TathatÄ
Tathata ( Skt. Tathata तथता真如Chinese, Pinyin Zhenru, W.-G. chen- ju; Tib. de bzhin nyid; kor 진여, jinyeo; jap真如, Shinnyo; viet Chon Chan or như; German about: .. Soheit such or slope) is in Buddhism (especially in the Mahāyāna ) a term for the form of true or fundamental reality (but not, as is often assumed erroneously that reality itself), mostly in relation to its subordinate aspect of emptiness or substantially insubstantiality.
In the Buddhist tradition it is said of her, she 'll only be experienced, not realize but linguistically. Who the reality in this form, i.e., such as it is, is, has overcome all erroneous knowledge in the Buddhist understanding. The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, it claimed to be, and called therefore also the Tathāgata.
The Yogācāra schools, one of the few Buddhist teaching traditions that make in terms of Tathata positive statements, understand it as a purification of the consciousness of any object reference, so that the factors of existence are to be recognized in its highest sense. Pure, illusion -free knowledge of the Tathata is thus equivalent to the naked consciousness without capturing, thinking, or Ausmachung important. As part of the unconditional elements ( asaṃskṛta - dharma) in the categories of the 100 factors of existence Tathata is also the condition of possibility of knowledge in general.
A fundamental for the analysis Yogācāra schools from the fourth century is as follows:
" 20: All things which are introduced by any imagination, form the presented beings. This does not exist. 21: The dependent beings, however, is the resultant of causes conception. The perfect ( being) is its freedom from the previous stable. 22: this from the dependent ( nature ) therefore can not be described neither as distinct nor as different as impermanence, etc. As long as this has not happened, that is not seen. 23: In view of the triple insubstantiality of this threefold nature the unreality of all the circumstances have been taught. 24: The first is unreal after the feature. The second turn, because his due no own being. Another unreality arises from the fact 25: that it ( = the third, namely, the perfect being ) is the highest reality ( paramārthaḥ ) the circumstances. This is also the suchness, because it is always so. And it is, moreover, the mere knowledge. "
The concept of Suchness is within Buddhism often subject to theoretical controversy become. So the Japanese Kegon shū criticized ( which, however, itself on Tathata - term held ) the view of the Hosso Shuu (Japanese Yogācāra offshoot ), there could be such a thing as an object -less consciousness: this would simply unconsciousness and could therefore not a source of his experience.
But not only epistemologically proved the concept of Tathata problematic. Since both absolute as well as unconditional in conjunction with ( eternal ) Its him were attributed in ontological terms, and it sometimes even came to an identification of the phenomena with the Tathata, denied some Buddhist teaching traditions its practicality or validity or the addition running on such attributions interpretations, since this is in contradiction to other fundamental Buddhist concepts.
Nevertheless, the concept of Tathata proved as significant within the Buddhist philosophy of history. So argued Saicho, founder of the Tendai shū, in his famous, writing in 817 out confrontation with the Hosso scholars Tokuitsu (徳 一; approx 760-835 ) to the correct interpretation of Buddha-nature and Icchantika and represented Tokuitsu against the view Buddha nature would come to all beings, as it were, the Tathata essence of all that exists is, in which it manifests itself. Later the Tendai scholars adopted this Tathata conception to ensure that the doctrine of Original Enlightenment (本 觉 思想, hongaku shiso ) to make it plausible after every being already located in the state of enlightenment and I need to realize this condition only. The Genshin (源 信; 942-1017 ) but attributed only in the 12th century resulting work Shinnyo kan (真如 観) relates to this, and recommends the reader to make day and night aware that he is identical with Tathata. Also Kūkai, founder of the Shingon shū, used the concepts Tathata and Buddha Nature, of which he said, they would be the nature of Dharmakörpers.