Tathāgata
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Tathāgata (pronounced: tāht-āhgatah) in Pali and Sanskrit (Chin., Jap.: 如来） meaning "one who has thus gone" - tathā-gata; "one who has thus come" - tathā-āgata; or " one who has gone to That", Tat-āgata; ) is the name which the historical Buddha Gautama used when referring to himself.[1] The term is deliberately ambiguous, reflecting the ineffable ontological status of a fully liberated human being transcending categories of being and non-being. Thus tathāgata reflects this unsignifiability. Gautama Buddha used this word as his preferred personal appellation. In the scriptures instead of saying 'me' or 'myself' he says, "The tathagata is such and such..." emphasising that as an enlightened being he has gone beyond Emptiness and No-self. True 'Buddha-Self-nature' being a central doctrine of the Buddha's teaching.
[edit] Interpretations
Since the word tathāgata is a compound of two parts, different interpretations arise depending on which two parts one separates the word into.
For example, if one takes tathāgata to be composed of Tat and āgata one may conclude the following: Tat (lit. 'that') has from time immemorial in India meant the absolute (in orthodox Hinduism called Brahman), as in the famous Upanishadic dictum: “That thou art” (Tat tvam asi) from the Chandogya Upanishad, a widely discussed spiritual document in the time of the Buddha. “That” here refers to which the muni, or sage, has reached at the pinnacle of his having fulfilled wisdom’s perfection in the attainment of final liberation.
This interpretation, however, is not in accord with Sanskrit grammar, which clearly offers two possibilities for breaking up the compound: either Tathā and āgata or Tathā and gata.
Tathā means 'thus' in Sanskrit and Pali, and Buddhist thought takes this to refer to what is called 'reality as-it-is' (Yathā-bhūta). This reality is also referred to as 'thusness' or 'suchness' (tathatā) indicating simply that it (reality) is what it is. A Buddha or Arhat is defined as someone who 'knows and sees reality as-it-is' (yathā bhūta ñāna dassana).
Gata is the past passive participle of the verbal root gam (going, traveling). Āgata adds the verbal prefix Ā which gives the meaning “come, arrival, gone-unto”. Thus in this interpretation Tathāgata means literally either “(The one who has) gone to suchness” or "(The one who has) arrived at suchness."
Tathāgata is therefore a personal appellation of that very rare someone who has realized by experiential wisdom the nature of things just as they are.
In the Dhammapada, the actions of an arahant are described as without trace (ananuvejja) or 'trackless' (apada) 'like the birds in the sky' (ākāse'va sakuntānam gati tesam durannayā[2]). Similarly in the Mahabharata there is a verse which says: 'Just as the footprint of birds flying in the sky and of fish swimming in the water may not be seen, so is the going of those who have realised the truth' (tathā jñānavidam gatih), Śāntiparva 181. 12. Tathāgata therefore evokes this indefinable, ineffable quality of one who has arrived at the truth.
Another common interpretation is that tathāgata means 'one who comes and goes' (in the same manner as all the Buddhas). This understanding comes from early Buddhist mythology where the Buddha is considered a teacher come from the Tusita heaven (satthā Tusita gani-m-āgata - Sutta Nipāta 5. 955
