_norman.jpg
|link=Media/What_Is_Buddha-Nature?_by_Wulstan_Fletcher
|content=Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice.
|header=What Is Buddha-Nature? by Wulstan Fletcher
                                        |watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/d/d1/Fletcher%2C_Wulstan-2014new.jpg/490px-Fletcher%2C_Wulstan-2014new.jpg
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|content=Wulstan Fletcher explains buddha-nature as the deepest aspect of oneself, a wellspring of goodness and wisdom that is always present.
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|link=Articles/On_the_Awakening_of_Faith_in_the_Mahāyāna
{{LocalTile
|header=On the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna''
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        |image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|link=Media/On_How_Beginning_Students_Might_Engage_with_Buddha-Nature_Teachings_by_Ringu_Tulku
|content=An introduction to the Awakening of Faith, an immensely important treatise popular in all traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.
|header=On How Beginning Students Might Engage with Buddha-Nature Teachings by Ringu Tulku
                                        |watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/cf/Ringu_Tulku-267x358.jpg
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|content=Ringu Tulku talks about how beginning students might start to orient themselves toward buddha-nature teachings in practice. He explains that it is important to recognize that everybody has the seed of wisdom and compassion within them.  
                                {{LocalTile
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|link=Articles/The_Path_of_Gratitude
{{LocalTile
|header=The Path of Gratitude
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        |image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/f/fb/Jeff_wilson_dailybuddhism.jpg
|link=Media/Buddha_Nature:_What_is_it?_How_is_it_different_from_soul?_A_Teaching_from_Zasep_Tulku
|content=In Shin Buddhism, we don’t practice to achieve anything—not enlightenment, good karma, a favorable rebirth, or material rewards. We practice simply to give thanks for what we have received.
|header=Buddha Nature: What Is It? How Is It Different from soul? A Teaching from Zasep Tulku
                                        |watermark=Article
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/cd/Zasep_Tulku-Vimeo.jpg
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|content="Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
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                        <div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Books</div>
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|page=Books/No_River_to_Cross
|link=Media/Dzongsar_Jamyang_Khyentse_Rinpoche_Talks_about_Buddha-Nature
|image=File:No River to Cross-front.jpg
|header=Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Talks about Buddha-Nature
|authorimage=People/Daehaeng
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/57/Khyentse_Dzongsar_Wikipedia.jpg
|name=[[People/Daehaeng|Daehaeng]]
|content=Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche talks about buddha-nature and offers a brief guided meditation.
|title=No River to Cross
|watermark=Video
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{{LocalTile
|page=Books/Zen_Mind,_Beginner's_Mind
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|authorimage=People/Suzuki,_S.
|link=Media/Matthieu_Ricard:_Is_Buddha-Nature_a_Seed_to_Be_Cultivated_or_Something_that_Must_Be_Revealed?
|name=[[People/Suzuki,_S.|Suzuki]]
|header=Matthieu Ricard: Is Buddha-Nature a Seed to Be Cultivated or Something that Must Be Revealed?
|title=Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/cf/Ricard%2C_M..jpg
|content=In an excerpt from "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho, Matthieu Ricard answers this common question.
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{{LocalTile
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_(Sallie_King)
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|authorimage=People/King,_S.
|link=Media/Karmapa_on_The_Nature_of_All_Beings
|name=[[People/King,_S.|King]]
|header=The 17th Karmapa on the Nature of All Beings
|title=Buddha Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/4/4c/Ogyen_Trinley_Dorje_Portrait-WikiCommons.jpg
|content=H.H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, comments on a quote of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje: "The nature of all beings is always Buddha" (འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་).
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{{LocalTile
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|link=Media/The_Fourteenth_Dalai_Lama_on_Buddha-Nature
|header=The Fourteenth Dalai Lama on Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/6/6f/Dalai-lama-crop.jpg
|content=The Dalai Lama delivers an address entitled "Buddha-Nature" to members of the Theosophical Society in America on July 21st, 1981. His comments on buddha-nature come after a series of preliminary remarks, at 14 min, 23 secs.
|watermark=Video
}} 
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<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Translation</div>
<div class="h4 position-relative pl-4 text-90">Articles</div>
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{{ExploreBook
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|page=Books/The_Heart_of_Dōgen's_Shōbōgenzō
{{LocalTile
|image=File:The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō-front.jpg
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|authorimage=People/Waddell,_N.
|link=Articles/On_Buddhanature—and_What_It_Is_Not
|name=[[People/Waddell,_N.|Waddell]] & [[People/Abe,_M.|Abe]]
|header=On Buddhanature—and What It Is Not, by Khandro Rinpoche
|title=The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/c/ce/Khandro_Rinpoche_RigpaWiki.jpg/433px-Khandro_Rinpoche_RigpaWiki.jpg
|content="Buddhism must always be seen as a skillful means for realizing the most basic aspect of human life: one's inherent buddhanature."
|watermark=Article
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{LocalTile
|page=Books/The_Lankavatara_Sutra:_A_Zen_Text
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
                                |image=File:Lankavatara Sutra Translation Commentary-front.jpg
|link=Articles/Emptiness–Buddhanature
|authorimage=People/Red_Pine
|header=Emptiness–Buddhanature, by Traleg Kyabgon
|name=[[People/Red_Pine|Red Pine]]
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/c0/Traleg-Rinpoche_LionsRoar.jpg
|title=The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text
|content="Our true nature is buddhanature and that buddhanature is the nature of all sentient beings."
|watermark=Article
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{LocalTile
|page=Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mahāyāna_Faith
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|authorimage=People/Lusthaus, D.
|link=Articles/Lasting_Happiness
|name=[[People/Jorgensen, J.|Jorgensen]] & [[People/Lusthaus, D.|Lusthaus]], et al.
|header=Lasting Happiness, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
|title=Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/b/bc/YMR_LamaYadi_LamaTrinley_KhenpoKunga_0534_FLT-1.jpg
|content="... We don’t have to look outside the present moment to experience wisdom, compassion, and the boundless purity of our true nature."
|watermark=Article
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{LocalTile
|page=Books/The_Nirvana_Sutra_Volume_I
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|authorimage=People/Blum,_M.
|link=Articles/This_Is_My_Mind,_Luminous_and_Empty
|name=[[People/Blum,_M.|Blum]]
|header=This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
|title=The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/2/28/Tsoknyi_TsoknyiRinpocheWebsite.jpg
|content="That something, when I was old enough to fit words to it, is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings.... In many Buddhist teachings, it’s known as buddhanature."
|watermark=Article
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                        {{ExploreBook
{{LocalTile
|page=Books/The_Formation_of_Ch'an_Ideology_in_China_and_Korea
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|authorimage=People/Buswell,_R.
|link=Articles/Spotless_from_the_Start
|name=[[People/Buswell,_R.|Buswell]]
|header=Spotless from the Start
|title=The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/57/Khyentse_Dzongsar_Wikipedia.jpg
|content="In order to overcome the five main obstacles facing a bodhisattva," says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, "we must realize that all beings are primordially pure."
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                        {{ExploreBook
{{LocalTile
|page=Books/The_Lion's_Roar_of_Queen_Śrīmālā
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|authorimage=People/Wayman,_A.
|link=Articles/The_Sky_Dragon's_Profound_Roar
|name=[[People/Wayman,_A.|Alex Wayman]] & [[People/Wayman,_H.|Hideko Wayman]]
|header=The Sky Dragon's Profound Roar, by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
|title=The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/a/a8/Khen_Tsultrim.jpg
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|content="We practice the genuine dharma because it is a method for clearing away the temporary stains that obscure our vision of the true nature of mind."
                        {{ExploreBook
|watermark=Article
|page=Books/A_Buddha_Within:_The_Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
|authorimage=People/Zimmermann, M.
|name=[[People/Zimmermann, M.|Zimmermann]]
|title=A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
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}}
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<div class="position-relative pl-4 section-header text-90">Books</div>
 
<div class="position-relative bg-sky-clouds">
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap py-4">
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Buddha-Nature in Tibet
 
Multimedia
<div class="text-80 text-muted position-absolute" style="bottom: 7px; right: 10px;">[[Site Guide|Complete Site Guide]]</div>
</div>
<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 pt-4">
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Buddha_Nature:_What_is_it?_How_is_it_different_from_soul?_A_Teaching_from_Zasep_Tulku
|header=Buddha Nature: What Is It? How Is It Different from soul? A Teaching from Zasep Tulku
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/cd/Zasep_Tulku-Vimeo.jpg
|content="Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Discovering_Buddha_Nature:_Talk_by_Yongey_Mingyur_Rinpoche
|header=Discovering Buddha Nature: Talk by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/b/bc/YMR_LamaYadi_LamaTrinley_KhenpoKunga_0534_FLT-1.jpg
|content=Mingyur Rinpoche describes buddha-nature with the metaphor of a diamond covered in mud, explaining how the innate purity of awareness can be obscured, but never changed.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Dealing_with_Depression:_Interview_with_Jetsunma_Tenzin_Palmo_on_Study_Buddhism
|header=Dealing with Depression: Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Study Buddhism
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/8/82/Jetsunma_Tenzin_Palmo.jpg
|content=Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses buddha-nature beautifully for a general audience.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/What_Is_Buddha-Nature%3F_by_Wulstan_Fletcher
|header=What Is Buddha-Nature? by Wulstan Fletcher
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/d/d1/Fletcher%2C_Wulstan-2014new.jpg
|content=Wulstan Fletcher explains buddha-nature as the deepest aspect of oneself, a wellspring of goodness and wisdom that is always present.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/On_How_Beginning_Students_Might_Engage_with_Buddha-Nature_Teachings_by_Ringu_Tulku
|header=On How Beginning Students Might Engage with Buddha-Nature Teachings by Ringu Tulku
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/cf/Ringu_Tulku-267x358.jpg
|content=Ringu Tulku talks about how beginning students might start to orient themselves toward buddha-nature teachings in practice. He explains that it is important to recognize that everybody has the seed of wisdom and compassion within them.
|watermark=Video
}}
        {{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/We_Are_Enlightened_by_Nature
|header=We Are Enlightened by Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/d/d6/Dzigar_Kongtrul_Rinpoche_Mangala_Shri_Bhuti.jpg
|content=Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche provides encouragement that we are all enlightened by nature, and the path is a process of discovering that enlightened nature.
|watermark=Video
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                        <div class="vienna-gradient pt-5 pb-4">
<div class="section-header pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Featured Articles</div>
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{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/On_Buddhanature—and_What_It_Is_Not
|header=On Buddhanature—and What It Is Not, by Khandro Rinpoche
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/ce/Khandro_Rinpoche_RigpaWiki.jpg
|content="Buddhism must always be seen as a skillful means for realizing the most basic aspect of human life: one's inherent buddhanature."
                                        |watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Emptiness–Buddhanature
|header=Emptiness–Buddhanature, by Traleg Kyabgon
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/c0/Traleg-Rinpoche_LionsRoar.jpg
|content="Our true nature is buddhanature and that buddhanature is the nature of all sentient beings."
                                        |watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Lasting_Happiness
|header=Lasting Happiness, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/b/bc/YMR_LamaYadi_LamaTrinley_KhenpoKunga_0534_FLT-1.jpg
|content="... We don’t have to look outside the present moment to experience wisdom, compassion, and the boundless purity of our true nature."
|watermark=Article
}}
                                {{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/This_Is_My_Mind,_Luminous_and_Empty
|header=This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/2/28/Tsoknyi_TsoknyiRinpocheWebsite.jpg
|content="That something, when I was old enough to fit words to it, is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings.... In many Buddhist teachings, it’s known as buddhanature."
                                        |watermark=Article
}}
                                {{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/The_Example_of_the_Buddha
|header=The Example of the Buddha: Relating the Life of the Buddha to Our Own, by Joseph Goldstein
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/9/92/Goldstein_Joseph.jpg
|content="Another level on which we can relate is to view the Buddha as a fundamental archetype of humanity; that is, as the full manifestation of buddha-nature, the mind that is free of defilement and distortion..."
                                        |watermark=Article
}}
                                {{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/The_Sky_Dragon's_Profound_Roar
|header=The Sky Dragon's Profound Roar, by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/a/a8/Khen_Tsultrim.jpg
|content="We practice the genuine dharma because it is a method for clearing away the temporary stains that obscure our vision of the true nature of mind."
                                        |watermark=Article
}}
</div>
                        <div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Books</div>
<div class="d-flex justify-content-around flex-wrap">
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Buddha_Nature:_Death_and_Eternal_Soul_in_Buddhism
|page=Books/Our_Human_Potential
|image=File:The Buddha Nature- Death and Eternal Soul in Buddhism-front.jpg
|image=File:Our Human Potential-front.jpeg
|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Michel,_P.|Peter Michel]]
|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Hopkins,_J.|Jeffrey Hopkins]]
|title=The Buddha Nature
|title=Our Human Potential
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_(Geshe_Sonam_Rinchen)
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_(Geshe_Sonam_Rinchen)
                                |image=File:Buddha Nature (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)-front.jpg
|image=File:Buddha Nature (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Rinchen,_Sonam
|authorimage=People/Rinchen,_Sonam
|name=[[People/Rinchen,_Sonam.|Geshe Sonam Rinchen]]
|name=[[People/Rinchen,_Sonam.|Geshe Sonam Rinchen]]
|title=Buddha Nature
|title=Buddha Nature
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Carefree_Dignity
|page=Books/Carefree_Dignity
                                |image=File:Carefree Dignity-front.jpg
|image=File:Carefree Dignity-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Tsoknyi_Rinpoche
|authorimage=People/Tsoknyi_Rinpoche
|name=[[People/Tsoknyi_Rinpoche|Tsoknyi Rinpoche]]
|name=[[People/Tsoknyi_Rinpoche|Tsoknyi Rinpoche]]
|title=Carefree Dignity
|title=Carefree Dignity
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Saṃsāra,_Nirvāṇa,_and_Buddha_Nature
|page=Books/Saṃsāra,_Nirvāṇa,_and_Buddha_Nature
                                |image=File:Samsāra, Nirvāna, and Buddha Nature-front.jpg
|image=File:Samsāra, Nirvāna, and Buddha Nature-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
|authorimage=People/Dalai_Lama,_14th
|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Chodron,_T.|Thubten Chodron]]
|name=[[People/Dalai_Lama,_14th|14th Dalai Lama]] & [[People/Chodron,_T.|Thubten Chodron]]
|title=Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature
|title=Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
                        {{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Fundamental_Potential_for_Enlightenment_in_Tibetan_Buddhism
|page=Books/Progressive_Stages_of_Meditation_on_Emptiness_(2016)
                                |image=File:The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment-front.jpg
|image=File:Progressive_Stages_of_Meditation_on_Emptiness_(2016)-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Gyamtso,_Khenpo_Tsultrim
|name=[[People/Gyamtso,_Khenpo_Tsultrim|Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso]]
|title=Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Fundamental_Potential_for_Enlightenment_in_Tibetan_Buddhism
|image=File:The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Loden,_Thubten
|authorimage=People/Loden,_Thubten
|name=[[People/Loden,_Thubten|Thubten Loden]]
|name=[[People/Loden,_Thubten|Thubten Loden]]
|title=The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment
|title=The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
</div>
</div>


<div class="position-relative bg-sky-clouds">
<div class="position-relative section-header pt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in East Asia</div>
<div class="position-relative pl-4 section-header text-90">Multimedia</div>
<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 py-4">
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Buddha-Nature_—_Episode_22_of_True_Words:_A_Shingon_Buddhist_Podcast
|header=Buddha-Nature by Rev. George Kosho Finch
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/84/Finch_Rev._George_Kosho_patheos.jpg
|content=This week's topic is Buddha Nature, in Sanskrit: ''tathāgatagarbha'' (如来藏). All sentient beings are considered to be in possession of the Buddha Nature, the potential to attain enlightenment.
|watermark=Audio
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/It_Is_Your_Buddha_Nature_That_Sees,_Hears_and_Speaks!―Dharma_Talk_by_Daehaeng_Kun_Sunim
|header=It Is Your Buddha-Nature That Sees, Hears, and Speaks!
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/3/37/Daehaeng_Wikipedia.jpg
|content=Daehaeng Kun Sunim, a Seon (Zen) master and Buddhist nun from Korea, responds to questions about the concept of ''Juingong'' (the underlying mind) from an audience member.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/Trusting_in_Our_Own_Buddha_Nature
|header=Trusting in Our Own Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/6/68/Sattizahn_Ed_SFZC.jpg
|content=Rinso Ed Sattizahn gives a dharma talk at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on the topic of buddha-nature. He touches on selections from Dōgen's ''Genjōkōan'' to illustrate this Buddhist teaching.
|watermark=Audio
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Media/One's_True_Mind_and_Inherent_Nature_by_Sheng_Yen
|header=One's True Mind and Inherent Nature by Sheng Yen
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/c/c9/ShengYen_Tricycle.jpeg
|content=Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the buddha-nature.
|watermark=Video
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Kokyo_Henkel_on_Buddha-Nature
|header=The Cloudless Sky of Buddha-Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/56/Henkel_Kokyo_personal_website.jpg
|content=Rev. Kokyo Henkel teaches on "The Cloudless Sky of Buddha Nature" at the San Francisco Zen Center on September 6, 2011.
|watermark=Audio
}}
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="vienna-gradient pt-5 pb-4">


<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Translation</div>
<div class="position-relative pl-4 section-header text-90">Articles</div>
<div class="d-flex justify-content-around flex-wrap">
 
{{ExploreBook
<div class="row m-0 px-lg-5 py-4">
|page=Books/The_Jewel_Ornament_of_Liberation_(Konchog_Gyaltsen)
{{LocalTile
|image=File:The Jewel Ornament of Liberation (Konchog Gyaltsen)-front.jpg
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|authorimage=People/Konchog_Gyaltsen,_Khenchen
|link=Articles/Mind_Is_Buddha
|name=[[People/Konchog_Gyaltsen,_Khenchen|Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen]]
|header=Mind Is Buddha
|title=The Jewel Ornament of Liberation
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/9/99/Arnold_Geoffrey_Shugen_Wikipedia.jpg
|content=Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Everything_Is_Buddhanature
|header=Everything Is Buddhanature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/3/35/Blacker_Melissa_Personal_Website.jpg
|content=Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Trust_Practice,_Practice_Trust
|header=Trust Practice, Practice Trust
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/6/64/Chayat_Sherry_zen_studies_society.jpg
|content=When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/Impermanence_is_Buddha_Nature
|header=Impermanence Is Buddha Nature
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/8/88/Fischer_norman.jpg
|content=Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/On_the_Awakening_of_Faith_in_the_Mahāyāna
|header=On the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna''
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|content=An introduction to the ''Awakening of Faith'', an immensely important treatise popular in all traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.
|watermark=Article
}}
{{LocalTile
|classes=col-sm-6 col-lg-6
|link=Articles/The_Path_of_Gratitude
|header=The Path of Gratitude
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/f/fb/Jeff_wilson_dailybuddhism.jpg
|content=In Shin Buddhism, we don’t practice to achieve anything—not enlightenment, good karma, a favorable rebirth, or material rewards. We practice simply to give thanks for what we have received.
|watermark=Article
}}
}}
</div>
<div class="position-relative pl-4 section-header text-90">Books</div>
<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap py-4">
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature:_The_Mahayana_Uttaratantra_Shastra
|page=Books/No_River_to_Cross
                                |image=File:Buddha Nature The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra-front.jpg
|image=File:No River to Cross-front.jpg
|authorimage=
|authorimage=People/Daehaeng
|name=[[People/Fuchs,_R.|Rosemarie Fuchs]]
|name=[[People/Daehaeng|Daehaeng]]
|title=Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra
|title=No River to Cross
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mahāyāna_Faith
|page=Books/Zen_Mind,_Beginner's_Mind
|authorimage=People/Lusthaus, D.
|authorimage=People/Suzuki,_S.
|name=[[People/Jorgensen, J.|Jorgensen]] & [[People/Lusthaus, D.|Lusthaus]], et al.
|name=[[People/Suzuki,_S.|Suzuki]]
|title=Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith
|title=Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
{{ExploreBook
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Nirvana_Sutra_Volume_I
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature_(Sallie_King)
|authorimage=People/Blum,_M.
|authorimage=People/King,_S.
|name=[[People/Blum,_M.|Blum]]
|name=[[People/King,_S.|King]]
|title=The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1
|title=Buddha Nature
|classes=px-4
}}
}}
</div>
</div>
</div>


{{FeaturedItem
|page=Primary_Sources
|description=<div class="section-header mt-2 mb-4 pl-4 border-bottom-rightfade">Study the Sources</div>
<div class="pr-lg-5 pl-4">The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'', the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'' and several others. The famous ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise ''Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra'', or ''Gyü Lama'' as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (大乗起信論) and the ''Vajrasamādhisūtra'' were the most influential treatises in spreading buddha-nature theory. And in Japan, the Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253), whose instructional lectures were collected in his ''Shōbōgenzo'', also wrote extensively on the topic of buddha-nature. All of these important buddha-nature texts have been translated into English by leading scholars and translators. Below is a selection of these works:</div>
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/c/c7/Maitreya_statue.jpg/431px-Maitreya_statue.jpg
|textclasses=maitreya-gradient pt-2 pb-3
|imageposition=right
|imageclasses=flip-h
|additionalcontent=<div class="border-top-redfade py-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap"></div>
}}
<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Buddha-Nature in Translation</div>


<div class="d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap py-4">
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/A_Buddha_Within:_The_Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
|authorimage=People/Zimmermann, M.
|name=[[People/Zimmermann, M.|Zimmermann]]
|title=A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra
|classes=px-4
}}  
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Nirvana_Sutra_Volume_I
|authorimage=People/Blum,_M.
|name=[[People/Blum,_M.|Blum]]
|title=The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Lion's_Roar_of_Queen_Śrīmālā
|authorimage=People/Wayman,_A.
|name=[[People/Wayman,_A.|Alex Wayman]] & [[People/Wayman,_H.|Hideko Wayman]]
|title=The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Lankavatara_Sutra:_A_Zen_Text
|image=File:Lankavatara Sutra Translation Commentary-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Red_Pine
|name=[[People/Red_Pine|Red Pine]]
|title=The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Buddha_Nature:_The_Mahayana_Uttaratantra_Shastra
|image=File:Buddha Nature The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Fuchs,_R.
|name=[[People/Fuchs,_R.|Fuchs]]
|title=Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/Treatise_on_Awakening_Mahāyāna_Faith
|authorimage=People/Lusthaus, D.
|name=[[People/Jorgensen, J.|Jorgensen]] & [[People/Lusthaus, D.|Lusthaus]]
|title=Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Formation_of_Ch'an_Ideology_in_China_and_Korea
|image=File:The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Buswell,_R.
|name=[[People/Buswell,_R.|Buswell]]
|title=The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea (The ''Vajrasamādhi Sūtra'')
|classes=px-4
}}
{{ExploreBook
|page=Books/The_Heart_of_Dōgen's_Shōbōgenzō
|image=File:The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō-front.jpg
|authorimage=People/Waddell,_N.
|name=[[People/Waddell,_N.|Waddell]] & [[People/Abe, M.|Abe]]
|title=The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
|classes=px-4
}}
</div>


<div class="row">
<div class="section-header mt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">More Scholarship on Buddha-Nature</div>
<div class="col-lg-9 pr-lg-0">
 
{{FeaturedItem
{{FeaturedItem
|page=Articles/Karl_Brunnhölzl_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
|page=Articles/Karl_Brunnhölzl_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
|title=Interview with Karl Brunnhölzl on Buddha-Nature
|title=Karl Brunnhölzl's Buddha-Nature Interview
|description=In this wide-ranging video interview, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses buddha-nature and the key topics related to it. He begins by defining buddha-nature and then moves on to discuss such topics as the debate that the doctrine has generated, the concepts of emptiness and luminosity, and how buddha-nature relates to Vajrayana practice.
|description=In an interview with the Tsadra Foundation, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses why one might study buddha-nature, the purpose of the buddha-nature teachings, and the concept of the innate luminosity of mind.
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/f/f5/Brunnholzl-2017_Square.png/600px-Brunnholzl-2017_Square.png
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/e/e1/Brunnholzl_Karl_Mitra-Karl.jpg
|textclasses=karl-gradient pl-1 pt-2 pb-3
|textclasses=karl-gradient pl-1 pt-2 pb-3
|additionalcontent=<div class="py-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap row">
|additionalcontent=<div class="py-3 mb-3 d-flex justify-content-center flex-wrap row">
{{#ask: [[Media/What Is Buddha-Nature? by Karl Brunnhölzl]]OR[[Media/Emptiness or Luminosity: What's the Deal? by Karl Brunnhölzl]]
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|minutes=2:07
|?VideoNumberInEvent
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|?VideoTotalNumberInEvent
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|?MediaContentType
{{CustomSmallSessionTile
|sort=VideoNumberInEvent
|classes=col-md-4 text-70
|order=asc
|title=The Purpose of Buddha-Nature Teachings
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|template=SmallSessionTile
|minutes=3:38
|userparam=col-md-6 text-70
|link=Media/What_Is_the_Purpose_of_Buddha-Nature_Teachings?_by_Karl_Brunnhölzl
|link=none
}}
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</div>
|classes=col-md-4 text-70
}}
|title=What Is Luminosity?
</div>
|bottomLeftLabel=Interview Clip
<div class="col-lg-3 p-3">
|minutes=4:21
<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Karl Brunnhölzl]]</div>
|link=Media/What_Is_Luminosity?_by_Karl_Brunnhölzl
<div class="d-flex justify-content-around flex-wrap">
}}
{{RelatedButton
|link=/index.php/Books/When_the_Clouds_Part
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/2/28/When_the_Clouds_Part-front.jpg/399px-When_the_Clouds_Part-front.jpg
|text=When the Clouds Part
|label-right=Book
|target=_blank
|wrapperclasses=my-2 depth-0
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{{RelatedButton
|link=/index.php/Books/The_Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/3/30/Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky-front.jpg/404px-Center_of_the_Sunlit_Sky-front.jpg
|text=The Center of the Sunlit Sky
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|link=/index.php/Books/Luminous_Heart
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/c/c1/Luminous_Heart-front.jpg/412px-Luminous_Heart-front.jpg
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|label-right=Book
|target=_blank
|wrapperclasses=my-2 depth-0
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</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row phuntso-gradient m-0">
<div class="col-12 p-0">
{{FeaturedItem
|page=People/Phuntsho,_Karma
|title=New Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho, 2020-2022
|description=<p>The writer-in-digital-residence is the recipient of a grant designed to support Tsadra Foundation’s Buddhist literacy projects that connect the larger public with academic research and advance understanding of specific aspects of Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Writers help to curate this online resource and write essays on the history, philosophy, and practices associated with buddha-nature teachings and tathāgatagarbha theory in Tibet. These essays are addressed to an audience of educated readers of Buddhist materials and Buddhist practitioners.</p>


<p>Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. He was a researcher at CNRS, Paris, a Research Associate at Department of Social Anthropology and the Spalding Fellow for Comparative Religion at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and Research Consultant at University of Virginia. An author of over hundred books and articles including the authoritative History of Bhutan and Mipham’s Dialectics and the Debates on Emptiness, he speaks and writes extensively on Bhutan and Buddhism. [[Karma Phuntsho|Read a complete bio]].</p>
<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2">[[Karl Brunnhölzl]]'s Seminal Work on Buddha-Nature</div>
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/b/bb/Phuntsho%2C_Karma-OFFICIAL.jpg
|imageposition=right
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<div>
<div class="row d-flex justify-content-center">
{{FeaturedItem
{{PageTileQuery
|page=Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia
|query=[[Books/When_the_Clouds_Part]]
|title=Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia: The 2019 Vienna Symposium
|classes=mt-2 mb-4 col-lg-6
|description=[[Image:Vienna-Symposium-Banner-for-Workshops-Meetings-Tsadra-website.jpg|450px|class=h-auto p-0 col col-sm-6 col-lg-4 float-sm-right mt-2 mb-2 mb-sm-0 ml-sm-3 rounded|link=Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia|]]Increased attention to the tathāgatagarbha doctrine in the last decade has lead to significant publications and meetings on the topic of buddha-nature and related themes. Scholars in Asia, Europe, and the Americas have published new translations and studies of the foundational scriptures and commentaries, and are examining the history and literature of the doctrine. In July 2019 Tsadra Foundation partnered with the University of Vienna to bring many of these scholars together for an international symposium titled Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia. The presentations are available here and the edited papers will be published in a collection of essays from Wisdom Publications. <br> <span class="float-right">[[Tathāgatagarbha_Across_Asia|See all presentations <i class="fad fa-long-arrow-right rotate-45 fa-xs"></i>]]</span>
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{{#ask: [[Media/Klaus-Dieter_Mathes_at_the_2019_Tathagatagarbha_Symposium]]OR[[Media/Khenpo_Ngawang_Jorden_at_the_2019_Tathāgatagarbha_Symposium]]OR[[Media/Jacqueline_Stone_at_the_2019_Tathāgatagarbha_Symposium]]
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<div class="section-header mt-4 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">From the experts</div>
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|page=People/Gardner,_A.
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|title=First Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Alex Gardner
<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Klaus-Dieter Mathes]]</div>
|description=Alex Gardner served as the writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation's Buddha-Nature Project from 2017-2019. Read his introductory articles on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and the history of buddha-nature theory.
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|link=/index.php/Articles/On_the_Ratnagotravibhāga
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/7/77/A_Direct_Path_to_the_Buddha_Within-front.jpg
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|text=A Direct Path to the Buddha Within
|text=On the Ratnagotravibhāga
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|text=Mi bskyod rdo rje on Buddha Nature and its Adventitious Stains
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
|label-right=Article
|text=A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
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|page=Articles/Klaus-Dieter_Mathes_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
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|description=In this interview Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses buddha-nature and the key ideas behind it, the controversies it generates, and some of the related Buddhist philosophy in comparative perspective.
 
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/2/24/Mathes,_Klaus-Dieter-Official_2019.jpg
{{FeaturedItem
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|page=People/Phuntsho,_Karma
|textclasses=pl-4 pt-2 pb-3
|title=Current Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho
|additionalcontent=<div class="border-top-redfade pt-3 text-center">{{InsertHtml5Audio|File:Mathes-Interview-Complete-53min-04sec.mp3}}
|description=Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Read his weekly blog on topics related to Buddhism and buddha-nature, visit his "Ask the Writer-in-Residence" page to get answers to your questions, or watch the ongoing video series "Conversations on Buddha-Nature."
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|text=Conversations on Buddha-Nature
|label-right=Video Series
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|imagelink=https://tricycle.org/magazine/bhutan-on-the-brink/
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|title=Interview with Wulstan Fletcher on Buddha-Nature
 
|description=In this video interview Wulstan Fletcher discusses Mipham's and Longchenpa's approach to buddha-nature as well as his personal experiences with buddha-nature teachings and how they have influenced his practice.
<div class="position-relative bg-sky-clouds">
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/thumb/d/d1/Fletcher%2C_Wulstan-2014new.jpg/490px-Fletcher%2C_Wulstan-2014new.jpg
 
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{{#ask: [[Media/On_Mipham_and_the_Nyingma_Approach_to_Buddha-Nature_by_Wulstan_Fletcher]]OR[[Media/On_His_Personal_Encounter_with_Buddha-Nature_Teachings_by_Wulstan_Fletcher]]
<div class="position-relative section-header pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Discover More Resources</div>
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|text=The Ratnagotravibhāga
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|text=The Multilingual Root Verses
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<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Wulstan Fletcher]]</div>
|header=The Library
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/7/79/Library-unsplash.jpg/320px-Library-unsplash.jpg
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|content=A curated space for publications on buddha-nature
|link=/index.php/Books/Finding_Rest_in_the_Nature_of_the_Mind
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|text=Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind
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|text=The Complete Library
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|text=Dissertations
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<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mb-2 text-center">[[Elizabeth Callahan]]</div>
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/c/cd/Frameworks_of_Buddhist_Philosophy-front.jpg
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|text=Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy
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|text=Interviews
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/3/34/Moonbeams_of_Mah%C4%81mudr%C4%81_%28Elizabeth_M._Callahan%2C_2019%29-front.jpg
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|text=Commentaries
|page=Articles/Elizabeth_Callahan_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature
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|title=Interview with Elizabeth Callahan on Buddha-Nature
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|description=In this video interview Elizabeth Callahan discusses the key terminology that is used when speaking of buddha-nature. She explains the term ordinary mind and elaborates on the meaning of buddha-nature.
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{{FeaturedItem
<div class="section-header pt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">More on Buddha-Nature</div>
|page=Articles/On_the_Ratnagotravibhāga
 
|title=First Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Alex Gardner On the Ratnagotravibhāga
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|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images-commons/5/50/Alexander_Gardner.jpg
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<div class="home-tile-heading border-0">Explore</div>
<div class="home-tile-text">Read and watch academic presentations, interviews, books, and articles.</div>
<div class="bottom-label" style="right: 1.5rem; bottom: 1rem;">Go deeper</div>
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<div class="sub-section-header mt-4 mt-lg-2 mb-2 text-center">[[Alex Gardner]]</div>
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|text=A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
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<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Other Interviews</div>
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{{#ask: [[Articles/Ringu_Tulku_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature]]OR[[Articles/Tokpa_Tulku_Interview_on_Buddha-Nature]]
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|?BuNayTitle
|image=https://commons.tsadra.org/images/thumb/7/79/Library-unsplash.jpg/320px-Library-unsplash.jpg
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|authorimage=People/Brunnhölzl, K.
|label-right=<i class="ml-1 fad fa-arrow-up rotate45"></i>
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|name=[[People/Higgins, D.|Higgins]] & [[Draszczyk, M.|Draszczyk]]
|text=Events
|title=Buddha Nature Reconsidered
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<div class="section-header pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Featured Articles</div>
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|content=Read regular posts from the writer-in-digital-residence, Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho.
}}
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|link=Buddha-Nature_Event-19_September_2020
|header=Celebrating Buddha-Nature
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|content=Live Event: Celebrating Buddha-Nature · Join us on Zoom or Facebook live as we celebrate Buddha-Nature teachings.
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</div>
<div class="col-12 border-top-redfade my-5"></div>
{{FeaturedItem
|page=Primary_Sources
|description=<div class="section-header mt-2 mb-4 border-bottom-rightfade">Study the sources</div>
<div class="pl-lg-5 pr-lg-4">The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'', the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'' and several others. The famous ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise ''Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra'', or "Gyu Lama" as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (大乗起信論) was the most influential treatise in spreading buddha-nature theory.<p class="featured-link">[[Primary Sources|Read more on the sources for buddha-nature teachings...]]</p></div>
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<div class="section-header mt-5 mb-4 pl-4 pb-2 border-bottom-rightfade">Explore the root verses</div>
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Latest revision as of 11:30, 28 August 2024


Begin Discovering Your Buddha-Nature

Discover how buddha-nature is articulated in various Buddhist traditions by exploring multimedia, articles, books, and translations of primary sources from leading Buddhist teachers and academics. This page brings together a collection of curated resources designed to make the concept of buddha-nature understandable and accessible to a general audience.
Buddha-Nature in Tibet
Complete Site Guide
Multimedia
Video
We Are Enlightened by Nature
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche provides encouragement that we are all enlightened by nature, and the path is a process of discovering that enlightened nature.
Video
Discovering Buddha Nature: Talk by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Mingyur Rinpoche describes buddha-nature with the metaphor of a diamond covered in mud, explaining how the innate purity of awareness can be obscured, but never changed.
Video
Dealing with Depression: Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo on Study Buddhism
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo discusses buddha-nature beautifully for a general audience.
Video
What Is Buddha-Nature? by Wulstan Fletcher
Wulstan Fletcher explains buddha-nature as the deepest aspect of oneself, a wellspring of goodness and wisdom that is always present.
Video
On How Beginning Students Might Engage with Buddha-Nature Teachings by Ringu Tulku
Ringu Tulku talks about how beginning students might start to orient themselves toward buddha-nature teachings in practice. He explains that it is important to recognize that everybody has the seed of wisdom and compassion within them.
Video
Buddha Nature: What Is It? How Is It Different from soul? A Teaching from Zasep Tulku
"Everyone has Buddha Nature," explains H.E. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche in a "learning from the Teachers" video on the topic from BuddhaWeekly.
Video
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche Talks about Buddha-Nature
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche talks about buddha-nature and offers a brief guided meditation.
Video
Matthieu Ricard: Is Buddha-Nature a Seed to Be Cultivated or Something that Must Be Revealed?
In an excerpt from "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho, Matthieu Ricard answers this common question.
Video
The 17th Karmapa on the Nature of All Beings
H.H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, comments on a quote of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje: "The nature of all beings is always Buddha" (འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་).
Video
The Fourteenth Dalai Lama on Buddha-Nature
The Dalai Lama delivers an address entitled "Buddha-Nature" to members of the Theosophical Society in America on July 21st, 1981. His comments on buddha-nature come after a series of preliminary remarks, at 14 min, 23 secs.
Articles
Article
On Buddhanature—and What It Is Not, by Khandro Rinpoche
"Buddhism must always be seen as a skillful means for realizing the most basic aspect of human life: one's inherent buddhanature."
Article
Emptiness–Buddhanature, by Traleg Kyabgon
"Our true nature is buddhanature and that buddhanature is the nature of all sentient beings."
Article
Lasting Happiness, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
"... We don’t have to look outside the present moment to experience wisdom, compassion, and the boundless purity of our true nature."
Article
This Is My Mind, Luminous and Empty, by Tsoknyi Rinpoche
"That something, when I was old enough to fit words to it, is a kind of spark that lights the lives of all living beings.... In many Buddhist teachings, it’s known as buddhanature."
Article
Spotless from the Start
"In order to overcome the five main obstacles facing a bodhisattva," says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, "we must realize that all beings are primordially pure."
Article
The Sky Dragon's Profound Roar, by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
"We practice the genuine dharma because it is a method for clearing away the temporary stains that obscure our vision of the true nature of mind."
Books

Our Human Potential-front.jpeg

14th Dalai Lama & Jeffrey Hopkins
Our Human Potential

Buddha Nature (Geshe Sonam Rinchen)-front.jpg

Geshe Sonam Rinchen
Buddha Nature

Carefree Dignity-front.jpg

Tsoknyi Rinpoche
Carefree Dignity

Samsāra, Nirvāna, and Buddha Nature-front.jpg

14th Dalai Lama & Thubten Chodron
Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature

Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness (2016)-front.jpg

Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso
Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness

The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment-front.jpg

Thubten Loden
The Fundamental Potential for Enlightenment
Buddha-Nature in East Asia
Multimedia
Audio
Buddha-Nature by Rev. George Kosho Finch
This week's topic is Buddha Nature, in Sanskrit: tathāgatagarbha (如来藏). All sentient beings are considered to be in possession of the Buddha Nature, the potential to attain enlightenment.
Video
It Is Your Buddha-Nature That Sees, Hears, and Speaks!
Daehaeng Kun Sunim, a Seon (Zen) master and Buddhist nun from Korea, responds to questions about the concept of Juingong (the underlying mind) from an audience member.
Audio
Trusting in Our Own Buddha-Nature
Rinso Ed Sattizahn gives a dharma talk at San Francisco Zen Center's City Center on the topic of buddha-nature. He touches on selections from Dōgen's Genjōkōan to illustrate this Buddhist teaching.
Video
One's True Mind and Inherent Nature by Sheng Yen
Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the buddha-nature.
Audio
The Cloudless Sky of Buddha-Nature
Rev. Kokyo Henkel teaches on "The Cloudless Sky of Buddha Nature" at the San Francisco Zen Center on September 6, 2011.
Articles
Article
Mind Is Buddha
Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'”
Article
Everything Is Buddhanature
Original sin vs. original goodness: Mahayana Buddhism offers a more hopeful view of human nature.
Article
Trust Practice, Practice Trust
When we truly give ourselves over to practice, explains Roko Sherry Chayat, we let go of our dependence on outcomes and begin to trust just being what we are, buddhanature, revealed right here, right now, in this very body and place.
Article
Impermanence Is Buddha Nature
Change isn’t just a fact of life we have to accept and work with, says Norman Fischer. Practitioners have always understood impermanence as the cornerstone of Buddhist teachings and practice.
Article
On the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna
An introduction to the Awakening of Faith, an immensely important treatise popular in all traditions of Buddhism in East Asia.
Article
The Path of Gratitude
In Shin Buddhism, we don’t practice to achieve anything—not enlightenment, good karma, a favorable rebirth, or material rewards. We practice simply to give thanks for what we have received.
Books

No River to Cross-front.jpg

Daehaeng
No River to Cross

Zen Mind Beginner's Mind-front.jpg

Suzuki
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Buddha Nature (Sallie King)-front.jpg

King
Buddha Nature
Study the Sources
The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra and several others. The famous Laṅkāvatārasūtra was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, or Gyü Lama as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (大乗起信論) and the Vajrasamādhisūtra were the most influential treatises in spreading buddha-nature theory. And in Japan, the Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253), whose instructional lectures were collected in his Shōbōgenzo, also wrote extensively on the topic of buddha-nature. All of these important buddha-nature texts have been translated into English by leading scholars and translators. Below is a selection of these works:
Buddha-Nature in Translation

A Buddha Within-front.jpg

Zimmermann
A Buddha Within: The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

The Nirvana Sutra Volume I-front.jpg

Blum
The Nirvana Sutra, Vol. 1

The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā-front.jpg

Alex Wayman & Hideko Wayman
The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā

Lankavatara Sutra Translation Commentary-front.jpg

Red Pine
The Lankavatara Sutra: A Zen Text

Buddha Nature The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra-front.jpg

Fuchs
Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra

Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith-front.jpeg

Jorgensen & Lusthaus
Treatise on Awakening Mahāyāna Faith

The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea-front.jpg

Buswell
The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea (The Vajrasamādhi Sūtra)

The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō-front.jpg

Waddell & Abe
The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
More Scholarship on Buddha-Nature
Karl Brunnhölzl's Buddha-Nature Interview
In an interview with the Tsadra Foundation, Karl Brunnhölzl discusses why one might study buddha-nature, the purpose of the buddha-nature teachings, and the concept of the innate luminosity of mind.
Buddha Nature Intro Animation Top.png
Why Study Buddha-Nature?
Interview Clip
2:07 min
Buddha Nature Intro Animation Top.png
The Purpose of Buddha-Nature Teachings
Interview Clip
3:38 min
Buddha Nature Intro Animation Top.png
What Is Luminosity?
Interview Clip
4:21 min
Karl Brunnhölzl's Seminal Work on Buddha-Nature
Book
When the Clouds Part
"Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sūtra sources of the tathāgatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyü tradition. Most important, the translator’s introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahāyānottaratantra as a basis for Mahāmudrā instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyü, and Jonang schools that use the Mahāyānottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize one’s own buddha nature. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2014.
First Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Alex Gardner
Alex Gardner served as the writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation's Buddha-Nature Project from 2017-2019. Read his introductory articles on the Ratnagotravibhāga and the history of buddha-nature theory.

On the Ratnagotravibhāga

Article

A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions

Article
Current Writer-In-Digital-Residence: Karma Phuntsho
Lopen (Dr) Karma Phuntsho is one of Bhutan’s leading intellectuals. He has finished monastic training in Bhutan and India before he pursued a M.St in Classical Indian Religions, and D.Phil in Oriental Studies at Balliol College, Oxford. Read his weekly blog on topics related to Buddhism and buddha-nature, visit his "Ask the Writer-in-Residence" page to get answers to your questions, or watch the ongoing video series "Conversations on Buddha-Nature."

Topic of the Week

Blog

Ask the Writer-in-Residence

Q & A

Conversations on Buddha-Nature

Video Series
Discover More Resources
The Literature
Texts and multilingual resources
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The Bibliography

The Source Texts

The Ratnagotravibhāga

The Multilingual Root Verses
The Library
A curated space for publications on buddha-nature
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The Complete Library

Books

Dissertations

Articles

Interviews

Sutras

Commentaries

People

Multimedia

Terms Glossary

The Bibliography
More on Buddha-Nature
Explore
Read and watch academic presentations, interviews, books, and articles.
Go deeper

Ask the writer-in-residence

Questions Answered

The Ratnagotravibhāga

Study

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Watch & Listen

Topic of the week

Read, Watch & Listen
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