The ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'' (
Taishō 120) is a
Mahāyāna
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...
Buddhist scripture belonging to the
Tathāgatagarbha
Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...
class of
sūtra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...
, which teach that the Buddha is eternal, that the non-Self and emptiness teachings only apply to the worldly sphere and not to
Nirvāṇa, and that the Tathāgatagarbha is real and immanent within all beings and all phenomena. The sutra consists mostly of stanzas in verse.
The Mahāyāna ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'' should not be confused with the
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school.
During ...
's ''
Angulimala Sutta'', which is a completely different work included in the
Majjhima Nikaya.
Origins and history
According to Stephen Hodge, internal textual evidence in the ''
Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'', ''Mahābherihāraka Parivarta Sūtra'', and the ''
Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
The ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ; Vietnamese: ''Kinh Đại Bát Niết Bàn'') or ''Nirvana Sutra'' is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra of the Buddha-nature genre. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form ...
'', indicates that these texts were first circulated in southern India, and they then gradually propagated up to the northwest, with
Kashmir being the other major center. The ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'' gives a more detailed account by mentioning the points of distribution as including southern India, the
Vindhya Range,
Bharukaccha
Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.
The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since time ...
, and Kashmir.
Hodge summarizes his findings as follows:
In the 6th century CE,
Paramārtha wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas revere the sūtras which teach the Tathāgatagarbha.
Central teachings
The ''Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra'' consists largely of teachings by
Aṅgulimālīya on the correct understanding of Buddhist doctrine. According to Michael Radich,
The sutra is most insistent that the Tathāgatagarbha and the self (''
Ātman'') are real and that to deny their existence is to lapse into a state of dangerous spiritual imbalance. Thus, to seek out the Tathāgatagarbha — which is equated with the true Self — is deemed of great value. The Buddha teaches the
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
Mañjuśrī that practicing the spiritual life is meaningful only because there is a 'self principle' (the Tathāgatagarbha or 'atma-dhatu' - 'essence of Self') with which the quest can be rewarded. He states:
The sutra is remarkable for the vigor and passion with which Aṅgulimālīya teaches the Dharma and for its doctrine that at the heart of all beings is one unified principle: the ''buddha-dhatu'' (
Buddha-nature) or ''Tathāgatagarbha''. The doctrines of this sutra are also strikingly congruent with those of the much longer ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra''.
See also
*''
Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa''
*
Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen
Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen () (1292–1361), known simply as Dölpopa, was a Tibetan Buddhist master. Known as "The Buddha from Dölpo," a region in modern Nepal, he was the principal exponent of the shentong teachings, and an influential memb ...
*
Eternal Buddha
*
Parinirvana
In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...
*
Purity in Buddhism
Purity (Pali: ''Vissudhi'') is an important concept within much of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, although the implications of the resultant moral purification may be viewed differently in the varying traditions. The aim is to purify the person ...
*''
Śrīmālādevī Sūtra''
*''
Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra
The ''Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra'' is an influential and doctrinally striking Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture which treats of the existence of the "Tathāgatagarbha" (Buddha-Matrix, Buddha-Embryo, lit. "the womb of the thus-come-one") within all sent ...
''
*''
Mahaparinirvana Sutra''
References
External links
Sūtra of Aṅgulimālika translated into English by Rulu from
Guṇabhadra's Chinese version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angulimaliya Sutra
Mahayana texts
Mahayana sutras
Shentong