TATHĀGATA-GARBHA. Early monastic Buddhism emphasized the reality of "selflessness" (anātmatā) as the essential nature of all beings. The "ignorance" (avidyā) at the root of suffering in the samsaric life cycle was said to be the misperception of a fixed and independent "self" (ātman) within a selfless, wholly relative person. The overcoming of the delusion of self was called "wisdom" (prajñā), and it was commonly explained as the "wisdom of selflessness." However, the earliest sermons of the Buddha are replete with such expressions as "mastery of the self is the real mastery," "he who conquers his own self is the supreme warrior," and so forth. Self-control was a prime goal of the early Buddhist monk or nun. Thus, the term self had two distinct connotations. In one, it referred to a fixed, independent, self-substance, and in the other, it referred to the living...