What is Buddha nature?

gracelee

I would love to hear peoples opinions on what Buddha nature is and how it is developed/uncovered?

Thanks in advance

Jeffrey

Buddha nature is spontaneous and I do not know what it is. I guess it is awakening. Everybody has experienced moments of awakening thus it is not just for some people.

It is developed through sitting meditation developing the stability to examine our own experience.

Silouan

The potentiality inherent in all sentient life for awakening. Its nurtured through practices that promote stillness and interior silence.

Songhill

Greacelee:

This might help.

The second key teaching of this sutra is the doctrine of the concealed presence within all beings of the "Buddha-dhatu" ("Buddha-Element", "Buddha-Principle", "Buddha-Sphere"). This term has long been (mis)translated as "Buddha-nature" and is now well known as such; but it is perhaps advisable henceforth to use the correct expression, Buddha-dhatu, to avoid the impression that what is being spoken of here is the Buddha's "temperament" or "character" or "disposition" within us. This is not quite the meaning ascribed to it in the Nirvana Sutra. The Buddha-dhatu has more of the sense of "Buddha Factor" or "Buddha Principle" than "nature".

What is the Buddha-dhatu?

It is the uncreated, unbegotten, utterly pure, unconditioned, inviolate, indestructible, steadfast and unshakeable, eternal Buddhic Essence (svabhava) of all sentient beings. It is the life-force (jivaka), the nurturing power within the being which sustains him or her and which, when fully seen and known, transforms that being into a Buddha. It is the "True Self" (satyatman) or the "Great Self" (mahatman) of the Buddha himself, and is all-knowing (sarvajna). Even in the Pali suttas, the Buddha never, ever, states that he, the Tathagata, is "non-Self", just as he never, ever, states that Nirvana is non-Self. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, this is highly significant. The Buddha is Nirvana and is the only Real Self that exists in the cosmos. Another term for this is the 'Buddha-dhatu'. This is nothing less than Reality (not just a metaphor pointing to some future potential). It is present within us, right here, right now. And it is not just another way of speaking of "Emptiness" or merely a "skilful means" or clever tactic - without any existing Reality to it - as is popularly claimed by secular Buddhist scholars and other nihilistically inclined commentators (please see http://www.nirvanasutra.net/buddhanaturenotupaya.htm on the present website for a detailed refutation of this dangerously fallacious view). The Buddha-dhatu is the immortal Ever-Real itself.

If after you read what Dr. Tony Page has to say and reflect to yourself, "Wow, this is mysticism!" You're a spot on.

David

The seed of buddhahood that exists in all things.

Silouan

@Songhill

I'm quite comfortable with mystery, and I agree that "No Self" is often taken and misunderstood in a literal sense. I have been educating my Christian friends to the contrary in that from a Buddhist(Gelug) perspective the self is never negated, only the mistaken view or notion of an intrinsic independent self.

Also, as an aside it is interesting to note how many times the words "faith" and "divine" appear in the Nirvana Sutra?

how

I would probably not describe it the same way twice but today it's...
An inherant grace towards compassion, love & wisdom over greed, hatred & delusion.

It's desciption as also it's developement and manifestation

charirama

I like to think of it as pure untainted awareness that is not influenced by physical senses and/or memories. I believe that awareness is the same for all sentient beings but we see the world through central nervous systems that are geared for physical survival and the propagation of species.

The fact that a cat or a dog is aware is the same as a human being aware. Our physical bodies and our brains interpret what our senses deliver. If we get to the awareness only, without the physical memories and conditioned responses then I believe we can find Buddha Nature or, as some describe it, Divine Light of the Heart. It has many names.

The fact that we are aware is the one thing that cannot be denied. Everything else, including this post, is just speculation.

lobster

Freedom from the lesser. Expression from the Greater Ideal.
Devoid of conditions and qualities. Nonetheless it manifests through the presence of our better nature.

zenff

gracelee said:

I would love to hear peoples opinions on what Buddha nature is and how it is developed/uncovered?

Thinking about it destroys it.

What we can do instead is formal meditation; or doing any kind of activity where we must pay attention to what we’re doing without having to think hard about it; like working in the garden.

I was on a scaffold some time ago and felt some fear of the height. But when I painted the frame of the window (not using tape on the glass) the fear was gone, like everything else. That was good "meditation".

DairyLama

gracelee said:

I would love to hear peoples opinions on what Buddha nature is and how it is developed/uncovered?

The state of enlightenment, and Buddhist practice respectively.