Sacred Scripture

Mahayana Main scriptures: Sutras (sacred texts) — 2184 sacred writings. Popular: 1) Lotus Sutra — a
sermon by the Buddha on Bodhisattva, buddha-nature, etc. 2) Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (Prajna-
paramita) — describes emptiness and others. 3) Heart Sutra— describes nirvana, emptiness, and
Ultimate Reality. 4) "Land of Bliss" Sutra — describes the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha.

Sutras

Mahayana sutras are usually statements attributed to The Buddha centuries after he supposedly said
them but are true enough to Buddhist doctrines that they have been accepted as truths. Sutras are
often chanted in prayers and written or printed again and again to earn merit.

detail from the Diamond Sutra

Some sutras are very famous and widely read. According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: “The
Diamond Sutra, for example, is concise and pithy in wording yet also fully expresses the idea of "prajna
(wisdom)" in popular Mahayana Buddhism, thereby spreading far and wide... Another major text, The
Hua-yen Sutra, expounds on the origins of the Buddhist world and the idea that all things are
interconnected, being the scripture forming the basis and namesake of the Hua-yen School. Although
originating in India, it later became one of the most important sects in Chinese Buddhism. The scriptures
devoted to Kuan-yin, the bodhisattva of compassion, are intimately related to the development of Kuan-
yin belief in the Chin and Sixteen Kingdoms era (265-439). Furthermore, after Dharmaraksa translated
The True Dharma of the Lotus Sutra in 286 and Kumarajiva translated The Sublime Dharma of the Lotus
Sutra, the image of Kuan-yin as a "savoir from difficulties and suffering" and "incarnation infinitum"
became deeply planted in the minds of followers, thereby forming the basis of widespread views about
Kuan-yin that are still held today. [Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei npm-gov-tw \=/ ]

According to Columbia University's Asia for Educators: Buddhist sutras were known far and wide in
China. To mention just three examples: 1) The seemingly magical spell from the Heart Sutra was known
by many; 2) stories from the Lotus Sutra were painted on the walls of popular temples; and 3) religious
preachers, popular storytellers, and low-class dramatists alike drew on the rich trove of mythology
provided by Buddhist narrative." [Source: Asia for Educators, Columbia University, Primary Sources with
DBQs, afe.easia.columbia.edu]
Important Sutras

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: ““The Suvarnaprabhasa-sutra (or, Golden Light Sutra)
is one that highlights a discourse by Shakyamuni in Rajagriha, India. It is taught that those who embrace
the scripture will obtain the protection of the four heavenly kings and other benevolent deities, and
that, if a ruler takes faith in the correct teaching, these deities will protect his country. It was introduced
to China in early fifth century, and was immediately received by the Han Chinese as well as the
noblemen and common souls of many neighboring states. There were five Chinese translations, and to
date the ten-chüan A Vision of the Suvarna-prabhasa Sutra (also known as Sovereign Kings of the Golden
Light Sutra) rendered by Master I-ching (635-713) in 703, known for its comprehensiveness, accuracy,
and textual fluidity, has been the most popular version. I-ching was a priest of T'ang China who traveled
via marine routes to India to study Buddhism. He stayed there for twenty-five years and visited more
than thirty Buddhist sites. After he returned to China with four hundred Sanskrit scriptures, I-ching
devoted himself to translating them. He translated fifty-six titles of Buddhist texts in two hundred and
thirty chüan, and was acknowledged as one of the four greatest translators of Buddhist scriptures.
[Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei npm-gov-tw \=/ ]

Avatamsaka sutra at the Nara National Museum in Japan

“The Hua-yen Sutra is known in Sanksrit as Avatamsaka sutra, one of the most important scriptures in
Mahayana Buddhism and the main theoretical classic upon which the Hua-yen School is based. This
sutra is said to have been the first expounded by the Buddha after achieving enlightenment. It describes
the "The sublime world within a flower garland" where the Vairocana Buddha resides in a realm of
countless buddhas that form the notion of "multitudinous buddhas". The version of The Hua-yen Sutra
in the National Palace Museum collection was translated by Siksanda, including a total of 80 chapters
and hence known as The Hua-yen Eighty. The original text in Sanskrit has a total of 45,000 verses, for
which Empress Wu (Tze-t'ien) dispatched an emissary to Khotan to acquire. Translation was then begun
at the Ta-pien-k'ung Temple in Loyang in 695, and the Chinese translation was completed in 699 at Fo-
shou Temple. \=/

“Highly revered by Chinese Buddhists, the Maharatnakuta-sutra is considered one of the five greatest
scriptures. Very much in the form of a monographic series, the work is a collection of forty-nine sutras
introducing the doctrines of all major schools of Mahayana Buddhism, with discourses espousing the
mean between two extremes and the idea of a realm of mind beyond substance or nothing. It was
translated into Chinese by Bodhiruci (562-727) and collated by him with various previous translations in
713." \=/
“Buddhism has a total of 84,000 Dharma gates by which anyone can reach enlightenment, approach the
summit of wisdom, and uncover ways of deliverance. While this orientation is rather spiritual and
philosophical, the pragmatic requirements of the finite world have not been unattended to in the realm
of Buddhism. As a matter of fact, many Dharmaparyaya's, such as those texts of esoteric teachings, are
intended to assist man in his pursuit of happiness, wealth, and well-being, as well as his search for
protection against diseases and misfortunes. The Svaraga-bhumyasta-rajas-riddhi-mantra-sutra is one
such example.” \=/

The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters contains very long excerpts from Nagarjuna's Treatise on The Great
Perfection of Wisdom (Mahaapraj~naapaaramitaa Upadesha), "an immense exegesis to the
Mahaapraj~naapaaramitaa Sutra in 25,000 lines. Classically, it is preserved only in a 100-fascicle Chinese
edition translated from Sanskrit in A.D. 405. by Kumarajiva, the brilliant and prolific translator-monk
who was the premier transmitter to the Chinese of the Maadhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna."

Diamond Sutra

The world's oldest surviving book, the Diamond Sutra, was printed with wooden blocks in China in A.D.
868. It consists of Buddhist scriptures printed on seven 2½-foot-long, one-foot-wide sheets of paper
pasted together into one 16-foot-long scroll. Part of the Perfection of Wisdom text, a Mahayanist
sermon preached by Buddha, it was found in cave in Gansu Province in 1907 by the British explorer
Aurel Stein, who also found well-preserved 9th century silk and linen paintings.

According to the National Palace Museum, Taipei: “The full name of The Diamond Sutra in the original
Sanskrit is Vajracchedika-prajñaparamita sutra. In Sanskrit, the word "vajra" means "sharpness,
destroyer of all", which is why in English the diamond and thunderbolt are often used to describe it.
"Prajña" refers to "wisdom". Therefore, this sutra is a canon by which ignorance can be eradicated and
wisdom achieved. Since The Diamond Sutra belongs to the Prajña scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism,
transcribing its text is also considered a means of achieving merit and practice beyond reading, reciting,
and accepting its contents. [Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei npm-gov-tw \=/ ]

Heart Sutra

Heart Sutra T-shirt

The Heart Sutra is one of the most well-known sutras. It is attributed to Nagarjuna (A.D. c. 150 – c. 250
CE), who is regarded by many as the second greatest teacher in Buddhism. Some people even feel that
Nagarjuna is the second Buddha who The Buddha prophesied would come sometime after to clarify
things. Nagarjuna did much to clarify the nature of emptiness and is responsible for the Heart Sutra.
A section of the Great Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Heart Sutra goes: “Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when
practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita, perceived that all five skandhas in their own being are empty and
was saved from all suffering. O Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not
differ from form. That which is form is emptiness; that which is emptiness form. The same is true of
feelings, perceptions, formations, consciousness. [Source: version of the Heart Sutra, used at the San
Francisco Zen Center, Raja Hornsteinm Australian National University]

“O Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness. they do not appear nor disappear, are not
tainted nor pure, do not increase nor decrease. Therefore in emptiness: no form, no feelings, no
perceptions, no formations, no consciousness; no eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;
no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; no realm of eyes...until no realm of
mind-consciousness; no ignorance and also no extinction of it...until no old-age and death and also no
extinction of it; no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path, no cognition, also no attainment with
nothing to attain.

“A bodhisattva depends on Prajna Paramita and the mind is no hindrance. Without any hindrance no
fears exist. Far apart from every perverted view one dwells in nirvana. In the three worlds all buddhas
depend on Prajna Paramita and attain unsurpassed complete perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know
the Prajna Paramita is the great transcendent mantra, is the great bright mantra, is the utmost mantra,
is the supreme mantra which is able to relieve all suffering and is true not false; so proclaim the Prajna
Paramita mantra, proclaim the mantra that says:

Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha

All buddhas ten directions three times

All beings bodhisattva’s mahasattvas

Wisdom beyond wisdom Maha Prajna Paramita

Lotus Sutra

The “Lotus of the Good Law Sutra," or more simply “the Lotus Sutra," is one of the most widely
venerated and beautiful Buddhist scriptures. Followers often believe that salvation can be achieved by
repeatedly chanting, "I take my refuge in the Lotus Sutra" and passages from the Lotus sutra in front of a
small altar containing a scroll with Chinese characters representing the Lotus Sutra. Translations of it
into English or other Western languages are often not very good.
Japanese Buddhist altar with a Lotus Sutra

Albert Craig wrote: “The Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarikasutra), "Lotus of the True Dharma" is one of
the best-loved sacred texts of Mahayana Buddhism. Its original Sanskrit text was translated many times
into Chinese (the earliest being in 225 CE), as well as into Tibetan and other languages.” [Source: Albert
M. Craig, et al, “The Heritage of World Civilizations”]

According to Columbia University's Asia for Educators: “The Lotus Sutra is a Buddhist scripture
composed well after the death of the historical Buddha (around 483 B.C.) and written down in Sanskrit
even later. The scripture was translated into Chinese at least five different times between 255 and 601
CE and proved to be a tremendously influential text for Chinese Buddhism. The Lotus Sutra is a text of
the Mahayana School of Buddhism. As such, its major message is that there is only one way to reach
enlightenment, and that is through the way of the bodhisattva as described in the Lotus Sutra. [Source:
Asia for Educators, Columbia University, Primary Sources with DBQs, afe.easia.columbia.edu ]

“The Lotus Sutra is the most popular and influential Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. It is the basis on
which the Tiantai, Tendai, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism in China and Japan were established. The
earliest known Sanskrit title for the sutra is the “Saddharma Pundarika Sutra," which translates to
“Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma." In English, the shortened form Lotus Sutra is
commonThe most respected version in Chinese is the translation carried out under the direction of the
Indian monk Kumarajiva in A.D. 406. For many East Asian Buddhists, the Lotus Sutra contains the
ultimate and complete teaching of the Buddha and the reciting of the text is believed to be very
auspicious. [Source: Wikipedia]

History of the Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra presents itself as a discourse delivered by the Buddha toward the end of his life. The
tradition in Mahayana states that the sutras were written down during the life of the Buddha and stored
for five hundred years in a naga-realm. After this, they were reintroduced into the human realm at the
time of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir. [Source: Wikipedia +]

Lotus Sutra written by Prince Shotoku of Japan in the early 7th century

The Lotus Sutra was originally translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksa (Zhu Fahu) in A.D.
286 in Chang'an. However, the view that there is a high degree of probability that the base text for that
translation was actually written in a Prakrit language has gained widespread acceptance. Jan Nattier has
recently summarized this aspect of the early textual transmission of such Buddhist scriptures in China
thus, bearing in mind that Dharmaraksa's period of activity falls well within the period she defines:
"Studies to date indicate that Buddhist scriptures arriving in China in the early centuries of the Common
Era were composed not just in one Indian dialect but in several . . . in sum, the information available to
us suggests that, barring strong evidence of another kind, we should assume that any text translated in
the second or third century AD was not based on Sanskrit, but one or other of the many Prakrit
vernaculars." It may have originally been composed in a Prakrit dialect and then later translated into
Sanskrit to lend it greater respectability. +

According to Jonathan Silk, the influence of the Lotus Sutra in India may have been limited, but "it is a
prominent scripture in East Asian Buddhism."The sutra has most prominence in Tiantai (sometimes
called "The Lotus School") and Nichiren Buddhism. It is also very influential in Zen Buddhism. Tao Sheng,
a fifth-century Chinese Buddhist monk wrote the earliest commentary on the Lotus sutra.Tao Sheng was
known for promoting the concept of Buddha nature and the idea that even deluded people will attain
enlightenment. +

Zhiyi, the generally credited founder of the Tiantai school of Buddhism, was the student of Nanyue
Huisiwho was the leading authority of his time on the Lotus Sutra. Zhiyi's philosophical synthesis saw the
Lotus sutra as the final teaching of the Buddha and the highest teaching of Buddhism. He wrote two
commentaries on the sutra: Profound meanings of the Lotus sutra and Words and phrases of the Lotus
sutra. Zhiyi also linked the teachings of the Lotus sutra with the Buddha nature teachings of the
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra and made a distinction between the "Eternal Buddha" Vairocana and
the manifestations. In Tiantai, Vairocana (the primeval Buddha) is seen as the 'Bliss body' -
Sambhogakaya - of the historical Gautama Buddha. Consequently, the Lotus Sutra is a very important
sutra in Tiantai and correspondingly, in Japanese Tendai (founded by Saicho, 767–822). Tendai
Buddhism was the dominant form of mainstream Buddhism in Japan for many years. +

Major Teachings of the Lotus Sutra

1) One vehicle, many skillful means: The Lotus sutra is known for its extensive instruction on the concept
and usage of skillful means, the seventh paramita or perfection of a Bodhisattva – mostly in the form of
parables. The many 'skillful' or 'expedient' means and the "three vehicles" are revealed to all be part of
the One Vehicle (Ekayana), which is also the Bodhisattva path. This is also one of the first sutras to use
the term Mahayana, or "Great Vehicle". In the Lotus sutra, the One Vehicle encompasses so many
different teachings because the Buddha's compassion and wish to save all beings led him to adapt the
teaching to suit many different kinds of people. [Source: Wikipedia +]

Paul Williams explains: “Although the corpus of teachings attributed to the Buddha, if taken as a whole,
embodies many contradictions, these contradictions are only apparent. Teachings are appropriate to the
context in which they are given and thus their contradictions evaporate. The Buddha's teachings are to
be used like ladders, or, to apply an age-old Buddhist image, like a raft employed to cross a river. There
is no point in carrying the raft once the journey has been completed and its function fulfilled. When
used, such a teaching transcends itself." [Source: “Mahayana Buddhism: the doctrinal foundations” by
Paul Williams (Routledge, 1989) p. 151]

The sutra emphasizes that all these seemingly different teachings are actually just skillful applications of
the one dharma and thus all constitute the "One Buddha Vehicle and knowledge of all modes". 1) The
Lotus sutra sees all other teachings are subservient to, propagated by and in the service of the ultimate
truth of the One Vehicle leading to Buddhahood. The Lotus Sutra also claims to be superior to other
sutras and states that full Buddhahood is only arrived at by exposure to its teachings and skillful means

Besides the Dhammapada, a collection of 423 verses attributed to Sakyamuni Buddha,

the foundational text of Mahayana Buddhism is The Perfection of Wisdom (the literal
translation of the Sanskrit title Prajñāpāramitā) written by various Buddhist sages
primarily between c. 50 BCE - c. 600 CE. It is a kind of manual on how to become a
bodhisattva with a full understanding of Buddhist Dharma (“cosmic law”) unimpeded
by one’s ego which darkens understanding through willful ignorance and pride. The
verses of this work aim at confusing rational thought and linear thinking in order to
free the mind to understand the world from a different, higher perspective.

For many people, this is the most important work in Buddhism, memorized and recited
daily by Buddhists around the world. It contains some of the most famous Buddhist
sutras such as The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (c. 50 BCE), The Diamond
Sutra (c. 2nd century CE), and the Heart Sutra (c. 660 CE). The Heart Sutra is the most
often memorized and recited as it focuses on discarding the ego-attachment to the
identity one calls the "self", freeing the mind and spirit to create space – emptiness – in
the self that can then be filled by higher thought and clearer vision. As long as one is
full of oneself, one has no room for anything else – like a home that has become
cluttered with so many possessions there is no room for even one more and, further,
one no longer even knows what is there – but by reciting the Heart Sutra, one removes,
piece by piece, the elements of self and "cleans house", as it were, restoring a natural
balance and order to one’s life.
Buddhist Illuminated Manuscript, Goryeo Period
Eggmoon (CC BY-SA)

There are many more significant scriptures in Mahayana Buddhism including the
equally, if not more, famous Lotus Sutra (also known as Sutra on the White Lotus of the
True Dharma) which makes clear that all forms of Buddhism are aspects
of Ekayana ("One Vehicle" or "One Path") and Mahayana Buddhism, while still claiming
to be the most complete or authentic, is only one of many.

There are also the Pure Land Sutras, celebrating the work of the Celestial Buddha
Amitabha and the realm of bliss he created, which awaits believers in the afterlife.
The Golden Light Sutra emphasizes the importance of order in one’s internal life that is
reflected externally, specifically concerning kings and those in authority. Another work,
the Tathagatagarbha Sutras, makes clear that all living things are possessed of a Buddha-
nature which, if developed, lead to the enlightenment of Buddhahood. Other, equally
important, sutras, develop these themes and others in providing a complete guide to
following the path of the bodhisattva and freeing oneself, and then others, from
ignorance, avarice, and the craving that binds one to the wheel of perpetual suffering.