Buddha-Nature

In Buddhism there is a concept known as "buddhadhātu" in Sanskrit, which translates to "Buddha-Nature". This is the belief that all humans have the ability to recognize right from wrong. This is almost a universal believe among religions. The Muslims call it "Taqwa", the Chinese call it "Ren", the Quakers call it "Inner Light", the Freemasons represent it with the square and compass, Mormons call it "The Light of Christ", in everyday language we would simply call it "conscience". Some say that we were created by a god with this sense and some say we evolved it for better survival. Regardless of how we got it, we have it now, and that's what matters.

Let's focus on this concept in the Buddhist context for now. Buddhists believe that we inherently have the ability to realize their enlightenment. There are many that believe we are naturally enlightened, and over time we lose sight of that. By following our Buddha-Nature, we are able to rediscover our enlightenment. A common metaphor is like looking at the sun when there's clouds in front of it. Right now you can't quite see it, but eventually it'll be clear again. We as humans just happen to have the ability to make those clouds in our mind float away!

If we think of Buddha-Nature as the ingrained map towards enlightenment, then it would also exhibit the signs of enlightenment, which are called the 4 Sublime Attitudes. They are

1. Friendliness
2. Compassion
3. Sympathetic Joy
4. Equanimity