[polleroy]

@Element (especially)

I had earlier had a few exchanges with you regarding the concept of whether "Buddha Nature" was a "value added" component or represented a kind of stripping away of the veil(s) of ignorance we're subject to on a constant basis. We had discussed what was meant by "luminous and aware" in the context of the epithet "Buddha Nature". I think that the above quote proffered by Aloka is germane. Note that this mind (what we referred to as "Buddha Nature") is far different from the mind of a Buddha acting in its capacity as Buddha. A Buddha makes a specific promise to help sentient beings; the promise is in the nature of compassionate activity within the triple world; this activity is characterized by specific abilities and "powers", as they are called. The ability to rest in the non-conceptual discernment of emptiness is not what makes a Buddha unique; it's what is common to Buddha and arahant and, additionally, to an arya, while resting in this state.

Ajahn Buddhadasa:

"If at any moment any person at all has a mind empty of grasping at and clinging to 'I' and 'mine', even if it is only for an instant, it means that the mind has realized emptiness. It is pure, radiant and at peace. It is one and the same thing as the heart of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Thus at any moment that one has a mind empty in this way one has taken refuge, one has reached the Triple Gem."

http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha196.htm