What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Discuss and learn about the traditional Mahayana scriptures, without assuming that any one school ‘owns’ the only correct interpretation.
User 3495
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What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by User 3495 »

What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

1. Lotus Sutra
2. Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva
3. Three Pureland Sutras
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Astus
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Astus »

At the moment:

- Vimalakirti Sutra
- Perfect Enlightenment Sutra (圓覺經)
- Avatamsaka Sutra
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Avatamsaka, Surangama & Lalitavistara
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
teatimes.me
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by teatimes.me »

Earth Store Sutra. This sutra is known for effectively removing Karma through reciting, a foundation for further practice.
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Grigoris
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Grigoris »

Lankavatara Sutra!!! :woohoo:
And let's not forget the Heart Sutra.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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jikai
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by jikai »

1) The Lotus Sutra
2) Mahaparinirvana Sutra
3)Original Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra
"止觀明靜前代未聞"
(摩訶止觀)

"此妙法蓮花經者本地甚深之奧藏也"
( 法華玄義)

"觀心者空觀是般若假觀是解脫中觀是法身"
(法華文句)
A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha »

The Diamond Sutra & The Heart Sutra :heart:
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by gyougan »

仏説無量寿経
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Leo Rivers
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Leo Rivers »

Heart Sutra for Reality Check. Samndhinirmocana for Psychology. Lotus Sutra for True Mythology.
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by plwk »

tat sutra where it tells ya to buck up or ship out... :lol:
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by deepbluehum »

Kunga Lhadzom wrote:The Diamond Sutra & The Heart Sutra :heart:
I second this.
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by A Ah Sha Sa Ma Ha »

Metta Sutra :heart:
http://dharma.ncf.ca/introduction/sutra ... sutra.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by safron »

The Lotus Sutra
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Grigoris
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Grigoris »

Kunga Lhadzom wrote:Metta Sutra :heart:
http://dharma.ncf.ca/introduction/sutra ... sutra.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That's actually a Theravadra Sutta, but hey, it's a great one! I finished translating it and other related Sutta into Greek just last night!
:namaste:
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
Rakz
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Rakz »

All of them ;)
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by DGA »

Surangama Sutra hasn't been mentioned yet; it's on my top shelf. Also, Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, as Astus mentioned, and the Lotus Sutra as so many have also brought up. The Vajrasamadhi Sutra is one I keep coming back to since Buswell's translation was published, although I can't claim to have much of a grasp on it. The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala is a gem.
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Thomas Amundsen
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by Thomas Amundsen »

gregkavarnos wrote: And let's not forget the Heart Sutra.
It is tantra.
:tongue:
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practitioner
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by practitioner »

tomamundsen wrote:
gregkavarnos wrote: And let's not forget the Heart Sutra.
It is tantra.
:tongue:
It is the essence of the Prajnaparamita Sutra, definitely Mahayana.
One should do nothing other than benefit sentient beings either directly or indirectly - Shantideva
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by DGA »

Depending on the tradition, the line between sutra and tantra is difficult. The Mahavairocana Sutra is one example.
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Re: What are your favourite Mahayana Sutras?

Post by kirtu »

tomamundsen wrote:
gregkavarnos wrote: And let's not forget the Heart Sutra.
It is tantra.
:tongue:
Is it or isn't it? Only a high Bodhisattva can tell for sure (riffing off an old Clarol commercial). :jumping:

Lopez essentially wrote a book discussing this, his excellent Heart Sutra book. From the perspective of literary criticism the Heart Sutra can be viewed as an intermediate text between sutras and tantras.

But then how should we classify the numerous dharani texts? Probably as texts developed there is not that great a leap from dharani texts to tantra in terms of outward form.

However many tantras look outwardly like books of magic and the Heart Sutra, while being really magical, doesn't have this characteristic.

Kirt
“Where do atomic bombs come from?”
Zen Master Seung Sahn said, “That’s simple. Atomic bombs come from the mind that likes this and doesn’t like that.”

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche
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