Sandhinirmocana Sutra

The Sandhinirmocana Sutra (Chinese: 相續解脫經) or the "Sutra of the Continuation Stream of Emancipation" is a Buddhist scripture classified as belonging to the Yogacara or "Consciousness-only" school of Buddhist thought. [Harv|Williams|2004|p=78]

Nomenclature and etymology

The "Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra" has numerous orthographic romanizations.

Exegesis

The Sutra was likely composed in Sanskrit during the 4th Century BCE in India, but currently exists only in Chinese and Tibetan translations. [Harv|Powers|2004|pp=737-38] It is one of the most important texts of the Yogacara tradition, and one of the earliest texts to expound the philosophy of Consciousness-only or mind-only. [Harv|Powers|2004|p=738] [Harv|Powers|2004|p=78] Divided into ten sections, the Sutra presents itself as a series of dialogues between the Buddha and various bodhisattvas. [harv|Powers|2004|p=738] During these dialogues, the Buddha attempts to clarify disputed meanings present in scriptures of the early Mahayana early Buddhist schools; thus, the title of the sutra, which promises to expound a teaching that is "completely explicit" and requires no interpretation in order to be understood. [harv|Williams|2004|p=79]

The first four chapters of the sutra discuss the concept of ultimate truth. The fifth and sixth chapter discuss the concept of alayavijnana or "storehouse consciousness" and the three characteristics of phenomena ("trilaksana"), which refer to the incomplete and absolute truth of various phenomena. Chapter seven outlines a theory of textual interpretation in light of the Buddha's various teachings, and chapter nine discusses meditation. The final chapter is devoted to a discussion of the Bodhisattva Path. [harv|Powers|2004|p=738]

Within the Sutra, the Buddha describes the teaching that he is presenting as part of the Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma [harv|Williams|2004|p=79] . As such, the Sutra is intended to clarify confusing or contradictory elements of earlier teachings, presenting a new teaching that resolves earlier inconsistencies. [harv|Powers|2004|p=738] The Sutra affirms that the earlier turnings of the wheel- the teachings of the sravaka vehicle and the emptiness doctrine adopted by the Madhyamaka- represented authentic teachings, but indicates that they were flawed because they required interpretation. [harv|Williams|2004|p=79] The teachings of the Sandhinirmocana Sutra, on the other hand, require no interpretation and can be read literally according to the discourse delivered by the Buddha within the text. [harv|Williams|2004|p=79] This reflects an ancient division in Buddhist hermeneutics, a topic to which the Sutra devotes an entire chapter. [harv|Williams|2004|p=79] [harv|Powers|2004|p=738]

The Sandhinirmocana Sutra was adopted by the Yogacara school as one of its primary scriptures. In addition, it inspired a great deal of additional writing, including discussions of the scriptures by Asanga and Vasubandhu, and a large body of Tibetan literature founded on Tsong Kha Pa's writings concerning the scripture. [harv|Powers|2004|p=738]

ee also

*Svatantrika

References

Works Cited

* citation
last = Powers
first = John
contribution = IAST|Saṃdhinirmocana-Sūtra
year = 2004
title = Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism
editor-last = Buswell, Jr.
editor-first = Robert E.
pages = 737-738
place= USA
publisher = Macmillan Reference USA
isbn = 0028659104
* citation
last = Williams
first = Paul
title = Mahayana Buddhism
publisher = Routledge
date = 2004
location = Bury St. Edmunds, England
pages = 78-81
isbn = 0415025370