Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment
Encyclopedia
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment or Complete Enlightenment is a Mahāyāna
Buddhist sūtra
highly esteemed by both the Huayan and Zen
schools.
Divided into twelve chapters as a series of discussions on meditation
practice, this text deals with issues such as the meaning and origin of ignorance, sudden and gradual enlightenment, original Buddhahood, etc. these themes were also elucidated in the Awakening of Faith. It was intended to resolve questions regarding doctrine and meditation for the earliest practitioners of the Chan school. The most important commentary is the 9th-century Great Exegesis on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment (圓覺經大疏鈔 Dajuejing Dashuchao) by Zongmi
.
Its reconstructed title in Sanskrit is Mahāvaipulya pūrṇabuddha-sūtra prasannārtha-sūtra.
) and the participants are the Buddha
and one hundred thousand great bodhisattvas, among whom twelve eminent bodhisattvas act as spokesmen. Each one of the twelve gets up one by one and asks the Buddha a set of questions about doctrine, practice and enlightenment
. The structure of the sutra is such that the most "essential" and suddenistic discussions occur in the earlier chapters and the more "functional" and gradualistic dialogues occur later.
This kind of structure reflects a motif associated with the doctrine of the Huayan school, which affirms that the Buddha delivered the abstruse Avatamsaka Sutra
(華嚴經 ‘Huayan Scripture’) as his first sermon, in an effort to directly awaken those whose "roots of virtue" were well-matured. The terminology that Zongmi
and Gihwa
use to describe these advanced practitioners is that they possess the capacity for the teaching of "sudden enlightenment"; a direct awakening to the non-duality of reality, which necessarily precludes gradualist, "goal-oriented" practice. In the first two chapters (the chapters of Mañjuśrī
and Samantabhadra
), the Buddha holds very strictly to the sudden position, denying the possibility of enlightenment through gradual practice. In the third chapter he begins to allow for a bit of a gradual view, and the next several chapters become mixtures of the two. The final few chapters offer a fully gradualist perspective.
Gihwa's primary means of categorization of the chapters is according to the "three capacities" of practitioners: superior, middling and inferior. According to Gihwa, the first three chapters are aimed at those of superior capacity, the next seven for those of middling capacity and the final two for those of inferior capacity. However, this method of categorization does not necessarily mean that the later chapters become gradually easier to read and understand. In fact some of the most difficult discussions come in the later chapters. Most notable in this regard is the discussion of the "four traces" of Self, Person, Sentient Being and Life in Chapter Nine. Since the distinction between each of these four is extremely subtle, and the wording of the text itself is not that clear, this turns out to be one of the most difficult chapters to digest.
of Luoyang
. Some scholars, however, believe it to be Chinese in origin and written in the late 7th or early 8th century C.E. It is considered a creative reformulation that assembles the teaching from the Shurangama Sutra
and Awakening of Faith, which in terms are also texts whose origin has been scrutinized.
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhist sūtra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
highly esteemed by both the Huayan and 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.
Divided into twelve chapters as a series of discussions on meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
practice, this text deals with issues such as the meaning and origin of ignorance, sudden and gradual enlightenment, original Buddhahood, etc. these themes were also elucidated in the Awakening of Faith. It was intended to resolve questions regarding doctrine and meditation for the earliest practitioners of the Chan school. The most important commentary is the 9th-century Great Exegesis on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment (圓覺經大疏鈔 Dajuejing Dashuchao) by Zongmi
Zongmi
Guifeng Zongmi was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar-monk, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze lineage of Southern Chan.He wrote a number of vitally important essays on the contemporary situation of Buddhism in Tang China, and is one of the most...
.
Titles
Its full Chinese title: Dà fāngguăng yuánjué xiūduōluó liǎoyì jīng (大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經 literally ‘the Great Vaipulya (Corrective & Expansive) Sutra on the Perfect Enlightenment and (the Sutra) Joyful Cultivation of the Thorough Understanding’).Its reconstructed title in Sanskrit is Mahāvaipulya pūrṇabuddha-sūtra prasannārtha-sūtra.
Summary
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment is arranged in twelve chapters, plus a short introductory section. The introductory section describes the scene of the sermon and lists the major participants. The location is a state of deep meditative concentration (samadhiSamadhi (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, samādhi is mental concentration or composing the mind.-In the early Suttas:In the Pāli canon of the Theravada tradition and the related Āgamas of other early Buddhist schools, samādhi is found in the following contexts:* In the noble eightfold path, "right concentration" In Buddhism,...
) and the participants are the Buddha
Buddhahood
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
and one hundred thousand great bodhisattvas, among whom twelve eminent bodhisattvas act as spokesmen. Each one of the twelve gets up one by one and asks the Buddha a set of questions about doctrine, practice and enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
. The structure of the sutra is such that the most "essential" and suddenistic discussions occur in the earlier chapters and the more "functional" and gradualistic dialogues occur later.
This kind of structure reflects a motif associated with the doctrine of the Huayan school, which affirms that the Buddha delivered the abstruse Avatamsaka Sutra
Avatamsaka Sutra
The 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....
(華嚴經 ‘Huayan Scripture’) as his first sermon, in an effort to directly awaken those whose "roots of virtue" were well-matured. The terminology that Zongmi
Zongmi
Guifeng Zongmi was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar-monk, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze lineage of Southern Chan.He wrote a number of vitally important essays on the contemporary situation of Buddhism in Tang China, and is one of the most...
and Gihwa
Gihwa
Gihwa , also known as Hamheo Teuktong was a Buddhist monk of the Seon order and leading Buddhist figure during the late Goryeo to early Joseon period. He was originally a Confucian scholar of high reputation, but converted to Buddhism at the age of 21 upon the death of a close friend...
use to describe these advanced practitioners is that they possess the capacity for the teaching of "sudden enlightenment"; a direct awakening to the non-duality of reality, which necessarily precludes gradualist, "goal-oriented" practice. In the first two chapters (the chapters of Mañjuśrī
Manjusri
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"...
and 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...
), the Buddha holds very strictly to the sudden position, denying the possibility of enlightenment through gradual practice. In the third chapter he begins to allow for a bit of a gradual view, and the next several chapters become mixtures of the two. The final few chapters offer a fully gradualist perspective.
Gihwa's primary means of categorization of the chapters is according to the "three capacities" of practitioners: superior, middling and inferior. According to Gihwa, the first three chapters are aimed at those of superior capacity, the next seven for those of middling capacity and the final two for those of inferior capacity. However, this method of categorization does not necessarily mean that the later chapters become gradually easier to read and understand. In fact some of the most difficult discussions come in the later chapters. Most notable in this regard is the discussion of the "four traces" of Self, Person, Sentient Being and Life in Chapter Nine. Since the distinction between each of these four is extremely subtle, and the wording of the text itself is not that clear, this turns out to be one of the most difficult chapters to digest.
History
It is traditionally attributed to Buddhatrāta, an Indian or Kashmiri monk otherwise unattested in history, who translated the work from Sanskrit in 693 in the White Horse TempleWhite Horse Temple
White Horse Temple is, according to tradition, the first Buddhist temple in China, established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming in the Eastern Han capital Luoyang. Today the site is located just outside the walls of the ancient Eastern Han capital, some east of Luoyang in Henan...
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...
. Some scholars, however, believe it to be Chinese in origin and written in the late 7th or early 8th century C.E. It is considered a creative reformulation that assembles the teaching from the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...
and Awakening of Faith, which in terms are also texts whose origin has been scrutinized.