Tag Archives: Tathāgatagarbha

The Dragon and the Storehouse Consciousness

Posted on March 13, 2026 by Vajragoni

Chapter III

The Dragon and the Storehouse Consciousness

As the practitioner moves further into the Mandala of the Black Dragon Gate, a new dimension of the teaching gradually comes into view. In the previous chapter we explored the Dragon as a symbol of the primordial Ground, the unfathomable depth from which all phenomena arise. Yet the emergence of the cosmos from this Ground does not occur in a simple or linear fashion. Between the silent depth of the Ground and the vivid diversity of the world lies a subtle domain in which the seeds of experience are stored, matured, and brought into manifestation. Within the philosophical tradition of Yogācāra, this domain is described as the ālaya-vijñāna, often translated as the storehouse consciousness. The ālaya-vijñāna is not the ordinary mind that thinks, judges, and analyzes. Rather, it functions as the underlying repository in which the karmic tendencies of countless experiences accumulate. Each perception, intention, and action leaves behind a subtle trace, a seed that rests within this storehouse until the conditions for its expression arise. read more

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Eternal Birth

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Vajragoni

It is within Eckhart’s exact art of preaching and the “ascesis of attentive listening” that the transcendent awareness of the Divine Birth takes place, and the mystical ground is self-realized; incidentally this is the same act as proclaiming and receiving the Buddhadharma. Eckhart planned particular sermons for the meaning of Christ’s birth. This was initiated to coincide with the cycle of the liturgical season of Christmas. Sermon 101 starts by citing Wisdom 18:14- 15, the “Introit, or opening chant, for the mass of the Sunday within the octave of Christmas.” read more

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Entering the Garbha-Self

Posted on December 26, 2017 by Vajragoni

Number Twelve is the flagship chapter for the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra; it further details the True Nature of the Self and then highlights its salvific context as, “After hearing this sutra one thereupon understands that all living beings possess Buddha-nature, and this is the reason why I expound the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra.” read more

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The Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Vajragoni

The Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra (Uttaratantra) is the premier śāstra, combined with its [embedded] commentary (the vyākhyā), dealing with the Tathāgatagarbha. It is the earliest systematic portrayal of the Doctrine composed circa the end of the 5th century, and it draws upon a variety of sources. According to the Chinese tradition it is attributed to Sāramati: read more

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Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Vajragoni


Birth of a Supernova by Laisk Serg

The Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta is one of the Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures; a short Mahayana Sūtra that is extant only in a Chinese translation. Its value is worth its weight in dragon pearls as even the great Ratnagotravibhāga utilizes it as a proof text, quoting roughly half of the Sūtra. Generally, it expounds upon the unitary nature of the tathāgatagarbha, dharmakāya, and the sattvadhātu: read more

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The Single-Taste

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Vajragoni

Chapter Seven: The Tathagatagarbha

This chapter tells the story of how the Store-House of the Tathāgatas (Tathagatagarbha) is the Essence of the One True Dharma. All other dharmas partake in this one single-taste. read more

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VS: Doctrinal Foundations

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Vajragoni

One will discover in studying the Vajrasamādhi Sūtra that by and large at its core rests the Tathāgatagarbha: read more

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The Vajrasamādhi Sutra

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Vajragoni


Wŏnhyo

Our next text for study from our sūtra-series is the Vajrasamādhi Sūtra. Firstly, a thank-you is in order for one of our readers, JB, who recently brought this magnificent text to our attention. We are also indebted to Robert E. Buswell, Jr. for his excellent scholarly texts, The Formation of Ch’an Ideology in China and Korea, The Vajrasamādhi Sūtra—A Buddhist Apocryphon; and his Cultivating Original Enlightenment: Wŏnhyo’s Exposition of The Vajrasamādhi Sutra. His first work focuses on the doctrinal and historical position of this uniquely “Korean” Ch’an-Sŏn Sutra. (1) Buswell draws the conclusion that the Sutra’s author (circa 685 C.E.) was the legendary monk, ŏmnang, who is reported to have studied under Daoxin, the primary founder of the East Mountain School. As we shall discover within this series its doctrinal and contemplative/meditative dimensions are highly attuned with the East Mountain School—particularly on the notion of “Keeping the One”—Shou-i: read more

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To Tell the Truth

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Vajragoni

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: read more

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The True Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā (Intro)

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Vajragoni

The sutra is also known as the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra and in its abbreviated form as Śrī-mālā-sūtra ; the original author is unknown. Scholars concur that it was written in the Andhra region of South India in the third-century A.D. and since its inception has greatly influenced Buddhist China, Korea and Japan. According to Alex Wayman the Queen in its title is referenced to the glorious garland (Śrīmālā) given to the main protagonist in the sutra by her mother, Mallikā, whose name means the daughter of the garland maker. All in all, though, the opening setting of the sutra that introduces her is half historical and half fictional. The central thrust of the sutra is that all sentient beings potentially have the Buddha-seed; this is reinforced through the dominant doctrines of the One-Vehicle and Its primary conduit of the Tathagatagarbha. Wayman states: read more

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