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Tathāgata () is a Pali and Sanskrit word; Gautama Buddha uses it when referring to himself in the Pāli Canon. The term is often thought to mean either "one who has thus gone" (''tathā-gata'') or "one who has thus come" (''tathā-āgata''). This is interpreted as signifying that the Tathāgata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena. There are, however, other interpretations and the precise original meaning of the word is not certain.〔Chalmers, Robert. (The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1898. pp.103-115 )〕 The Buddha is quoted on numerous occasions in the Pali Canon as referring to himself as ''the Tathāgata'' instead of using the pronouns ''me'', ''I'' or ''myself''. This may be meant to emphasize by implication that the teaching is uttered by one who has transcended the human condition, one beyond the otherwise endless cycle of rebirth and death, i.e. beyond dukkha. The term also occurs as a synonym for arhat, identifying one who has attained the ultimate in the holy life.〔Peter Harvey, ''The Selfless Mind.'' Curzon Press 1995〕 There is even a sense in which such a one is no longer human.〔Peter Harvey, ''An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History, and Practices.''Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 28.〕 "a tathāgata, a superior state of being (''uttama-puriso'')".〔 In the new religious movement of Falun Gong; the Tathāgata of a realm is the highest level enlightened being that can still manifest on earth to interact with human beings in order to save them. Founder Li Hongzhi claimed that both Jesus and Laozi were Tathāgatas.〔Li Hongzhi, ''Zhuan Falun II.'' Minghui Press 2008〕 ==Etymology and interpretation== The word's original significance is not known and there has been speculation about it since at least the time of Buddhaghosa, who gives eight interpretations of the word, each with different etymological support, in his commentary on the Digha Nikaya, the ''Sumangalailasini'':〔 # He who has arrived in such fashion, i.e. who has worked his way upwards to perfection for the world's good in the same fashion as all previous Buddhas. # He who walked in such fashion, i.e. (a) he who at birth took the seven equal steps in the same fashion as all previous Buddhas or (b) he who in the same way as all previous Buddhas went his way to Buddhahood through the four Jhanas and the Paths. # He who by the path of knowledge has come at the real essentials of things. # He who has won Truth. # He who has discerned Truth. # He who declares Truth. # He whose words and deeds accord. # The great physician whose medicine is all-potent. Modern scholarly opinion generally opines that Sanskrit grammar offers at least two possibilities for breaking up the compound word: either ''tathā'' and ''āgata'' or ''tathā'' and ''gata.''〔Bhikkhu Bodhi, ''In the Buddha's Words.'' Wisdom Publications, 2005〕 ''Tathā'' means "thus" in Sanskrit and Pali, and Buddhist thought takes this to refer to what is called "reality as-it-is" (''yathābhūta''). This reality is also referred to as "thusness" or "suchness" (tathatā), indicating simply that it (reality) is what it is. A buddha or arhat is defined as someone who "knows and sees reality as-it-is" (''yathā bhūta ñāna dassana''). ''Gata'' "gone" is the past passive participle of the verbal root ''gam'' "go, travel". ''Āgata'' "come" is the past passive participle of the verb meaning "come, arrive". In this interpretation, Tathāgata means literally either “the one who has gone to suchness” or "the one who has arrived at suchness". Another interpretation, proposed by the scholar Richard Gombrich, is based on the fact that that, when used as a suffix in compounds, ''-gata'' often loses its literal meaning and signifies instead "being". Tathāgata would thus mean "one like that", with no motion in either direction.〔Jayarava, (27 February 2009). ("Philological odds and ends I" ), jayarava.blogspot.com, . Retrieved 2012-10-03〕 According to Fyodor Shcherbatskoy, the term has a non-Buddhist origin, and is best understood when compared to its usage in non-Buddhist works such as the ''Mahabharata''.〔Florin Giripescu Sutton (1991),''Existence and Enlightenment in the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra: A Study in the Ontology and Epistemology of the Yogācāra School of Mahāyāna Buddhism'', p.104〕 Shcherbatskoy gives the following example from the ''Mahabharata'' (''Shantiparva'', 181.22): "Just as the footprints of birds (flying) in the sky and fish (swimming) in water cannot be seen, Thus (''tātha'') is going (''gati'') of those who have realized the Truth." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tathāgata」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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