Those basic buddha-nature terms…
John says: As threatened in my speech last week, I’m posting the following little list of very basic terms for which I’d really like to find a coherent set of English words to use in the context of the buddha-nature teachings. I have included a few common renderings and some random jottings, and would be most grateful for any suggestions (even negative ones) or other forms of input: clues, references, definitions, whatever. Thanks!
de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po (tathāgata-garbha)
- buddha nature, tathāgata nature
- buddha essence, tathāgata essence
- tathāgata matrix
bde bar gshegs pa’i snying po (sugata-garbha)
- buddha nature, sugata nature
- buddha essence, sugata essence
- (idem) matrix
The most basic terms, but there must be a difference between them. As Steve reported, Pema Wangyal Rinpoche mentioned that sugata-garbha is more from the cause aspect, tathāgata-garbha more from the result aspect.
[With that in mind, I have been indulging in some purely personal speculation that, in that they relate to the potential for (or obscured presence of) buddhahood in unenlightened sentient beings, sugata-garbha could correspond to the instinctive tendency of sentient creatures to seek happiness (however misguidedly), while tathāgata-garbha could correspond to their intrinsic affinity for truth or reality (however primitive or approximate) – or perhaps to their objective participation in reality (however unaware they may be of it subjectively).]
khams (dhātu)
- constituent
- element
- disposition
- potential
As many texts state, the term refers especially to buddha-nature in the ‘phase’ of sentient being.
rigs (gotra)
- lineage
- (spiritual) affinity
- kind
- potential
- disposition
- potency
- heritage
- spiritual gene
If only a single term in English is to be used, it has to mean an essential element that derives from, carries, and confers specificity; preferably, it also has to indicate something present in both cause and result; and its meaning has to be able to straddle not only the notion of seed or potential but also the notion of fully present fruit. Finally, it also has to allow for subdivision into rigs chad rigs, rang bzhin gnas pa’i rigs, yang dag blang ba’i / bsgrub pa’i rigs, and rgyas gyur rigs.
dbyings (dhātu or dharmadhātu)
- (basic) space
- (open) expanse
- element, constituent
Buddha-nature especially in the more enlightened phases. When does it specifically stand for chos dbyings and when not?
