#svabhava

[astranemus]

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “To say that [the self] is nonexistent or to say that it is existent is mistaken speech. If it is nonexistent, then why do playfulness, laughter, crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so forth arise so clearly? Therefore, it is not correct to say that it is nonexistent. One should not say that it is existent or nonexistent. Since this would be a fault, one should not say that it exists or that it does not exist.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Then what is apprehended in this case?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “Nothing at all is apprehended.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Is it as empty as the sky?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “Friends, it is exactly like that! It is as empty as the sky."

The tīrthikas asked, “If that is so, then how should one view playfulness, laughter, crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so forth?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “They should be regarded as like an illusion, a dream, and a magical deception.”

From the Questions on Selflessness Mahayana sutra

[artofthemindblog]

The meaning of “emptiness” in the Buddhist tradition

"Buddhism acknowledges that we have an idea of what it would be to have “own-being” (svabhava), but we never run across such a being in the world. The more deeply we inquire into the being of the world that we encounter the more we see that nothing exists in a way that is free from dependence on other things. Our idea of “own-being” does not come from, does not derive from, the world we know. It is an idea that arises in the human mind, but is never found in the real world. This is the meaning of “emptiness [śūnyatā] in the Buddhist tradition."

--Terrence Deacon, 'Steps to a Metaphysics of Incompleteness'

[astranemus]

It is important to realize that svabhāva understood as substance that Nāgārjuna rejects is not a theoretical posit, an entity an insufficiently sophisticated philosopher might postulate, but a kind of cognitive default, a way of superimposing something onto the world that is automatic and immediate and not the result of detailed theoretical reflection. We carry out such superimpositions when we regard the rapidly changing set of psycho-physical aggregates that constitutes us as a single, permanent, independent self but also in our daily interaction with other persons, medium-sized dry goods, linguistic representations and so forth. These then lead to all sorts of painful emotional entanglements and constitute the key source of suffering described in the Buddhist teachings. It is crucial to keep in mind in this context that the Madhyamaka distinguishes between the understanding of the absence of svabhāva or emptiness and its realization. The former is a purely intellectual response resulting from being convinced by the Madhyamaka arguments; it does not entail that phenomena will no longer appear as having svabhāva. They will only cease to appear in this way as a result of the realization of emptiness. The aim of Madhyamaka thought is therefore not simply to present an accurate account of the nature of the world, but to bring about a cognitive change, a change in the way in which the world appears to us. It is useful to compare this situation with the perception of an optical illusion such as the Müller-Lyer illusion in which two lines of equal length appear to be of different length. By using a ruler we can convince ourselves that our perception deceives us; by learning more about perceptive mechanisms we can understand why we perceive the lines in the way they do. But none of this implies that the lines will in the end look as if they are equally long.

Nāgārjuna entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

[k-star-holic]

'Monthly Magazine Home' Jung So-min - Kim Ji-seok, Heart Signal sprouting in a glance

[ozarde]

Nagarjuna's philosophy: Emptiness and Svabhava.

The central concept around which all of Nagarjuna's philosophy is built is the notion of emptiness (Shunyata). Emptiness is of course always the emptiness of something, and the something Nagarjuna has in mind here is Svabhava. Different terms have been used to translate this word into English: “inherent existence” and “intrinsic nature” appear to be the more popular choices, but “substance” and “essence” have also been proposed. None of these cover the full complexity of the term, however. We therefore have to give some more detailed account of the way Svabhava is characterized in Nagarjuna's thought. By understanding what empty things are supposed to be empty of we simultaneously gain a more precise understanding of the concept of emptiness.

[manupillai]

SVABHAVA

[english-tibetan-dictionary]

svabhava

ngo bo - svabhava 1) essence, nature, character, attribute, identity, entity, intrinsic / central / essential nature, vital substance, core, being, inmost nature. 2) principle, existence, fact. 3) entity, fact of being, identity. 4) definition, main principle. 5) what it comes down to, at bottom, in fact, 5) essential meaning [in textual introduction]. See also {bdag nyid} [RY]

ngo bo nyid kyi sku - svabhavikakaya; essence body, svabhava-kaya, quintessential body, body of essentiality; essential nature of being itself [RY]

ngo bo nyid kyi sku - essence body, svabhava-kaya, [quintessential body, the body of their essentiality [Gd mk] [IW]

ngo bo nyid sku - svabhavikakaya [sher phyin don bdun cu'i nang gses, sangs rgyas kyi sku'i bye brag dag pa gnyis ldan gyi dbyings mthar thug pa'i sku,... Svabhavakaya, entity body, essential body [gd-mk], nature body, nature truth body, openess of the nature of existence, emptiness of nature/ essence, voidness of nature one of the {stong pa nyid bcu brgyad} = 18 types of openess [IW]

ngo bo nyid stong pa nyid - emptiness of essence, [svabhava-shunyata] emptiness of the nature of existence, emptiness of nature, voidness of nature. one of the {stong pa nyid bcu brgyad} eighteen types of emptiness [RY]

chos kyi bdag rang mtshan gyi grub pa med pa'i stong nyid - the emptiness of non-establishment of a[n individuating self-nature / svabhava and svalakshana] of dharmas [IW]

rang bzhin - svabhava 1) nature, fundamental / inherent / ultimate nature, essence, own-being, character, quality, identity, self-nature. Syn {bdag} see {ngo bo rang bzhin thugs rje}. 2) intrinsic reality, actuality essence. Syn voidness, 3) self-existence, 4) frame of reference, natural expression [of mind]. 5) natural, naturally, short for {rang bzhin gyis} 6) manifesting. 7) character, consist of. 8) essence, 9) himself, oneself, own, self, intrinsic, natural, self spontaneous; similar to {ngo bo} but when referring to sugatagarbha, {ngo bo} refers to the emptiness part whereas {rang bzhin} refers to the luminosity or clarity part. 10) primal matter Syn {gtso bo}. / by nature, naturally. vi. to be of the nature of. type, manifesting, nature. Similar to {nang tshul, gshis}, {chos nyid} and {gnas lugs}; consist of, essential [original] nature, own being, in its own being, state of own being, there has been born; independent existence; inherent nature/ self-nature/ the v! ery nature (of things); natural forms [in grammar]. natural expression. the natural expression. essential [original] nature, state of own being, nature, inherent nature, actuality, frame of reference; nature, character; inherent nature, the true nature; natural character [RY]

shu nya ta'i sngags - Shunyata mantra. The mantra Om svabhava shuddho sarva dharma svabhava shuddho 'ham [RY]