Svabhava ( sa, स्वभाव, svabhāva; pi, सभाव, sabhāva; ; ) literally means "own-being" or "own-becoming". It is the intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence of beings.
The concept and term ''svabhāva'' are frequently encountered in Hindu and Buddhist traditions such as
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
(e.g. in the ''
Avadhūta Gītā''),
Mahayana Buddhism
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
(e.g. in the ''
Ratnagotravibhāga
The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (Sanskrit, abbreviated as RGV, meaning: ''Analysis of the Jeweled Lineage, Investigating the Jewel Disposition'') and its ''vyākhyā'' commentary (abbreviated RGVV to refer to the RGV verses along with the embedded comm ...
''),
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
(e.g., the writings of
Ramanuja
Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents o ...
) and
Dzogchen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
(e.g. in the
seventeen tantras
The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the cor ...
).
In the nondual Advaita Vedānta yoga text, ''Avadhūta Gītā'',
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
(in the Upanishadic denotation) is the ''svabhāva''.
In the Mahāyāna Buddhadharma tradition(s) it is one of a suite of terms employed to denote the
Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...
, such as "''
gotra
In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotra fo ...
''".
Indian philosophy
The term first appears in the
Shvetashvatara Upanishad, as a possible first cause (''jagatkāraṇa'').
[Ramkrishna Bhattacharya, ''Svabhāvavada'' and the Cārvāka/Lokāyata: A Historical Overview] There also seems to have been an Indian philosophical position called ''Svabhāvavada'' which was akin to
naturalism which held that "things are as their nature makes them". It is possible this position was similar to or associated with
Carvaka
Charvaka ( sa, चार्वाक; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian materialism. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embrace ...
.
Samkhya
In early
samkhya
''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...
philosophy, Svabhava was a term which was associated with
prakṛti
Prakriti ( sa, प्रकृति ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by its Sāṅkhya school, where it does not refer to matter or nature, bu ...
. It is the inherent capacity of
prakṛti
Prakriti ( sa, प्रकृति ) is "the original or natural form or condition of anything, original or primary substance". It is a key concept in Hinduism, formulated by its Sāṅkhya school, where it does not refer to matter or nature, bu ...
, which is independent and self caused.
Vaishnavism
The ''
Bhagavad Gītā
The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...
'' (18.41) has nature (''svabhava'') as a distinguishing quality differentiating the ''
varṇā''.
Overzee (1992: p. 74) in her work on
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. He was Darwinian in outlook and the author of several influential theological and phil ...
(1881–1955) and
Rāmānuja (1017–1137) highlights Rāmānuja's usage of ''svabhāva'' in relation to Brahman thus:
Let us look more closely at what Rāmānuja means by the Lord's "nature". If you read his writings, you will find that he uses two distinct yet related words when referring to the nature of Brahman: ''svarūpa'' and ''svabhāva''.[Overzee, Anne Hunt (1992). ''The body divine: the symbol of the body in the works of Teilhard de Chardin and Rāmānuja''. Issue 2 of Cambridge studies in religious traditions. Cambridge University Press. , . Source]
(accessed: Monday April 5, 2010), p.74
Buddhism
In early
Theravada, Theravādin texts, the term "''svabhāva''" did not carry the technical meaning or the soteriological weight of later writings. Much of Mahayana Buddhism (as in the ''
Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra'') denies outright that such a ''svabhāva'' exists within any being; however, while in the
tathāgatagarbha sūtras
The Tathāgatagarbha sūtras are a group of Mahayana sutras that present the concept of the "womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the tathāgata, the buddha. Every sentient being has the possibility to attain Buddhahood because of the ''tathāgata ...
, notably the ''
Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra of the Buddha-nature genre. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form ...
'', the Buddha states that the immortal and infinite Buddha-nature - or "true self" of the Buddha - is the indestructible ''svabhāva'' of beings, this position is clarified in the ''
Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra
The ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' (, '' of Queen Śrīmālā'') is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts belonging to the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras that teaches the doctrines of Buddha-nature and "One Vehicle" through the w ...
'', which directly states that "tathāgatagarbha is not a substantial self, nor a living being, nor ‘fate,’ nor a person."
Theravāda
In the
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During th ...
, ''sabhāva'' is absent from what are generally considered to be the earliest texts. When found in later texts (e.g., the
paracanonical ''
Milindapañha
The ''Milinda Pañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda' ...
)'', it generically refers to state (of mind), character or truth.
In the post-canonical
Abhidhamma literature, ''sabhāva'' is used to distinguish an irreducible,
dependent
A dependant is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income. A common-law spouse who is financially supported by their partner may also be included in this definition. In some jurisdictions, supporting a dependant may enabl ...
, momentary
phenomenon
A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...
(''dhamma'') from a conventionally constructed object. Thus, a collection of visual and tactile phenomena might be mentally constructed into what is conventionally referred to as a "table"; but, beyond its constituent elements, a construct such as "table" lacks intrinsic existence (''sabhāva'').
According to Peter Harvey, svabhava in the
Theravada Abhidhamma is something conditional and interdependent:
Vaibhāṣika
The
Vaibhāṣika
Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika ( sa, सर्वास्तिवाद-वैभाषिक) or simply Vaibhāṣika (), refers to an ancient Buddhist tradition of Abhidharma (scholastic Buddhist philosophy), which was very influential in north I ...
school held that dharmas have a constant
essence
Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
or inherent nature (''svabhāva'') which persists through past, present and future.
[Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 70.] The term was also identified as a unique mark or own characteristic (''svalaksana'') that differentiated a dharma and remained unchangeable throughout its existence. According to Vaibhāṣikas, ''svabhavas'' are those things that exist substantially (''dravyasat'') as opposed to those things which are made up of aggregations of dharmas and thus only have a nominal existence (''prajñaptisat'').
Madhyamaka
Robinson (1957: p. 300) in discussing the
Buddhist logic
Buddhist logico-epistemology is a term used in Western scholarship for ''pramāṇa-vāda'' (doctrine of proof) and ''Hetu-vidya'' (science of causes). Pramāṇa-vāda is an epistemological study of the nature of knowledge; Hetu-vidya is a syste ...
of
Nāgārjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
, states:
Dzogchen
Dzogchen upholds a view of ''niḥsvabhāva'', refuting ''svabhāva'' using the same logic employed by Madhyamaka, a freedom from extremes demonstrated succinctly via
catuṣkoṭi
''Catuṣkoṭi'' (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चतुष्कोटि, , Sinhalese:චතුස්කෝටිකය) is a logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications an ...
tetralemma
The tetralemma is a figure that features prominently in the logic of India. Definition
It states that with reference to any a logical proposition X, there are four possibilities:
: X (affirmation)
: \neg X (negation)
: X \land\neg X (both)
: \n ...
.
In the context of logical analysis, Dzogchen agrees with the view of
madhyamaka
Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no ''svabhāva'' doctrine"), refers to a tradition of Buddhist ...
as elucidated by
Nāgārjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
, Chögyal
Namkhai Norbu
Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, par ...
explains:
The ''Union of the Sun and Moon'' (), one of the '
seventeen tantras
The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the cor ...
of the esoteric instruction cycle' () which are a suite of tantras known variously as:
nyingtik
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, Menngagde (, sa, upadeśavarga), is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen (''Great Perfection'' ).
Dzogchen is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according ...
,
upadesha or
menngagde
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, Menngagde (, sa, upadeśavarga), is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen (''Great Perfection'' ).
Dzogchen is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according ...
within
Dzogchen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
discourse, states:
Bonpo Dzogchen
''Svabhāva'' is very important in the
nontheistic
Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject o ...
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
of the
Bonpo
''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in ...
Great Perfection (Dzogchen) tradition where it is part of a technical language to render macrocosm and microcosm into
nonduality
Nondualism, also called nonduality and nondual awareness, is a fuzzy concept originating in Indian philosophy and religion for which many definitions can be found, including: nondual awareness, the nonduality of seer and seen or nondiffer ...
, as Rossi (1999: p. 58) states:
''The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra''
The term "''svabhāva''" is mentioned in six verses of the first chapter of the ''
Avadhūta Gītā'':
1.5,
1.6,
1.44,
1.54,
1.58,
1.76.
This extreme nondual yoga text shares a lot of common language with the extreme nondual yoga of
Atiyoga
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence ...
(Dzogchen) and its standard Tibetan analogue ''rang-bzhin'' (Wylie) is employed in ''
The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra
The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra () is one of the Seventeen tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.
English discourse
In the Lungi Terdzö (Wylie: lung gi gter mdzod) the prose autocommentary by Longchenpa (1308 – 1364 or possibly 1369) to his C ...
,'' one of the ''
Seventeen Tantras
The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the cor ...
'' of Atiyoga
Upadesha.
Dzogchen strictly refutes the notion of "''svabhāva''", and so ''
The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra
The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra () is one of the Seventeen tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.
English discourse
In the Lungi Terdzö (Wylie: lung gi gter mdzod) the prose autocommentary by Longchenpa (1308 – 1364 or possibly 1369) to his C ...
,'' states specifically that
dharmakāya
The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies ('' trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "incon ...
is non-arisen and natureless:
The following quotation from ''The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra'' is drawn from the
Lungi Terdzö
The lungi is a type of sarong that originated in the Indian Subcontinent. The multicoloured, Lungi, which usually multicoloured, is a men's skirt usually tied around the lower waist below the navel. it can be worn as casual wear and night wear, ...
:
Namkhai Norbu
Dzogchen
Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...
teacher
Namkhai Norbu
Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, par ...
(2001: p. 155) in discussing the view of the
pratyekabuddhas states that:
See also
*
Ahamkara
*
Atman (Buddhism) Atman or Ātman may refer to:
Film
* ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto
* ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
People
* Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian han ...
*
Chöd
Chöd ( lit. 'to sever') is a spiritual practice found primarily in the Yundrung Bön tradition as well as in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism (where it is classed as Anuttarayoga Tantra). Also known as "cutting through the e ...
*
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
*
Mindstream
Mindstream (''citta-santāna'') in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment continuum (Sanskrit: ''saṃtāna'') of sense impressions and mental phenomena, which is also described as continuing from one life to another.
Definition
' (Sanskri ...
*
Sunyata
*
Anatman (Hinduism)
*
Substance theory
Substance theory, or substance–attribute theory, is an ontological theory positing that objects are constituted each by a ''substance'' and properties borne by the substance but distinct from it. In this role, a substance can be referred to as a ...
Notes
References
Sources
*
Gethin, R.M.L. (1992). ''The Buddhist Path to Awakening: A Study of the
Bodhi-Pakkhiyā Dhammā''. Leiden: E.J. Brill. .
*
Y Karunadasa, (1996). ''The Dhamma Theory: Philosophical Cornerstone of the Abhidhamma'' (WH 412/413). Kandy:
Buddhist Publication Society
The Buddhist Publication Society (BPS) is a publishing house with charitable status whose objective is to disseminate the teaching of Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1958 by two Sri Lankan lay Buddhists, A.S. Karunaratna and ...
. Retrieved 2008-06-30 from "BPS" (transcribed 2007) a
* Red Pine (2004). ''The Heart Sutra''. Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Hoard. .
*
*
C.A.F. Rhys Davids, Rhys Davids, Caroline A. F. (
900
__NOTOC__
Year 900 ( CM) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Abbasid Caliphate
* Spring – Forces under the Transoxianian emir Isma'il ibn Ahmad are ...
2003). ''Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics, of the Fourth Century B.C., Being a Translation, now made for the First Time, from the Original Pāli, of the First Book of the Abhidhamma-Piaka, entitled Dhamma- (Compendium of States or Phenomena)''. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. .
*
Rhys Davids, T.W. & William Stede (eds.) (1921–25)
''The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary'' Chipstead:
Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts".
Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...
.
* Walshe, Maurice (1987, 1995). ''The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya''. Boston: Wisdom Publications. .
* Williams, Paul (1989; repr. 2007). ''Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations''. London: Routledge. {{ISBN, 978-0-415-02537-9.
* Yamamoto, Kosho (tr.), Page, Tony (ed.) (1999–2000
''The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra''in 12 volumes. London: Nirvana Publications
External links
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra and its teachings on the deathless Self of the Buddha
Mahayana
Theravada Buddhist philosophical concepts
Dzogchen
Madhyamaka