Tathāgatagarbha - Is it the carrier, the core, or the both
What matters first It looks like the both. Tathāgatagarbha in Ratnagotravibhāga sattvadhāturiti śāriputra tathāgatagarbhasyaitadadhivacanam <<Chap. 1, the prose following 1st verse. here >> All-sentient-beings, oh Sariputra, it is an alias of Tathagatagarbha. " sattvadhātu" is a collection of people so " tathāgatagarbha " should be in the same class of it following the "Apple-to-apple" rule of noun. Chinese translation Ratnagotravibhāga is translated into "宝性論", however, gotra is " gene, family, clan, or bloodline" in the meaning. So, "性"("nature" in modern Japanese meaning) is an ancient alternative use of "姓"(family name). Ratnagotravibhāga Translation project Leaving the all things behind, I made a new project: My new project Github page here.