Disclaimer: The information and views provided in the article below are for educational purposes only. Please note that H.E. Tsem Rinpoche does not advocate the harming or killing of any being.

Who Are the Icchantikas?

There is a class of beings who are said to be beyond all redemption, losing forever the capacity to achieve Nirvana (or ‘liberation’), and have to live for a kalpa (an aeon) in hell. They are called the icchantikas (一闡提), or in Japanese, issendai. The term “icchan” originally refers to someone who is in a continual state of craving. In India, the term refers to an Epicurean or a secularist.

It is said that an icchantika is one whose roots of goodness have been completely eradicated. His original mind is so devoid of any desire for good Dharma that “not a single thought of goodness will ever arise in him”. It refers to someone who lacks the basic causes and conditions to become a Buddha, and that the killing of an icchantika does not matter at all as the Buddha said, “One may well kill an ant and gain the sin of harming, but the killing of an icchantika does not [constitute a sin].”

There is much literature that gives a variety of interpretation about an icchantika.

“A being who, according to some Mahayana texts, is lacking in Buddha-nature or the potential for enlightenment (bodhi).”

Source: Damien Keown, A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford 2003: Oxford University Press, p. 117

“This (i.e. icchantika) is generally understood to have been derived from iccha ‘desire’.’… the Icchantika are those devoted followers of hedonism either in its bad or good sense,…”

Source: Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra, London 1930: Routledge, p.219, n. 1

“The notion of the icchantika (loosely rendered into English as “hedonist” or “dissipated”) is the closest Buddhism comes to a notion of damnation or perdition.”

Source: Robert E. Buswell et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Buddhism, New York 2004: Macmillan Reference, vol.1, p. 351, s.v. icchantika

In the Tathagatagarbha sutras, the term icchantika is used to describe those persons who do not believe in the Buddha, His eternal Selfhood and His Dharma (Truth) or in karma; who seriously transgress against the Buddhist moral codes and Vinaya; and who speak disparagingly and dismissively of the reality of the immortal Buddha-nature (Buddhadhatu) or Tathagatagarbha present within all beings.

In the ‘Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra’ (the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’), it refers to one who slanders the correct teaching of the Buddha, does not repent, and does not rectify the error. In the ‘Lankavatara Sutra’, it refers to [those Buddhists] who have abandoned the Bodhisattva collection [of the canonical texts], making the false accusation that they are not in conformity with the sutras, the codes of morality, and the emancipation. As such, the icchantikas have forsaken all the stock of merit and will not enter into Nirvana.

Icchantikas are said to have slandered the correct teaching of the Buddha, not repenting and not rectifying the error.

A sutra that has extensive information about the icchantikas is the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’. The excerpt below gives an overview of why such a class of beings are damned and said to be inherently and forever incapable of reaching enlightenment.

Chunda spoke once more, asking, ‘What is the meaning of the term icchantika?’

O good man! It is as with three vessels. The first is perfect men or laywomen who speak careless and evil words and slander the correct teaching, and that they should go on committing these grave acts without ever showing any inclination to reform or any sign of repentance in their hearts. Persons of this kind I would say are following the path of the icchantika. Again there may be those who commit the four grave offences or are guilty of the five cardinal sins, and who, though aware that they are guilty of serious faults, from the beginning have no trace of fear or contrition in their hearts or, if they do, give no outward sign of it. When it comes to the correct teaching, they show no inclination to protect, treasure, and establish it over the ages, but rather speak of it with malice and contempt, their words replete with error. Persons of this kind too I would say are following the path of the icchantika.’

Source: Chapter Forty: On Bodhisattva Kasyapa (a), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

An icchantika is likened to be like a broken vessel, one that cannot function as a vessel, and impossible to cure.

“O good man! It is as with three vessels. The first is perfect, the second leaks, and the third is broken. When one wishes to put milk, cream or butter into them, which one would one use first?”

“O World-Honoured One! We would use the one which is perfect; next, the one that leaks, and then the broken one.”

“The perfect and pure one is comparable to the Bodhisattva-priest; the one that leaks to the sravaka, and the one that is broken to the icchantika. ”

Chapter Forty: On Bodhisattva Kasyapa (a), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

Icchantikas are broken vessels that are unable to function.

How Did They Become Icchantikas?

According to the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’,

1. An Icchantika Is Deficient in Faith and Harbours Incorrect Views

There are two types of sentient beings in Jambudvipa (the realm where ordinary human beings live), one type is those who have faith, and the other type is those without faith. Those who have faith will be able to attain Nirvana or liberation from suffering. Those who are without faith are called icchantikas, and “icchantikas are known as the incurable ones.”

Icchantikas are said to reject the law of cause and effect, and because of that, it implies that they have a weak sense of moral responsibility when carrying out their actions. Thus, the icchantikas are “blind to the work of the Tathagata”. In the context of the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, “without faith” means that the icchantikas refute the doctrine and teachings of Buddhism, especially those of Mahayana Buddhism. They “do not know how to differentiate between the good and evil, disparaging the broad and universal teachings of the Mahayana.”

Karma refers to the universal law of cause and effect, of which every volitional act brings about a certain result.

2. An Icchantika Performs Immoral Conducts and Breaks Monastic Precepts

Icchantikas have committed the Four Grievous Trespasses of

• Sexual misconduct
• Stealing
• Killing
• Lying

and the Five Heinous Crimes of

• Intentionally murdering one’s father
• Intentionally murdering one’s mother
• Killing an Arhat
• Shedding the blood of a Buddha
• Creating schism within the Sangha

In ‘The Sutra Preached by the Buddha on the Total Extinction of the Dharma’, the above five acts are referred to as pancanantarya, heinous crimes that will ruin the spiritual cultivation of a person. The five heinous crimes are also listed in the Mahayana Buddhist literature as the ‘sins of immediate retribution’, or called the anantarika-kamma. ‘Anantarika’ comes from ‘an’ (without) and ‘antara’ (interval), which means that the results of these crimes come to fruition in the immediate next life, of which the participant goes straight to hell due to the atrocity of the crimes. The karmic result or retribution will take place immediately after death. Of the five heinous crimes, four of them involve the taking of lives and acts of violence.

The first precept of refuge as a Buddhist is “do not kill”, showing that Buddhist teachings fundamentally condemns killing.

Icchantikas are also miserly, gluttonous and unfilial.

“This person (the icchantika) originally worshipped the three jewels and various devas, but has changed since then, and now worships his own desires [instead]. He loved to give alms in the past but has now become miserly. He was by nature moderate in his diet, but has now turned gluttonous. He had an ingrained aversion for evils, but now looks on them with sympathy. He was born filial and esteemed his parents, but now he has no thought of respect for his father and mother.”

Source: Mizutani Kosho and Ogawa Ichizo , Bussho shiso, Kyoto 1982: Kyoto-shi Bun’eidoo Shoten, p. 482a, 11, 15-19.

According to the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, the icchantikas and his kind are bound to the three evil ways (to take rebirth in the three lower realms of animals, hungry ghosts and beings in hell) and cannot be set free due to six reasons.

• They are intense in their evil thoughts
• They do not believe in the afterlife
• They enjoy practising defiled [deeds] or seeking defilement
• They are far removed from good roots
• They are obstructed by evil karma from bad actions
• They seek the company of bad friends

Icchantikas also commit other misconducts that cause them to be bound to the three evil ways. These are:

• Misbehaving in relations to monks
• Misbehaving in relations to nuns
• Misappropriating the properties of the Sangha
• Misbehaving in relations to womenkind
• Instigating disputes among the five groups in the Sangha (monks, nuns, nun-candidates, male-novices and female-novices)

In the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, there are five things by which the person committing them falls into the three lower realms. The icchantikas are guilty of these:

• Often declaring that there are neither good or bad fruits
• Killing sentient beings in whom the thought of enlightenment has arisen
• Fond of talking about the shortcomings of their teachers
• Calling the true untrue, and the untrue true
• Listening to and receiving the Dharma only to find fault with it

There are further three things by which the person committing them falls into the three lower realms:

• They maintain that the Tathagata is impermanent and is annihilated forever [at death]
• They maintain that the true Dharma is impermanent and mutable
• They maintain that the Sangha, [the third of the three] jewels, can be destroyed

Icchantikas are thus those who are previously loyal to the teachings, but have since become renegade Buddhists.

3. An Icchantika Has Huge Pride and No Sense of Shame

Icchantikas are said to have insurmountable pride which “quashes all feelings of guilt and so blocks every avenue to penitence”. Hence, in the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, it is said that “due to their arrogance and pride, they do not have any fear despite the many evils they have done; and for this reason, will not attain nirvana”.

Sceptical of the function of karma, the icchantikas are those who do not believe in the law of cause and effect, and are deprived of the sense of shame. They do not recognise the link or connection between the present and the future. They also stay away from virtuous friends, and do not follow the instructions of the Buddhas.

Icchantikas are said to lack any kind of shame due to their pride and they do not regret their bad deeds.

Are Icchantikas Condemned to Hell for Eternity?

Fortunately, the answer is no. Below are three main reasonings to support this point of view.

1. Impermanence

As things are impermanent, causes can be created to change the circumstances as illustrated below from the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’.

Cunda asked further: “Can such a person, who has transgressed the precepts, be saved at all?”

The Buddha said to Cunda: “If circumstantial factors combine, such a person can indeed be saved. If a person, donning the Buddhist robe, does not discard it, and his mind always repents and fears and is not gone far away, he will reproach himself, saying: “What a fool I was to commit such grave sins! How strange that I should engender this karma!” He greatly repents. He becomes minded to protect Wonderful Dharma and build it up. “I shall certainly make offerings to anyone who protects Dharma. To anyone who recites the Mahayana sutras, I shall pose questions, uphold and recite [those sutras]. If I understand [them] well, I shall speak of them widely to others.”

I say that such a person is not one who has broken the precepts. Why not? O good man! For example, when the sun rises, all gloom clears away. The same applies to the appearance into the world of this all-wonderful Great Nirvana Sutra. This annihilates all the sins committed over innumerable kalpas past. That is why this sutra says that if Wonderful Dharma is gained, great fruition ensues and this saves the person who has broken the precepts.

A person may transgress, but if he repents and returns to Dharma, he will think: “All the evils one performs are like doing evil against one’s own self.” Fear arises and he repents. “There can be no help other than this Wonderful Dharma. For this reason, I shall turn back and take refuge in Wonderful Dharma”. If things proceed thus in taking refuge, a person may make offerings to such a one and there will be no end of good fruition arising from this. Also, we can say that such a person is one worthy of offerings from all the world. There may be a person who does evil, as stated above, and after a month or fifteen days, does not take refuge or confess. If someone makes offerings to such a person, there will be very little merit arising therefrom. The same with one who has committed the five deadly sins. If he repents and feels ashamed in his mind and says to himself that what he has done until now was all evil deeds and the cause of great suffering, and that henceforth he will do all he can to protect Wonderful Dharma, such a person does not come within the category of the five deadly sins. Should offerings be made to such a person, this will call forth an inexpressible amount of blessings. Were one to make offerings to a person who has committed the deadly sins and in whom no thought arises of protecting Dharma and taking refuge, the blessings which might ensue would not be much to talk about.

Source: Chapter Seventeen: On the Questions Raised by the Crowd, The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

Impermanence, or anicca in Pali and anitya in Sanskrit, is one of the fundamental doctrines in Buddhism. It highlights that all conditioned existence, without exception, is “transient, evanescent, inconstant” and that all temporal things are in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction. Closely related to this doctrine of impermanence is the doctrine of anatta ( or anatman in Sanskrit) , the concept of “non-self” which states that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul or essence in living beings. Because of that, icchantikas are not doomed to eternal suffering in hell.

It is possible for an icchantika to make effort and change their destiny. Just like the life cycle of a butterfly, great transformation within us is possible for everyone, including the icchantikas. From a Putuchana (Pali), an ordinary person who is overwhelmed with greed, hatred and ignorance/delusion, we can become a Kallayanachana (Pali), a good person who can differentiate between what is right and wrong. From there, we can advance into becoming an Ariyachana (Pali), the noble one who gets rid of greed, hatred, and ignorance/delusion. Transforming our own mind from an ordinary state to the noble mind is possible as the Buddha has shown us the technique or path.

Just like a butterfly’s transformation, the icchantikas can eventually attain Nirvana, transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly since great transformation is possible for everyone.

2. The Kindness of the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas wish to liberate all sentient beings, including the lowest and most evil, and they will not exclude the icchantikas. Scriptures, such as the ‘Flower Adornment Sutra’ and ‘Lankavatara Sutra’ affirm this point of view, stating clearly the qualities of a Buddha, who skillfully rescue all beings, and that the icchantikas will be saved through the liberational power of the Buddhas who will never abandon any being.

Attuned to sentient beings’ wisdom, the Buddhas
Induce them to advance, to gain good benefit;
In that way they rescue sentient beings.
Such is the state of all the Buddhas.

Source: Chapter 10 Bodhisattvas Asks for Clarification, The Flower Adornment Sutra

Those Icchantikas, Mahamati, who have forsaken all the stock of merit might some day be influenced by the power of the Tathagatas and be induced at any moment to foster the stock of merit.

Why? Because Mahamati, no beings are left aside by the Tathagatas.

Source: Chapter 2, Part XXII Two Classes of the Icchantika, The Lankavatara Sutra

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not discriminate and they employ various methods to lead sentient beings to advance along the path to liberation. A Buddha is very skillful, and will find methods to teach and transform each and every sentient being accordingly. All the Buddhas of the ten directions and three periods of time work towards rescuing all sentient beings with great compassion, so ultimately an icchantika will be saved.

“O good man! When a Bodhisattva-mahasattva attains the first soil [“bhumi” – level of a higher Bodhisattva], this is called “great loving-kindness”. Why? O good man! The last [i.e. most] evil person is the icchantika. When a Bodhisattva of the first “bhumi” practises great loving-kindness, no discrimination exists in his mind – not even towards an icchantika. As no wrong is seen, no anger arises. For this reason, we indeed call this “great loving-kindness”. O good man! He deprives all beings of what gives no benefit. This is great loving-kindness. He desires to give an uncountable amount of benefit and bliss to all beings. This is great compassion. He plants joy in the minds of all beings. This is great sympathetic joy. There is no guarding or protecting. This is great equanimity [“upeksha”].

Source: Chapter Twenty-One: On Pure Actions (a) , The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

The Bodhisattva-mahasattva, having practised loving-kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy attains the stage of the best-loved only son. O good man! Why do we call this stage that of the “best-loved” and also “only son”? A father and mother, for example, greatly rejoice when they see their son in peace. The same with the Bodhisattvamahasattva who abides in this soil [“bhumi”]. He sees all beings just as though they were his only son. On seeing a person practising good, he greatly rejoices. So we call this stage that of the best-loved.

“O good man! When, for example, a son dies and the father and mother have to part from their son whom they love, their hearts so ache that they feel that they themselves will die too. It is the same with the Bodhisattva. When he sees an icchantika [person of the most deluded, twisted views on life] falling into hell, he himself wishes to be born there, too. Why so? Because this icchantika, as he experiences pain, may gain a moment of repentance when I speak to him of Dharma in various ways and enable him to gain a thought of good. Hence, this stage is called that of an only son.

Source: Chapter Twenty-Two: On Pure Actions (b), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

O great King! The Tathagata sees all sick persons and always dispenses the medicine of Dharma. The Tathagata is not to blame if the sick do not take the medicine. O great King! There are two kinds of icchantika. One gains the wholesome root [“kusala-mula”] in the present, and the other the wholesome root in the life to come [i.e. next life]. The Tathagata well knows which of the icchantika will gain the wholesome root in this life. So he speaks of Dharma. Even to the one whose wholesome root actualizes in the life to come, he speaks of Dharma. The result may not come about now, but he makes it the cause in the life to come. For this reason does the Tathagata speak of Dharma to the icchantika. Of the icchantika, there are two kinds. One is sharp, and the other is of middle grade. The one of sharp grade gains the wholesome root in this life; the one of middle grade will gain it in the life to come. The All-Buddha-World-Honoured One does not speak for nothing. O great King! For example, a person who is clean does not fall into the privy [cesspit]; a good teacher of the Way sees and pities him, and goes forward, catches hold of his hair and pulls him out. So do things obtain with the All-Buddha-Tathagata. He sees all beings falling into the pit of the three unfortunate realms. He effects expedients and saves them. It is for this reason that the Tathagata does indeed speak of Dharma even to the icchantikas.”

Source: Chapter Twenty-Five: On Pure Actions (e), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra.

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will not abandon any sentient being, including the icchantikas.

3. All Beings Possess Buddha-Nature

There are several terms used to describe the Buddha-nature or Buddha Principle that is present in all sentient beings, with the two most relevant ones being “Tathagatagarbha” and “Buddhadhatu”. “Tathagatagarbha” is a compound of two terms, Tathagata and garbha. A Tathagatha is “one who has thus gone” from Samsara (birth and death) to Nirvana (liberation) while garbha means “womb”, embryo”or “essence”. The Chinese translation of the term, 如来藏 (rúláizàng) means ‘Tathagata’s storehouse’, indicating that it “enfolds or contain”, and the Tibetan translation, de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po refers to “embryonic essence” or the “heart”. “Buddhadhatu” is commonly explained as the nature of the Buddha, which is equivalent to the term dharmakaya. There is also another explanation that it is the cause of the Buddha. In the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, it is explained as “a sacred nature that is the basis for [beings] becoming Buddhas.”

An explanation that may help to illustrate this better is by Dr. Guang Xing, from his book “The Concept of the Buddha: Its Evolution from Early Buddhism to the Trikaya Theory”, which states that the Tathagatagarbha is the same as the tathata and the dharmakaya. It is called the dharmakaya at the stage of Buddhahood [enlightened beings] because pure nature is revealed, and it is called Tathagatagarbha or Buddhadhatu at the stage of sentient beings [who are not yet enlightened] because the same pure nature is covered with defilements.

As all beings possess Buddha-nature and since no phenomenon is fixed, a deluded person, such as an icchantika too can change for the better. They can repent on their bad deeds and actions, and do away with the icchantika within themselves. Ultimately, icchantikas can also gain the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, Great Compassion, and the three thinkings of a Buddha. This point is repeatedly affirmed in the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’.

“O good man! The icchantika is not fixed. If fixed, he could not gain unsurpassed Enlightenment. As he is not yet fixed, he can indeed gain it.

“You say that unless he has cut off the Buddha-Nature, how could an icchantika cut off the root of all good?

“O good man! There are two kinds of root of good. One is internal, and the other external. The Buddha-Nature is neither internal nor external. Because of this, there is no cutting off of the Buddha-Nature. Also, there are two kinds. One is defiled, and the other undefiled. The Buddha-Nature is neither defiled nor non-defiled. Because of this, there is no cutting off. Also, there are two kinds. One is eternal, and the other is non-eternal. The Buddha-Nature is neither eternal nor non-eternal. Because of this, there is no cutting off. If cut, it will come back again and be gained again. If it comes back and cannot be gained, this is non-cutting. If what is gained is cut off, this is an icchantika. A person who performs the four grave offences is also one not fixed. If fixed, one who has performed the four grave offences could not gain unsurpassed Bodhi. One who slanders the vaipulya is also not fixed. If fixed, the slanderer could not attain unsurpassed Bodhi. One who has committed the five deadly sins is also not fixed. If fixed, such a one would not be able to attain unsurpassed Bodhi. Matter and the characteristics of matter, too, are both not fixed.

Source: Chapter Twenty-Eight: Bodhisattva Highly-Virtuous King (b), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra

O good man! The icchantika is unable to do away with the mind of the icchantika, no matter whether he encounters a good friend, the Buddha or the Bodhisattvas, and listens to the words of deep meaning or not. Why? Because he is segregated from Wonderful Dharma. The icchantika, too, will gain unsurpassed Enlightenment. Why? If he aspires to Enlightenment, such a one is no longer an icchantika.

Source: Chapter Thirty-Two: Bodhisattva Highly-Virtuous King (f), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra

“The icchantika first crushes out the icchantika [i.e. ceases to be an icchantika within himself] and then he gains the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, Great Compassion, and the three thinkings. That is why I always say that all beings possess the Buddha-Nature.

SourceChapter Thirty-Three: On Bodhisattva Lion’s Roar (a), The Mahaparinirvana Sutra

All beings have Buddha-nature, even the icchantika. So when an icchantika abandons the mind that he possesses, he can indeed attain unsurpassed enlightenment. Devadatta, the infamous cousin of the Buddha was thought to be an icchantika, and hence had no chance of attaining Buddhahood. He was considered the greatest enemy of Buddha and made numerous attempts to kill the Buddha. Notwithstanding, even Devadatta, together with the rest of the icchantikas – all of them will attain Buddhahood someday. This is consistent with what was mentioned in the ‘Lotus Sutra’, as well as the ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’ that icchantikas can also attain Buddhahood on the basis that all living beings possess the same Buddha-nature.

There is a famous incident, popular among Chinese Buddhists that confirms this point of view, referred to as “生公说法，顽石点头”, or “When the Venerable Daosheng spoke the Dharma, dull rocks nodded their heads”. Venerable Daosheng (竺道生, 360-434 C.E.) was one of the foremost disciples of the Venerable Huiyuan (慧远, 334–416 C.E.), the First Patriarch of the Pure Land School of Buddhism. Venerable Daosheng propagated the view that all sentient beings, including the icchantikas have Buddha-nature. At that time, only the short form of ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’, which appears to deny the Buddha-nature of icchantikas was available and translated into Chinese. The longer version of the sutra, which explicitly includes the icchantikas in the universality of the Buddha-nature was not yet available. However, Venerable Daosheng was a firm proponent of this, which led to his expulsion from the Buddhist community in the year 428 or 429.

Venerable Daosheng was teaching in Suzhou, China, when he reasoned that despite having insufficient faith, icchantikas are living beings and thus possess the Buddha-nature. Consequently, it becomes impossible to say that icchantikas lack Buddha-nature. His belief angered many Dharma masters, who said that his talk was that of demon kings. Later on, many Dharma masters forbade and discouraged all their disciples and the general public from attending Venerable Daosheng’s teachings, saying that anyone who listened to his lectures on the sutras would “fall into the hells”.

Determined to share the truth, Venerable Daosheng took off to Huqiu (Tiger Mountain). He set up rocks in front of him and started his teaching. Venerable Daosheng said to the rocks “Icchantikas will become Buddhas too. I said Icchantikas do have the Buddha-nature! Do you agree?” It was said that the rocks jumped to attention, moved and nodded in agreement. This was not told by Venerable Daosheng, but paradoxically said by those who opposed him.

Venerable Daosheng was a great exegete of the ‘Mahapariirvana Sutra’ and expounder of the theory of the Buddha-nature. In fact, he was the initiator of the tradition.

With the availability of Dharmaksema’s translation of the long ‘Mahaparinirvana Sutra’ after the year 430, Venerable Daosheng was then praised for his insight. He remained in Lushan, composing his commentary on the ‘Lotus Sutra’ from the year 432 until his death in 434.

Venerable Daosheng’s propagation and interpretation of the Buddha-nature greatly impacted Chinese Buddhism and prepared the ground for the Ch’an (Zen) school emergence in the 6th century. Venerable Daosheng’s theory of Buddha-nature also directly influenced landscape poetry during the Six Dynasties period (220–589 C.E.) in China.

All beings possess the Buddha-nature and are able to achieve enlightenment, including the icchantikas.

Some Lessons from the Sutras

The Lotus Sutra

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most widely read or revered texts of Mahayana Buddhism, with its teachings propagated in most schools of Buddhism in China, Korea, and Japan. The sutra’s name in Sanskrit is Maha Saddharma-pundarika Sutra, or “Great Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Law.”

“Universal Gateway”, Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra, text inscribed by Sugawara Mitsushige, from the Kamakura period in Japan. (Click to enlarge)

Some teachings from The Lotus Sutra:

1. All Vehicles Are One Vehicle
The Buddha explained the doctrine of triyana, or “three vehicles” to Nirvana. In short, the triyana describes people who realize enlightenment by hearing the Buddha’s sermons, people who realize enlightenment for themselves through their own effort, and the path of the bodhisattva. These three vehicles are one vehicle, the Buddha vehicle, through which all beings become buddhas.

2. All Beings May Become Buddhas
Dharmakaya as explained in the sutra is the unity of all things and beings, unmanifested, beyond existence or nonexistence, unbound by time and space. Because the dharmakaya is all beings, all beings have the potential to awaken to their true nature and attain Buddhahood.

3. The Importance of Faith and Devotion
The Lotus Sutra stresses the importance of faith and devotion as means to the realisation of enlightenment as Buddhahood may not be attained through intellect alone. It also explains that the absolute teaching cannot be expressed in words or understood by ordinary cognition.

Information extracted from: The Lotus Sutra: An Overview, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-lotus-sutra-an-overview-450024

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra (The Sutra of the Great Demise) is considered one of the Tathagatagarbha sutras. The theme of the Tathagatagarbha group of sutras is Buddha Nature and the potential of all beings to realise Buddhahood. This Buddhist scripture about Sakyamuni’s attainment of Nirvana was translated by Dharmaksema, an Indian monk who travelled to North Liang, China and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra is known to hold the vastest contents among all extant Nirvana Sutras.

The only remaining copy of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, made by the Daejang Dogam in Korea, which was the office responsible for the production of Buddhist scriptures, in the year 1241. (Click to enlarge)

Some teachings from The Mahaparinirvana Sutra:

1. The Essential Buddha
The essential Buddha, which transcends his physical, historical form, is eternal, unchanging, everlasting, beginningless, endless, steadfast and indestructible. The Buddha is capable of projecting manifestations of himself in numerous bodies, modes and times and omnipresent across time and space, yet disassociated from time and space.

2. Buddha-Nature in All Sentient Beings
There exists an immortal, immanent and transcendent, radiantly shining Buddha-dhatu (Buddha principle) or Tathagata-garbha (Buddha-Matrix) in all sentient beings. This links sentient beings to Buddhahood and functions as the cause of spiritual awakening (bodhi). Thus all persons and creatures possess one-and-the-same immutable core to their being: the essence of a Buddha, which inheres in and embraces all things – conditioned and unconditioned – and yet is beyond them all, unconstrained by all process and change. This is also why the Buddha shows strong support for vegetarianism in this sutra.

3. Buddhadhatu or Tathagatagarbha
The Buddhadhatu or Tathagatagarbha is the very essence (svabhava) or Dharmakaya (ultimate level of being) of the Buddha and of all persons and creatures, in contradistinction to the five transient skandhas (impermanent mental/physical elements of the “worldly ego”). The Buddha himself is the visible manifestation of the Buddhadhatu and is no less than the inconceivable, virtue-filled Soul or Self (sometimes termed the “True Self” – satya-atman), whose potency inheres in our own body-and-mind complex, and into which Self we should “enter”. Such “entry” is made possible when we have eradicated the kleshas (negative mental, moral and behavioural tendencies) from our being. The chief kleshas are passionate desire, anger, delusion and pride.

4. The Root of All Good Qualities
The root of all good qualities is Friendliness or Loving-kindness (maitri), in association with Compassion, Empathetic Joy, and Impartiality towards all beings; these qualities are also inherent in the nature of the Buddha. The universal application of Kindliness (maitri) implicitly excludes all possibility of hatred for any being on the basis of his/her race, religion, sex or sexuality – indeed, all hatred is to be rejected as a klesha (moral contaminant). Instead, all beings should be “regarded as one’s only child” (i.e. with the caring eye of a loving parent).

Information extracted from: Nirvana Sutra: Appreciation of the “Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra”, https://www.nirvanasutra.net/

The Lankavatara Sutra

The Lankavatara Sutra is one of the most important sutras (sacred texts) of Mahayana Buddhism. According to tradition, these are the actual words of the Buddha as he entered Sri Lanka (formerly called Ceylon). The sutra is set in Lanka, the island fortress capital of Ravana, the king of raksasas. The title of this text roughly translates as, “Scripture of the Descent into Lanka” or “Sutra of the Appearance of the Good Doctrine in Lanka”), in full, Saddharma-lankavatara-sutra. The sutra recounts a teaching primarily between the Buddha and a Bodhisattva named Mahamati (“Great Wisdom”).

The Sutra has always been a favourite with the Ch’an sect (Zen, in Japan) and has had a great deal to do with that sect’s origin and development. There is a tradition that started when Bodhidharma, the First Patriarch of Ch’an sect in China handed over his begging-bowl and robe to his successor Huike (Eka), he also gave him his copy of the Lankavatara, saying that he needed no other sutra.

This Chinese-Tibetan Lankavatara Sutra is a special bilingual manuscripts retrieved from Dunhuang, China. The Chinese text, in black ink, is a commentary on the Lankavatara Sutra while the Tibetan text, in red ink, is the Tibetan translation of the sutra itself. (Click to enlarge)

Some teachings from The Lankavatara Sutra:

The Lankavatara Sutra draws upon the concepts and doctrines of Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha. The most important doctrine issuing from the Lankavatara Sutra is that of the primacy of consciousness (Skt. vijnana) often called simply “Mind Only” – the teaching of consciousness as the only reality. The sutra asserts that all the objects of the world, and the names and forms of experience, are merely manifestations of the mind. The Lankavatara Sutra describes the various tiers of consciousness in the individual, culminating in the “storehouse consciousness” (Skt. Alayavijnana), which is the base of the individual’s deepest awareness and his tie to the cosmic.

The Lankavatara Sutra also suggests another important Mahayana doctrine, developed in later Buddhism, and that is the three bodies of Buddhahood, in effect the three levels of enlightened reality:

– transcendental dimension (Sanskrit dharmakaya) – the ultimate level of enlightenment, which is beyond names and forms

– celestial dimension, (Sanskrit sambhogakaya) – expression of the symbolic and archetypal dimension of Buddhahood, to which only the spiritually developed have access

– terrestrial or transformational dimension, (Sanskrit nirmanakaya) – The dimension of Buddhahood to which the unenlightened have access, and where the phenomena of the world exist.

Lankavatara Sutra teaches that the world is an illusory reflection of ultimate, undifferentiated mind and that this truth suddenly becomes an inner realisation in concentrated meditation.

Information extracted from: Lankavatara Sutra, http://thezenuniverse.org/la%E1%B9%85kavatara-sutra/

The Avatamsaka Sutra (The Flower Adornment Sutra)

The Avatamsaka Sutra, or the Mahavaipulya-buddhavatamsaka-sutra (“The Great and Vast Buddha Garland Sutra”) is a Mahayana Buddhist scripture that reveals how reality appears to an enlightened being. It is best known for its sumptuous descriptions of the inter-existence of all phenomena. The Avatamsaka also describes the stages of development of a Bodhisattva.

The title of the sutra usually is translated into English as Flower Garland, Flower Ornament or Flower Adornment Sutra. Also, some early commentaries refer to it as the Bodhisattva Pitaka.

A copy of the Avatamsaka Sutra from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) , from the collection of The Harvard Art Museums. (Click to enlarge)

Some teachings from The Avatamsaka Sutra:

All reality is perfectly interpenetrating, the sutra says. Each individual phenomenon not only perfectly reflects all other phenomena but also the ultimate nature of existence. In the Avatamsaka, the Buddha Vairocana represents the ground of being. All phenomena emanate from him, and at the same time, he perfectly pervades all things.

Because all phenomena arise from the same ground of being, all things are within everything else. And yet the many things do not hinder each other.

Two sections of the Avatamsaka are often presented as separate sutras. One of these is the Dasabhumika, which presents the ten stages of development of a bodhisattva before Buddhahood.

The other is the Gandavyuha, which tells the story of the pilgrim Sudhana studying with a succession of 53 Bodhisattva teachers. The bodhisattvas come from a broad spectrum of humanity — a prostitute, priests, laypeople, beggars, kings and queens, and transcendent bodhisattvas. At last Sudhana enters the vast tower of Maitreya, a place of endless space containing other towers of endless space. The boundaries of Sudhana’s mind and body fall away, and he perceives the dharmadatu as an ocean of matter in flux.

Information extracted from: The Avatamsaka Sutra: The Flower Garland Scripture, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-avatamsaka-sutra-450027

 
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