如來藏三經一論的自性清淨說： 以他空中觀二諦觀點詮解=The Pure Self-nature of the Tathagata’s Three Sūtras and One Śāstra —Interpretation from “Other-emptiness” of Two Truths on the Middle Way
“The Tathāgatagarbha Sutra,” “The Sutra of Neither Increase nor Decrease ,” “ The Śrīmālā Sutra ,” and “The Ratnagotravibhaga” are the three sutras and one commentary for the Tathāgatagarbha tradition. This article attempts to give a deeper understanding of the theory of self-nature purity through the interpretation of Other-emptiness (Shentong) in the view of the Two Truths according to the Middle Way (also The Madhyamaka) in the Tibetan Buddhist Jonangpa school. First, in the theory of self-nature purity, which is the view of the ultimate truth, neither the defiled Buddha-nature nor the pure Buddha-nature corresponds to afflictions. Furthermore, the analysis of the defilement of sentient beings and the practice of the path to the cessation of suffering is the view of the conventional truth. It does not affect the emptiness and the non-emptiness of Tathāgatagarbha as the essence of self-nature purity. “The Ratnagotravibhaga” proposes different levels of purity in accordance with different ranks, such as ordinary people, to knowing that the afflictions have no self-nature, and that samsara (the cycle of life and death) is not real. From this perspective, we should face up to the relationship between self-nature purity and afflictions. Based on the theory of pure and impure interconnected arising, transforming from the defiled Buddha-nature to the pure Buddha-nature, this paper differentiates the “Fundamental Transformation” (Āśraya-parāvaṛtti) of the Tathāgatagarbha from the “Suchness Transformation” of the Yogacara school. The theory of the self-nature purity of Tathāgatagarbha develops the principle of “Unchanging Suchness.”
