ED, Exactly. With your comprehensive knowledge of all schools of Buddhism and Zen/zen, have you come across an episode where Gotama declared, right after his enlightenment, that everybody has Buddha nature, although it is mostly occluded by all kinds of kelesa (dirt)? I agree with you that Theravada says you can strive to be 'it', while zen claims you are already 'it'. Is it possible that the Buddha nature myth is a mahayana invention? I must pronounce here that even if it is an invention, I like it. I also like the story of Buddha holding out a flower and only Mahakasyapa smiling at it, although I believe it is another myth. Anthony
--- On Thu, 19/5/11, ED <[email protected]> wrote: From: ED <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Buddha Nature To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, 19 May, 2011, 10:32 PM Bill and Daniel, One difference between Zen and Theravada Buddhism: It appears that the inherent Buddha Nature of all sentient beings is a basic premise of Zen. Whereas in Theravada Buddhism, the corresponding premise is that there exists the potential for all sentient beings to attain Buddhahood. --ED From: Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism Buddha-nature (Sanskrit, buddhata, buddha-dhatu; Jap., bussho). In early Buddhist thought, this term referred to the potentiality for becoming a Buddha through the traditional methods of study and religious practice. Discussion centred on clarifying what kind of beings had this potential and how it was to be developed. After the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, some thinkers began to question the validity of the distinction between practice and enlightenment (bodhi), or between potentiality and attainment, and so Buddha-nature gradually came to be seen not as a potential, but as the inherent Buddhahood of every sentient being. In this setting, the task then was not to achieve Buddhahood, but to uncover it. For example, the Platform Sûtra of the Sixth Patriarch compares Buddhahood to a full moon covered by clouds. When the clouds blow away, the moon is revealed. It does not gradually come into being nor is it constructed. Similarly, each being is already a Buddha, but this fact is obscured by defilements and impurities. Once these are removed, one's Buddhahood becomes manifest. --- In [email protected], "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote: > > Mayka, > > I always used to think 'mindfulness' was the same as 'Buddha Nature', but > after reading a lot of the definitions here I now think it is not. > > Your definition is the same, but most of the others are not. > > ...Bill!
