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- Chapter Twelve: On the Nature of the Tathagata
- "Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! Is there Self in the 25 existences or
- not?" The Buddha said: "O good man! "Self" means "Tathagatagarbha" [Buddha-Womb,
- Buddha-Embryo, Buddha-Nature]. Every being has Buddha-Nature. This is the Self. Such Self
- has, from the very beginning, been under cover of innumerable defilements. That is why man
- cannot see it. O good man! [Imagine that] there is a poor woman here. She has true gold
- concealed in her house. But none of the people of her house, whether big or small, know of it.
- But there is a stranger, who, through expediency, says to the poor woman: "I shall employ you.
- You must now go and weed the land!" The woman answers: "I cannot do this now. If you let my
- son see where the gold is hidden, I will soon work for you." The man says: "I know the way. I
- shall point it out to your son." The woman further says: "Nobody of my house, whether big or
- small, knows [of this]. How can you?" The man says: "I shall now make it clear." The woman
- says further: "I desire to see. Pray let me." The man digs out the gold that had lain hidden. The
- woman sees it, is gladdened, and begins to respect that person. O good man! The case is the
- same with the Buddha-Nature which man has. Nobody can see it. This is analogous to the gold
- which the poor woman possessed and yet could not see. O good man! I now let persons see the
- Buddha-Nature that they possess, which is overspread by defilements. This is analogous to the
- poor woman who cannot see the gold, even though she possesses it. The Tathagata now reveals
- to all beings the storehouse of Enlightenment, which is the Buddha-Nature, as it is called. If all
- beings see this, they are gladdened and will take refuge in the Tathagata. The good expedient is
- the Tathagata, and the poor woman is all the innumerable beings, and the cask of true gold is the
- Buddha-Nature.
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