Property:PosEmptyLuminNotes
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"The [buddha] element in sentient beings makes enlightenment attainable. This enlightenment is attained gradually and not instantaneously..." [[Mathes, K.]], [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]], p. 42. +
* "The tathāgata heart’s own essence is not a nonimplicative negation but is the element of basic awareness." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 69.
* "The determination of the ultimate as buddha nature or natural luminosity in the third dharmacakra is taken to be the direct mahāmudrā approach to the nature of mind. This approach is not really different from the emptiness of the second dharmacakra. While the analytical methods of the second dharmacakra deflate all concepts, coarse and subtle, about things, the third one purifies phenomenal appearances that hinder the proper perception of buddha nature." [[Mathes, K.]], ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]'', p. 373.
* "In the third dharmacakra, the scope of such a nonaffirming negation is restricted to the adventitious stains, whose lack of an own-being has been established by inferential valid cognitions. The ultimate that is beyond the intellect is taken to be the emptiness that is buddha nature, or the element of awareness." [[Mathes, K.]], ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]'', p. 374.
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A
More specifically he asserts that buddha-nature is equivalent to the selflessness of the dharmatā. This is not exactly the same as buddha-nature = emptiness. Kano explains that this is a precursor to that position. [[Kano, K.]], [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], p. 111 et passim. +
"Atisa explains “the innate śīla" abiding in every being as a cause that brings one attainment (i.e. nirvāṇa), but as being covered with defilements in the state of ordinary beings. He takes it as synonymous with Buddha-nature or the mahāyānagotra." [[Kano, K.]], [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], p. 101. +
B
"In his commentary on RGV I.3, bCom-ldan-ral-gri defines Buddha-nature as “the natural luminous mind that is inseparable from ''dharmatā'',” and, glossing RGV 1.153, states: “the ultimate truth, which is unconditioned and primordially existent by itself, is the element (i.e. Buddha-nature).” [[Kano, K.]], ''[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]'', p. 342. (see also Ibid. p. 315.) +
"Thus, from the point of view of emptiness, buddha nature is the empty dharmadhātu (the object) and from the point of view of appearance, it is the wisdom (the subject) that is not empty of the inseparable qualities of a buddha. Both these aspects are inseparable and are empty of the adventitious stains that represent the delusive appearances of saṃsāra." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 75. +
*[[Kano. K.]], ''[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]'', p. 242, footnote 4. Van der Kuijp via Shakya mchog ldan.
*Mathes cites Gö Lotsāwa as stating, "The followers of the tradition of Tsen (Btsan) maintain that since the luminous nature of mind is the buddha nature, the cause of buddha[hood] is fertile" [[Mathes, K.]], ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]'', p. 33.
*"According to BA, those who follow the tradition of Dsen Kawoché (Tib. Btsan Kha bo che) hold that since the tathāgata heart is the naturally luminous nature of the mind, it is the powerful vital cause of buddhahood. TOK agrees, saying that, according to the Eighth Situpa, the texts in Dsen Kawoché’s lineage accepted a really established, self-aware, self-luminous cognition empty of the duality of apprehender and apprehended to be the powerful vital cause of buddhahood." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 65.
*Karl Brunnhölzl cites ShAkya mchog ldan: "The sugata heart is the naturally pure wisdom, luminous by nature, that pervades everyone from buddhas to sentient beings." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], [[When the Clouds Part]], p. 124.
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Specifically, he sees buddha-nature as referring only to the dharmakāya of a fully enlightened buddha.
*"Taking the reverse position of the Gelugpas on this, both Butön and his student and commentator Dratsépa Rinchen Namgyal (1318–1388) identify the actual tathāgata heart as being solely the final fruition of buddhahood." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 67.
*"Bu-ston and his disciple sGra-tshad-pa assert that Buddha-nature should be understood only in its resultant aspect, namely as only the dharmakāya of a buddha." [[Kano, K.]], ''[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]'', p. 343. +
C
"Buddha nature was taught merely as a means of temporarily easing ordinary persons of their fear of selflessness and of attracting non-Buddhists." [[Kano, K.]] [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], p. 9. +
D
"He typically describes both buddha nature and the dharmakāya as being ultimately really established, everlasting, eternal, permanent, immutable (''ther zug''), and being beyond dependent origination. He also equates the tathāgata heart with “ālaya-wisdom” as opposed to the ālaya-consciousness." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 68. +
G
"In the later Sakya School, it is the works of Gorampa Sönam Sengé (1429–1489) that are usually taken to be authoritative. According to him, the tathāgata heart refers to the nondual unity of mind’s lucidity and emptiness or awareness and emptiness free from all reference points. It is not mere emptiness because sheer emptiness cannot be the basis of both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. However, it is not mere lucidity either because this lucidity is a conditioned entity and the tathāgata heart is unconditioned." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], [[When the Clouds Part]], p. 76. +
"Gro-lung-pa appears elsewhere in the same text to endorse rNgog’s idea of tathatā as emptiness, and follows rNgog’s position with regard to the ineffability of the ultimate." [[Kano, K.]], [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], p. 340. +
*[[Wangchuk, Tsering]]. ''[[The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows]]'', p. 32.
*"One of the central doctrinal points of Blo-gros-mtshungs-med’s position is the two modes of Buddha-nature: the gnosis aspect and sphere aspect. Under the former, Buddha-nature is existent in terms of its qualities, while under the latter it is empty in terms of its mode of existence. [[Kano, K.]], ''[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]'', p. 336.
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J
"...He states that Buddha-nature was taught in order to attract those who fear emptiness. [[Kano, K.]], [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], pp. 150-151. +
There are different takes on what is view was:
*Karl includes him in the category of those assert buddha-nature to be Mind's Luminous Nature. Stating, "Jñānaśrīmitra cites ''Uttaratantra'' I.154 and RGVV and explains that real aspects are mental forms that have the nature of being appearances of lucidity (''prakāśarūpa''), which he equates with buddha nature—the tathāgata element (''tathāgatadhātu'')." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'',pp. 57-58.
*However, Kano suggests his view is is that buddha-nature shares features (or coincides) with emptiness and is a property (''dharma'') of the image (''ākāra''), which in turn is its possessor (''dharmin''). In this he was a precursor to Ngok's innovative equation of buddha-nature = emptiness. See [[Kano, K.]], [[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]], p. 61. +
K
Though he might be an early antecedent to the position that combines emptiness and luminosity, Brunnhölzl counts him among those that hold this position.
*"One should add here Kamalaśīla’s (c. 740–795) ''Madhyamakāloka'', which takes the tathāgata heart to be natural luminosity but defines the latter as the dharmadhātu characterized by twofold identitylessness: "This statement “All sentient beings possess the tathāgata heart” teaches that all are suitable to attain the state of unsurpassable completely perfect awakening since it is held that the term tathāgata expresses that the dharmadhātu, which is characterized by personal and phenomenal identitylessness, is natural luminosity." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], [[When the Clouds Part]], p. 56. +
*"The tathāgata heart is mind’s luminous ultimate nature or nondual wisdom, which is the basis of everything in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Its essence is empty, its nature is lucid, and its display is unimpeded (this is also how the nature of the mind is presented in the Mahāmudrā tradition, and the Karmapa’s commentary on the ''Dharmadhātustava'' indeed equates the tathāgata heart with Mahāmudrā)." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 72.
*Another take on this is found in [[Mathes, K.]], ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]'', pp. 51-54, in which he seems to suggest that his views are more inclined to view it as the dharmadhātu, which is equivalent to dharmakāya.
*"This becomes clear from an answer to a rhetorical question in the autocommentary of the Zab mo nang gi don:
Question: How are the properties of purification produced?
They are supported by buddha nature, [in as much as] it is the dharmakāya of the above-mentioned purity of mind." [[Mathes, K.]], ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]'', p. 58.
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"He also describes an “ultimate universal ground” (''don gyi kun gzhi'') in his autocommentary of his ''Wish-Fulfilling Treasury'': “The basic element is called ‘the ultimate universal ground’ because it co-exists with the unconditioned qualities of the naturally pure nirvāna.” He says that this ground is the support for both samsāra and nirvāna, and identifies it with Buddha-nature: Due to abiding as the expanse neither conjoined with nor separable from the exalted body and wisdom, it is Buddha-nature; due to supporting all phenomena of samsāra and nirvāna, it is the abiding reality called “the ultimate universal ground”; it is unconditioned and abides as the great primordial purity..." [[Duckworth, D.]], [[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]], p. 104. +
M
"YDC clearly subscribes to the disclosure model of buddha nature, asserting that the stainless tathāgata heart adorned with all major and minor marks as well as awakening exists in all beings, refuting that the reality of cessation is a nonimplicative negation, and denying the position that the fully qualified sugata heart exists solely on the buddhabhūmi, while it is only nominal at the time of sentient beings." [[Brunnhölzl, K.]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'', p. 310. +
Though Mipam clearly presents several different perspectives on this issue:
* "Mipam states that the basic element (Buddha-nature) is empty of adventitious defilements, yet not empty of consummate qualities. These consummate qualities are inseparable from the suchness of phenomena that is luminous clarity and self-existing wisdom." [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 18.
* "Mipam’s two models of two truths support his interpretation of the compatibility of emptiness and Buddha-nature. The indivisibility of the two truths, empty appearance, is Buddha-nature; and the unity of appearance and emptiness is what is known in authentic experience." [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 26.
*"In his ''Trilogy of Innate Mind'', Mipam also calls this suchness of mind “Buddhanature”: “Existing in the minds of all sentient beings in the manner of suchness on the occasion when obscurations dwell as suitable to be removed, it is called ‘Buddha-nature’ because when this suchness of mind is realized, one becomes a Buddha.” The suchness, or nature, of mind is Buddha-naure.
Self-existing wisdom is simply made manifest; it is not produced by a cause." [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 100.
*"Mipam also refers to Buddha-nature as the abiding reality of the “ground of the primeval beginning” (ye thog gi gzhi) in his Trilogy of Innate Mind: Buddha-nature is not a mere absence; it is emptiness and luminous clarity. It is the abiding reality of the ground of the primeval beginning of all phenomena, the abiding reality that is the indivisible truth of unity—emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects (rnam kun mchog ldan gyi stong nyid)." [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 105.
*"In his ''Lion’s Roar: Exposition of Buddha-Nature'', Mipam describes the essence of the Buddha-nature as follows: “The essence of the Buddha-nature itself is free from all conceptual constructs such as existence and nonexistence, permanence and annihilation; it is the equality of the single sphere of indivisible truth.” [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 107.
*In conclusion Duckworth sums up Mipam's view as such, "Since he depicts Buddha-nature with the qualities of the Buddha present at the time of a sentient being, his presentation shares an important feature with the Jonang tradition. His interpretation also shares a quality with the Geluk tradition, given that he equates Buddha-nature with emptiness. However, Mipam’s integration of Buddha-nature and emptiness most directly reflects Longchenpa’s description of the ground of the Great Perfection, the pinnacle of Buddhist vehicles in his Nyingma tradition, where Buddha-nature represents the unity of primordial purity and spontaneous presence." [[Duckworth, D.]], ''[[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]'', p. 115.