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The Bequeathed Teachings Sutra, or the Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching and Bequeathed Sutra (Ch. 佛垂般涅槃略說敎誡經, T.389) is a brief Mahayana sutra containing instructions left by the Gautama Buddha before His said final nirvana. It is reportedly translated by Kumārajīva into Chinese around 400 C.E. [1] [2]
The sutra presents itself as the final teachings of Gautama Buddha, delivered to the disciples assembled around his resting place between two sal trees. In this last sermon, the Buddha urged his disciples to strive for enlightenment through thorough monastic discipline. According to Cleary, "the Buddha teaches here from the perspective of cause and effect: pure discipline is a basic necessity because it allows good qualities to develop." [3] The Buddha warns against seeking material wealth, influence, and discourages monks from earning a living through fortune telling or the performance of healing. [3] The Buddha concludes by declaring the sutra his last teaching. [4] [5]
The sutra "is used as a liturgical text in both Taiwan and Japan, where it seems to be particularly associated with the Soto Zen sect." [6] It was frequently cited or the subject of commentary during the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties. [3] It was a perennial source of reference and instruction for Chinese Chan communities. [3]
The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment or Complete Enlightenment is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra highly esteemed by both the Huayan and Zen schools. The earliest records are in Chinese, and it is believed to be of Chinese origin.
The Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahayana sutras, and the basis on which the Tiantai, Tendai, Cheontae, and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established.
The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa, is a Buddhist text which centers around a lay buddhist meditator who attained a very high degree of enlightenment considered by some second only to the Buddha's. It was extremely influential in East Asia, but most likely of considerably less importance in the Indian and Tibetan sub-traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The word nirdeśa in the title means "instruction, advice", and Vimalakīrti is the name of the main protagonist of the text, and means "Taintless Fame".
The Heart Sūtra is a popular sutra in Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the title Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya translates as "The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom".
Aśvaghoṣa or Ashvaghosha was a Sarvāstivāda Buddhist philosopher, dramatist, poet and orator from India. He was born in Saketa in northern India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivalled the contemporary Ramayana. Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in Pāli and Prakrit, Aśvaghoṣa wrote in Classical Sanskrit.
The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts belonging to the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras that teaches the doctrines of Buddha-nature and "One Vehicle" through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā. After its composition, this text became the primary scriptural advocate in India for the universal potentiality of Buddhahood.
The Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra is one of the two Indian Mahayana sutras which describe the pure land of Amitābha. Together with the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, this text is highly influential in China and Japan where it is revered by the Jōdo-shū and Jōdo Shinshū congregations.
Mahāsthāmaprāpta is a bodhisattva mahāsattva who represents the power of wisdom. His name literally means "arrival of the great strength".
The Sutra of Filial Piety is an apocryphal sutra composed in China and apparently an exercise in Buddhist apologetics. It is claimed to have been translated by the monk Kumārajīva.
The Yulanpen Sutra, also known as the Ullambana Sutra, is a Mahayana sutra concerning filial piety. It was translated from an Indic language and is found in Taisho 685 and Taisho 686 in Volume 16, the third volume of the Collected Sutra Section. Taisho 685 was translated by Dharmarakṣa from 265-311 CE and is entitled: ‘The Buddha Speaks the Yulanpen Sutra’. Taisho 686 was translated by an unknown or lost translator during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and is entitled: ‘The Buddha Speaks the Sutra of Offering Bowls to Repay Kindness’. According to Karashima, Taisho 686 is basically a more idiomatic adaptation of Taisho 685. It records the events which followed after one of the disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, Maudgalyayana, achieves Abhijñā and uses his newfound powers to search for his deceased parents. In the end, Maudgalyayana finds his mother in the preta world and with the assistance of the Buddha, is able to save her. The East Asian Ghost Festival is based on this sutra.
The Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra is a Mahayana sutra in Pure Land Buddhism, a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It is one of the three principle Pure Land sutras along with the Infinite Life Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra. Amitāyus is another name for the Buddha Amitābha, the preeminent figure in Pure Land Buddhism, and this sūtra focuses mainly on meditations involving complex visualization. This is reflected in the name of the sūtra, which translates to the "Amitāyus Meditation Sūtra."
The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters is often regarded as the first Indian Buddhist sutra translated into Chinese. However, this collection of aphorisms may have appeared some time after the first attested translations, and may even have been compiled in Central Asia or China. According to tradition, it was translated by two Yuezhi monks, Kasyapa Matanga (迦葉摩騰) and Dharmaratna (竺法蘭), in 67 CE. Because of its association with the entrance of Buddhism to China, it is accorded a very significant status in East Asia.
The Mahāvairocana Tantra is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text. It is also known as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, or more fully as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Vikurvita Adhiṣṭhāna Tantra. In Tibet it is considered to be a member of the Carya class of tantras. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra. Both are also part of the Tendai school.
The Brahmajāla Sūtra, also called the Brahma's Net Sutra, is a Mahayana Buddhist Vinaya Sutra. The Chinese translation can be found in the Taishō Tripiṭaka. The Tibetan translation can be found in Peking (Beijing) Kangyur 256. From the Tibetan it was also translated into Mongolian and the Manchu languages. It is known alternatively as the Brahmajāla Bodhisattva Śīla Sūtra.
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 Progression."
Sadāparibhūta Bodhisattva, Never Disparaging Bodhisattva, appears in Lotus Sutra Chapter 20 which describes the practices of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, who lived in the Middle Period of the Law of the Buddha Awesome Sound King. He persevered in the face of persecution for the sake of the correct teaching, and finally attained Buddhahood. Bodhisattva Never Disparaging was Shakyamuni Buddha in one of his past lifetimes.
The Ten suchnesses are a Mahayana doctrine which is important, as well as unique, to that of the Tiantai (Tendai) and Nichiren Buddhist schools of thought. The doctrine is derived from a passage found within the second chapter of Kumarajiva's Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra, that "characterizes the ultimate reality of all dharmas in terms of ten suchnesses." This concept is also known as the ten reality aspects, ten factors of life, or the Reality of all Existence.
Hongaku is an East Asian Buddhist doctrine often translated as "inherent", "innate", "intrinsic" or "original" enlightenment and is the view that all sentient beings already are enlightened or awakened in some way. It is closely tied with the concept of Buddha-nature.
In Buddhist studies, particularly East Asian Buddhist studies, post-canonical Buddhist texts, Buddhist apocrypha or Spurious Sutras and Sastras designate texts that are not accepted as canonical by some historical Buddhist schools or communities who referred to a canon. The term is principally applied to texts that purport to represent Buddhist teaching translated from Indian texts, but were written in East Asia.
The Dhyāna sutras or "meditation summaries" or also known as The Zen Sutras are a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which are mostly based on the Yogacara meditation teachings of the Sarvāstivāda school of Kashmir circa 1st-4th centuries CE. Most of the texts only survive in Chinese and were key works in the development of the Buddhist meditation practices of Chinese Buddhism.
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