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Mahayana sutras - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mahyna sutras are a broad genre ofBuddhist scriptures that various traditions ofMahyna Buddhism accept as canonical . They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan Buddhist canon, and in extant Sanskrit manuscripts. Around one hundred Mahyna sutras survive in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and Tibetan translations.[1]
Contents [hide] 1 History and background 1.1 Origins and early history 1.2 Scholarly views on historicity 1.3 Beliefs of Mahyna Buddhists 1.4 Earliest extant Mahyna stras 2 Nature of the Mahyna sutras 3 Collections of Mahyna sutras 3.1 Bodhisattvapiaka 3.2 Modern canons 3.3 Brief descriptions of some sutras 3.3.1 Proto-Mahyna sutras 3.3.2 Samdhi sutras 3.3.3 Perfection of Wisdom texts 3.3.4 Saddharma Puarka 3.3.5 Pure Land sutras 3.3.6 The Vimalakirti Nirdea Stra 3.3.7 Confession Sutras 3.3.8 The Avatasaka Sutra 3.3.9 Third turning sutras 3.3.10 Tathgatagarb ha class sutras 3.3.11 Collected Sutras 3.3.12 Esoteric Stras 3.3.13 Transmigration sutras 3.3.14 Discipline sutras 3.3.15 Sutras devoted to individual figures 3.3.16 Vaiplya Stras devoted to allTathgatas 4 See also 5 References 6 Notes 7 External links

History and background

Origins and early history

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The origins of Mahyna are not completely understood.[2] The earliest views of Mahyna Buddhism in the West assumed that it existed as a separate school in competition with the so-called "Hnayna" schools. Due to the veneration of buddhas and bodhisattvas, Mahyna was often interpreted as a more devotional, lay-inspired form of Buddhism, with supposed origins in stpa veneration,[3] or by making parallels with the history of the EuropeanProtestant Reformation. These views have been largely dismissed in modern times in light of a much broader range of early texts that are now available.[4] These earliest Mahyna texts often depict strict adherence to
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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 Stra.[5] The old views of Mahyna as a separate lay-inspired and devotional sect are now largely dismissed as misguided and wrong on all counts.[6] The early versions of Mahayana sutras were not written documents but orally preserved teachings. The verses which were committed to memory and recited by monks were viewed as the substitute for the actual speaking presence of the Buddha.[7] The earliest textual evidence of "Mahyna" comes from stras originating around the beginning of the common era. Jan Nattier has noted that in some of the earliest Mahyna texts such as the Ugraparipccha Stra use the term "Mahyna", yet there is no doctrinal difference between Mahyna in this context and the early schools, and that "Mahyna" referred rather to the rigorous emulation of Gautama Buddha in the path of a bodhisattva seeking to become a fully enlightened buddha.[8] There is also no evidence that Mahyna 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.[8] Paul Williams has also noted that the Mahyna never had nor ever attempted to have a separate Vinaya or ordination lineage from the early schools of Buddhism, and therefore each bhiku or bhiku adhering to the Mahyna formally belonged to an early school. This continues today with the Dharmaguptaka ordination lineage in East Asia, and the Mlasarvstivda ordination lineage in Tibetan Buddhism. Therefore Mahyna was never a separate rival sect of the early schools.[9] The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century CE, distinguishes Mahyna from Hnayna as follows:[10]

Both adopt one and the same Vinaya, and they have in common the prohibitions of the five offences, and also the practice of the Four Noble Truths. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahayana stras are called the Mahynists, while those who do not perform these are called the Hnaynists.

Much of the early extant evidence for the origins of Mahyna comes from early Chinese translations of Mahyna texts. These Mahyna teachings were first propagated into Chinaby Lokakema, the first translator of Mahyna stras into Chinese during the 2nd century CE.[11]

Scholarly views on historicity

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Some scholars take an agnostic view and consider the Mahyna 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.[12] Others such as A. K. Warder have argued that the Mahyna sutras are not historical.[13] Andrew Skilton summarizes a common prevailing view of the Mahyna sutras:[14]

These texts are considered by Mahyna tradition to be buddhavacana,and therefore the legitimate word of the historical Buddha. The rvaka tradition, according to some Mahyna sutras themselves, rejected these texts as authentic buddhavacana, saying that they were merely inventions, the product of the religious imagination of the Mahynist monks who were their fellows. Western scholarship does not go so far as to impugn the religious authority of Mahyna sutras, but it tends to assume that they are not the literal word of the historical kyamuni Buddha. Unlike the rvaka critics just cited, we have no possibility of knowing just who composed and compiled these texts, and for us, removed from the time of their authors by up to two millenia, they are effectively an anonymous literature. It is widely accepted that Mahyna sutras constitute a body of literature that began to appear from as early as the 1st century BCE, although the evidence for this date is circumstantial. The concrete evidence for dating any part of this literature is to be found in dated Chinese translations, amongst which we find a body of ten Mahyna sutras translated by Lokaksema before 186 C.E. and these constitute our earliest objectively dated Mahyna texts. This picture may be qualified by the analysis of very early manuscripts recently coming out of
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Afghanistan, but for the meantime this is speculation. In effect we have a vast body of anonymous but relatively coherent literature, of which individual items can only be dated firmly when they were translated into another language at a known date.

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 Mahyna do occur in the Pli canon and that this suggests that Mahyna is "not simply an accretion of fabricated doctrines" but "has a strong connection with the teachings of Buddha himself".[15] It should be noted that however weak claim to historicity that the Mahyna sutras hold, this does not mean that all scholars believe that the Pli Canon is historical; some scholars believe that it is not.[16][17][18] Still others such as D.T. Suzuki have stated that it doesn't matter if the Mahyna sutras can be historically linked to the Buddha or not, since Mahyna is a living tradition and its teachings are followed by millions of people.[19]

Beliefs of Mahyna Buddhists

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Some traditional accounts of the transmission of the Mahyna 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 ngas (serpent-like supernatural beings who dwell in another plane of being). The reason given for the late disclosure of the Mahyna teachings is that most people were initially unable to understand the Mahyna sutras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE) and suitable recipients for these teachings had still to arise amongst humankind.[20] 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, adeva, a i, 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).[21] 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 Pli 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:

There is the case where a bhikkhu says this: 'In the Blessed One's presence have I heard this, in the Blessed One's presence have I received this: This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.' His statement is neither to be approved nor scorned. Without approval or scorn, take careful note of his words and make them stand against the Suttas (discourses) and tally them against the Vinaya (monastic rules). If, on making them stand against the Suttas and tallying them against the Vinaya, you find that they don't stand with the Suttas or tally with the Vinaya, you may conclude: 'This is not the word of the Blessed One; this bhikkhu has misunderstood it' and you should reject it. But if... they stand with the Suttas and tally with the Vinaya, you may conclude: 'This is the word of the Blessed One; this bhikkhu has understood it rightly.'" [edit]

Earliest extant Mahyna stras

Some scholars have traditionally considered the earliest Mahyna stras to include the very first versions of the Prajpramit series, along with texts concerning Akobhya Buddha, which were probably composed in the 1st century BCE in the south of India.[22][23][24] Some early Mahyna stras were translated by the Kua monk Lokakema, who came to China from the kingdom of Gandhra. His first translations to Chinese were made in the Chinese capital of Luoyang between 178 and 189 CE.[11] Some Mahyna stras translated during the 2nd century CE include the following:[25] 1. Aashasrik Prajpramit Stra 2. Larger Suk hvatvyha Stra
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3. Ak obhyatathgatasyavyha Stra 4. Ugraparipccha Stra 5. Majurparipcch Stra 6. Drumak innararjaparipcch Stra 7. ragama Samdhi Stra 8. Bhadrapla Stra 9. Ajtaatruk auk tyavinodana Stra 10. Kyapaparivarta Stra 11. Lok nuvartana Stra 12. An early stra connected to the Avatasak a Stra Some of these were probably composed in the north of India in the 1st century CE.[26] Thus scholars generally think that the earliest Mahyna stras were mainly composed in the south of India, and later the activity of writing additional scriptures was continued in the north.[27] However, the assumption that the presence of an evolving body of Mahyna scriptures implies the contemporaneous existence of distinct religious movement calledMahyna, which may be wrong.[28]

Nature of the Mahyna sutras

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The teachings as contained in the Mahyna 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.[29] Because of these contradictory elements, there are "very few things that can be said with certainty about Mahayana Buddhism".[30][31]

Collections of Mahyna sutras

Bodhisattvapiaka
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In the 4th century Mahyna abhidharma work Abhidharmasamuccaya, Asaga refers to the collection which contains the gamas as the rvak apiak a, and associates it with thervakas and pratyekabuddhas.[32] Asaga classifies the Mahyna stras as belonging to the Bodhisattvapiak a, which is designated as the collection of teachings for bodhisattvas.[32]

Modern canons

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The Mahyna sutras survive predominantly in primary translations in Chinese and Tibetan from original texts in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit or various prakrits. Although there is no definitive Mahyna canon as such, the printed or manuscript collections in Chinese and Tibetan, published through the ages, have preserved the majority of known Mahyna sutras. Many parallel translations of certain sutras exist. A handful of them, such as the Prajpramit sutras like the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra, are considered fundamental by most Mahyna 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 that, in addition to numerous Mahyna texts, both canonical and not, also include gama collections, several versions of the vinaya, abhidharma and tantric writings. The first thirtytwo 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 Mahyna texts have not survived to this day, although
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Sanskrit versions of the majority of the major Mahyna sutras have survived.

Brief descriptions of some sutras

Proto-Mahyna sutras [edit]

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Early in the 20th century, a cache of texts was found in a mound near Gilgit in Pakistan. Amongst them was the Ajitasena Stra. This sutra appears to be a mixture of Mahyna and pre-Mahyna ideas. The text is set in a world where monasticism is the norm, typical of the Pli Suttas; there is none of the usual antagonism towards the ravak as (i.e., the early Buddhists) or the notion of Arahantship, as is typical of Mahyna sutras such as theVimalak rti-nirdea Stra. However, the Ajitasena Stra also depicts an Arahant seeing all the Buddha fields, and it is said[by whom?] 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 Mahyna sutras.

Samdhi sutras [edit]

Amongst the earliest Mahyna texts, the samdhi sutras are a collection of sutras that focus on the attainment of profound states of consciousness reached in meditation, perhaps suggesting that meditation played an important role in early Mahyna. These include thePratyutpanna-stra, Samdhirja-stra and ragama-samdhi-stra.

Perfection of Wisdom texts [edit]

These deal with Buddhist wisdom (praj). "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 (nyat), an absence of any essential, unchanging nature. ThePerfection of Wisdom in One Letter illustrates this approach by choosing to represent the perfection of wisdom with the Sanskrit and Pli short a or "schwa" vowel ("", []). As a prefix, this negates a word's meaning, e.g., changing "svabhva", "with essence" to "asvabhva", "without essence".[33] 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.[34] Many sutras are known by the number of lines, or lok as , that they contain. Edward Conze, who translated all of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras into English, identified four periods of development in this literature: 1. 100 BCE 100 CE: Ratnaguasamcayagatha and the Aashasrik (8,000 lines) 2. 100300 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. 3. 300500 CE: a period of condensation, producing the well known Heart Sutra and thePerfection of Wisdom in One Letter. 4. 5001000 CE: Texts from this period begin to show a tantric influence. The Perfection of Wisdom texts have influenced every Mahyna school of Buddhism.

Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart Stra in the Siddha script. Bibliothque nationale de France

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Saddharma Puarka [edit]

This sutra is called the Lotus Sutra, White Lotus Sutra, Sutra of the White Lotus or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma; Sanskrit: Saddharma-pundark a-stra; Cn: Miof Linhu Jng; Jp: Myh Renge Ky. Probably written down in the period 100 BCE 100 CE, the White Lotus Sutra proposes that the three ynas (rvak ayna,pratyek abuddhayna and bodhisattvayna) 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 to help beings of limited capacities. The sutra is notable for the (re)appearance of the BuddhaPrabhutaratna, who had died several aeons earlier, because it suggests that a Buddha is not inaccessible after his parinirva 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 (trik ya). Later it became associated particularly with the Tien Tai school in China (Tendai in Japan) and the Nichirenschools 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 Dharmajtayaas, an Indian monk of the 4th to 5th century. It belongs to the so-calledThreefold 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 Tendai,[35] some Nichiren Buddhist sects, and also Rissh Ksei 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 Rissh Ksei 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.

Pure Land sutras [edit]

The Pure Land teachings were first developed in India, and were very popular in Kashmir andCentral Asia, where they may have originated.[36]Pure Land stras were brought from the Gandhraregion to China as early as 147 CE, when theKushan monk Lokakema began translating the first Buddhist stras into Chinese.[37] The earliest of these translations show evidence of having been translated from the Gndhr language, aprakrit descended from Vedic Sanskrit, which was used in Northwest India.[38] The Pure Land stras are principally the Shorter Suk hvatvyha Book open to the Shorter Sukhvatvyha Stra Stra, Longer Suk hvatvyha Stra, and the Amityurdhyna Stra. The shorter stra is also known as theAmitbha Stra, and the longer stra is also known as the Infinite Life Stra. These sutras describe Amitbha and his Pure Land of Bliss, called Sukhvat. Also related to the Pure Land tradition is the Pratyutpanna Samdhi Stra, which describes the practice of reciting the name of Amitbha Buddha as a meditation method. In addition to these, many other Mahyna texts also feature Amitbha Buddha, and a total of 290 such works have been identified in the Taish Tripiaka.[39] 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 bodhisattvaby 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
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of Pure Land Buddhism, which focus on the salvific power of faith in the vows of Amitabha.

The Vimalakirti Nirdea Stra [edit]

In the Vimalakirti sutra, composed some time before 150 CE, the bodhisattva Vimalakrtiappears as a layman to teach the Dharma. This is seen by some as a strong assertion of the value of lay practice.[citation needed] Doctrinally similar to the Perfection of Wisdom texts, another major theme is the Buddhafield (Buddha-k etra), which was influential on Pure Land schools. This sutra has been very popular in China and Japan where it has been seen as being compatible with Confucian values.

Confession Sutras [edit]

The Trisk andha Stra and the Golden Light Sutra (Suvaraprabhsa-stra) 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 Avatasaka Sutra [edit]

This is large composite text consisting of several parts, most notably the Daabhmik a 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 ofVairocana that later gave rise to the Mahvairocana-abhisabodhi tantra, which in turn became one of two central texts in Shingon Buddhism and is included in the Tibetan canonas a carya class tantra. The Avatasak a 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 [edit]

These sutras primarily teach the doctrine of Representation Only (vijaptimtra), associated with the Yogcra school. The Sandhinirmocana Sutra (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 gamas of the ravak as , to the second turning the lower Mahyna sutras including the Praj-pramit 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 (ntrtha). The well-known Lak vatra Stra, composed sometime around the 4th century CE, is sometimes included in this group, although it is somewhat syncretic in nature, combining pure Yogcra doctrines with those of the tathgatagarbha system and was unknown or ignored by the progenitors of the Yogcra system. The Lak vatra Strawas influential in the Chan or Zen schools.

Page from the Lakvatra Stra in Sanskrit

Tathgatagarbha class sutras [edit]

These are especially the Tathgatagarbha Stra, the rml Stra (rmldevi-simhanda Stra) and the Mahyna Mahparinirva Stra (which is very different in character from thePli Mahaparinibbana Sutta). These texts teach that every being has a "Buddha nature" (tathgatagarbha: variously translated as "Buddha nature", "Buddha seed", "Buddha matrix", "Buddha essence" or "Buddha principle").[citation needed] 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
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Buddhism to the problem of immanence and transcendence. The Tathgatagarbha 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 Tathgatagarbha is ultimate and definitive (ntrtha)not in need of "interpretation"and that it takes the Dharma to the next and final, clarifying step of the teachings on emptiness (nyat).

Collected Sutras [edit]

These two large sutras are, again, actually collections of other sutras. The Mahratnak a Stra contains 49 individual works, and the Mahsamnipta-stra 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 Stras [edit]

Esoteric stras comprise an important category of works that are esoteric, in the sense that they are often devoted to a particular mantra or dhra. Well-known dhra texts include theUa Vijaya Dhra Stra and the Cund Dhra Stra.

Transmigration sutras [edit]

A number of sutras focus on actions that lead to existence in the various spheres of existence, or expound the doctrine of the twelve links of dependent-origination(prattyasamutpda).

Discipline sutras [edit]

These focus on principles that guide the behaviour of bodhisattvas, and include theKshyapa-parivarta, the Bodhisattva-prtimok a Sutra, and the Brahmajla 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 [edit]

TA large number of sutras describe the nature and virtues of a particular Buddha or bodhisattva and their pure land, including Majusri, Kitigarbha, the Buddha Akobhya, and Bhaiajyaguru, also known as the Medicine Buddha.

Vaiplya Stras devoted to all Tathgatas [edit]

The most widely used (in liturgy) of these is the Bhadra-k alpik a Sutra, available in various languages (Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, etc.) in variants that differ slightly as to the number of Tathgatas enumerated. For example, the Khotanese version is the proponent of a 1005-Tathgata system. There is in use in the Shingon school a sutra naming some 10,000Tathgatas , distinguishing the ones longer-lived after enlightenment (the same as in the approximately 1,000 in the Bhadra-k alpik a) as "Sun-Buddhas", and the shorter-lived ones as "Moon-Buddhas".

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