Self-Nature (Buddha-Nature) — Internal Edition¶
Overview¶
In the Lifechanyuan framework, Self-Nature (自性), Buddha-Nature (佛性), and Tathāgata's Original Nature (如来本性) are three Buddhist terms pointing to the same underlying reality: the primordial element from which all beings and things are constituted. As water is common to tea, milk, and alcohol, as wood is common to beds, doors, and tables — Self-Nature is what all life shares at its deepest layer. "All sentient beings possess Buddha-Nature" follows from this: all life, at its foundation, is "the One," and in this sense all life is equal. Seeing one's Self-Nature is seeing the Tathāgata, which is becoming Buddha. The essential path of cultivation is not to add anything — the nature is already complete — but to restore what was always present. The purer the restoration, the higher the life's vibrational level, and the more naturally it ascends toward the Thousand-Year World and higher realms.
I. Definition and Conceptual Clarification¶
Self-Nature is Buddha-Nature; Buddha-Nature is Tathāgata's Original Nature.
Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, and Tathāgata's Original Nature are Buddhist terms — three different expressions for recognizing the True Such. Whether you call it a potato, a yam, or a spud, it all refers to the same edible thing.
Tea, mung bean soup, milk, coffee, cola, alcohol, blood, and penicillin injections all share one common constituent: water. This water is Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature. "All sentient beings possess Buddha-Nature" — the principle is exactly here.
Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, and Tathāgata's Original Nature are the original primordial elements that constitute any given thing. Additions to or subtractions from this original state produce the bewildering variety of endlessly different forms.
Any individual LIFE is the One; all LIFE is the One. This One is Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature. In this sense: "all beings are equal." Adding feathers and wings to this One produces insects and birds. Adding a pair of hands produces a human. Removing the capacity for movement produces trees and flowers.
The One can be large or small, round or square, long or short, of any hue or color. The elephant, enormous as it is, is the One. The ant, tiny as it is, is also the One.
Tathāgata's Original Nature has no distinction of gender, no difference of size, height, weight, or beauty. It has no distinction of good and evil — not only "at birth," but throughout the middle and the end of life, one's nature contains no good or evil. Good and evil only become judgeable once the nature manifests in expression — and once expressed, what appears is no longer Tathāgata's Original Nature, but the particular quality-display of that specific life form.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Transmission Section · "Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature, and Heavenly-Nature," Xuefeng)
II. Self-Nature versus Heavenly-Nature¶
What all things and all lives display is not Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, or Tathāgata's Original Nature — it is their Heavenly-Nature (天性). Just as tea, alcohol, and milk are primarily composed of water, yet what they display is not water but their own distinct qualities, so too: Heavenly-Nature is the distinctive character the Greatest Creator assigns to each thing and each life. The structural constituents of all things and lives are the same, but because the structures differ, different characteristics emerge — just as a bed, a door, a table, a stool, and a window are all made of wood, yet because the structures differ, they display their respective functions. In this sense: Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, and Tathāgata's Original Nature are the wood; Heavenly-Nature is the bed, the door, the table, the stool, the window.
The Greatest Creator's intention is not for things and lives to express Self-Nature, but to express Heavenly-Nature — each fulfilling its role. A table performs the function of a table, not the function of wood. If milk refuses to perform as milk and insists on performing as water, it runs counter to the Way, and suffering arises within.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Transmission Section · "Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature, and Heavenly-Nature," Xuefeng)
III. The Five Sentences of the Sixth Patriarch¶
"How wondrous — Self-Nature is originally pure. How wondrous — Self-Nature is originally unborn and undying. How wondrous — Self-Nature is originally complete and sufficient. How wondrous — Self-Nature is originally unmoved. How wondrous — Self-Nature can give birth to the ten thousand dharmas."
Self-Nature is thus; Buddha-Nature and Tathāgata's Original Nature are equally thus.
Self-Nature is self-consistent — as is Buddha-Nature and Tathāgata's Original Nature: "unborn and undying, undefiled and unpurified, not increasing and not decreasing."
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Transmission Section · "Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature, and Heavenly-Nature," Xuefeng)
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng founded the school of sudden enlightenment, recognizing that all dharmas never depart from Self-Nature. To illuminate the mind is to see the nature; seeing the nature is becoming Buddha.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Becoming-Buddha Section · "Illuminate the Nature, Transcend the Dust — Become Buddha Right Now," Xuefeng)
IV. Self-Nature and the Cosmic Foundation¶
Buddha-Nature is the most fundamental layer of cosmic existence. In the beginning was the Tao; the Tao is the spirit of the Greatest Creator — Wuji, zero. At this point there is no cosmic form, no consciousness, no energy, no structure — only pure spiritual existence: no inside or outside, no large or small, unborn and undying, undefiled and unpurified, not increasing and not decreasing. Existing prior to heaven and earth, pervading all space as one undivided body; words have ceased, mental activity has stopped. Omniscient sight without eyes to receive it — for at this point the Greatest Creator's structure has not yet arisen. Nothing to see, no dharma to apply, no knowledge, no awareness — the heart of a newborn, pure instinct, pure original awareness.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Civilization Section · "Structural Characteristics of Civilized Society (XI)," Qiankuncao)
V. Illuminate the Mind, See the Nature¶
All dharmas never depart from Self-Nature. Not knowing the original mind, learning dharma is of no benefit. Knowing the original mind and seeing one's own original nature — this is called a man of great attainment, a teacher of humans and gods, a Buddha.
(Source: Xuefeng Anthology · Mind Section · "Connecting to the Source of LIFE, Flowing toward the Ocean of LIFE," citing the Sixth Patriarch Huineng's Platform Sutra)
To illuminate the mind and see the nature, one must first understand the origin of LIFE, the structure of LIFE, the essence of LIFE, and the evolution of LIFE. If these questions are not clarified, we cannot see the nature — that is, cannot see our own Tathāgata's Original Nature. Only after seeing the nature can the mind be illuminated. Without understanding the nature — such as beast-nature, human-nature, Buddha-nature, demon-nature — the mind remains confused and cannot be illuminated.
(Source: Xuefeng Anthology · Mind Section · "Answering Forum Questions on Behalf of Master Nan Huaijin (Part I)," Xuefeng)
Three signs mark someone who has become Buddha: (1) seeing the Tathāgata; (2) reaching the state of wu-wei; (3) the mind having no fixed dwelling.
The Tathāgata is Self-Nature. The Diamond Sutra says: "All appearances are illusory. Whoever sees all appearances as non-appearance — that one sees the Tathāgata."
Only one's own Self-Nature is the Tathāgata. Only by recognizing Self-Nature can one see the Tathāgata. The instant one sees the Tathāgata is the instant one becomes Buddha. For you have returned to your original nature; you have come to know that "all appearances are illusory" — only Self-Nature-Tathāgata is not illusory: it is eternal.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Becoming-Buddha Section · "Illuminate the Nature, Transcend the Dust — Become Buddha Right Now," Xuefeng)
All dharmas never depart from Self-Nature. Seeing Self-Nature illuminates the mind.
(Source: Xuefeng Anthology · Mind Section · "Answering Forum Questions on Behalf of Master Nan Huaijin (Part I)," Xuefeng)
VI. Restoring Original Nature and the Path of LIFE Ascension¶
LIFE does not require anything to be added. It only requires the restoration of original nature.
The purer the restoration of original nature, the higher the Tao-quality, the more enduring the LIFE. A person can gradually rise from an ordinary person to a worthy person, from a worthy person to a celestial person, from a celestial person to a terrestrial immortal, from a terrestrial immortal to a divine immortal, and from a divine immortal to an angel (heavenly immortal or Buddha).
(Source: Xuefeng Anthology · Mind Section · "Connecting to the Source of LIFE, Flowing toward the Ocean of LIFE," Xuefeng)
In truth, the analysis and explanations above are of limited benefit — they tend to make things more complex and can trap the reader in conceptual entanglement. The simplest gateway: if a person can shed worry, sorrow, and fear; achieve maximum freedom of the mind with no attachments, no fixed dwelling; and reach a state of no-self and no-form — then one has already become Buddha and immortal and entered the world of bliss.
Therefore, my recommendation: stop paying attention to concepts like Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature, and Heavenly-Nature. Instead, work to shed worry, sorrow, and fear; enter the state of no attachments, no fixed dwelling, no-self, no-form. Achieve this, and every beautiful aspiration can be realized, every ideal fulfilled — one can enter the higher spaces of LIFE and enjoy boundless delight.
(Source: Chanyuan Anthology · Transmission Section · "Self-Nature, Buddha-Nature, Tathāgata's Original Nature, and Heavenly-Nature," Xuefeng)
VII. 800 Values for New Era Humanity¶
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Character is original nature — one's innate, intrinsic quality.
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It is precisely because Self-Nature exists that all things manifest as distinct in level, rigorous in structure, diverse in form, and infinitely variable.
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The universe is holographic. Humans, from birth, possess divine nature, Buddha-nature, celestial nature, human nature, beast nature, and material nature.
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Everyone acts freely according to the Tathāgata's Original Nature of truth, goodness, beauty, love, faith, and sincerity.
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Buddha has no mind; Buddha is nature. To illuminate the mind is to see the nature; seeing the nature is seeing Buddha.
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Without seeing the nature, one wanders through life in a daze. Without seeing the nature, no amount of reciting Buddha's name, chanting sutras, holding mantras, bitter cultivation, or prolonged contemplation will ever produce Buddhahood.
(Source: 800 Values for New Era Humanity, 4th Edition)
Related Entries¶
Illuminate the Mind, See the Nature · Ling (Spirit-Force) · Hundun (Ontology) · Wuji · Awakening · Return to Zero · Zero-State · Levels of LIFE · Thousand-Year World · Six Qualities