Tathagatagarbha in Buddhism
In the Buddhist religion, there is a concept called tathagatagarbha. The tathagatagarbha is the womb and/or embryo of the Tathagata. The tathagata has wisdom, vision and body. The tathagata’s tathagatagarbha is eternally unsullied and has virtues similar to the Buddha itself, which is important to note as it has an important purpose.
The tathagatagarbha is man’s eternal and true nature, which ultimately means every person can obtain Buddha-hood. A person seeking tathagatagarbha is seeking it on a soteriological manner versus a theoretical one. This means that it must be sought purposefully by the person seeking it.
The “gharba” can be found in all humans, but can be contaminated through defilement although even defilement can still be worked through. “Gharba” is the only thing which can bring all sentient beings to enlightenment, and a pure mind. The tathagatagarbha doctrine came to be as a result of the pure mind being seen as something that could grow into Buddhahood.
References
Lopez, Donald S. 1995. Buddhism In Practice. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Gethin, Rupert. The Foundations Of Buddhism.
