英語で仏教の基礎を味わう第三回。今回は、「仏と如来は違うの？」ということをお話ししてみたいと思います。

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“Buddha” and “Tathagata” are one and the same.

“Buddha” means “one who has awakened to truth.” The compound word “Nyorai” comes from an Indian word tathagata, meaning tatha (the condition of being as it should be) and gata (going), or perhaps agata (coming).

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The Chinese laid the stress on the sense of “coming,” thus leading to the current characters for nyorai in Japanese.

The word tatha indicating the original condition of something was also translated as shinnyo, meaning “thusness” and representing the world of enlightenment, the world of Absolute Truth. This is what meant by truth in the expression “one who awakened to the truth.”

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Therefore, tathagata (nyorai) has the meaning of “one who has come from the world of absolute truth in order to save all sentient beings.” It is therefore another name for “buddha” which places special emphasis on the workings of the buddha. Whether one refers to Amida Buddha or Amida Tathagata, the meanings is absolutely identical.