Tathagata-garbha belief is an important doctrine in Chinese Buddhism. However, the validity of the tathagata-garbha belief has been challenged by modern scholars. Criticizing from the perspective of Yogacara, Lu Cheng believed that tathagata-garbha mentioned by the Buddha was actually an expedient expression of the potentiality of the alaya consciousness. In the same vein, Yinshun also believed that the tathagata-garbha belief was an expedient expression for those who feared the idea of non-self. As compared to the Chinese scholars who deemed tathagata-garbha as an expedient measure, Japan’s “Critical Buddhism” scholars believed that tathagata-garbha belief did not come from the Buddha. This paper argues that, by incorporating different interpretations of Yogacara and Madhyamaka, the tathagata-garbha centered theory of harmonization proposed by Zongmi, a great Buddhist master from the mid Tang Dynasty, can resolve disputes from aforementioned scholars. The second chapter of the paper explores the origin of Zongmi’s tathagata-garbha belief. It was known from his biography that his early years were spent studying Confucianism’s statesmanship. However, his disappointment with the imperial civil examination system made him turn to Buddhism. He was first introduced to the southern Chan school, of which the core teaching was to “manifest the true Buddha nature” by being thoughtless. Practitioners attain enlightenment through “sudden enlightenment,” realizing that the true nature was empty. It gains nothing, and dwells on nothing. However, Chan Buddhism could not offer satisfactory explanations for myriad phenomena of cause and effect, rise and decease. Therefore, Zongmi turned to Huayan school, and later became the fifth patriarch of Huayan school of Buddhism. The Huayan school of Buddhism explains all the phenomena of the transcendental and secular world with “One True Dharma Realm.” According to this, Zongmi proposed the idea of “Dharma Nature” to include everything, and the idea of tathagata-garbha to explain samsara, and the possibility of attaining Buddhahood. The former was ontology, the later methodology. It was a significant contribution Zongmi made to the Huayan school of Buddhism. The third chapter discussed the core essence of Zongmi’s “harmonization,” namely the “true nature,” of which the characteristic is eternal, all pervasive, as-such, dependent-arising, and of which the function is transcendental knowledge in practice. However, since all sentient beings do possess tathagata-garbha in the beginning, why did they transmigrate to lower realms? This chapter explains that the primary cause of all the transmigration is tathagata-garbha, while the secondary cause is ignorance which gives rises to vijbana (consciousness.) It
