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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Śāntideva and the Yogācāra tradition hold that buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha) is already immanent within all sentient beings.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Early Buddhist texts reject permanent essences (ātman); Buddha-nature as intrinsic immanent essence contradicts foundational anātman doctrine.
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    • 2.If Buddha-nature is already immanent, liberation becomes inevitable manifestation, not contingent ethical achievement requiring cultivation.
      ?

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    • 3.Tathāgatagarbha appears in later Mahāyāna texts with unclear lineage; its attribution to early Yogācāra misrepresents historical development.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Śāntideva's bodhisattva ethics presupposes all beings can achieve Buddhahood, which requires latent Buddha-nature to be universally present.
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    • 2.Yogācāra idealism treats consciousness as fundamental; Buddha-nature as immanent mind-essence follows logically from this ontology.
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    • 3.Tathāgatagarbha doctrine explains why ordinary beings possess Buddha-potential despite current delusion—the seed is intrinsic, not external.
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