On Fa Bao’s Thoughts about Tathatābīja and Tathatālana-Pratyayabīja

Fa Bao was an important and active Buddhist ideologist in the early Tang dynasty.His dispute with Hui-zhao on the tathatābīja and tathatālana-pratyayabīja had a great influence on the history of development of Buddhist thoughts in China and Japan.Fa-bao re-interpreted the conception of the tathatālambanapratyayabīja in the Yogacara-bhūmi based on the theory of the tathatālambanapratyayabīja,made a change to the innate seeds(bija)from the theory of perfumation(vāsanā),and strived to hold the Buddha nature in the two aspects,original nature(Ben-xing)and Ke-xing,i.e.ontology and genetic theory respectively.Fabao insisted that all sentient beings have the Buddha nature,the differences of Five natures(pacagotrāi)are not the result of original na- ture(Ben-xing),but the result of perfumation.He emphasized on the important signification of Buddhist cultivation,and his theory of the Buddha nature is the important sector of sinicization of India Buddhism.