Buddha Nature

217 Pages·1991·5.655 MB·English

by  Sallie B. King

Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series-No. 103
BUDDHA NATURE
Sallie B. King
SRI SATGURU PUBLICATIONS
A Division of
INDIAN BOOKS CENTRE
DELHI-INDIA

Published by:
SRI SATGURU PUBLICATIONS
Indological And Oriental Publishers
A Division of
Indian Books Centre
40/5，Shakti Nagar,
Delhi-110007
(INDIA)
© 1991 State Universliy of New York
All Rights Reserved
The Publication of this Book in India is made by permission of
State University of New York Press.
First Indian Edition : Delhi 1992
ISBN 81-7030-308-9
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Printed at:
D.K. Fine Art Press, Delhi.
PRINTED IN INDIA
For my parents,
James Forrest King, Sr.
and
Carolyn Prout King

CONTENTS
Preface IX
Abbreviations • xi
Chapter One: Introduction
A. The Role of the Buddha Nature Concept
B. Terms
G. History
D. The Text of the Buddha Nature Treatise 23

E. The Buddha Nature Treatise and Chinese
Buddhist Thought

Chapter Two： The Concept of Buddha Nature 2
A. Taking the Semantic Ascent
B. Refutation of Other Views
C. The Essence of Buddha Nature 27
1. The Buddha Nature as Three Causes
2. The Three Natures (Trisvabhava) 2
3. Tathagatagarbha
3
Chapter Three： Soteriology: Buddha Nature as the
Practice of Buddhism 9
4
A. Asrayaparavrtti
B. Dharmakaya and Nirvana
4
G. Trihaya： Sambhogakaya and Nirmdnakaya
D. The Relationship Between Person and Buddha
4
9
4
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BUDDHA NATURE
Chapter Four: Dereification of Self and Mind
A. The “Own-Nature” of Buddha Nature 83
B. Atmapdramita

C. Self 8
6
D. Pure Mind rj
E. Dharmakaya and ‘‘Self’ 9
4
F. Mind 2
9
Chapter Five： Ontology： Monism vs. Nondualism

A. All Sentient Beings Possess the Buddha Nature o93
B. The Paramita

G. Sunya-Asunya o4
D. Buddha Nature Exists Aboriginally

E. Unborn and Unchanging o7

Chapter Sfx： Engaging in Spiritual Cultivation 7
11

Chapter Seven: Buddha Nature and the Concept of Person 7
12
A, The Ontological-Metaphysical Dimension

B. The Existential Dimension
9
G. A Final Question

Chapter Eight: Retrospective and Prospective 14
A. Retrospective： Summary of the Text
0
B. The Buddha Nature Treatise and Chinese

Buddhist Thought
3
G. Buddha Nature Thought and Western Buddhism

Notes 3
3

Glossary

3
4
Index

5

6
5
9

5

viii
5

6
Preface
It is a pleasure to express my gratitude for the help of the many
persons and institutions who supported my work. The National
Endowment for the Humanities funded this project in 1985 with a
Summer Stipend that supported the early stages of the book. Portions
of this book appeared in journal articles as Sallie B. Ring, “Buddha
Nature and the Concept of Person,” Philosophy East and West 39, no.
2 (1989), published by the University of Hawaii Press; and Sallie Behn
King, “The Buddha Nature： True Self as Action," Religious Studies 20
(1984), published by Cambridge University Press. My appreciation
goes to these journals and presses for their.permission to publish this
material.
I especially thank Professor Leon Hurvitz for checking many of
my Chinese translations against the original. Thanks also to Professor
Minoru Kivota for introducing me to Buddha nature thought and
raising the issue of monism for me, to Professor Thomas Dean for
thinking through philosophical issues with me, and to Professor John
Keenan for reading the manuscript and making helpful suggestions,
especially on Yogacara matters (this despite the fact that he disagrees
with my major thesis). My thanks to the Series Editor, Kenneth Inada,
for recommending additions to the book that have considerably
strengthened it. Whatever shortcomings remain in this work are
clearly my responsibility alone. Finally, thanks to my husband for his
constant practical and moral support.
The romanization system used in this work is the Pinyin system.
For the convenience of those more familiar with the Wade-Giles
system，I have added Wade-Giles romanizations in parentheses after
the Pinyin romanization the first time I introduce a familiar term or
ix
PREFACE
name. A glossary of Chinese characters can be found at the back of
the book.
I have conceived of this book not only as a discussion of Buddha
nature thought, but also as an introduction to some important
themes in Chinese Buddhist thought. Though I require most of the
book to develop these themes, I have listed them at the end of the
Introduction so that the reader who is especially interested in this
facet of the book may bear these themes in mind as she or he reads.
In the final chapter I focus on these themes directly.
x