IT IS WHAT IT IS

Tathata or dharmata is a Buddhist term meaning suchness, thatness, thusness, and is the equivalent of our contemporary expression, "it is what it is."

Zen likes to use tathata to refer to the wonders of nature, the deep blue sky, the white fluffy clouds, the dense green forests, the beauty of which is beyond description, hence simply tathata.

Tathata may also be used to deal with complex philosophical questions, such as, in Vedanta, why we humans are the ones through whom the Atman is to awaken?  Why does spiritual liberation come through us and not through, say, a lion or a bumble bee or a pine tree?  We say tathata but is this enough?  Don't we want at least some speculation on it?  

For example, the answer may be that ours is the only brain to have evolved self-awareness.  We are aware of ourselves, and we are aware that we are aware, and this invites the true self, the Atman, to come forth.

This is not an ability we brought about ourselves, of course, but rather is something that evolution provided, and quite randomly.  A lion, a bee, or a tree could just as easily be the liberating route, had things gone a little differently.

Returning to Buddhism, the Buddha wanted nothing to do with philosophical speculation such as this, and certainly not regarding the Atman, of which he was not a supporter.  Attempting to answer unanswerable questions is like trying to stand up in a pool of quick sand, he would say. 

Therefore, tathata.  Just tathata.