''Busshō'' (), or ''Buddha Nature'', is the third book of the ''

Shōbōgenzō is the title most commonly used to refer to the collection of works written in Japan by the 13th-century Buddhist monk and founder of the Sōtō Zen school, Eihei Dōgen. Several other works exist with the same title (see above), and it is som ...

'' by the 13th century

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the ...

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

monk Eihei Dōgen. It was written in the fall of 1241 at Dōgen's monastery

Kōshōhōrin-ji ''Kōshōhōrin-ji'' (), more commonly known by its abbreviated name ''Kōshō-ji'' () and sometimes by its full formal name ''Kannondori Kōshōhōrin-ji'' (), was the first independent zen temple in Japan. While Kennin-ji was established in 1202 ...

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. As the title implies, the work is a discussion of the concept of

buddha nature In Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist paths to liberation, soteriology, Buddha-nature (Chinese language, Chinese: , Japanese language, Japanese: , , Sanskrit: ) is the innate potential for all Sentient beings (Buddhism), sentient beings to bec ...

, laying out

Dōgen was a Japanese people, Japanese Zen Buddhism, Buddhist Bhikkhu, monk, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. He is also known as Dōgen Kigen (), Eihei Dōgen (), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (), and Busshō Dent� ...

's unique viewpoint on what the term means. While more typical interpretations see Buddha-nature as the inherent prospect of becoming a buddha, or alternatively a sort of life force within us, in ''Busshō'' Dōgen interprets Buddha-nature simply as concrete reality itself. He presents this thesis in his characteristically difficult style using frequent

allusions Allusion, or alluding, is a figure of speech that makes a reference to someone or something by name (a person, object, location, etc.) without explaining how it relates to the given context, so that the audience must realize the connection in the ...

to and comments on classical Zen literature, as well as complex word play hinging on creative interpretations of

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...

sentence structure.

Interpretations of buddha nature

The literature of

Mahāyāna Buddhism Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main existing branches of Buddhism, the others being Thera ...

includes many discussions and comments on the notion of

, and its exact meaning has been interpreted in numerous ways over many centuries. At is most basic, it can simply be synonymous with "

buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

" or the qualities that make one a Buddha. More commonly, it is used to mean the potential to become a buddha, with common analogies likening buddha nature to a seed and a fully-fledged buddha to the mature plant. Finally, it may mean the absolute, fundamental nature of all things.

begins his work by quoting the putative words of

Shakyamuni Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

as recorded in the

Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' for short, is an influential Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Sutra, scripture of the Buddha-nature class. The original ...

stating that all living beings have buddha nature. He then equates this statement to a dialogue Dōgen often cites between

Nanyue Huairang Nanyue Huairang (; Rōmaji: ''Nangaku Ejõ'') (677–744) was a Chinese Chan master. According to the Chan-tradition, he was the foremost student of Dajian Huineng, the 6th Patriarch of Ch'an (Zen) and teacher of one of his Dharma heirs, Mazu Dao ...

and his teacher

Dajian Huineng Dajian Huineng or Hui-nengThe Sutra of Hui-neng, Grand Master of Zen, with Hui-neng's Commentary on the Diamond Sutra, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambhala Publications, 1998 (; February 27, 638 – August 28, 713), also commonly known as the ...

in which they discuss the undefiled nature of "practice and verification" (), setting up his argument that buddha nature is just reality itself.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bussho Soto Zen Zen texts