DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to the foundational Mahayana Buddhist teaching of Tathatā (’Suchness’) based upon the seminal commentary attributed to Aśvaghoṣa, The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana 大乗起信論. As part of the Dharma Department curriculum, the primary objective of this course is develop a deeper understanding of a particular Buddhist philosophical idea or concept. While the concept of tathā may be found among the earliest teachings of the Buddha, True Suchness (bhūta-tathatā) and "reality as-it-is" (yathābhūta) become central to Mahayana Buddhist teachings on the innate purity of the phenomenal world.
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Primary Reading
The Awakening of Faith, Attributed to Asvaghosha. Translated by Yoshito S. Hakeda. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.