Tathātā (; Sanskrit romanised: tathātā; Pali romanised: tathatā) is a Buddhist term variously translated as “thusness” or “suchness” and meaning the true, concrete essence or nature of things before ideas or words about them
It is a central concept in Mahayana Buddhism, having a particular significance in Chan Buddhism as well
The synonym dharmatā is also often used
While alive the Buddha referred to himself as the Tathāgata, which can mean either “One who has thus come” or “One who has thus gone”, and can also be interpreted as “One who has arrived at suchness”