Lotus flower photographed from below with sky in background.

Why Buddhanature Matters

Lopen Karma Phuntsho, writer-in-residence for Tsadra Foundation’s Buddha-Nature project, takes a look at the history and development of the Mahayana concept of buddhanature.

Painting of sunrise over sea

Your Enlightened Nature

The essence of mind is empty, luminous awareness. Mingyur Rinpoche on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Dzogchen.

Lotus flower

Nothing Is More Important Than Your Buddhanature

“What if,” asks Tsadra Foundation executive director Marcus Perman, “we were brought up with the knowledge that each one of us is by nature capable of complete freedom from suffering, and that we possess wisdom and compassion on a nearly unthinkable scale?”

Books

A Short Guide to Key Buddhanature Texts

Gary Donnelly shares a selection of key buddhanature texts to add to your reading list.

Pink flowers

How Insentient Beings Expound Dharma

Shohaku Okumura explains the connection between non-sentient beings and buddhanature.

green and black light sculpture

Meditations on Buddhanature

Four Buddhist teachers share concise instructions for recognizing the luminous nature of mind.

Hope for the Hopeless

Rev. Blayne Higa on the founder of Shin Buddhism’s “spiritual insight of imperfection and radical acceptance.” It can lead us to the ultimate realization of buddhanature.

Koi fish

Glimpses of Buddhanature

Buddhist teacher-practitioners from across traditions share personal moments that gave them insight into the true nature of mind.

A swimmer tries to stay afloat within a wave.

The World Between Breaths

Vanessa Zuisei Goddard on the famous Zen koan “Mu,” and how it helps us dive into buddhanature.

Left to right: Roshi Joan Halifax, Ari Goldfield, Rev. Konin Dhammadipa Cardenas

Ask the Teachers: How can I move from understanding emptiness philosophically to experiencing it directly?

“I think I have some intellectual understanding of the Buddhist teachings on emptiness, but when I look at the world or at myself, I don’t see them as empty. How do I go from a philosophical understanding to a direct experience of emptiness?”