Tathāgatagarbha & Buddha-dhatu (Discovering Theravada vers.)

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withoutcolour
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Re: Tathāgatagarbha & Buddha-dhatu (Discovering Theravada vers.)

Post by withoutcolour »

Wow, this thread as grown so much!
I'm sorry if things got a little confusing or if I stirred up a few arguments ( :popcorn: ), just wanted a little clarification...
I know we all have the potential to become arahants but I wasn't sure if the Theravadins had a specific TERM for that, or if that was confined strictly to the Mahayana traditions. With that being said, I think that the Theravadins not having a term for this is actually beneficial to practice, in that it is one less thing to attach or cling to (as said by some posters above).

Thank you all so very much for your contributions.
To follow up, I have read through Bhikkhu Bodhi's "In the Buddha's Words" in its entirety and I feel like I have a much stronger grasp on the early teachings of the Buddha, and on Theravada in general. Every sutta, every page, made me feel very happy and in touch with the Tathagata. I have countless sticky notes on favorite suttas and stuff I would like to read again and again. What an invaluable piece of literature to have!

-wc
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ
sabbe sattā sukhita hontu
Paññāsikhara
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Re: Tathāgatagarbha & Buddha-dhatu (Discovering Theravada vers.)

Post by Paññāsikhara »

withoutcolour wrote: ... if that was confined strictly to the Mahayana traditions. ...
(Emphasis added by me.)

At the risk of sounding repetitive, from what we know, only some but definitely not all Mahayana traditions, and even then with very different meanings.
And for many non-Mahayana traditions, we don't know if they had such an idea or not, to be honest.

Oops, sorry, mistake. Poking around the Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka, I found this in the "other" texts:

Dhātuvaṃso
...
(Nagare kapilavatthumhi sammādiṭṭhi bahujjano;
Tattha sārīrikaṃ thūpaṃ akāsi ratanāmayaṃ.

Nagare allake ramme buddhadhātu patiṭṭhiya;
Silāya muggavaṇṇāya thūpaṃ sadhātukaṃ akā.

Jano pāveyyaraṭṭhasmiṃ patiṭṭhiya sārīrikaṃ;
Silāya maṇivaṇṇāya pāveyyaṃ cetiyaṃ akā.
...
Tā dhātuyo ṭhapetvāna thero kassapasavhayo;
Rañño ajātasattussa adāsi dhātuyo tadā.

Gehe cūpakaraṇāni catusaṭṭhisatāni so;
Abbhantare ṭhapesi rājā sabbā tā buddhadhātuyo.

Karaṇḍāsīti saṃkiṇṇaṃ cetiyāsītilaṅkataṃ;
Gehe bahusamākiṇṇaṃ thūpārāmappamāṇakaṃ.
...

And also in the:
Apadāna-aṭṭhakathā
...
403. Katvāna agghiyaṃ tatthāti tasmiṃ cetiyapūjanaṭṭhāne tālapantīhi tālapāḷīhi cittitaṃ sobhitaṃ agghiyaṃ katvāna kāretvā ca sakaṃ cittaṃ attano cittaṃ pasādetvā cetiyaṃ pūjayuttamanti uttamaṃ buddhadhātunidhāpitaṃ cetiyaṃ pūjayinti sambandho.
...

So, actually, the Theravada does on a few very rare occasions, use the term "buddhadhātu".
My recently moved Blog, containing some of my writings on the Buddha Dhamma, as well as a number of translations from classical Buddhist texts and modern authors, liturgy, etc.: Huifeng's Prajnacara Blog.
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Re: Tathāgatagarbha & Buddha-dhatu (Discovering Theravada vers.)

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

This topic has been closed in consultation with the original poster.

If you wish to discuss this topic further please do so at http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3455" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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