Basic goodness is a term coined by Tibetan spiritual teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and is a core concept in his terma. It is used both to discuss the experience of reality and also basic human nature, which arises as fundamental virtue. Everything that arises is, at the ground level from beginningless time, good. In his 1980 Seminary, he associates this term with both absolute bodhicitta and specifically the Tibetan term künshi ngangluk kyi gewa (Wylie: kun gzhi ngang lugs kyi dge ba), which comes from the Kadam tradition and refers to the natural virtues of the künshi (Tibetan; Sanskrit: ālāya).

Three virtues

This ethical scheme presents three virtues: In his 1981 Seminary, he described the term as also referring to personal wholesomeness and dedication to others.

Explanations

Melvin McLeod explains the term "basic" as indicating the primordial, self-existing nature and "goodness" as a faultless aspect. John Miller associated the term with Buddha-nature. Trungpa Rinpoche's son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, expressed the relationship between basic goodness and enlightened society in these words: