Tathāgatagarbha

Buddha-nature or Buddha Principle refers to several related terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu.Tathāgatagarbha means "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone" (tathagata), or "containing a tathagata", while buddhadhātu literally means "Buddha-realm" or "Buddha-substrate".

The term tathāgatagarbha may mean "embryonic tathāgata", "womb of 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 (traditional Chinese: 如来藏; ; pinyin: rúláizàng, or "Tathāgata's (rúlái) storehouse" (zàng). According to Brown, "storehouse" may indicate both "that which enfolds or contains something", or "that which is itself enfolded, hidden or contained by another." The Tibetan translation is de bzhin gsegs pa'i snyin 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 term tathagatagarbha is translated and interpreted in various ways by western translators and scholars:

The term "Buddha-nature" (traditional Chinese: 佛性; ; pinyin: fóxìng, Japanese: busshō) is closely related in meaning to the term tathāgatagarbha, but is not a translation of this term. it refers to that 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) which 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."

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