The Existence of an Eternal Self in Buddhism

By Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

Self as a Via Positiva Substantial Real:

An Examination of the Tathagatagarbha Theory of Buddhism

The very first verse of the Brahma-sutras - arguably the most important philosophical treatise in
the history of South Asia - states, athato brahma jijnasa, “Now is the time to inquire into the
nature of the Absolute.” This, in essence, seems to be the raison d’etre of every spiritual
tradition throughout history: the search for ultimate reality. What, then, are we to make of the
claim that Buddhism is the sole exception to this rule? Many Buddhist scholars and practitioners
have attempted to present Buddhism as a way of thought free of the requisite metaphysical
speculations that have burdened the development of all other religio-philosophical traditions. Not
only does Buddhism historically decry the efficacy of the metaphysical enterprise, but it goes so
far as to deny the very possibility of the existence of those elemental transcendents which serve
as the objects of religious debate, i.e., the Absolute, the self, and the concept of omnicompetent
permanence.

Despite the prevalence of such claims, however, there have been attempts by some schools of
Buddhist thought to discover the trans-discursive, ontological foundation of phenomenal reality.
Possibly the most important and influential of these ideas is tathagatagarbha, sometimes also
referred to as Buddha Nature thought. In the following paper, I will provide a brief presentation
of tathagatagarbha thought as a via positiva transcendent and metaphysical realitywhen
juxtaposed with the via negativa of traditional Buddhist philosophy.

The observations and goals of orthodox Buddhist thought are very rational and practical. They
offer us a penetrating insight into the nature and cause of suffering. Most appealing, these
insights are nothing which cannot be confirmed by simple empirical observation. The summation
of Shakyamuni Buddha’s realization is presented in the form of the chatur aryasatya, the Four
Noble Truths. 1) The essence of existence is duhkha, suffering; 2) this suffering has an origin
(samudaya); 3) suffering can be eliminated (nirodha); 4) there is a proper path, or marga, which
will lead to this elimination (RadhaKrishnan, 1996). Of these four truths, it is the second which
concerns us most.

For, according to the Pali canon, it is our attachment to an ultimately false sense of self which
leads to our present distressed condition. Contemporary Buddhism teaches us the radical concept
of anatman, the non-existence of subjective essentiality. The sense of self, of ‘I am,’ is what lies
at the heart of sentient existence. The origins of this idea of self, according to Contemporary
Buddhism, is nothing more than the interaction of the five skandhas - form, sensation,
perception, impulse and consciousness - of which we are solely and truly composed (Ch’en,
1968). Moreover, all aspects of phenomenal reality are no more than the results of antecedent
causes; they do not contain the cause of their own existence within them and are thus no more
than conditioned effects. Every existent is dependent upon pre-existing factors which contribute
to the sense of an existent being an integrated whole. This is the Buddhist theory of Pratitya
Samutpada. Everything being conditioned, there is no essence, only process. The significance of
tathagatagarbha thought lies in its ability to powerfully challenge this traditional Buddhist view
of the Absolute, or more accurately, the lack thereof.

Before we directly deal with tathagatagarbha, however, we will first examine the history and
literature of the school. The tathagatagarbha concept is a purely Mahayana phenomena. The
self-styled “Great Vehicle” (Mahayana) differs from the Theravada tradition in many ways. The
most interesting aspect of their differences, for our present purposes, is how the two opposing
schools view the relationship between nirvana (enlightenment) and samsara (phenomenal
reality). For the Theravadin, there is a clear distinction between the two. With Mahayana,
though, the contrast becomes eroded. One of Buddhism’s later philosophers, Nagarjuna, states,
“Where is the limit of samsara, there is the limit of nirvana; not the slightest thing whatsoever is
between them” (Wayman, 1974). This identification of the realm of samsara with the Absolute
led, historically and philosophically, to a shift in understanding of the term “Buddha.” From first
referring to a human being who existed within the context of history, the word is then employed
to denote a metaphysical principal that includes the full spectrum of living beings (dharmakaya).
It further comes to encompass all reality, both sentient and non-sentient (Prasad, 1991).

This development led, in turn, to the evolution of the Buddha-image from a deityless sage, to an
ontological concept, to a worshipable savior. The Buddhologist, Jikido Takasaki, stated that the
“...absolutization of the Buddha made Mahayana Buddhism more religious than Abhidharma
Buddhism. Emphasis was placed on the Buddha rather than on the Dharma and effected the
‘ekayana’ theory of the Buddha. Among the three jewels, the jewel of the Buddha came to be
regarded as the only ultimate refuge” (Takasaki, 1966). This is the historical context in which
tathagatagarbha thought emerges.

The literary tradition of tathagatagarbha thought does not represent any one identifiable school
of Indian Buddhist philosophy. Rather, it is the product of a stream of thought effecting, and in
turn being affected by, many different doctrines, possibly some as ancient as the Mahasangikas
(Wayman, 1974). The most important tathagatagarbha sutras are: 1) the Srimaladevisimhanada,
2) Anunatvapurnatva, 3) Mahaparinirvana and, 4) Tathagatagarbha-sutra, all composed
between 350-200 BCE. The Mahaparinirvana-sutra is the first to link together the ideas of
tathagata-dhatu and Buddha-dhatu - the nature and cause of Buddha. This sutra “...emphasizes
the eternity of the Buddha, implicitly criticizing the idea that nirvana means extinction, and
linking this belief with the idea of the tathagatagarbha” (King, 1991). Another important text,
the Ratnagotravibhaga-sutra, was written by Maitreya-natha in the Fifth Century CE as an
attempt to present a summary and systematization of tathagatagarbha thought. It establishes a
causal link between the tathagatagarbha and Dharmakaya, the transcendent, inner nature of the
Buddha, which is synonymous with the essence of the cosmos (Brown, 1981). It was the
Srimaladevi-sutra, however, which “...was considered the primary scriptural advocate in India
for the doctrine of a universal potentiality of Buddhahood...” (ibid., 1981). The Srimaladevi-
sutra, along with the many other tathagatagarbha sutras, laid the foundation upon which was
erected the metaphysical construct of the tathagatagarbha doctrine.

In order to properly understand a philosophical system, it is always wise to begin with an

examination of that system’s primary terms. It is recorded that Shakyamuni, the historical
Buddha, referred to himself as the Tathagata. A Sanskrit term, tathagata has a dual meaning. It
can be broken down in two ways. As tatha and gata, it conveys the meaning “thus gone,” that is,
the process of progressing toward the state of enlightenment. But as tatha and agata, its meaning
appears to be just the opposite: “thus come,” i.e., returning, coming from the tatha, the ultimate
realm of “Thusness,” in order to engage non-enlightened sentient beings in the enterprise of
enlightenment. In what appears to be a paradox, then, tathagata denotes both a coursing toward
enlightenment, as well as a purposeful activity in the world of duhkha. This cyclical dynamic
between nirvana and samsara, however, was to become one of the foundational ideas of the self-
styled Great Vehicle. For one is mutually dependent upon the other.

In concurrence with the bodhisattva ideal, enlightenment finds its fulfillment properly expressed
only in terms of assisting others toward nirvana. The realm of samsara is the only field of
activity which provides the necessary environment for realizing the self. “Just as a knife is
known in actual cutting, so is tathagatagarbha known in coping with the actual problems of
samsara, not in fleeing from them” (Kiyota, 1985). There is no nirvana outside samsara. In the
ultimate sense, the tathagata refers to Buddhahood (King, 1991). The term garba, too, has a
bivalent sense. It means both the “womb” of the tathagata, the container of the Buddha nature,
as well as the embryonic Buddha, itself. The garbha is the causal potentiality for becoming
Buddha.

The two words joined, tathagatagarbha refers to the latent potency of Buddhahood that lies at
the core of all sentient beings. Buddha nature is a latent component, an essential (indeed, the
most essential) aspect of each individual living entity. Rather than being an ineffable other, it is
the true self lying hidden within as “...an innate aspect of a being’s mind” (Hookham, 1991).
Most significantly, the tathagatagarbha has positive qualities that are subject to predication. This
is radically unlike the philosophy of the Madhyamikas who claim that nothing can be predicated
of the Absolute other than the nebulous concept of shunya (emptiness, or nihil in Latin). Among
the qualities ascribed to the tathagatagarbha are those of nitya (permanent), dhruva (steadfast),
shiva (calm) and sasvata (eternal) (Wayman, 1974).

Even though India is known to be the birthplace to a wide variety of schools of thought, for some
reason the tathagatagarbha theory did not survive there. Rather, it was East Asia which was to
feel its powerful influence. Indeed, the tathagatagarbha concept was foundational in its
influence on the East Asian concept of the human being. Tathagatagarbha thought played a
major role in the development of the indigenous schools of Chinese Buddhism, this is especially
true for T’ien t’ai, Hua-yen and Ch’an (King, 1991). From China, tathagatagarbha ideas were to
eventually influence Japanese Buddhist philosophy as well.

Two of the philosophical antecedents which were influential in the development of

tathagatagarbha were the school of Yogacara and Madhyamika. Yogacara taught the concept of
the alaya-vijnana, or the “storehouse consciousness.” Alaya is the basic consciousness of
existence. It is the essence of being, from which all that exists is born. Contained within it are the
psychic phenomena and experiences of every individual life. There are some texts that associate
this alaya-vijnana* of Yogacara with tathagatagarbha. These texts include two that were very
influential in Chinese Buddhism, the Lankavatara-sutra and the Da Sheng Qi Xin Lun, or
Awakening of Mahayana Faith (King, 1991; Waley, 1974). The Awakening of Mahayana Faith,
specifically, identifies tathagatagarbha with tathata when its pristine nature and superlative
qualities are connoted, and with alaya-vijnana when indicating its participation in the samsaric
realm. Yogacara was not alone in its cross fertilization of ideas with tathagatagarbha.

The Madhyamika school also had an influence on tathagatagarbha thought, specifically with its
theory of shunyata or Emptiness. Shunyata forms the central notion of most contemporary
Buddhist thought. Since every existent is dependent upon antecedent factors for its existence,
which in turn derive their existence from factors external to themselves, nothing in existence is
independent, unconditioned by others. According to shunyata theory, all things are empty of a
self-nature (svabhava), essenceless. It is shunyata which permeates all phenomena and makes
their existence and development possible. Sunyata is untainted by duality and beyond the
purview of discursive thought, analysis and description. It is the Absolute as the ultimate
incommunicable. Thus shunyata represents the epitome of the via negativa, the path of negation.
It is the optimum dialectic of what the Absolute is not. It has been theorized that the
Shunyavadin’s real purpose in positing such a negative position was due to a conscious attempt
to clearly distance their position from that of the Vedantists. John Keenan affirms this position
when he writes:

"Guarding against constant solicitation from Brahmanic influence, the major doctrinal
trajectories of Indian Buddhism shied away from anything that seemed to suggest a Buddhist
centrism; that there is any core reality, however august, ineffable, or hidden, from which all
things come and to which all return." (Keenan, qtd. in Griffiths, 1990)
Shunyata realization is recognized by the followers of tathagatagarbha as being a necessary
precondition to the realization of tathagatagarbha, but only as a precondition.

Many Buddhist practitioners view shunyata as an ontological reality, and therefore as an end in
itself. Others, however, found this negative approach to philosophy to be too unfulfilling, too dry
(Prasad, 1991). Being aligned with the latter view, tathagatagarbha thinkers viewed shunyata as
a prerequisite emptying of oneself of the false in order to open oneself to the true, one’s innate
Buddha nature. Rather than being the goal, shunyata is merely the process for achieving the goal.
In the Ratna-gotravibhaga, shunyata is viewed as a process designed to clear one’s vision, the
goal of which is the realization of something positive, the tathagatagarbha-dharmakaya
(Takasaki, 1966).

The Srimaladevi, too is critical of a purely negative presentation of shunyata and sees
tathagatagarbha thought as a corrective to the mistakes of neophyte practitioners who have
misinterpreted the shunya doctrine as upholding nihilism. It sees the realization of enlightenment
and the nature of the Absolute in very positive terms. It defines the tathagatagarbha in terms of
the ground of phenomenal existence, without beginning or cessation; it transcends the caused,
conditioned and compounded (Brown, 1981). Indeed, rather than being a case of “neti, neti,” (the
negative "not this, not this" path) the tathagatagarbha is presented in the Srimala as being a
veritable diamond mine of positive attributes:

"Lord, the cessation of suffering is not the destruction of Dharma. Why so? Because the
Dharmakaya of the tathogata is named ‘cessation of suffering,’ and it is beginningless, uncreate,
unborn, undying, free from death; permanent, steadfast, calm, eternal; intrinsically pure, free
from all the defilement-store; and accompanied by Buddha natures more numerous than the
sands of the Ganges, which are nondiscrete, knowing as liberated, and inconceivable. This
Dharmakaya of the Tathagata when not free from the store of defilement is referred to as the
tathagatagarbha." (Wayman, 1974)

This represents only a partial listing of the positive attributes predicated of the Tathagata, the
Absolute.

There are four important attributes that Queen Srimaladevi ascribes to the dharmakaya, the
tathagatagarbha in its pristine state. These are the four gunaparamita, or perfections, of 1)
permanence, 2) bliss, 3) self, and 4) purity. These four perfections are confirmed as qualities of
the Absolute in the Ratnagotravibhaga-sutra:

"Those are the sons of the Lord, Whose seed is the faith in the highest of vehicles, whose mother
is the Wisdom that gives birth to the properties of the Buddha, who abide in the blissful womb of
meditative trance and are nursed by Great Commiseration. The result are the
Absolute,Transcendental Properties of Purity, Unity [atman], Bliss, and Eternity." (Obermiller,
1931, Prasad, 1991)

The four gunaparamita doctrine, coupled with the extremely positive language used to describe
the dharmakaya, nirvana and the Buddha in the different tathagatagarbha sutras could be seen
as containing within them the germ of later East Asian Buddhist devotionalism.

Of all of the four gunaparamita, the most often disconcerting for students of contemporary
Buddhist philosophy is that of atman, or “self.” While all four of these attributes represent what
are conventionally considered to be wayward views (for example, anitya versus nitya), it is
atman which sticks out due to its apparent circumvention of the purported heart of post-
Shakyamuni Buddhism (both Theravada and Mahayana): the anatman doctrine. Some
authorities, however, would argue that anatman is not necessarily the highest teaching of
Buddhism, but that, rather, the anatman dogma is merely a via negativa attempting to redirect
our concerns away from ego. Steve Collins writes in Selfless Persons that:

"...the denial of self in whatever can be experienced or conceptualized...serves to direct the

attribution away from that sphere. Instead of supplying a verbalized notion of what is the sphere
of ultimate value, Buddhism simply leaves a direction arrow, while resolutely refusing to
predicate anything of the destination, to discuss its relationship with the phenomenal person or
indeed to say anything more about it." (Collins,1982)

The concept of a permanent and true self, then, is not necessarily an anathema to authentic and
original Buddhism, but may have been merely over-emphasized to the point of dogma by later
overly zealous philosophers.

Our true, inner essence is synonymous with tathatagata. It is non-conditioned, permanent and
free from suffering. These characteristics of the self represent just the opposite attributes of the
dharmas ("essences", not to be confused with Dharma, or the Natural Way), which are subject to
patitya-samutpada. The tathagatagarbha is both transcendent and immanent. While the
Srimaladevi-sutra, for example, may emphasize the transcendental nature of tathagatagarbha,
other texts, such as the Anunatvapurnatva-nirdesha, stress the immanence of the
tathagatagarbha, for tathagatagarbha is the essence of life. The goal of enlightenment is to
realize our true nature. That true nature is Buddha-nature - the state of spiritual awakening.

At present, we are constrained from knowing our Buddha-nature due to its concealment. It is
hidden from us by non-essential defilements, such as ignorance, fear, lust, hatred and desire.
These coverings are of our own making, as a direct result of our karma, and are innumerable.
The Tathagatagarbha-sutra gives several analogies of our true self in its present state of
concealment. It is compared to a statue of the Buddha wrapped in a rag; grain covered by husk;
and a hidden treasure buried beneath the ground (King, 1991). The Ratnagotravibhaga compares
the essence of Buddhahood to a sprout hidden in a small seed and gold buried in impurities
(Obermiller, 1931; Prasad, 1991). According to the Srimala-sutra, it is these defilements which
keep us from liberation, from our true nature, tathagatagarbha. “The voidness knowledge of the
tathagatagarbha is of two kinds. The two are as follows: Lord, the tathagatagarbha is void of all
the defilement-stores, which are discrete and knowing as not liberated. Lord, the
tathagatagarbha is not void of the Buddha dharmas, which are nondiscrete, inconceivable, more
numerous than the sands of the Ganges and knowing as liberated” (Wayman, 1974). While these
defilements have the power to conceal our inherent Buddha nature from us, this is true only to
the extent that we permit our past karma to determine our lives for us.

The tathagatagarbha theory having now been briefly outlined, we will proceed to examine some
of its implications. First, as delineated by the tathagatagarbha sutras, Buddha nature is
absolutely essential to the human condition. Whether we are capable of verifying it experientially
or not, it is still the summum bonum of human existence. Second, this doctrine teaches that we
are presently Buddhas. Buddhahood is not some far off goal for us to eventually earn, but rather
the essence of our true selves which we must simply reclaim. Third, salvation is a universal
phenomena from which no one will be excluded. No one is incapable of forever achieving
Buddhahood. Nirvana is a gate open to all. Thus, tathagatagarbha thought is ultimately an
encouraging and optimistic outlook. The tathagatagarbha doctrine presents us with ideas that are
quite similar to those found in many of the world’s religions, especially Buddhism's sister
religion Sanatana Dharma. The dogmas of the lack of self and the non-existence of an Absolute
have probably served as the major stumbling blocks in the acceptance of Buddhism in attempts
at ecumenical dialogue. The tathagatagarbha doctrine could serve as a point of reference that
will allow non-Buddhist religions to approach Buddhism with a more open mind.

Overall, post-Shakyamuni contemporary Buddhism seems to present itself as a via negativa, an

attempt to know the Absolute by systematically stripping way all that the Absolute is not. The
human mind cannot live on a diet of negation alone, however, and seems to inevitably yearn to
know the positive side of ultimate reality. The human being ultimately experiences both
intellectual and existential dissatisfaction without the assurance of an ever-existent soul, or
atman. The theory of tathagatagarbha was apparently born from just such a natural yearning. As
a via positiva, it confirmed the existence of a true self, an eternal self, as juxtaposed against the
egoic “self”; and of an Absolute possessed of superlative qualities.

References
Brown, Brian Edward. “The Buddha Nature: A Study of the ‘Tathagatagarbha’ and
‘Alayavijnana’.” Diss. Fordham University, 1981.

Ch’en, Kenneth K.S. Buddhism: The Light of Asia. New York: Barron’s Educational Series,
1968.

Collins, Steven. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge,
NY: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

Griffiths, Paul J. and John P. Keenan, eds. Buddha Nature: A Festschrift in Honor of Minoru
Kiyota. Tokyo: Buddhist Books International, 1990.

Hookham, S.K. The Buddha Within. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1991.

King, Sallie Behn. “The Active Self: A Philosophical Study of the Buddha Nature Treatise and
other Chinese Buddhist Texts.” Diss. Temple University, 1981.

----- Buddha Nature. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1991.

Kiyota, Minoru. “Tathagatagarbha Thought A Basis of Buddhist Devotionalism in East Asia.”

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 12/2 (1985): 207-231.

Prasad, H.S. The Uttaratantra of Maitreya. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1991.

Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. Vol. 1 Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Takasaki, Jikido. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga. Rome; Istituto Italiano Per Il Medio Ed
Estremo Oriente, 1966.

Watson, Burton, trans. The Lotus Sutra. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Wayman, Alex and Hideko Wayman, trans. The Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1974.

About the Author

Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.) has been practicing and teaching
Dharma for over 35 years. With a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is the
Founder-Acharya of the International Sanatana Dharma Society and the Director of the Center
for Dharma Studies.

Sri Acharyaji is currently recognized as one of the world's foremost scholars on the Yoga
tradition, Dharma and meditation, as well as being a truly authentic spiritual teacher.

With a very large international following, Sri Acharyaji is especially renowned for his highly
authentic approach to spirituality, his authoritative and scholarly method of teaching, and his
clear emphasis on serious spiritual practice and direct experience of self-realization. He has
lectured on Dharma at dozens of top universities, such as Harvard, Columbia, Rutgers, Cornell,
and Northwestern. He has also served as a consultant for such Fortune 500 companies as Ford
Motor Corporation and Lucent Technology.

Sri Acharyaji's teachings stress the achievement of enlightenment through the practice of
meditation, Yoga, and directly experiencing the presence of the Divine. Another overarching
aspect of Sri Acharyaji's teachings focuses on the importance of love, compassion and service
toward all living beings.

Whether speaking to an audience of thousands, or having a heart-felt discussion with only one
person, Sri Acharyaji vividly conveys a deeply moving sense of compassion, peace, humility,
and spiritual insight that has endeared him to thousands of students and admirers throughout the
world.

For more information on the life and teachings of Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, please visit:
http://www.dharmacentral.com

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