20241224 Lankavatara sutra

This page is part of my exploration of Mahayana Buddhism:

https://listed.valdelane.net/55455/20241003-mahayana-buddhism

So far I have found the Lankavatara sutra largely impenetrable. I include it because Chan tradition says it was the only sutra Bodhidharma brought from India:

« The Chan tradition stems from the imposing figure of Bodhidharma, the alleged founder of the tradition who came to China as a Buddhist missionary in the fifth or sixth century C.E. Unlike other missionary monks who brought along stacks of texts, Bodhidharma brought only one: the Lankavatara Sutra. He derived his teachings from this scripture, which had an enormous impact on early Chan history. His message was simple: Buddhism must be practiced and realized, not theorized based on concepts—hence the axiom of “not dependent on words or language.” » —Guo Gu

Translations and some commentary:

Lankavatara Sutra by Red Pine (2012)

https://terebess.hu/english/lankavatara-sutra.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20230901000000*/https://terebess.hu/english/lankavatara-sutra.pdf

Lankavatara Sutra by Thomas Cleary (2012)

https://terebess.hu/english/lanka.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20221001000000*/https://terebess.hu/english/lanka.pdf

This page is part of my exploration of Mahayana Buddhism:

https://listed.valdelane.net/55455/20241003-mahayana-buddhism