In Mahayana, Buddha-nature is the Universe Itself

[Kensho]

@Charlie

@Kensho

One can easily fall into a sectarian trap which looks at the different terminology used in Mahayana Buddhism as a reason to believe that it’s entirely divorced from the Buddha’s original teachings.

Yes. Absolutely. The key to Buddha’s teaching is that it points to a certain type of practice. Traversing the path is what does the job. Any teaching that puts one on the proper path is a functional equivalent. Obviously Mahayana is textually different. But to assume they are not effectively the same from a path and fruition perspective solely based on textual differences is like saying two fingers are not pointing in the same direction because the fingerprints don’t match.

Yes, they are both like a finger pointing at the moon.

@llt

Here it’s useful to know some background about this simile, because most people who are into Zen also mistakenly think it’s a Zen thing. It’s not really a Zen thing, although it was picked up by Zen. It’s actually a simile from Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism that appeared in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and it is not about sectarianism.