Atiśa’s Teaching of the Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine:

With Reference to Its Sources and dbu ma chen po

Abstract

Atiśa does not directly expound the teaching of tathāgatagarbha. However, as one of a very few examples, he mentions tathāgatagarbha in the Bodhimārgadīpa-pañjikā when maintaining that prātimokṣa is essential for receiving the Bodhisattva’s vow (bodhisattva-saṃvara). Referring to tathāgatagarbha, he insisted that there is no distinction of gotra. This paper examines the passage and its sources and aims to clarify that Atiśa’s position on the non-distinctiveness of gotra seems typical of late Mādhyamikas such as Kamalaśīla. Thus the expression “dbu ma chen po” is related simply to the Mādhyamika in general, which contrasts with the Yogācāra doctrine in the same way as in the other passages in the Bodhimārgadīpa-pañjikā, as I have argued elsewhere.