Mahayana sutras
Encyclopedia
Mahāyāna sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist
scriptures that are accepted as canonical by the various traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism. These are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon
, the Tibetan Buddhist canon
, and in extant Sanskrit
manuscripts. Some six hundred Mahāyāna sutras have survived in Sanskrit or in Chinese and Tibetan translations.
veneration, or by making parallels with the history of the European Protestant Reformation
. These views have been largely dismissed in modern times in light of a much broader range of early texts that are now available. These earliest Mahāyāna texts often depict strict adherence to the path of a bodhisattva, and engagement in the ascetic ideal of a monastic life in the wilderness, akin to the ideas expressed in the Rhinoceros Sūtra
. The old views of Mahāyāna as a separate lay-inspired and devotional sect are now largely dismissed as misguided and wrong on all counts.
The earliest textual evidence of "Mahāyāna" comes from sūtras originating around the beginning of the common era. Jan Nattier has noted that in some of the earliest Mahāyāna texts such as the Ugraparipṛccha Sūtra use the term "Mahāyāna", yet there is no doctrinal difference between Mahāyāna in this context and the early schools, and that "Mahāyāna" referred rather to the rigorous emulation of Gautama Buddha
in the path of a bodhisattva seeking to become a fully enlightened buddha.
There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya
or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka
ordination lineage in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda
ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism
. Therefore Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools.
The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century CE, distinguishes Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna as follows:
Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China
by Lokakṣema
, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese
during the 2nd century CE.
have argued that the Mahāyāna sutras are not historical. Andrew Skilton summarizes a common prevailing view of the Mahāyāna sutras:
John W. Pettit, while stating, "Mahayana has not got a strong historical claim for representing the explicit teachings of the historical Buddha", also argues that the basic concepts of Mahāyāna do occur in the Pāli canon and that this suggests that Mahāyāna is "not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines" but "has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself".
It should be noted that however weak claim to historicity that the Mahāyāna sutras hold, this does not mean that all scholars believe that the Pāli Canon is historical; some scholars believe that it is not.
Still others such as D.T. Suzuki have stated that it doesn't matter if the Mahāyāna sutras can be historically linked to the Buddha or not, since Mahāyāna is a living tradition and its teachings are followed by millions of people.
According to Venerable Hsuan Hua
from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a buddha, a disciple of a buddha, a deva
, a ṛṣi
, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a buddha that its contents are true Dharma. Then these sutras may be properly regarded as the words of the Buddha (Skt. buddhavacana).
Some teachers take the view that all teachings that stem from the fundamental insights of Buddha constitute the Buddha's speech, whether they are explicitly the historical words of the Buddha or not. There are scriptural supports for this perspective even in the Pāli Canon. There the Buddha is asked how the disciples should verify, after his death, which of the teachings circulating are his. In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16) the Buddha is quoted as saying:
series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. Some early Mahāyāna sūtras were translated by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokakṣema
, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhāra
. His first translations to Chinese were made in the Chinese capital of Luoyang
between 178 and 189 CE. Some Mahāyāna sūtras translated during the 2nd century CE include the following:
Some of these were probably composed in the north of India in the 1st century CE. Thus scholars generally think that the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras were mainly composed in the south of India, and later the activity of writing additional scriptures was continued in the north. However, the assumption that the presence of an evolving body of Mahāyāna scriptures implies the contemporaneous existence of distinct religious movement called "Mahāyāna", which may be a serious misstep.
and Tibetan from original texts in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit
or various prakrit
s.
, published through the ages, have preserved the majority of known Mahāyāna sutras. Many parallel translations of certain sutras exist. A handful of them, such as the Prajñāpāramitā
sutras like the Heart Sutra
and the Diamond Sutra
, are considered fundamental by most Mahāyāna traditions.
The standard modern edition of the Buddhist Chinese canon is the Taisho Tripitaka, redacted during the 1920s in Japan, consisting of eighty-five volumes of writings which, in addition to numerous Mahāyāna texts, both canonical and not, also include Āgama collections, several versions of the vinaya
, abhidharma
and tantric
writings. The first thirty-two volumes contain works of Indic origin, volumes thirty-three to fifty-five contain works of native Chinese origin and volumes fifty-six to eighty-four contain works of Japanese composition. The eighty-fifth volume contains miscellaneous items including works found at Dunhuang
. A number of apocryphal sutras composed in China are also included in the Chinese Buddhist canon
, although the spurious nature of many more was recognized, thus preventing their inclusion in the canon. The Sanskrit originals of many Mahāyāna texts have not survived to this day, although Sanskrit versions of the majority of the major Mahāyāna sutras have survived.
in Pakistan
. Amongst them was the Ajitasena Sūtra. This sutra appears to be a mixture of Mahāyāna and pre-Mahāyāna ideas. The text is set in a world where monasticism is the norm, typical of the Pāli Suttas; there is none of the usual antagonism towards the śravakas (i.e., the early Buddhists) or the notion of Arahantship, as is typical of Mahāyāna sutras such as the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra. However, the Ajitasena Sūtra also depicts an Arahant seeing all the Buddha fields, and it is said that reciting the name of the sutra saves beings from suffering and from the hell realms, and a meditative practice is described as allowing one to see with the eyes of a Buddha and receive teachings from Buddhas. These qualities are more typical of Mahāyāna sutras.
, Samādhirāja-sūtra and Śūraṅgama-samādhi-sūtra
.
Many sutras are known by the number of lines, or ślokas, that they contain.
Edward Conze
, who translated all of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras into English, identified four periods of development in this literature:
The Perfection of Wisdom texts have influenced every Mahāyāna school of Buddhism.
, White Lotus Sutra, Sutra of the White Lotus or Sutra on the White Lotus
of the Sublime Dharma; Sanskrit: Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra; 妙法蓮華經 Cn: Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Jp: Myōhō Renge Kyō. Probably written down in the period 100 BCE – 100 CE, the White Lotus Sutra proposes that the three yāna
s (śravakayāna, pratyekabuddhayāna and bodhisattvayāna) are not in fact three different paths leading to three goals, but one path, with one goal. The earlier teachings are said to be skilful means in order to help beings of limited capacities. The sutra is notable for the (re)appearance of the Buddha Prabhutaratna
, who had died several aeons earlier, because it suggests that a Buddha is not inaccessible after his parinirvāṇa and also that his life-span is said to be inconceivably long because of the accumulation of merit in past lives. This idea, though not necessarily from this source, forms the basis of the later doctrine of the three bodies
(trikāya). Later it became associated particularly with the Tien Tai school in China (Tendai
in Japan) and the Nichiren
schools in Japan.
The Ananta-nirdesa Sutra belongs to the Lotus Sutra category as well, and is also known as the Innumerable Meanings Sutra
. This text was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmajātayaśas, an Indian monk of the 4th to 5th century. It belongs to the so-called Threefold Lotus Sutra that is also composed of the Lotus Sutra and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
. It was and is considered to be the prologue to the Lotus Sutra itself, and is therefore included into the canon of some Nichiren
Buddhist sects, and also Risshō Kōsei Kai
.
Also in the Lotus Sutra category is the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra, which is also called the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
. This Mahayana Buddhist text teaches meditation and repentance practices. It is considered by many Mahayana sects to be a continuation (an epilogue) of the Buddha's teachings found within the Lotus Sutra and is therefore included into the canon of some Nichiren Buddhist sects, and also Risshō Kōsei Kai. The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
(Universal Virtue) is portrayed in the 28th chapter of the Lotus Sutra as the protector of the Dharma teachings from every kind of persecution.
and Central Asia
, where they may have originated. Pure Land sūtras were brought from the Gandhāra
region to China as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan monk Lokakṣema
began translating the first Buddhist sūtras into Chinese. The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language
, a prakrit
descended from Vedic Sanskrit
, which was used in Northwest India.
The Pure Land sūtras are principally the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
, Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
, and the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra. The shorter sūtra is also known as the Amitābha Sūtra, and the longer sūtra is also known as the Infinite Life Sūtra. These sutras describe Amitābha and his Pure Land of Bliss, called Sukhāvatī
. Also related to the Pure Land tradition is the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra
, which describes the practice of reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha as a meditation method. In addition to these, many other Mahāyāna texts also feature Amitābha Buddha, and a total of 290 such works have been identified in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.
Pure Land texts describe the origins and nature of the Western Pure Land
in which the Buddha Amitabha
resides. They list the forty-eight vows made by Amitabha as a bodhisattva
by which he undertook to build a Pure Land where beings are able to practise the Dharma without difficulty or distraction. The sutras state that beings can be reborn there by pure conduct and by practices such as thinking continuously of Amitabha, praising him, recounting his virtues, and chanting his name. These Pure Land sutras and the practices they recommend became the foundations of Pure Land Buddhism
, which focus on the salvific power of faith in the vows of Amitabha.
and Japan
where it has been seen as being compatible with Confucian values.
(Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra) focus on the practice of confession of faults. The Golden Light Sutra became especially influential in Japan, where its chapter on the universal sovereign was used by Japanese emperors to legitimise their rule and it provided a model for a well-run state.
that later gave rise to the Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi tantra, which in turn became one of two central texts in Shingon Buddhism
and is included in the Tibetan canon as a carya class tantra
. The Avataṃsaka Sutra became the central text for the Hua-yen (Jp. Kegon) school of Buddhism, the most important doctrine of which is the interpenetration of all phenomena.
(c 2nd century CE) is the earliest surviving sutra in this class. It divides the teachings of the Buddha into three types, which it calls the "three turnings of the wheel of the Dharma." To the first turning, it ascribes the Āgamas of the śravakas, to the second turning the lower Mahāyāna sutras including the Prajñā-pāramitā sutras, and finally sutras like itself are deemed to comprise the third turning. Moreover, the first two turnings are considered to be provisional in this system of classification, while the third group is said to present the final truth without a need for further explication (nītārtha). The well-known Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
, composed sometime around the 4th century CE, is sometimes included in this group, although it is somewhat syncretic in nature, combining pure Yogācāra doctrines with those of the tathāgatagarbha system and was unknown or ignored by the progenitors of the Yogācāra system. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra was influential in the Chan
or Zen
schools.
, the Śrīmālā Sūtra
(Śrīmālādevi-simhanāda Sūtra) and the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
(which is very different in character from the Pāli
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
). These texts teach that every being has a "Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha: variously translated as "Buddha nature", "Buddha seed", "Buddha matrix", "Buddha essence" or "Buddha principle"). This aspect of every being is an indwelling potency or element that enables beings to be liberated. It constitutes one of the most important responses of Buddhism to the problem of immanence and transcendence. The Tathāgatagarbha doctrine has been very influential in east Asian Buddhism and the idea in one form or another can be found in most of its schools. The Buddha in these sutras insists that the doctrine of the Tathāgatagarbha is ultimate and definitive (nītārtha)—not in need of "interpretation"—and that it takes the Dharma to the next and final, clarifying step of the teachings on emptiness
(śūnyatā).
contains 49 individual works, and the Mahāsamnipāta-sūtra is a collection of 17 shorter works. Both seem to have been finalised by about the 5th century, although some parts of them are considerably older.
or dhāraṇī
. Well-known dhāraṇī texts include the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra and the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra
.
(pratītyasamutpāda).
, Kṣitigarbha
, the Buddha Akṣobhya, and Bhaiṣajyaguru, also known as the Medicine Buddha.
s enumerated. For example, the Khotanese version is the proponent of a 1005-Tathāgata system. There is in use in the Shingon school a sutra naming some 10,000 Tathāgatas, distinguishing the ones longer-lived after enlightenment (the same as in the approximately 1,000 in the Bhadra-kalpika) as "Sun-Buddhas", and the shorter-lived ones as "Moon-Buddhas".
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
scriptures that are accepted as canonical by the various traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism. These are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese Buddhist canon
The Chinese Buddhist Canon refers to the total body of Buddhist literature deemed canonical in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhism...
, the Tibetan Buddhist canon
Tibetan Buddhist canon
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts...
, and in extant Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
manuscripts. Some six hundred Mahāyāna sutras have survived in Sanskrit or in Chinese and Tibetan translations.
Origins and early history
The origins of Mahāyāna are still not completely understood. The earliest views of Mahāyāna Buddhism in the West assumed that it existed as a separate school in competition with the so-called "Hīnayāna" schools. Due to the veneration of buddhas and bodhisattvas, Mahāyāna was often interpreted as a more devotional, lay-inspired form of Buddhism, with supposed origins in stūpaStupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
veneration, or by making parallels with the history of the European Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
. These views have been largely dismissed in modern times in light of a much broader range of early texts that are now available. These earliest Mahāyāna texts often depict strict adherence to the path of a bodhisattva, and engagement in the ascetic ideal of a monastic life in the wilderness, akin to the ideas expressed in the Rhinoceros Sūtra
Rhinoceros Sutra
The Rhinoceros Sutra is a very early Buddhist text advocating the merit of solitary asceticism for pursuing enlightenment .-Origins:The Rhinoceros Sutra has long been identified, along with the and...
. The old views of Mahāyāna as a separate lay-inspired and devotional sect are now largely dismissed as misguided and wrong on all counts.
The earliest textual evidence of "Mahāyāna" comes from sūtras originating around the beginning of the common era. Jan Nattier has noted that in some of the earliest Mahāyāna texts such as the Ugraparipṛccha Sūtra use the term "Mahāyāna", yet there is no doctrinal difference between Mahāyāna in this context and the early schools, and that "Mahāyāna" referred rather to the rigorous emulation of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
in the path of a bodhisattva seeking to become a fully enlightened buddha.
There is also no evidence that Mahāyāna ever referred to a separate formal school or sect of Buddhism, but rather that it existed as a certain set of ideals, and later doctrines, for bodhisattvas. Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahāyāna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya
Vinaya
The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...
or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī adhering to the Mahāyāna formally belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka
Dharmaguptaka
The Dharmaguptaka are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools, depending on one's source. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas...
ordination lineage in East Asia, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda
Mulasarvastivada
The Mūlasarvāstivāda was an early school of Buddhism, developed in India during the 2nd century AD and in decline by the 7th century. Its vinaya lineage has been preserved by Tibetans and Mongolians up to the present, although until recently, only Mulasarvastivadin monks existed - the lineage of...
ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. Therefore Mahāyāna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools.
The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century CE, distinguishes Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna as follows:
Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahāyāna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahāyāna texts. These Mahāyāna teachings were first propagated into China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by Lokakṣema
Lokaksema
Lokakṣema , born around 147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana sutras into the Chinese language and as such was an important figure in Buddhism in China. The name Lokakṣema means 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit.-Origins:Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity...
, the first translator of Mahāyāna sūtras into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
during the 2nd century CE.
Scholarly views on historicity
Some scholars take an agnostic view and consider the Mahāyāna sutras as an anonymous literature, since it can not be determined by whom they were written, and only can be dated firmly to the date when they were translated into another language. Others such as A. K. WarderA. K. Warder
Anthony Kennedy Warder is a scholar of Indology, mostly in Buddhist studies and related fields, such as the Pāli and Sanskrit languages. He has written 15 books and numerous articles. He currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit in the School of East Asian Studies in the...
have argued that the Mahāyāna sutras are not historical. Andrew Skilton summarizes a common prevailing view of the Mahāyāna sutras:
John W. Pettit, while stating, "Mahayana has not got a strong historical claim for representing the explicit teachings of the historical Buddha", also argues that the basic concepts of Mahāyāna do occur in the Pāli canon and that this suggests that Mahāyāna is "not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines" but "has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself".
It should be noted that however weak claim to historicity that the Mahāyāna sutras hold, this does not mean that all scholars believe that the Pāli Canon is historical; some scholars believe that it is not.
Still others such as D.T. Suzuki have stated that it doesn't matter if the Mahāyāna sutras can be historically linked to the Buddha or not, since Mahāyāna is a living tradition and its teachings are followed by millions of people.
Beliefs of Mahāyāna Buddhists
Some traditional accounts of the transmission of the Mahāyāna sutras claims that many parts were actually written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the nāgas (serpent-like supernatural beings who dwell in another plane of being). The reason given for the late disclosure of the Mahāyāna teachings is that most people were initially unable to understand the Mahāyāna sutras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE) and suitable recipients for these teachings had still to arise amongst humankind.According to Venerable Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....
from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a buddha, a disciple of a buddha, a deva
Deva (Buddhism)
A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being....
, a ṛṣi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a buddha that its contents are true Dharma. Then these sutras may be properly regarded as the words of the Buddha (Skt. buddhavacana).
Some teachers take the view that all teachings that stem from the fundamental insights of Buddha constitute the Buddha's speech, whether they are explicitly the historical words of the Buddha or not. There are scriptural supports for this perspective even in the Pāli Canon. There the Buddha is asked how the disciples should verify, after his death, which of the teachings circulating are his. In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16) the Buddha is quoted as saying:
Earliest extant Mahāyāna sūtras
Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras to include the very first versions of the PrajñāpāramitāPrajnaparamita
Prajñāpāramitā in Buddhism, means "the Perfection of Wisdom." The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā with pāramitā . Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and its practice and understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva Path...
series, along with texts concerning Akṣobhya Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India. Some early Mahāyāna sūtras were translated by the Kuṣāṇa monk Lokakṣema
Lokaksema
Lokakṣema , born around 147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana sutras into the Chinese language and as such was an important figure in Buddhism in China. The name Lokakṣema means 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit.-Origins:Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity...
, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhāra
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
. His first translations to Chinese were made in the Chinese capital of Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
between 178 and 189 CE. Some Mahāyāna sūtras translated during the 2nd century CE include the following:
- Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra
- Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha SūtraInfinite Life SutraThe Infinite Life Sūtra, or Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and the primary text of Pure Land Buddhism. It is the longest of the three major texts of Pure Land Buddhism...
- Akṣobhyatathāgatasyavyūha Sūtra
- Ugraparipṛccha Sūtra
- Mañjuśrīparipṛcchā Sūtra
- Drumakinnararājaparipṛcchā Sūtra
- Śūraṅgama Samādhi SūtraSuramgamasamadhi sutraThe Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra is an early Mahayana sutra of Indian origin which focuses on the transcendental nature, supernatural powers, and transformational feats bestowed upon the meditation practitioner by the state of meditation called the Śūraṅgama Samādhi or the "Samādhi of the Heroic...
- Bhadrapāla Sūtra
- Ajātaśatrukaukṛtyavinodana Sūtra
- Kāśyapaparivarta Sūtra
- Lokānuvartana Sūtra
- An early sūtra connected to the Avataṃsaka SūtraAvatamsaka SutraThe is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture....
Some of these were probably composed in the north of India in the 1st century CE. Thus scholars generally think that the earliest Mahāyāna sūtras were mainly composed in the south of India, and later the activity of writing additional scriptures was continued in the north. However, the assumption that the presence of an evolving body of Mahāyāna scriptures implies the contemporaneous existence of distinct religious movement called "Mahāyāna", which may be a serious misstep.
Nature of the Mahāyāna sutras
The teachings as contained in the Mahāyāna sutras as a whole have been described as a loosely bound bundle of many teachings, which was able to contain the various contradictions between the varying teachings it comprises. Because of these contradictory elements, there are "very few things that can be said with certainty about Mahayana Buddhism".Collections of Mahāyāna sutras
The Mahāyāna sutras survive predominantly in primary translations in ChineseChinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and Tibetan from original texts in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit is a modern linguistic category applied to the language used in a class of Indian Buddhist texts, such as the Perfection of Wisdom sutras. BHS is classified as a Middle Indic language...
or various prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
s.
Mahāyāna canon
Although there is no definitive Mahāyāna canon as such, the printed or manuscript collections in Chinese and TibetanTibetan Buddhist canon
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts...
, published through the ages, have preserved the majority of known Mahāyāna sutras. Many parallel translations of certain sutras exist. A handful of them, such as the Prajñāpāramitā
Prajnaparamita
Prajñāpāramitā in Buddhism, means "the Perfection of Wisdom." The word Prajñāpāramitā combines the Sanskrit words prajñā with pāramitā . Prajñāpāramitā is a central concept in Mahāyāna Buddhism and its practice and understanding are taken to be indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva Path...
sutras like the Heart Sutra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
and the Diamond Sutra
Diamond Sutra
The Diamond Sūtra , is a short and well-known Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or "Perfection of Wisdom" genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment...
, are considered fundamental by most Mahāyāna traditions.
The standard modern edition of the Buddhist Chinese canon is the Taisho Tripitaka, redacted during the 1920s in Japan, consisting of eighty-five volumes of writings which, in addition to numerous Mahāyāna texts, both canonical and not, also include Āgama collections, several versions of the vinaya
Vinaya
The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based in the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline...
, abhidharma
Abhidharma
Abhidharma or Abhidhamma are ancient Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications...
and tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
writings. The first thirty-two volumes contain works of Indic origin, volumes thirty-three to fifty-five contain works of native Chinese origin and volumes fifty-six to eighty-four contain works of Japanese composition. The eighty-fifth volume contains miscellaneous items including works found at Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road. It was also known at times as Shāzhōu , or 'City of Sands', a name still used today...
. A number of apocryphal sutras composed in China are also included in the Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese Buddhist canon
The Chinese Buddhist Canon refers to the total body of Buddhist literature deemed canonical in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhism...
, although the spurious nature of many more was recognized, thus preventing their inclusion in the canon. The Sanskrit originals of many Mahāyāna texts have not survived to this day, although Sanskrit versions of the majority of the major Mahāyāna sutras have survived.
Proto-Mahāyāna sutras
Early in the 20th century, a cache of texts was found in a mound near GilgitGilgit
Gilgit is a city in northern PakistanGilgit may refer to other terms related with the area of the city:* Gilgit River* Gilgit Valley* Gilgit District* Gilgit Agency * Gilgit Airport...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Amongst them was the Ajitasena Sūtra. This sutra appears to be a mixture of Mahāyāna and pre-Mahāyāna ideas. The text is set in a world where monasticism is the norm, typical of the Pāli Suttas; there is none of the usual antagonism towards the śravakas (i.e., the early Buddhists) or the notion of Arahantship, as is typical of Mahāyāna sutras such as the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra. However, the Ajitasena Sūtra also depicts an Arahant seeing all the Buddha fields, and it is said that reciting the name of the sutra saves beings from suffering and from the hell realms, and a meditative practice is described as allowing one to see with the eyes of a Buddha and receive teachings from Buddhas. These qualities are more typical of Mahāyāna sutras.
Samādhi sutras
Amongst the very earliest Mahāyāna texts, the samādhi sutras are a collection of sutras which focus on the attainment of profound states of consciousness reached in meditation, perhaps suggesting that meditation played an important role in early Mahāyāna. These include the Pratyutpanna-sūtraPratyutpanna Sutra
The Pratyutpanna Sutra is an early Mahayana Buddhist scripture, which probably originated around the 1st century BCE in the Gandhara area of northwestern India.The Pratyutpanna Sutra was first translated into Chinese by the Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema...
, Samādhirāja-sūtra and Śūraṅgama-samādhi-sūtra
Suramgamasamadhi sutra
The Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra is an early Mahayana sutra of Indian origin which focuses on the transcendental nature, supernatural powers, and transformational feats bestowed upon the meditation practitioner by the state of meditation called the Śūraṅgama Samādhi or the "Samādhi of the Heroic...
.
Perfection of Wisdom texts
These deal with Buddhist wisdom (prajñā). "Wisdom" in this context means the ability to see reality as it truly is. They do not contain an elaborate philosophical argument, but simply try to point to the true nature of reality, especially through the use of paradox. The basic premise is a radical non-dualism, in which every and any dichotomist way of seeing things is denied: so phenomena are neither existent, nor non-existent, but are marked by emptiness (śūnyatā), an absence of any essential, unchanging nature. The Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter illustrates this approach by choosing to represent the perfection of wisdom with the Sanskrit and Pāli short a or "schwa" vowel ("अ", ə). As a prefix, this negates a word's meaning, e.g., changing "svabhāva", "with essence" to "asvabhāva", "without essence". It is the first letter of Indic alphabets and, as a sound on its own, can be seen as the most neutral and basic of speech sounds.Many sutras are known by the number of lines, or ślokas, that they contain.
Edward Conze
Edward Conze
Eberhart Julius Dietrich Conze was an Anglo-German scholar probably best known for his pioneering translations of Buddhist texts.-Life and work:...
, who translated all of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras into English, identified four periods of development in this literature:
- 100 BCE – 100 CE: Ratnaguṇasamcayagatha and the Aṣṭasāhasrikā (8,000 lines)
- 100–300 CE: a period of elaboration in which versions in 18,000, 25,000 and 100,000 lines are produced. Possibly the Diamond Sutra too stems from this period.
- 300–500 CE: a period of condensation, producing the well known Heart SutraHeart SutraThe Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
and the Perfection of Wisdom in One Letter. - 500–1000 CE: Texts from this period begin to show a tantric influence.
The Perfection of Wisdom texts have influenced every Mahāyāna school of Buddhism.
Saddharma Puṇḍarīka
This sutra is called the Lotus SutraLotus Sutra
The Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-Title:...
, White Lotus Sutra, Sutra of the White Lotus or Sutra on the White Lotus
Nelumbo nucifera
Nelumbo nucifera, known by a number of names including Indian Lotus, Sacred Lotus, Bean of India, or simply Lotus, is a plant in the monogeneric family Nelumbonaceae...
of the Sublime Dharma; Sanskrit: Saddharma-pundarīka-sūtra; 妙法蓮華經 Cn: Miàofǎ Liánhuā Jīng; Jp: Myōhō Renge Kyō. Probably written down in the period 100 BCE – 100 CE, the White Lotus Sutra proposes that the three yāna
Yana (Buddhism)
Yāna refers to a mode or method of spiritual practice in Buddhism, and in particular to divisions of various schools of Buddhism according to their type of practice.-Nomenclature, etymology and orthography:...
s (śravakayāna, pratyekabuddhayāna and bodhisattvayāna) are not in fact three different paths leading to three goals, but one path, with one goal. The earlier teachings are said to be skilful means in order to help beings of limited capacities. The sutra is notable for the (re)appearance of the Buddha Prabhutaratna
Prabhutaratna
Prabhūtaratna , also known as Abundant Treasures, is the Buddha whom Shakyamuni is closely associated with in the Threefold Lotus Sutra, namely in the Lotus Sutra itself and the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra.- In the Lotus Sutra :In...
, who had died several aeons earlier, because it suggests that a Buddha is not inaccessible after his parinirvāṇa and also that his life-span is said to be inconceivably long because of the accumulation of merit in past lives. This idea, though not necessarily from this source, forms the basis of the later doctrine of the three bodies
Trikaya
The Trikāya doctrine is an important Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of a Buddha. By the 4th century CE the Trikāya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know...
(trikāya). Later it became associated particularly with the Tien Tai school in China (Tendai
Tendai
is a Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism, a descendant of the Chinese Tiantai or Lotus Sutra school.Chappell frames the relevance of Tendai for a universal Buddhism:- History :...
in Japan) and the Nichiren
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren...
schools in Japan.
The Ananta-nirdesa Sutra belongs to the Lotus Sutra category as well, and is also known as the Innumerable Meanings Sutra
Innumerable Meanings Sutra
The Innumerable Meanings Sutra also known as the Infinite Meanings Sutra is a Mahayana buddhist text that was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmajātayaśas, an Indian monk of the 4th to 5th century...
. This text was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmajātayaśas, an Indian monk of the 4th to 5th century. It belongs to the so-called Threefold Lotus Sutra that is also composed of the Lotus Sutra and the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
The Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra , also known as the Sūtra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra teaching meditation and repentance practices....
. It was and is considered to be the prologue to the Lotus Sutra itself, and is therefore included into the canon of some Nichiren
Nichiren
Nichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching...
Buddhist sects, and also Risshō Kōsei Kai
Rissho Kosei Kai
is a Japanese Buddhist lay movement founded in 1938 by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma.-History:Rissho Kosei-kai was founded on March 5, 1938 by Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma, both former members of the Buddhist sect Reiyūkai. Rev. Niwano met Ms. Naganuma while he was engaged in missionary work...
.
Also in the Lotus Sutra category is the Samantabhadra Meditation Sutra, which is also called the Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue
The Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra , also known as the Sūtra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue, is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra teaching meditation and repentance practices....
. This Mahayana Buddhist text teaches meditation and repentance practices. It is considered by many Mahayana sects to be a continuation (an epilogue) of the Buddha's teachings found within the Lotus Sutra and is therefore included into the canon of some Nichiren Buddhist sects, and also Risshō Kōsei Kai. The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
Samantabhadra
Samantabhadra , is a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with Buddhist practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and fellow bodhisattva Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Buddhism...
(Universal Virtue) is portrayed in the 28th chapter of the Lotus Sutra as the protector of the Dharma teachings from every kind of persecution.
Pure Land sutras
The Pure Land teachings were first developed in India, and were very popular in KashmirKashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, where they may have originated. Pure Land sūtras were brought from the Gandhāra
Gandhara
Gandhāra , is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
region to China as early as 147 CE, when the Kushan monk Lokakṣema
Lokaksema
Lokakṣema , born around 147 CE, was the earliest known Buddhist monk to have translated Mahayana sutras into the Chinese language and as such was an important figure in Buddhism in China. The name Lokakṣema means 'welfare of the world' in Sanskrit.-Origins:Lokaksema was a Kushan of Yuezhi ethnicity...
began translating the first Buddhist sūtras into Chinese. The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gāndhārī language
Gandhari language
Gāndhārī was a north-western prakrit spoken in Gāndhāra. Like all prakrits, it is thus descended from either Vedic Sanskrit or a closely related language. Gāndhārī was written in the script...
, a prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
descended from Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, which was used in Northwest India.
The Pure Land sūtras are principally the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
Amitabha Sutra
The Amitābha Sūtra is a popular colloquial name for the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra. The Amitābha Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text, and it is one of the primary sūtras recited and upheld in the Pure Land Buddhist schools.-History:...
, Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
Infinite Life Sutra
The Infinite Life Sūtra, or Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and the primary text of Pure Land Buddhism. It is the longest of the three major texts of Pure Land Buddhism...
, and the Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra. The shorter sūtra is also known as the Amitābha Sūtra, and the longer sūtra is also known as the Infinite Life Sūtra. These sutras describe Amitābha and his Pure Land of Bliss, called Sukhāvatī
Sukhavati
Sukhāvatī refers to the western Pure Land of the Buddha Amitābha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Sukhāvatī translates to "Land of Bliss."-In other languages:In traditional Mahayana Buddhist countries, there are a number of translations for Sukhāvatī....
. Also related to the Pure Land tradition is the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra
Pratyutpanna Sutra
The Pratyutpanna Sutra is an early Mahayana Buddhist scripture, which probably originated around the 1st century BCE in the Gandhara area of northwestern India.The Pratyutpanna Sutra was first translated into Chinese by the Kushan Buddhist monk Lokaksema...
, which describes the practice of reciting the name of Amitābha Buddha as a meditation method. In addition to these, many other Mahāyāna texts also feature Amitābha Buddha, and a total of 290 such works have been identified in the Taishō Tripiṭaka.
Pure Land texts describe the origins and nature of the Western Pure Land
Pure land
A pure land, in Mahayana Buddhism, is the celestial realm or pure abode of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. The various traditions that focus on Pure Lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bön.The notion of 'pure...
in which the Buddha Amitabha
Amitabha
Amitābha is a celestial buddha described in the scriptures of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism...
resides. They list the forty-eight vows made by Amitabha as a bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
by which he undertook to build a Pure Land where beings are able to practise the Dharma without difficulty or distraction. The sutras state that beings can be reborn there by pure conduct and by practices such as thinking continuously of Amitabha, praising him, recounting his virtues, and chanting his name. These Pure Land sutras and the practices they recommend became the foundations of Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism
Pure Land Buddhism , also referred to as Amidism in English, is a broad branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism and currently one of the most popular traditions of Buddhism in East Asia. Pure Land is a branch of Buddhism focused on Amitābha Buddha...
, which focus on the salvific power of faith in the vows of Amitabha.
The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra
In this sutra, composed some time before 150 CE, the bodhisattva Vimalakīrti appears as a layman in order to teach the Dharma. This is seen by some as a strong assertion of the value of lay practice. Doctrinally similar to the Perfection of Wisdom texts, another major theme is the Buddhafield (Buddha-kṣetra), which was influential on Pure Land schools. This sutra has been very popular in ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where it has been seen as being compatible with Confucian values.
Confession Sutras
The Triskandha Sūtra and the Golden Light SutraGolden Light Sutra
The ' , is a Buddhist text of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism...
(Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra) focus on the practice of confession of faults. The Golden Light Sutra became especially influential in Japan, where its chapter on the universal sovereign was used by Japanese emperors to legitimise their rule and it provided a model for a well-run state.
The Avataṃsaka Sutra
This is large composite text consisting of several parts, most notably the Daśabhūmika Sutra and the Gandavyuha Sutra. It probably reached its current form by about the 4th century CE, although parts of it, such as those mentioned above, are thought to date from the 1st or 2nd century CE. The Gandavyuha Sutra is thought to be the source of a cult of VairocanaVairocana
Vairocana is a celestial Buddha who is often interpreted as the Bliss Body of the historical Gautama Buddha; he can also be referred to as the dharmakaya Buddha and the great solar Buddha. In Sino-Japanese Buddhism, Vairocana is also seen as the embodiment of the Buddhist concept of shunyata or...
that later gave rise to the Mahāvairocana-abhisaṃbodhi tantra, which in turn became one of two central texts in Shingon Buddhism
Shingon Buddhism
is one of the mainstream major schools of Japanese Buddhism and one of the few surviving Esoteric Buddhist lineages that started in the 3rd to 4th century CE that originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra...
and is included in the Tibetan canon as a carya class tantra
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
. The Avataṃsaka Sutra became the central text for the Hua-yen (Jp. Kegon) school of Buddhism, the most important doctrine of which is the interpenetration of all phenomena.
Third turning sutras
These sutras primarily teach the doctrine of Representation Only (vijñapti-mātra), associated with the Yogācāra school. The Sandhinirmocana SutraSandhinirmocana Sutra
The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra or the Sutra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets is a Buddhist scripture classified as belonging to the Yogācāra or Consciousness-only school of Buddhist thought. This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of...
(c 2nd century CE) is the earliest surviving sutra in this class. It divides the teachings of the Buddha into three types, which it calls the "three turnings of the wheel of the Dharma." To the first turning, it ascribes the Āgamas of the śravakas, to the second turning the lower Mahāyāna sutras including the Prajñā-pāramitā sutras, and finally sutras like itself are deemed to comprise the third turning. Moreover, the first two turnings are considered to be provisional in this system of classification, while the third group is said to present the final truth without a need for further explication (nītārtha). The well-known Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
Lankavatara Sutra
The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra is a sutra of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The sūtra recounts a teaching primarily between the Buddha and a bodhisattva named Mahāmati...
, composed sometime around the 4th century CE, is sometimes included in this group, although it is somewhat syncretic in nature, combining pure Yogācāra doctrines with those of the tathāgatagarbha system and was unknown or ignored by the progenitors of the Yogācāra system. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra was influential in the Chan
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
or Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
schools.
Tathāgatagarbha class sutras
These are especially the Tathāgatagarbha SūtraTathagatagarbha Sutra
The Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra is an influential and doctrinally striking Mahayana Buddhist scripture which treats of the existence of the "Tathagatagarbha" within all sentient creatures. The Buddha reveals how inside each person's being there exists a great Buddhic "treasure that is eternal and...
, the Śrīmālā Sūtra
Srimala Sutra
The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts that teaches the doctrines of Tathāgatagarbha and the One Vehicle , through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā...
(Śrīmālādevi-simhanāda Sūtra) and the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
The Nirvana Sutra or ' ; ; ).) is one of the major sutras of Mahayana Buddhism. It shares its title with another well-known Buddhist scripture, the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali Canon but is quite different in form and content...
(which is very different in character from the Pāli
Páli
- External links :* *...
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
Mahaparinibbana Sutta
For the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra see Nirvana Sutra.----The Mahaparinibbana Sutta is a Theravada Buddhist sutta in the Digha Nikaya of the Tipitaka...
). These texts teach that every being has a "Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha: variously translated as "Buddha nature", "Buddha seed", "Buddha matrix", "Buddha essence" or "Buddha principle"). This aspect of every being is an indwelling potency or element that enables beings to be liberated. It constitutes one of the most important responses of Buddhism to the problem of immanence and transcendence. The Tathāgatagarbha doctrine has been very influential in east Asian Buddhism and the idea in one form or another can be found in most of its schools. The Buddha in these sutras insists that the doctrine of the Tathāgatagarbha is ultimate and definitive (nītārtha)—not in need of "interpretation"—and that it takes the Dharma to the next and final, clarifying step of the teachings on emptiness
Shunyata
Śūnyatā, शून्यता , Suññatā , stong-pa nyid , Kòng/Kū, 空 , Gong-seong, 공성 , qoγusun is frequently translated into English as emptiness...
(śūnyatā).
Collected Sutras
These are two very large sutras which are again actually collections of other sutras. The Mahāratnakūṭa SūtraMahāratnakūṭa Sūtra
The Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra is an ancient collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras.-Overview:The Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra contains 49 texts of varying length, which are termed "assemblies" by tradition. This text was translated into Chinese by Bodhiruci in the 8th century, between 707 and 713 CE...
contains 49 individual works, and the Mahāsamnipāta-sūtra is a collection of 17 shorter works. Both seem to have been finalised by about the 5th century, although some parts of them are considerably older.
Esoteric Sūtras
One important category of sūtras is those which are esoteric in nature, often devoted to a particular mantraMantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
or dhāraṇī
Dharani
A ' is a type of ritual speech similar to a mantra. The terms dharani and satheesh may be seen as synonyms, although they are normally used in distinct contexts....
. Well-known dhāraṇī texts include the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra and the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra
Cundi (Buddhism)
Cundī is a buddha or bodhisattva venerated in the Mahāyāna Buddhist schools, with emphasis of her practice in the Esoteric Buddhist schools. She is known as a bhagavati, or "mother of buddhas", and is often equated with the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara...
.
Transmigration Sutras
These are a number of sutras which focus on the actions that lead to existence in the various spheres of existence, or which expound the doctrine of the twelve links of dependent-originationPratitya-samutpada
Dependent origination or dependent arising is a cardinal doctrine of Buddhism, and arguably the only thing that holds every Buddhist teaching together from Theravada to Dzogchen to the extinct schools. As a concept and a doctrine it has a general and a specific application, both being integral to...
(pratītyasamutpāda).
Discipline Sutras
These are sutras which focus on the principles that guide the behaviour of bodhisattvas and include the Kāshyapa-parivarta, the Bodhisattva-prātimokṣa Sutra and the Brahmajāla Sutra. For left home persons, the The Bequeathed Teachings Sutra is a necessary manual that guides them through the life of cultivation.Sutras devoted to individual figures
There are a large number of sutras which describe the nature and virtues of a particular Buddha or bodhisattva and their pure land, including MañjusriManjusri
Mañjuśrī is a bodhisattva associated with transcendent wisdom in Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Esoteric Buddhism he is also taken as a meditational deity. The Sanskrit name Mañjuśrī can be translated as "Gentle Glory"...
, Kṣitigarbha
Ksitigarbha
Ksitigarbha is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism, usually depicted as a Buddhist monk in the Orient. The name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb"...
, the Buddha Akṣobhya, and Bhaiṣajyaguru, also known as the Medicine Buddha.
Vaipūlya Sūtras devoted to all Tathāgatas
The most widely used (in liturgy) of these is the Bhadra-kalpika Sutra, available in various languages (Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, etc.) in variants which differ very slightly as to the number of TathāgataTathagata
Tathāgata in Pali and Sanskrit) is the name the Buddha of the scriptures uses when referring to himself. The term means, paradoxically, both one who has thus gone and one who has thus come . Hence, the Tathagata is beyond all coming and going – beyond all transitory phenomena...
s enumerated. For example, the Khotanese version is the proponent of a 1005-Tathāgata system. There is in use in the Shingon school a sutra naming some 10,000 Tathāgatas, distinguishing the ones longer-lived after enlightenment (the same as in the approximately 1,000 in the Bhadra-kalpika) as "Sun-Buddhas", and the shorter-lived ones as "Moon-Buddhas".
External links
- Mahayana Sutras
- Sutras with commentaries
- Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon
- Buddhist Scriptures in Multiple Languages
- Mahayana Buddhist Sutras in English
- English translations of many Mahayana Buddhism texts
- BuddhaNet's eBook Library (English pdfs)
- Translations of major Tathagatagarbha sutras
- Complete English translation and analysis of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra
- Bhadra-kalpika Sūtra http://texts.00.gs/Bhadra-kalpika_Sutra,_1-2.htm http://texts.00.gs/Bhadra-kalpika_Sutra,_3-4.htm http://texts.00.gs/Bhadra-kalpika_Sutra,_5-6.htm http://texts.00.gs/Bhadra-kalpika_Sutra,_7-8.htm