The Lexicon
Who you really are
Buddhahood
Buddha Nature is the innate awakened essence present in every being — the seed of enlightenment that has never been absent, only obscured. It is not something to be acquired but something to be uncovered, for the luminous, empty, knowing nature of mind is already complete in each of us. The clouds of confusion may hide the sun, yet the sun has never stopped shining; so too the Buddha within is whole even in the midst of delusion. To awaken is simply to recognize what was always already the case.
Carried by 8 teachers · across 3 traditions · 4 quotes
The Zen and Dzogchen streams point directly to this nature. Dogen teaches that practice and realization are one, that sitting itself is the expression of the Buddha already present; Huang Po speaks of the one Mind that is all beings; the masters of resting awareness invite us to recognize the naked, open quality of mind itself. The path is not to become a Buddha but to stop overlooking the Buddha-nature that is reading these very words.
In their words
Satori is the sudden flashing into consciousness of a new truth hitherto undreamed of.D.T. Suzuki
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.The Gospel of Thomas
All beings are primordially Buddhas.Hakuin Ekaku
All sentient beings without exception have the Buddha nature.Mahaparinirvana Sutra