What is tathata?
score:5
For starters, here is the Theravada perspective, with some quotes:
THUSNESS (by ven. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu)
Now, we come to the fourth and last topic: tathata (suchness, thusness). "Merely thus," "just such": everything is such as it is and in no way different from that thusness. This is called "tathata." When tathata is seen, the three characteristics of anicca, dukkha, and anatta are seen, sunnata is seen, and idappaccayata is seen. Tathata is the summary of them all -- merely thus, only thus, not-otherness. There is nothing better than this, more than this, other than this, thusness. To intuitively realize tathata is to see the truth of all things, to see the reality of the things which have deceived us. The things which delude us are all the things which cause discrimination and duality to arise in us: good-evil, happiness-sadness, win-lose, love-hate, etc. There are many pairs of opposites in this world. By not seeing tathata, we allow these things to trick us into believing in duality: this-that, liking-disliking, hot-cold, male-female, defiled, enlightened. This delusion causes all our problems. Trapped in these oppositions, we can't see the truth of things. We fall into liking and disliking, which in turn leads to the defilements, because we don't see tathata.
From SN 12.20:
Iti kho, bhikkhave, yā tatra tathatā avitathatā anaññathatā idappaccayatā – ayaṃ vuccati, bhikkhave, paṭiccasamuppādo.
What's there in this way is a reality, not an unreality, not other than what it seems, conditioned by this/that. This is called dependent co-arising. (Thanissaro)
Thus bhikkhus, the actuality in this, the inerrancy, the not-otherwiseness, specific conditionality: this is called dependent origination. (Bhikkhu Bodhi)
From AN 4.24:
A Tathagata is a seer of what is to be seen, but he does not mind the seen, the unseen, the seeable, the seer. So likewise with the heard, the sensed and the cognized: he thinks of none of these modes of theirs. Therefore among things seen, heard, sensed and cognized he is precisely 'such'. Moreover, than he who is 'such' there is no other 'such' further or more excellent.
So, tathata is the culmination of the Third Noble Truth, cessation of suffering. When you no longer crave any experiences, don't avert any experiences, don't project any delusions onto your experience - when there is no longer a mismatch between "this" and imaginary "that" - that's tathata.
More post
- 📝 Is it demerit to give donations to sick non-Buddhists?
- 📝 Progress in meditation
- 📝 Are mosquito nets "cheating"?
- 📝 Can / how do we know what death is?
- 📝 Loneliness in Buddhism
- 📝 About mental diseases and kamma
- 📝 Does 'kusala' (skillful) also mean 'wholesome' and 'morally good'?
- 📝 How can I talk to my mother (who idle-chatters) without getting angry?
- 📝 Mindfulness of Action versus Perception
- 📝 Sudden awaking/realization
- 📝 How difficult is it to be a foreign monk in Asia?
- 📝 Mental ilness, causes and apaya realms
- 📝 Anger and harsh speech: in need of models and examples of serenity and compassionate speech
- 📝 Do all conditioned things arise from ignorance?
- 📝 Knowingly having to hurt a close person
- 📝 Nuns and ordination
- 📝 Understanding compassion fatigue from a buddhist point of view
- 📝 What's the most important teaching of the Buddha in the canon?
- 📝 temple policy for babies/young kids
- 📝 What determines whether actions are good or bad?
- 📝 Enlightend beings don't make more good or neutral karma?
- 📝 Buddha's past lives in the Pali Suttas outside of Jataka
- 📝 how many meditations have the word 'sati' in there? what are all the practices that are "great fruit, great benefit"?
- 📝 How could we have so many past lives without reaching some degree of wisdom or enlightenment?
- 📝 Questions on Attachment, Entertainment and Pleasure
- 📝 Text request--Abhidhamma
- 📝 Would a stream enterer no longer need the "I am the owner and heir of my karma" reflection?
- 📝 Whats happens after death?
- 📝 Reference request for "our Buddha nature chooses not to be enlightened"?
- 📝 How long do blessings last?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 If a buddhist should not kill a mouse living in their home, what justification do they have to rid themselves of a parasite such tapeworms
- 📝 What exactly differentiates Vipassana from Samatha meditation?
- 📝 How to explain what Buddhism is?
- 📝 What are the differences between vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
- 📝 What is the attitude toward h*m*sexuality in Buddhism?
- 📝 What is the next meditation type after Mindfulness of Breathing meditation?
- 📝 What is the meaning and/or purpose of life?
- 📝 What are the common buddhist practices to eliminate sleepiness?
- 📝 What are examples of identity-view?
- 📝 What is Buddhism?
- 📝 What exactly is Jhana?
- 📝 What is the meaning of "dhammā" in the context of the four satipaṭṭhāna?
- 📝 What teachings do all schools of Buddhism share?
- 📝 Any authentic sutta from any tradition that gives guidance on what kind of partner to choose?
- 📝 What is it like to experience enlightenment?
- 📝 What determines whether actions are good or bad?
- 📝 What is the meaning behind different robe colors?
- 📝 What is the precise meaning of anatta?
- 📝 What is the difference between craving and clinging?
- 📝 What exactly is the logical relation between the links in the twelvefold chain of Pratītyasamutpāda?
- 📝 What is Navayana Buddhism?
- 📝 What is Buddhism's view on divorce?
- 📝 What are the differences/similarities in the concept of faith as used in Buddhism and Christianity?
- 📝 What is the purpose of not eating after noon?
- 📝 What is the life of a monk really like?
- 📝 What is the meaning of the Zen quote: "Before Enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water"?
- 📝 What should I choose, Life or Nirvana?
- 📝 What is the difference between rebirth and reincarnation?
- 📝 What are the texts that contain words which can be attributed directly to the Buddha?
- 📝 What could I say to someone when they ask me "why do you meditate?"