Buddhatā

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Buddhatā (Skt., ‘buddha-nature’). In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the real and undifferentiated nature of all appearance. Since this nature constitutes all beings, they all have equal opportunity to realize this fact and to attain enlightenment. In Zen Buddhism, the equivalent (Jap.) term is bussho, or hossho, and the awakening to the truth of that nature and one's identity with it is mujōdō-no-taigen. See also HUA-YEN; TATHĀGATA-GARBHA.

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