Buddha-mind

Buddha-mind

Buddha-mind

Zen-term referring to both bodhicitta and Buddha-nature

Buddha-mind (Chinese foxing, Japanese busshin[web 1]) refers to either, or both, bodhicitta, "[the] Buddha's compassionate and enlightened mind," and to Buddha-nature, "the originally clear and pure mind inherent in all beings to which they must awaken."[web 1][note 1]

Explanation

Regarding awakening, Harold Stewart further explains:

In Buddhist terminology this all-decisive moment is known as the Awakening of the Buddha-Mind, or Bodaishin [...] There are three practically synonymous terms in the Mahayana for this: Bodaishin (Sanskrit: Bodhicitta); Busshin, literally 'Buddha-Heart' of Great Compassion (Sanskrit: Tathagatagarbha, or the latent possibility of Buddhahood inherent in all beings); and Bussho (Sanskrit: Buddhata), or the Buddha-nature.[3]

Busshin may also refer to Buddhakaya, the Buddha-body,[4][web 2] "an embodiment of awakened activity."[web 3]

Chan/Zen is also called foxin zong (Chinese) or busshin-shū (Japanese),[2] the "Buddha-mind school."[2][5] [6] This Buddha-mind is said to be transferred from master to pupil, as an undying lamp or light.

See also

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    Compare "Buddha's compassion, Buddha's heart,"[1] and "The term “buddha-mind” also functions in certain cases as a synonym for Buddhadatū (foxing) or tathagatagarbha."[2]

References

  1. [1]
    Hisao Inagaki (1995), 真宗用語英訳グロッサリー, p.7;
  2. [2]
    Buswell & Lopez (2014), p. "foxin zong".
  3. [3]
    Harold Stewart, "Awakening to One's True Personality"
  4. [4]
    Buswell & Lopez (2014), p. "buddhakāya".
  5. [5]
    Moore (1982), p. 42.
  6. [6]
    Waddell (2010a), p. "the Buddha mind school [Zen]".

Sources

Printed sources
  • Buswell; Lopez (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press
  • Moore, Charles A. (1982), The Japanese Mind: Essentials of Japanese Philosophy and Culture, University of Hawaii Press
  • Waddell, Norman (2010a), Foreword to "The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin: A Translation of the Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu", Shambhala Publications
Web-sources
  1. [W 1]
    Oxford Reference, busshin, from Damien Keown, "A Dictionary of Buddhism"
  2. [W 2]
    Japanese Dictionary, busshin
  3. [W 3]
    Thich Nhat Hanh , The Three Gems, TriCycle
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