The abiding factor – the voidness of the mental continuum, which allows for the transformation – this is static; it remains the same before we’re enlightened, after we’re enlightened. When buddhas bring about the benefit of beings, they know the temperaments and constitutions of all sentient beings who are to be trained, endless in number. In Chinese Ch’an Buddhism the Buddha-nature tends to be seen as the essential nature of all beings. It could also be translated as “eating”; nobody translates it as the Eating Body. As in the example of the cockroach, the cockroach’s ability to understand things – to take in information, to see patterns, and so on – is limited. Vasubandhu gives an analysis of the workings of the human mind and consciousness, based on the analysis of the working of the Five Skandhas. Since the Buddhas help all these sentient beings to fully get hold of this treasure, their activity does not. What is the appropriate time? According to Williams. These are to be understood through combining one meaning with an example, respectively. This word sambhoga is a difficult word; it has many, many different meanings, as does the Tibetan translation for it. Always ready to dispel these (afflictions). That’s why I call it a network. These ideas first appeared in the Lotus Sutra, which distinguishes between the heavenly Buddha and earthly Buddhas. Nagarjuna's work is founded on the prajnaparamita-sutras, which reach back to the anatman doctrine. They are endowed with the accumulations of merit and wisdom, which are similar to the light rays of the sun, causing the ripening of all sentient beings. It is always present and ready to teach the path that dispels these cloud-like afflictions. For these reasons buddha activity is uninterrupted or ever-present. Enlightenment in beings is fully sustained. Gelugpa has nine. It’s all based on these Buddha-nature factors, these two networks, the voidness of the mind, and inspiration from Buddhas and the spiritual masters. For this reason great enlightenment, which is the fruit of these (causes), is like the element of space. It is often called the essence of Buddhahood or enlightened essence. These obscurations, being similar to a net of clouds that has spun about it, need to be removed; the condition that will clear them away is the force of the great compassion of the Victors. This innate potential, called the embryo of the knower of truth (tathāgata-garbha), was said by some to exist in all living beings, thereby making all living beings buddhas, or at least buddhas in the making. There are many, many variants of the preliminary practices, but four are quite standard. Turning this around, vice versa, then that network of deep awareness – always having apprehension, correct understanding, decisive understanding of the four noble truths, voidness, etc. This buddha nature (within beings) is obscured by the endless afflictions, the secondary afflictions, and the accompanying latencies or karmic imprints. Buddha-nature (Classical Chinese: 佛性, modern pinyin fó xìng) literally corresponds to the Sanskrit Buddha-dhātu - "Buddha Element", "Buddha-Principle", but seems to have been used most frequently to translate the Sanskrit "Tathāgatagarbha". This view regards the Buddha nature as the original nature of all manifestations of life – sentient and insentient – through their interconnectedness: Modern scholarship points to the various possible interpretations of Buddha Nature as either an essential self, as Sunyata, or as the inherent possibility of awakening. punyasambhara) and the network of deep awareness (ye-shes-kyi tshogs, Skt. He goes on to point out that the term Tathāgatagarbha has up to six possible connotations. They emphasize the notion of emptiness. When put concisely, (this can be explained as follows): Temporarily a buddha joins all sentient beings with the two accumulations and the ten bodhisattva levels and finally with ultimate enlightenment. The Transformation-body is the earthly manifestation of the Buddha. except that among the limited range of topics about which he had knowledge was the important matter of how to achieve lasting peace and happiness. Positive force is the obtaining cause (nyer-len-gyi rgyu) for the Form Bodies, so Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya (I’ll explain what an obtaining cause is). including evil doers, have Buddha nature, which remains as a dormant possibility or a theoretical potential in the field of emptiness or non-substantiality until it is materialized in reality through Buddhist practice. We’re talking about what are the factors that are responsible for us – that allow us all – to become Buddhas, including the cockroach, including that being who in this particular lifetime happens to have built up the karma to be a cockroach. – that is going to transform into the omniscient mind of a Buddha. Many people are awed by the appearance, thanks to the branched appendages the fruit has. In the Korean Vajrasamādhi Sūtra Tathāgatagarbha is presented as being possessed of two elements, one essential, immutable, changeless and still, the other active and salvational: The Vajrasamadhi's analysis of Tathagatagarbha also recalls a distinction the Awakening of Faith makes between the calm, unchanging essence of the mind and its active, adaptable function [...].