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The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman
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Description
The assertion that there is nothing in the constitution of any person that deserves to be considered the self (ātman)—a permanent, unchanging kernel of personal identity in this life and those to come—has been a cornerstone of Buddhist teaching from its inception. Whereas other Indian religious systems celebrated the search for and potential discovery of one’s “true self,” Buddhism taught about the futility of searching for anything in our experience that is not transient and ephemeral. But a small yet influential set of Mahāyāna Buddhist texts, composed in India in the early centuries CE, taught that all sentient beings possess at all times, and across their successive lives, the enduring and superlatively precious nature of a Buddha. This was taught with reference to the enigmatic expression tathāgatagarbha—the “womb” or “chamber” for a Buddha—which some texts refer to as a person’s true self.
The Buddhist Self is a methodical examination of Indian teaching about the tathāgatagarbha (otherwise the presence of one's “Buddha-nature”) and the extent to which different Buddhist texts and authors articulated this in terms of the self. C. V. Jones attends to each of the Indian Buddhist works responsible for explaining what is meant by the expression tathāgatagarbha, and how far this should be understood or promoted using the language of selfhood. With close attention to these sources, Jones argues that the trajectory of Buddha-nature thought in India is also the history and legacy of a Buddhist account of what deserves to be called the self: an innovative attempt to equip Mahāyāna Buddhism with an affirmative response to wider Indian interest in the discovery of something precious or even divine in one's own constitution. This argument is supplemented by critical consideration of other themes that run through this distinctive body of Mahāyānist literature: the relationship between Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachings about the self, the overlap between the tathāgatagarbha and the nature of the mind, and the originally radical position that the only means of becoming liberated from rebirth is to achieve the same exalted status as the Buddha. (Source: University of Hawai'i Press)
Citation
Jones, Christopher V. The Buddhist Self: On Tathāgatagarbha and Ātman. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2020.
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Table of contents
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTSXI
- ABBREVIATIONSVIII
- CONVENTIONSXVII
- 1 Introduction1
- 1.1 Self and Not-Self in Early Buddhism1
- 1.2 Tathāgatagarbha Literature in Overview11
- 1.3 Essences, Natures, Wombs, and Chambers14
- 1.4 Buddhist Ātmavāda: Preliminary Thoughts21
Part I: Buddha-Nature, the Self
- 2 The Mahāparinirvāṇamahāsūtra and the Buddhist Self29
- 2.1 The Text29
- 2.2 The Buddha as Self33
- 2.3 Buddha-nature and the Self40
- 2.4 Contentions and Clarifications47
- 2.5 The True Self and False Notions of It55
- 2.6 Self and Absence of Self59
- 2.7 Buddha-nature in Dharmakṣema's MPNMSD+62
- 2.8 Conclusions67
- 3 The Aṅgulimālīyasūtra and the Essential Self70
- 3.1 The Text70
- 3.2 An "Essence" of One's Own74
- 3.3 What Buddha-nature Is Not: More False Notions of the Self77
- 3.4 Perceiving Buddha-nature79
- 3.5 Essence, Action, and the Self83
- 3.6 A "Single Essence"87
- 3. 7 Buddhism contra Other Systems91
- 3.8 Conclusions95
- 4 The Mahābherīhārakasūtra and Liberation of the Self97
- 4.1 The Text97
- 4.2 Continuity of the Self100
- 4.3 The Sovereign Self104
- 4.4 Buddha-nature and Buddhist Practice107
- 4.5 Self, Not-Self, and Emptiness109
- 4.6 Conclusions114
Part II: Buddha-nature, Not Self
- 5 The Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra and the Perfection of Self119
- 5.1 The Text119
- 5.2 Reimagining Tathāgatagarbha122
- 5.3 The Dharmakāya and Its Qualities129
- 5.4 On "Singularity"132
- 5.5 Conclusions136
- 6 Other Tathāgatagarbha Sources139
- 6.1 The Anūnatvāpūrṇatvānirdeśaparivarta139
- 6.2 The Tathāgatagarbhasūtra143
- 6.3 The Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra148
- 7 The Ratnagotravibhāga and the Self That Is No Self154
- 7.1 The Text154
- 7.2 Buddha-nature and the "Basic" RGV158
- 7.3 "Perfection of Self' in the RGVV167
- 7.4 Tathāgatagarbha as, Once Again, the Self175
- 7.5 Conclusions178
- 8 The Laṅkāvatārasūtra and Rejecting the Buddhist Self181
- 8.1 The Text181
- 8.2 Tathāgatagarbha and Absence of Self183
- 8.3 The "Ālayavijñāna-Tathāgatagarbha"188
- 8.4 Selfhood in the Sagāthaka191
- 8.5 Conclusions194
- 8.6 Postscript: After the LAS195
Part III: Buddha-nature Reconsidered
- 9 Recurring Themes and Motifs203
- 9.1 The Single Vehicle203
- 9.2 "Cryptic" Utterances210
- 9.3 The Intrinsically Pure Mind214
- 9.4 "Sarvalokapriyadarśana"217
- 9.5 Emptiness and Nonemptiness218
- 9.6 Non-Buddhists and Their Teachings223
- 10 Evolution of the Buddhist Self229
- 10.1 The Course of Buddha-nature Teaching229
- 10.2 Origins of the Buddha-nature Idea237
- 10.3 Liberation and the Self245
- 10.4 Buddhist Selfhood and the Mahāyāna253
- 10.5 Closing Thoughts261
- REFERENCES265
- INDEX287
Interconnections
4 Scholarship on
The Mahāyāna version of this sūtra, like the earlier Pali sutta of the same name, recounts a sorted tale of jealousy and revenge that spirals out of control, in which a once promising disciple is set on the path to become a vicious murderer in search of a thousand victims in order to create a garland strung with their severed fingers. That is, of course, until he encounters the final victim needed to complete his task, the Buddha. (You can read the story here). The Mahāyāna version is routinely included among the lists of so-called tathāgatagarbha sūtras, the reason likely being the extensive discussion the protagonist has with Mañjuśrī on the proper view of emptiness. The position presented in the text has been taken by some to be an early precursor to the view of other-emptiness.
An important Mahāyāna sūtra that was highly influential in East Asia as well as in Nepal, where a manuscript was discovered that remains the only extant Sanskrit recension of this text. It is notable for its inclusion of many doctrinal features that would come to be associated with the Yogācāra philosophy of Mind-Only (Cittamātra), such as the ālayavijñāna, or store-house consciousness, that acts as a repository for the seeds of karmic actions. It also includes several lengthy discussions of tathāgatagarbha and, though it is never actually referenced in the Uttaratantra, it is often listed among the so-called tathāgatagarbha sūtras. While its lack of mention in the Uttaratantra has been interpreted by scholars as evidence that the sūtra postdates the treatise, it should be noted that the ways in which the tathāgatagarbha is discussed in the sūtra is often at odds with its presentation in the Uttaratantra.
One of the more prominent sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, this text tells of the story of Śrīmālādevī taking up the Buddhist path at the behest of her royal parents based on a prophecy of the Buddha. It includes mention of important concepts related to the teachings on buddha-nature, such as the single vehicle and the four perfections, or transcendent characteristics, of the dharmakāya. It also mentions the notion that buddha-nature, which is equated with mind's luminous nature, is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of its limitless inseparable qualities. In his commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga, Asaṅga quotes this sūtra more than any other source text. In particular, it is considered a source for the fifth of the seven vajra topics, enlightenment.
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The Ratnagotravibhāga, commonly known as the Uttaratantra, or Gyu Lama in Tibetan, is one of the main Indian scriptural sources for buddha-nature theory. It was likely composed during the fifth century, by whom we do not know. Comprised of verses interspersed with prose commentary, it systematizes the buddha-nature teachings that were circulating in multiple sūtras such as the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, and the Śrīmaladevisūtra. The Tibetan tradition attributes the verses to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and the commentary to Asaṅga, and treats the two as separate texts, although this division is not attested to in surviving Indian versions. The Chinese tradition attributes the text to *Sāramati (娑囉末底), but the translation itself does not include the name of the author, and the matter remains unsettled. It was translated into Chinese in the early sixth century by Ratnamati and first translated into Tibetan by Atiśa, although this text is not known to survive. Ngok Loden Sherab translated it a second time based on teachings from the Kashmiri Pandita Sajjana, and theirs remains the standard translation. It has been translated into English several times, and recently into French. See the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, read more about the Ratnagotravibhāga, or take a look at the most complete English translation in When the Clouds Part by Karl Brunnholzl.
