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Tag Archives: Tathagata
The Inconceivable Master
“World-Honored One, the cycle of birth and death [samsara] is based on the Tathagata-embryo. Because of the Tathagata-embryo, the beginning [of samsara] cannot be known. World-Honored One, if one says that because there is the Tathagata-embryo there is samsara, he … Continue reading
To Tell the Truth
For Baby-Boomers the old TV Game-Show, To Tell the Truth, has some fond memories, in particular during its Black & White heydays from the mid-50’s into the mid-60’s. Its inception runs as follows: The show features a panel of four celebrities … Continue reading
Posted in Spirituality, The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā
Tagged cessation, dukkha, eternalism, nihilism, Pratyekabuddhas, suffering, Tathagata, Tathāgatagarbha, Tathagatagarbha as soteriological principle, the four Maras, The four reliance’s, the four wrong views, The Noble Truths, the ten powers, To Tell the Truth
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The Pure Lands
Bassui had the distinction of empowering others to see beyond their literal notions of the Buddha Pure Lands. However he would not make the attempt if the inquirers were exclusively attached to the phenomenal world and incapable of seeing beyond … Continue reading
Posted in Mud and Water: Bassui Zen
Tagged Amida, Buddha Pure Lands, form, Mind, Pure Land, Tathagata, Western Pure Land
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The Pure Zen of the Tathagatas
A layman asked: “Though Zen is said to be transmitted outside the scriptures and not through words, there are many more incidents of monks questioning teachers and inquiring of the Way than in the teaching sects. How can Zen be … Continue reading
Posted in Mud and Water: Bassui Zen
Tagged Mind, Mind transmission, Self, Tathagata, Tathagatas, Zen
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The Hidden Jewel
“O Bhagavat! We have always thought we had attained complete nirvana. We now realize that we were ignorant. Why is this? We should have attained the wisdom of the Tathāgatas. Yet we were satisfied with little wisdom! “O Bhagavat! Suppose … Continue reading
The Prodigal Sons
The thing that strikes me most about the parable in Chapter 4, the “‘Buddhist’ Prodigal Son”, is that it is told to the Buddha (instead of vice-versa) by four of his most loyal disciples, Subhuti, Maha Katyayana, MahaMaudgalyayana and particularly … Continue reading
Posted in The Lotus Sutra
Tagged dust, loneliness, Mahākāśyapa, nirvana, prodigal, Tathagata
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(22) The Monastic Mind
When the mind reaches a spiritual need and maturity to contemplate its true nature, it is most wise to first try entrance into the monastery of Mind Only, which is Unborn. We call this entrance, the sangha of bodhisattvas. Entrance … Continue reading
Posted in The Dragon Mind of Zen Tarot
Tagged desire, Mind, Mind-only, Monastic Mind, Tathagata
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(12) The Tathagata
The undivided and real body of the Mind, the Tathagata is unborn. This “unborn-ness”, is a non-tangible and indestructible essence with a highly dynamic and animative self-nature of sheer productiveness. Was it not so you would not be able to … Continue reading
Posted in The Dragon Mind of Zen Tarot
Tagged Buddha Mind, Mind, Tathagata, Unborn Mind
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(6) The Womb of Light
The desireful, skandha-poisoned “false” self, is doomed to fail and become reborn in different forms (depending on its karma) as long as it does not acknowledge the treasure that follows it wherever it goes. This treasure, the most shining pearl … Continue reading
The Cardinal Dynamism of the Unborn
TWO: THE CARDINAL DYNAMISM OF THE UNBORN Vajradhara Buddha addressed Vajarpanī: “Noble Bodhisattva, attend well to this instruction! The Unborn Mind is the All-Creative Sovereign—the cardinal-dynamism of all created spheres and organisms. “This cardinal-dynamism is the non-conceptual and primordial void-focus … Continue reading