"All Buddha-Nature is One"

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Schrödinger’s Yidam
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

odysseus wrote:
DGA wrote: "all Buddha-nature is one"
Zen would answer: "One what?".
So do the Gelugpas.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
DGA
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by DGA »

odysseus wrote:
DGA wrote: "all Buddha-nature is one"
Zen would answer: "One what?".
I can't speak on behalf of Zen, but this post strikes at the questions I'm trying to raise in this thread (or one of them).
Anonymous X
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Anonymous X »

DGA wrote:
odysseus wrote:
DGA wrote: "all Buddha-nature is one"
Zen would answer: "One what?".
I can't speak on behalf of Zen, but this post strikes at the questions I'm trying to raise in this thread (or one of them).
Since you can't 'know' what buddhanature is, what is the point of asking the question? You can only know what appears as an object to your 'mind'. Since buddhanature is not described as being an object, where can you look for it?
odysseus
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by odysseus »

The famous "one-ness" also implies some type of dualism. By asking back "One what?" we get rid of the dualism again. The one-ness thing comes from Hinduism and new age. It is really not spoken much about in Buddhism. In Buddhism, we have anatta = no-self, exactly the opposite of dualism.
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Dharma Flower »

According to Zen master Dogen, all Buddha-nature is one. This is because, according to Dogen, the whole of existence itself is Buddha-nature:
It is said that Dogen Zenji gave a unique interpretation to Buddha-nature by writing the following paragraph.
The “all” is none other than sentient beings and living beings. Thus, all are Buddha
nature. One form of all beings is sentient beings. At this very moment, the inside and
outside of sentient beings are the “all are” of Buddha-nature.
It is said that Dogen Zenji denies Buddha-nature as an intrinsic essence, which is implied by the
statement that “all have Buddha-nature,” by interpreting that sentence as “all are Buddha-nature.”
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/lib ... erms13.pdf
discussionbuddhist
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by discussionbuddhist »

odysseus wrote:The famous "one-ness" also implies some type of dualism. By asking back "One what?" we get rid of the dualism again. The one-ness thing comes from Hinduism and new age. It is really not spoken much about in Buddhism. In Buddhism, we have anatta = no-self, exactly the opposite of dualism.
How is no self the opposite of dualism? Isn't no self the opposite of self?
Anonymous X
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Anonymous X »

discussionbuddhist wrote:
odysseus wrote:The famous "one-ness" also implies some type of dualism. By asking back "One what?" we get rid of the dualism again. The one-ness thing comes from Hinduism and new age. It is really not spoken much about in Buddhism. In Buddhism, we have anatta = no-self, exactly the opposite of dualism.
How is no self the opposite of dualism? Isn't no self the opposite of self?
I would argue that oneness is not no-self. There is no opposite of self as it has no real existence. Thinking in these terms is a mental trap, a fixation on concepts. Buddhanature has nothing to do with any of this.
odysseus
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by odysseus »

Dharma Flower wrote:According to Zen master Dogen, all Buddha-nature is one. This is because, according to Dogen, the whole of existence itself is Buddha-nature:
It is said that Dogen Zenji gave a unique interpretation to Buddha-nature by writing the following paragraph.
The “all” is none other than sentient beings and living beings. Thus, all are Buddha
nature. One form of all beings is sentient beings. At this very moment, the inside and
outside of sentient beings are the “all are” of Buddha-nature.
It is said that Dogen Zenji denies Buddha-nature as an intrinsic essence, which is implied by the
statement that “all have Buddha-nature,” by interpreting that sentence as “all are Buddha-nature.”
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/lib ... erms13.pdf
The "all" is different than "the one". I would like to hear what Zen master Dogen said about "all is one".
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CedarTree
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by CedarTree »

odysseus wrote:
Dharma Flower wrote:According to Zen master Dogen, all Buddha-nature is one. This is because, according to Dogen, the whole of existence itself is Buddha-nature:
It is said that Dogen Zenji gave a unique interpretation to Buddha-nature by writing the following paragraph.
The “all” is none other than sentient beings and living beings. Thus, all are Buddha
nature. One form of all beings is sentient beings. At this very moment, the inside and
outside of sentient beings are the “all are” of Buddha-nature.
It is said that Dogen Zenji denies Buddha-nature as an intrinsic essence, which is implied by the
statement that “all have Buddha-nature,” by interpreting that sentence as “all are Buddha-nature.”
http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/lib ... erms13.pdf
The "all" is different than "the one". I would like to hear what Zen master Dogen said about "all is one".
The Monastery of a student of Shohaku Okumura Roshi is actually named after this teaching:

Gyobutsuji (Practice Buddha Monastery) is a small mountain monastery devoted to the practice of zazen.

The inspiration for Gyobutsuji's name is found in Eihei Dogen Zenji's Shobogenzo Gyobutsu Igi (True Dharma Eye Treasury: Dignified Behavior of Practice Buddha):

All buddhas without exception fully practice dignified conduct: this [practice] is Practice Buddha. [...] Sharing one corner of the Buddha's dignified conduct is done together with the entire universe, the great earth, and with the entire coming-and-going of life-and-death. [...] This is nothing other than the dignified conduct of the oneness of Practice and Buddha.

Rather than a means for individual spiritual attainment, practice at Gyobutsuji is approached as the actualization of boundless "truth", done together with "all things". It is in this actualization, this sincere practice of the present moment, that we are released from suffering. Dogen Zenji expressed this attitude in Gyobutsu Igi by presenting genuine practice as the universal buddha he called "Practice Buddha"(Gyobutsu). At Gyobutsuji we aspire to honor our practice as Practice Buddha, the boundless "reality" beyond concepts of self and other, existence and nonexistence, and time and space. Practice at Gyobutsuji is the actualization of our trust that genuine practice is the greatest offering we can make to ourselves and to the whole of life.

At this time, earth, grasses and trees, fences and walls, tiles and pebbles, all things in the dharma realm in ten directions, carry out buddha work. Therefore, everyone receives the benefit of wind and water movement caused by this functioning, and all are imperceptibly helped by the wondrous and incomprehensible influence of Buddha to actualize the enlightenment at hand. — Dogen Zenji in Bendowa (Wholehearted Practice of the Way)

It is through this practice of universal offering that we find our individual paths. Personal development through study, work practice, interpersonal interactions and meditation, allows us to nurture our vow to awaken to universal life as we allow it to blossom through our individual activities.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps friend :)

Practice, Practice, Practice
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kirtu
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by kirtu »

DGA wrote:True or false: "all Buddha-nature is one"
Dharma Flower wrote:....
If there's no Buddha separate from the mind, since all Buddha-nature is one, then all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are the same as our true nature, at least in terms of our latent potential.
[/quote]

Not true.
Not false.
Not both true and false.
Neither true nor false.

It's grand upaya.

Kirt
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
Dharma Flower
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Dharma Flower »

This is a sutra I haven't read, but it seems pertinent to the topic of this thread:
The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra teaches the reality of an ultimate, immaculate consciousness within each living being, which is the Buddhic "Dharmakāya" (essence of Truth), which is yet temporarily sheathed in obscuring defilement. This Dharmakāya, when viewed as intrinsically free from spiritual ignorance, is said to constitute eternity, bliss, the self, and purity in their perfect state. The use of the word "self" in this sutra is in a way unique to this class of sutra. The great Queen Śrīmālā, who according to this text is empowered by the Buddha to teach the Dharma, affirms:[7]

[T]he Dharmakāya of the Buddha has the perfection of permanence, the perfection of pleasure, the perfection of self, the perfection of purity. Whatever sentient beings see the Dharmakāya of the Tathagāta that way, see correctly. Whoever see correctly are called the sons of the Lord born from his heart, born from his mouth, born from the Dharma, who behave as manifestation of Dharma and as heirs of Dharma.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śrīmālāde ... ra#Content
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Sherab
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Sherab »

This is how I understand Buddha nature:

If you examine yourself, you can be said to comprise a body and a mind. Therefore, it would appear that you are compounded.

But ultimately, both body and mind springs from your buddha nature. In other words, your Buddha nature is not compounded but is one. It is of one "substance" whatever that may be. I also think that the philosophy of Buddhism is a form of idealism. So buddha nature is a form of mind, a basic or fundamental mind.

Is the buddha nature of one being the same as the buddha nature of another? Yes. In other words, the nature of buddha nature of being A is the same as the nature of the buddha nature of being B.

Is the Buddha nature is form of unified field shared by all beings? I think the answer is no. Because if it is, then for any single being, his buddha nature is never whole/one but a fraction.

Can the buddha nature of one being and the buddha nature of another being share one "location"? I think it is possible. In that sense, buddha nature can be said as neither one nor many.
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Astus »

DGA wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:45 pm "all Buddha-nature is one"
Buddha-nature is a quality, not an object, and that quality is emptiness.

"The Mind is Buddha. All Buddhas and all sentient beings have the same Buddha-Nature and one Mind. Therefore, Bodhidharma came from the West only to transmit the One-Mind Doctrine. However, since the mind of all sentient beings is the same as original Buddha-Nature, there is no need to practice; for if one recognizes one's own Mind and sees one's own Nature, there is nothing at all to seek outside oneself. But how is one to recognize one's own Mind? Just that Mind itself that wants to perceive the Mind - that is your own Mind, which is as void as Original Mind and is without words and function."
"Just know, above all, that non-differentiating Mind is the Buddha, that Buddha is the Mind and that the Mind is voidness. Therefore, the real Dharmakaya is just voidness. It is not necessary to seek anything whatsoever, and all who do continue to seek for something only prolong their suffering in samsara."

(Huangbo, in the Wan-Ling Record)
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
florin
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by florin »

Astus wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:37 pm
DGA wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:45 pm "all Buddha-nature is one"
Buddha-nature is a quality, not an object, and that quality is emptiness.
Qualities can only be thought of as existing in relation to something isn't it ?
So what is budha nature the quality of ?
Malcolm
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by Malcolm »

florin wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:59 pm
Astus wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:37 pm
DGA wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:45 pm "all Buddha-nature is one"
Buddha-nature is a quality, not an object, and that quality is emptiness.
Qualities can only be thought of as existing in relation to something isn't it ?
So what is budha nature the quality of ?
Sentient beings.
florin
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by florin »

Malcolm wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:59 pm
florin wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:59 pm
Astus wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:37 pm

Buddha-nature is a quality, not an object, and that quality is emptiness.
Qualities can only be thought of as existing in relation to something isn't it ?
So what is budha nature the quality of ?
Sentient beings.
And sentient beings are something other than budha nature?
DGA
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Re: "All Buddha-Nature is One"

Post by DGA »

Malcolm wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:59 pm
florin wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:59 pm
Astus wrote: Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:37 pm

Buddha-nature is a quality, not an object, and that quality is emptiness.
Qualities can only be thought of as existing in relation to something isn't it ?
So what is budha nature the quality of ?
Sentient beings.
A different version of the same discussion:

https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.p ... 00#p433626
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