Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Discuss and learn about the traditional Mahayana scriptures, without assuming that any one school ‘owns’ the only correct interpretation.
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Aemilius
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Re: Śūraṅgama Sūtra

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THE SHURANGAMA-SUTRA (T. 945):
A REAPPRAISAL OF ITS AUTHENTICITY
by Ronald Epstein
(Presented at the annual meeting of the American Oriental Society,
March 16-18, 1976, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.)

What I would like to do in the next few minutes is to outline very briefly some of my research on the authenticity of the Shurangama-sutra. Although the material is rather complex, I'll do my best to omit what is tedious without sacrificing important points. However, it will be necessary to omit most of the details just in order to get through the material.

The first thing to get straight is that the Sutra I am discussing is not the Shurangamasamadhi-sutra (T. 642) in two rolls, which has been translated by Lamotte, rather it is, to give its full title, theTa-fo-ting-ju-lai-mi-yin-hsiu-cheng-liao-i-
chu-p'u-sa-wan-hang-shou-leng-yen-ching, which I have translated as follows: "The Summit of the Great Buddha, The Final Meaning of Verification though Cultivation of the Secret Cause of the Tathagatas, and [Foremost] Shurangama of All Bodhisattvas' Ten Thousand Practices Sutra." It is in ten rolls, and, according to the tradition, was translated in 705 by an unknown Indian bhiksu Po-la-mi-ti (which perhaps can be reconstructed as "Paramiti") and others, and then polished and edited by Empress Wu Tzu-t'ien's recently banished minister Fang Yung.

One of the main themes of the work is that in itself knowledge of the Dharma, that is the teachings of the-Buddha, is worthless unless accompanied by meditational ability, or samadhi power. Also stressed is the importance of moral precepts as a foundation for the Path. These themes are established in the work's prologue in which the erudite Ananda, who remembered everything the Buddha taught but never bothered to sit down and meditate, succumbs to an evil spell and is on the verge of being seduced by a prostitute, when he is saved by a mantra recited by the Buddha. The theme of how one effectively combats demonic influences over one's own mind continues throughout the Sutra.

Full article http://online.sfsu.edu/repstein/Buddhis ... ticity.htm
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
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