Chandrakirti notes

There is no awareness standing apart from appearance.

Presence is not attention directed toward something.

Presence is what remains when attention is no longer recruit ed.

This is why the question “Should attention be on phenomena or awareness?” is already one step too late. Both assume a manager. The freedom you’re circling doesn’t require correct placement of attention — it requires the absence of the impulse to place attention.

Being in the moment is not something you do — it’s what’s left when you stop intervening in the moment’s self-display.

Instead, Buddha-nature points to one thing only: the emptiness of mind and phenomena is what makes awakening possible.

So in Chandrakīrti’s hands:

• Buddha-nature is not a presence.
• It is not a substrate.
• It is not even a “truth” to be realized.

It is simply a designation for openness — the absence of ontological obstruction.

And once that’s seen, the term can be dropped without loss. Just like emptiness. Just like nonduality. Just like “That.”