The Sentient Reflexivity of Buddha Nature: Metaphorizing Tathagatagarbha

佛性或如来藏(梵文tathagatagarbha)是佛教哲学体系和教义里一个具争议的核心内容。自古以来,"谁或什么具有佛性"、"佛性是怎样显现的",以及"佛性在佛教解脱论里起到怎样的作用"等问题在佛教实践中及佛学研讨里是一系列持续的论题。本文作者基于自己对佛教文献的解读希望表达三个有关佛性的论点。首先,佛性与其所谓的反面"众生"(sentience)是不分离的。第二,佛性不是一样具型的东西,或是某个过去的或隐藏的精神状态,而是一个当下的、持续的生命神识状态。第三,佛性在经文里是一类使用隐喻和譬喻的启发式(heuristic)辩术方式,其目的是激起佛教徒或任何对佛家哲学思想有兴致的人对自身的生命状态进行内在视觉上的观想作用。

Buddha Nature, or tathagatagarbha in Sanskrit, is a core element of Buddhist philosophical discourse and doctrinal debate. Who or what possesses Buddha Nature, how it manifests itself, and what role it plays in Buddhist soteriology have been sustained questions in actual Buddhist practices and in the works of Buddhologists from ancient times to the present. Based on the author＇s textual interpretation, this paper attempts to present a threefold argument： Buddha Nature is not separate from its alleged opposite, sentience; it is not a tangible substance but a state of being whose felt meaning is only metaphorically conveyed; and finally it is a heuristic device or a means of provoking a Buddhist or anyone who takes interest in Buddhism, to visualize the inner complexity of his or her sentient mode of being