What is Buddha-nature?

Bright on Buddhism Episode 45 - What is Buddha-nature? What are the doctrinal roots of this idea? How meanings of this word change over time? Resources: Kevin Trainor: Buddhism: An Illustrated Guide; Donald Lopez: Norton Anthology of World Religions: Buddhism; Chan Master Sheng Yen: Orthodox Chinese Buddhism; Williams, Paul, Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations, Routledge, 2008, pp. 195–196.; Buswell, Robert, ed. “Tathagatagarbha.” In Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 1:826–27. New York City, NY: MacMillan Reference USA, 2004.; King, Sallie B. “Buddha Nature and the Concept of Person.” Philosophy East and West 39, no. 2 (1989): 151–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/1399375.; Duckworth, Douglas. “Onto-Theology and Emptiness: The Nature of Buddha-Nature.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 82, no. 4 (2014): 1070–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44945113.; Liu, Ming-Wood. “The Yogācārā and Mādhyamika Interpretations of the Buddha-Nature Concept in Chinese Buddhism.” Philosophy East and West 35, no. 2 (1985): 171–93. https://doi.org/10.2307/1399049.; Kiyota, Minoru. “Tathāgatagarbha Thought: A Basis of Buddhist Devotionalism in East Asia.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 12, no. 2/3 (1985): 207–31. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30233958.; BUSWELL, ROBERT E. “The Tathāgatagarbha.” In The Formation of Ch’an Ideology in China and Korea: The Vajrasamadhi-Sutra, a Buddhist Apocryphon, 232–39. Princeton University Press, 1989. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1m3nzn6.18.; Grosnick, William H. “The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra.” In Buddhism in Practice: Abridged Edition, edited by Donald S. Lopez, ABR-Abridged., 92–106. Princeton University Press, 2007. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvcm4h64.15.;Cole, Alan. “Sameness with a Difference in the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra.” In Text as Father: Paternal Seductions in Early Mahayana Buddhist Literature, 1st ed., 197–235. University of California Press, 2005.; http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppbbf.9.; ZIPORYN, BROOK A. “BUDDHA-NATURE AND ORIGINAL ENLIGHTENMENT.” In Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism, 54–67. Indiana University Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bmzm9d.9. Do you have a question about Buddhism that you'd like us to discuss?  Let us know by finding us on email or social media!  https://linktr.ee/brightonbuddhism Credits: Nick Bright: Script, Cover Art, Music, Voice of Hearer, Co-Host Proven Paradox: Editing, mixing and mastering, social media, Voice of Hermit, Co-Host