Srimala Sutra

Srimala Sutra

The Śrīmālā Sūtra (full title: "unicode|Śrīmālādevī-siṃha-nāda-sūtra)" is one of the main early Mahayana Buddhist texts that taught the doctrines of "tathagatagarbha" and the Single Vehicle, through the words of the Indian Queen Śrīmālā. It was translated to Chinese in 436 CE by Gunabhadra (394-468). It was later translated into English by Alex and Hideko Wayman as "The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala".

The sutra teaches the reality of an ultimate, immaculate Consciousness within each living being, which is the Buddhic "Dharmakaya" (essence of Truth), which is yet temporarily sheathed in obscuring defilement. This Dharmakaya, when viewed as intrinsically free from spiritual ignorance, is said to constitute Eternity, Bliss, the Self, and Purity in their perfect state. The great Queen Srimala, empowered by the Buddha to teach the Dharma, affirms: "... the Dharmakaya of the Buddha has the perfection of permanence, the perfection of pleasure, the perfection of Self, the perfection of purity. Whatever sentient beings see the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata that way, see correctly. Whoever see correctly are called the sons of the Lord born from his heart, born from his mouth, born from the Dharma, who behave as manifestation of Dharma and as heirs of Dharma." ["The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala", p. 102]

The scripture also - extremely influentially by way of clarification of the Tathagatagarbha-Buddhist view of shunyata - insists that the ultimately correct understanding of Emptiness is that the Tathagatagarbha is empty of all knowledge that is not Liberation, whereas, in contrast, the qualities which characterise a Buddha are not empty of inconceivable virtues. An alternative title offered by the Buddha for this sutra expresses this idea of an ultimate meaning to the Emptiness doctrine: "The True Revelation of the Buddha's Intention when Teaching Shunyata [Emptiness] ".

The sutra has, furthermore, significantly contributed to the Mahayana notion of the permanent, steadfast and eternal "Tathagatagarbha" (Buddha-Matrix), which is nothing less than the perfect Dharmakaya temporarily concealed by (ultimately unreal) mental contaminants.

There is some debate as to whether or not the "tathagatagarbha" constitutes true self or not, although that perfect Self is nowhere denied in the sutra, but affirmed.

See also

* Mahaparinirvana Sutra
* Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa
* Tathagatagarbha Sutra
*Angulimaliya Sutra
* Tathagatagarbha doctrine
* Buddha-nature
*Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra
*Shōmangyō Gisho, an annotated Japanese version of the sutra.

Notes

References

* "The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala" (Motilal, Delhi 1974), tr. by A. and H. Wayman

External links

* [http://www.webspawner.com/users/bodhisattva/index.html Several Key Tathagatagarbha Sutras]
* [http://www.acmuller.net/cgi-bin/search-ddb4.pl?Terms=勝鬘經 Digital Dictionary of Buddhism] (log in with userID "guest")
* [http://www.nirvanasutra.org.uk Appreciation of the Nirvana Sutra and Tathagatagarbha teachings]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tathagatagarbha Sutra — The Tathagatagarbha Sutra is an influential and doctrinally striking Mahayana Buddhist scripture which treats of the existence of the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha Matrix, Buddha Embryo, Buddha Essence, lit. the womb of the thus come one ) within all… …   Wikipedia

  • Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra — See Mahaparinibbana Sutta for the sutta of the Pali Canon. Part of a series on Buddhism Outline · Portal …   Wikipedia

  • Nirvana Sutra — The Nirvana Sutra, or IAST|Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehankyō (涅槃経); Tibetan: myang das kyi mdo ). [Dharma Dictionary (2008). myang das kyi mdo . Source: [http://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/myang das kyi mdo]… …   Wikipedia

  • Angulimaliya Sutra — The Angulimaliya Sutra is a Buddhist scripture belonging to the Tathagatagarbha class of sutras, which teach that the Buddha is eternal, that the non Self and emptiness teachings only apply to the worldly sphere (not the nirvanic), and that the… …   Wikipedia

  • Tathagatagarbha doctrine — In Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism, the Tathāgatagarbha (如來藏) doctrine (often essentially the same as the Buddha nature concept) teaches that each sentient being contains the intrinsic, effulgent Buddhic element or indwelling potency for becoming a …   Wikipedia

  • Buddha-nature — (Classical Chinese: 佛性, modern pinyin fó xìng , literally corresponds to the Sanskrit, Buddha dhatu Buddha Element , Buddha Principle , but seems to have been used most frequently to translate the Sanskrit Tathāgata garbha , meaning Buddha Matrix …   Wikipedia

  • Ātman (Buddhism) — Ātman ( sa. आत्मन्) or Atta (Pāli) literally means self , but is sometimes translated as soul or ego . The word derives from the Indo European root *ēt men (breath) and is cognate with Old English æthm and German atem [ [http://www.yourdictionary …   Wikipedia

  • Sangyō Gisho — The nihongo|Sangyōsho|三経義疏|, literally Annotated Commentaries on the Three Sutras, is the title of three annotated commentaries on important Buddhist sutras: nihongo| Hokke Gisho |法華義疏|, nihongo| Shōmangyō Gisho |勝鬘経義疏|, and nihongo| Yuimagyō… …   Wikipedia

  • Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa — The Anunatva Apurnatva Nirdesa ( Exposition of Non Decrease and Non Increase ) is a Buddhist sutra belonging to the tathagatagarbha class of sutras. It presents a teaching (delivered, in this text, by the Buddha to Sariputra) that nirvana is not… …   Wikipedia

  • Mahayana sutras — Mahāyāna Buddhism …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”