Buddha Nature and Buddhahood: the Mahayana and Tantrayana
by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
The attitude of the bodhisattva, the Mahayana practitioner, is not being concerned just for oneself, but feeling the same concern for everyone. The reason a bodhisattva has unbiased love and compassion is that when we identify with a certain group and concentrate on its benefit, there is the danger we might harm others outside the group.
Therefore, the Mahayana path cultivates a completely unbiased love and compassion, caring equally for every being including nonhuman beings such as animals. Normally, we care for our friends and relatives and helping them may set others against us. Or we care for our race and set ourselves against other races or cultures. Or we care for humans and subjugate animals in order to make life better for mankind. All of this is the usual way of biased thought.
The Mahayana approach is to care equally for any sentient being (which is any being who has a mind). This is because we realize that since beginningless time, each and every being has had the same basic wish to find happiness and to be free from suffering. In that respect, all beings are the same and therefore we try to help them equally.
Buddha Nature
The union of wisdom and emptiness is the essence of Buddha-hood or what is called Buddha-nature (Skt. tathagatagarba) because it contains the very seed, the potential of Buddhahood. It resides in each and every being and because of this essential nature, this heart nature, there is the possibility of reaching Buddhahood. Even though it is in everyone, it is not obvious nor does it manifest because it is covered up by the various thoughts and defilements which are blocking the Buddha-nature.
That Buddha-nature is present in each and every being but does not always manifest. This is exemplified in the Uttara Tantra by an image of a lotus flower, which is an ugly flower when it is a bud. But inside it there is a small and perfect Buddha statue. At first one only sees this homely flower. Yet, when the flower blossoms one can see the form of the Buddha, which has always been there. Similarly, full Buddha-nature is in everyone”s mind, yet its radiance and presence is covered up.
Another example given in the Uttara Tantra is of honey surrounded by many bees. Honey is quite sweet and tasty but as long as it is surrounded by bees, one can”t taste that sweetness. The example shows again that there is something at the very heart, yet because of these swarms of bees which represent our defilements, one can”t gain access to something which has been there all the time.
The third example is of grains of rice inside their husks. To get the nutritional value from the grains one has to remove the shell, the husk. Whether one dehusks the grain or not, there is always that same grain inside and as far as the grain is concerned there is no difference. But if one wants to have access to the nutritive value, one must remove the shell.
The example of the statue of the Buddha inside the lotus shows how buddha essence is inside beings but is covered up by desires, attachments, and involvements. One has many different defilements. The first main defilement (Skt. klesha) of attachment is represented by the lotus because when one finds something very attractive, one wants to be involved with it.
The lotus flower at one stage is very beautiful and has a nice shape and color which is associated with beauty and attractiveness. Actually, when one considers it, the lotus has a very limited use apart from its beauty. Also that beauty changes—one day it very beautiful, the following days it wilts, fades and rots and the beauty is gone. This is the very nature of desire—at one point things seem very attractive but very quickly one realizes…
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