Buddha Nature Is Observed Without Clinging

Teachings on Buddha nature can give practitioners great strength. If we do not trust that the path of awakening is open to everyone, study can easily become tired and tilt toward giving up. But when that trust hardens into the thought, "There is already something unchanging inside me," it risks leaving the Buddhist meaning of no-self and dependent arising.

The important point in today's teaching is not to grasp Buddha nature like a thing kept inside. Buddha nature is not a substance stored in the body, and it is not something we can claim to own through words. What we awaken to is not an inner object, but the principle of the Dharma. In the flow of everything arising and passing according to conditions, we look for the right path that becomes clear when we do not cling.

That is why the wisdom of the middle way is needed. If we cling only to the thought "it exists," we grasp Buddha nature like atman. If we cling only to the thought "it does not exist," we lose the direction of practice. The middle way is not a convenient compromise between the two. It is the wisdom that lets us see things rightly without being tied to either extreme.

Think of shaping pottery. A finished bowl is not hidden inside a lump of clay like an object. Clay, water, the touch of the hands, the balance of the wheel, the heat of the fire, and patient waiting must meet rightly for a bowl to appear. This does not mean there is no possibility at all. When the right conditions and careful hands are present, clay is revealed in the form of a bowl.

Practice is the same. To trust Buddha nature is not to settle into the thought, "I already have it." It is also not to decide, "There is nothing," and abandon the path. It is to trust the principle of the Dharma, not cling to a conclusion at either extreme, and actually observe the mind today.

Difficult teachings can become dangerous when we define them too quickly in words. The more this is true, the more humbly we need to examine them. Notice what you are trying to possess, what you are pushing away by denying it, and which conclusion the mind is leaning toward. From that noticing, practice begins again.