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The Tathagatagarbha doctrine says that each sentient being contains the potential to become a Buddha. Tathagata is one of the ten epithets for a Buddha. The Tathagatagarbha doctrine arose mainly within Mahayanists who were associated to some degree or another with Yogacara studies, in order to clearly account for the possibility of the attainment of Buddhahood by ignorant sentient beings. Two of the most important early texts for the introduction of this doctrine are the Sriml-sutra and the Awakening of Faith. The Tathagatagarbha doctrine is closely related to that of the notion of Buddha-nature.
In modern-Western manifestations of the Zen Buddhist tradition, it is considered insufficient simply to understand Buddha-nature intellectually. Rather it must be experienced and felt directly, in one's entire mind and body together. Enlightenment in a certain sense consists of a direct experience of one's authentic identity, which is traditionally described as ( emptiness), the ultimate reality of Buddha-nature.
The Zen tradition often uses parables to try to explain the Buddha-nature: according to one story, a monk once approached the Zen master Chao-chou ( Japanese: Joshu) and asked him, "Does a dog possess Buddha-nature or not?" Chao-chou replied with the one-word answer " Wú" (pronounced "mu" in Japanese). His response, which among other things constitutes a negative term and the sound of a dog barking, indicated that the question could not answered with a straightforward assertion or negation. Rather, through the contemplation of the question, or the absurdity of it, one may perhaps gain an experience of Buddha-nature directly.
Buddha-nature (Awakened-nature) has been connected in recent decades with the developments of robotics and the possible eventual creation of artificial intelligence. In the 1970sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Years: 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 Events and trends, the JapaneseJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh roboticist Masahiro MoriMasahiro Mori (b. 1927) is a Japanese robotocist noted for his pioneering experiments on the emotional response of humans to non-human entities, as well as for his views on religion and robots. In 1974, Mori published The Buddha in the Robot: a Robot Engi popularized the idea that robots, under certain conditions, may possess Buddha-nature. Mori has since founded an institute to study the metaphysical implications of such technology.
The implication or the question is, can a perfect simulation of intelligent outward behaviour really light the inner spark of a self-aware consciousness principle in an artificial entity? Given the doctrine of anatman, is there any difference between the subjective experiences of a robot that acts intelligent and an animal that is intelligent?
Key texts associated with this doctrine are the Tathagatagarbha Sutra which contains a series of images for what the Tathagatagarbha is, and The Lion's Roar Discourse of Queen srimala.