Tathātā (/ˌtætəˈtɑː/; Sanskrit: तथाता; Pali: tathatā) is a Buddhist term variously translated as "thusness" or "suchness", referring to the nature of reality free from conceptual elaborations and the subject–object distinction.
In Theravada, this term designates the nature of existence (bhāva), the truth which applies to things.
"[7] Tathatā in the East Asian Mahayana tradition is seen as representing the base reality and can be used to terminate the use of words.
It manifests the highest wisdom which shines throughout the world, it has true knowledge and a mind resting simply in its own being.
H. Robinson, echoing D. T. Suzuki, conveys how the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra perceives dharmata through the portal of śūnyatā: "The Laṅkāvatāra is always careful to balance Śūnyatā with Tathatā, or to insist that when the world is viewed as śūnya, empty, it is grasped in its suchness.