The Faith to Doubt by Stephen Batchelor

Author:Stephen Batchelor [Batchelor, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781619026360
Publisher: Counterpoint

BUDDHA AND BUDDHA-NATURE

From the gradualist’s point of view, the suddenist’s claim that Buddhahood is already present within us seems quite illogical. Surely Buddhahood entails insight into the nature of reality and boundless compassion for sentient beings. But how can such insight and compassion be said to be present if there is no consciousness of them? To speak of them as present, then surely they must be conscious. And how could an unawakened state and an awakened state coexist within a single person? If one is really a Buddha, then one cannot be an unenlightened sentient being—and vice versa. To claim that the unawakened is awakened contradicts that fundamental axiom of logic, the law of the excluded middle.

Therefore, we know that, unawakened, even a Buddha is a sentient being, and that even a sentient being, if awakened in an instant of thought is a Buddha . . . . The Buddha mind is possessed by sentient beings, apart from sentient beings there is no Buddha mind.5 —Hui Neng

It is far more reasonable to conceive of Buddha-nature in terms of potential. To say that all sentient beings are endowed with Buddha-nature simply means that they all have the possibility of becoming Buddhas. At present they are not Buddhas for the simple reason that they are unenlightened and selfish, devoid of the qualities of Buddhahood. Buddha-nature is just the potential for awakening. To realize this potential, sentient beings need to embark on a systematic course of training which will gradually transform them into Buddhas.

Suddenly the time arrives: you may be on a story of an ancient’s entry into the path, or it may be as you are reading the scriptures, or perhaps during your daily activities as you respond to circumstances; whether your condition is good or bad, or your body and mind are scattered and confused, whether favorable or adverse conditions are present, or whether you have temporarily quietened the mind’s conceptual discrimination—when you suddenly topple the key link, there’ll be no mistake about it.6 —Ta Hui

There are numerous instances, and not merely in the Buddhist tradition, where without any warning people have been suddenly gripped by an unprecedented perception of themselves and their world. Words hopelessly fail to recount the depth and range of these experiences. But without hesitation many would say that Buddhahood itself was present in that moment. The experience is such that any other name would be inadequate. The Zen tradition makes this claim explicit: you are already a Buddha—don’t search for it anywhere else, just awaken to your own true nature! Buddhahood is not a remote and distant goal for which we have a mere potential. Right now Buddhahood is active and alive in the innermost heart of our lives.

Just because it’s so very close, you cannot get this truth out of your own eyes. When you open your eyes it strikes you, and when you close your eyes it’s not lacking either. When you open your mouth you speak of it, and when you shut your mouth it appears by itself.

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