This paper surveys and interprets textual sources about the Buddha’s declaration at the time of his birth in his final rebirth. Based on this textual study, this paper endeavors to interpret the Buddha’s declaration at the time of birth especially from the perspective of “the Tathāgata Within in terms of not-emptiness.” This paper is divided into seven sections. Section one offers a broad outline of this paper’s argument and a breakdown of its individual sections. Section two briefly explains what is meant by the phrase “the Buddha’s declaration at the time of birth” and proposes an interpretative framework composed of the following key ideas: “the Tathāgata Within in terms of emptiness,” “the Tathāgata Within in terms of not-emptiness,” “pāramitā,” “making the world’s foremost achievement,” “fearlessness,” and “lion’s roar.” Based on the Pañca-viṃśati-sāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, Tathāgata-garbha-sūtra, the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra, and the Ghana-vyūha-sūtra, section three demonstrates how tathāgata-garbha can be a key concept in guiding the practices along the path to enlightenment through four factors, i.e., practices on a broad scale, long-term commitment to practices, comprehensively dealing with ālaya-vijñāna, and thoroughly making Tathāgata a reality. Drawing from several passages of the Cūḷa-suññata-sutta and Saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra, section four elucidates a dynamic process involving both designators of emptiness and not-emptiness conducive to a better understanding of the functioning of the whole concept of tathāgata-garbha. Section five employs the Śrī-mālā-devī-siṃha-nāda-nirdeśa as the main literary source to define and discuss “the Tathāgata Within in terms of emptiness” and “the Tathāgata Within in terms of not-emptiness” with a focus on a praxis-oriented philosophy of life. Section six explicates and contextualizes the Buddha’s declaration at the time of birth from the angle of “the Tathāgata Within in terms of not-emptiness.” Section seven concludes and summarizes the main points of this paper.
Keywords:
declaration at the time of birth; the last & final rebirth of a Bodhisattva; the Tathāgata Within in terms of emptiness; the Tathāgata Within in terms of not-emptiness; Śrī-mālā-devī