There are various meanings for the terms “Buddha-nature” and “the Pure Mind” in the classics of Mahayana Buddhism. In some occasions, these terms mean finding the nature of the Pure Mind in the aspect of anthology, whereas in other places they refer to the cognitive structure of the “Eight Knowledge”, which is mainly about the methodology aspect of the Pure Mind. In fact the relationship between the anthology and the methodology meanings of the Pure Mind or Buddha-nature is similar to that of the lights and lighting that is distinctive but closely related, based on which Zen Buddhism, in the later, reckoned the “understanding of the nature of the Pure Mind ” and “seeing the Buddha-nature in shinning” as two steps towards the way to Enlightment. These processes, however, were demonstrated in details by the Buddhist monk YongmingYanshou in his works.
