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bhūta-tathatā

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

bhūta-tathatā (Skt.). Term used in Mahāyāna Buddhism to denote the inherent or true nature of phenomena. The term can mean either ‘true suchness’ or ‘the suchness of things’, and is commonly used to contrast the quintessential nature of phenomena with their external appearance. For example, according to the Madhyamaka school, the ‘true suchness’ of objects is emptiness (śūnyatā), whereas they appear to the unenlightened as solid, enduring, and possessed of an individual nature or ‘own being’ (svabhāva). Bhūta-tathatā is thus that which is ultimately real as opposed to the changing forms in which phenomena manifest themselves as they arise and pass away.

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