The other name of the Buddha

The Buddhist word Tathagata is an epithet for Buddha. Generally speaking, it can either mean gone thus which is tathat-gata or come thus which is tatha-gata. Perhaps clearer, Tathagata means one who has gone to nirvana and one who has come from nirvana to help with the liberation of beings in samsara.

For a deeper understanding of Tathagata we have to know what tathat means. In Mahayana Buddhism it refers to the absolute which is unchanging unlike phenomena which are always changing. Tathat or that-ness is the real nature of things which is beyond the capability of our senses and thoughts (samj) to detect and grasp. In the Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra, it is said that tathat is unmade and increate which, of course, implies that tathat is beyond the reach of the senses and thought. Yet, while being transcendent tathat is realvery real in fact. In the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra it says:

"All Tathagatas do not change or move, there is no coming and no going. The Tathagata is suchness (tathat) which does not arise or disappear. There is no coming and no going because there is no arising, as no-birth is the Tathagata. Son of good families, reality does not know the time of coming and the time of going, so reality is the Tathagata. Empty space does not come and does not go, so emptiness is the Tathagata. The ultimate truth (parmratha) does not come and does not go, so the ultimate truth is the Tathagata. The unconditioned (asamskrita) does not come and does not go, so the unconditioned is the Tathagata. Cessation (nirodha-samiapatti) does not come and does not go, so cessation is the Tathagata. Sons of good families, the Tathagata is not apart from all these dharmas, which are the tathat of the Tathagata."

It is important to point out that all sentient beings are the embryo or garbha of the Tathagata (sarvasattvas tathagata-garbha). They are, in other words, potential Tathagatas or Buddhas. But while they have this potentiality, they are not yet born li! ke the B odhisattva. In other words, they lack Bodhicitta (lit., a mind that is bodhi)which begins the life of an authentic Bodhisattva who is on the path to Buddhahood.


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