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Buddhist texts arereligious texts that belong to, or are associated with,Buddhism andits traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three mainBuddhist Canons: thePāli Canon of theTheravāda tradition, theChinese Buddhist Canon used inEast Asian Buddhist tradition, and theTibetan Buddhist Canon used inIndo-Tibetan Buddhism.[1]
The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death ofGautama Buddha.[2] The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are theGandhāran Buddhist texts, found inPakistan and written inGāndhārī,[3][4] they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.[5] Thefirst Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally byBuddhist monastics, but were later written down and composed asmanuscripts in variousIndo-Aryan languages (such asPāli,Gāndhārī, andBuddhist Hybrid Sanskrit).[1] These texts were collected into various collections and translated into other languages such as BuddhistChinese (fójiào hànyǔ 佛教漢語) andClassical Tibetan asBuddhism spread outside of India.[1]
Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized into canonical, commentarial, and pseudo-canonical. Buddhist traditions have generally divided these texts with their own categories and divisions, such as that betweenbuddhavacana "word of theBuddha," many of which are known as "sutras", and other texts, such as "shastras" (treatises) or "Abhidharma".[1][6][7]
These religious texts were written in different languages, methods andwriting systems. Memorizing, reciting and copying the texts was seen as spiritually valuable. Even after the development and adoption ofprinting by Buddhist institutions, Buddhists continued to copy them by hand as a spiritual exercise, a practice known assutra copying.[8]
In an effort to preserve these scriptures, Asian Buddhist institutions were at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies related tobookmaking, includingpaper, andblock printing which were often deployed on a large scale. Because of this, the first surviving example of aprinted text is a Buddhist charm, the first full printed book is the BuddhistDiamond Sutra (c. 868) and the first hand colored print is an illustration ofGuanyin dated to 947.[9]
The concept ofbuddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is important in understanding how Buddhists classify and see their texts. Buddhavacana texts have special status as sacred scripture and are generally seen as in accord with the teachings of thehistorical Buddha, which is termed "theDharma". According toDonald Lopez, the criteria for determining what should be considered buddhavacana were developed at an early stage, and that the early formulations do not suggest that Dharma is limited to what was spoken by the historical Buddha.[10] Another term for "buddha word" is the “dispensation of the Buddha” (buddhānuśāsanam).[11]
TheMahāsāṃghika and theMūlasarvāstivāda considered both the Buddha's discourses and those of his disciples to bebuddhavacana.[10] A number of different beings such as Buddhas, disciples of the Buddha,ṛṣis, anddevas were considered capable of transmitting buddhavacana.[10] According to early Buddhist sources like theMahāpadesasutta, a text said by someone other than the Buddha may be certified as true buddhavacana by four "great references to authority" (mahāpadeśa): (1) the buddha himself (who often certified the statements of others as buddhavacana in the sutras), (2) asangha of wise elders, (3) a small group of specialist monks (dharmadharas or vinayadharas), or (4) one elder knowledgeable in the Dharma.[12][13][14] The content of such a discourse was then to be collated with thesūtras, compared with theVinaya, and evaluated against the nature of the Dharma.[12][13] This allowed a certain flexibility in the compilation of the Buddhist canons, which were not necessarily closed after the Buddha's death.[14]
In Theravāda Buddhism, the standard collection ofbuddhavacana is the Pāli Canon, also known as theTripiṭaka ("three baskets"). Generally speaking, the Theravāda school rejects theMahāyāna sūtras asbuddhavacana (word of the Buddha), and do not study or see these texts as reliable sources.[15] InEast Asian Buddhism, what is consideredbuddhavacana is collected in theChinese Buddhist canon; the most common edition of this is theTaishō Tripiṭaka, itself based on theTripiṭaka Koreana. This collection, unlike the PāliTripiṭaka, contains Mahāyāna sūtras, Śāstras (scholastic treatises), andEsoteric Buddhist literature.
Mahāyāna Buddhist sources generally tended to be more liberal in their interpretation of buddhavacana, allowing for more texts to be included (especially theMahāyāna sūtras). As such, Mahayana sources often see buddhavacana as referring to statements which are well spoken and thus reflect the truth of the Dharma. For example, theAdhyāśayasañcodanasūtra states: “All which is well-spoken, Maitreya, is spoken by the Buddha.”[14] According to the sūtra, “well spoken” (subhāsita) means that inspired speech should be seen as buddhavacana if it is in accord with four principles:[14]
According toHsuan Hua from the tradition ofChinese Buddhism, there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva, a ṛṣi, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a buddha that its contents are true Dharma.[16] Then these sutras may be properly regarded asbuddhavacana.[16] Sometimes texts that are considered commentaries by some are regarded by others asbuddhavacana.[17]
InIndo-Tibetan Buddhism, what is consideredbuddhavacana is collected in theKangyur ('The Translation of the Word'). The East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist Canons always combinedbuddhavacana with other literature in their standard collected editions. However, the general view of what is and is notbuddhavacana is broadly similar between East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan Kangyur, which belongs to the various schools of TibetanVajrayāna Buddhism, in addition to containing sutras and Vinaya, also containsBuddhist tantras and other related Tantric literature.
The earliest Buddhist texts were passed down orally in MiddleIndo-Aryan languages calledPrakrits, includingGāndhārī language, the earlyMagadhan language and Pāli through the use of repetition, communal recitation and mnemonic devices.[1][18] These texts were later compiled into canons and written down in manuscripts. For example, the Pāli Canon was preserved inSri Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE.[19]
There are early texts from various Buddhist schools, the largest collections are from the Theravāda andSarvāstivāda schools, but there are also full texts and fragments from theDharmaguptaka,Mahāsāṅghika,Mahīśāsaka,Mūlasarvāstivāda, and others.[20] The most widely studied early Buddhist material are the first four PāliNikayas, as well as the corresponding ChineseĀgamas.[21] The modern study of earlypre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources.[22]
Various scholars ofBuddhist studies such asRichard Gombrich, Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne, andA. K. Warder hold that early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to thehistorical Buddha himself or at least to the early years ofpre-sectarian Buddhism.[23][24][25] InMahāyāna Buddhism, these texts are sometimes referred to as "Hinayana" or "Śrāvakayāna".
Although many versions of the texts of theearly Buddhist schools exist, the only complete collection of texts to survive in a Middle Indo-Aryan language is theTipiṭaka (triple basket) of the Theravāda school.[26] The other (parts of) extant versions of the Tripitakas of early schools include the ChineseĀgamas, which includes collections by theSarvāstivāda and theDharmaguptaka. TheChinese Buddhist canon contains a complete collection of early sutras in Chinese translation, their content is very similar to the Pali, differing in detail but not in the core doctrinal content.[27] The Tibetan canon contains some of these early texts as well, but not as complete collections. The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts containing early Buddhist texts are theGandharan Buddhist Texts, dated to the 1st century BCE and constitute the Buddhist textual tradition ofGandharan Buddhism which was an important link between Indian and East Asian Buddhism.[28] Parts of what is likely to be the canon of theDharmaguptaka can be found among theseGandharan Buddhist Texts.
There are different genres of early Buddhist texts, including prose "suttas" (Sanskrit:sūtra, discourses), disciplinary works (Vinaya), various forms of verse compositions (such asgāthā andudāna), mixed prose and verse works (geya), and also lists (matika) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of Early Buddhist literature is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre. TheSūtras (Sanskrit; Pāli:Sutta) are mostly discourses attributed to the Buddha or one of his close disciples. They are considered to bebuddhavacana by all schools. The Buddha's discourses were perhaps originally organised according to the style in which they were delivered. They were later organized into collections calledNikāyas ('volumes') orĀgamas ('scriptures'), which were further collected into theSūtra Piṭaka ("Basket of Discourses") of the canons of the early Buddhist schools.
Most of the early sutras that have survived are fromSthavira nikaya schools, no complete collection has survived from the other early branch of Buddhism, theMahāsāṃghika. However, some individual texts have survived, such as theŚālistamba Sūtra (rice stalk sūtra). Thissūtra contains many parallel passages to the Pali suttas. As noted by N. Ross Reat, this text is in general agreement with the basic doctrines of the early sutras of the Sthavira schools such asdependent origination, the "middle way" between eternalism and annihilationism, the "five aggregates", the "three unwholesome roots", theFour Noble Truths and theNoble Eightfold Path.[29] Another important source for Mahāsāṃghika sutras is theMahāvastu ("Great Event"), which is a collection of various texts compiled into a biography of the Buddha. Within it can be found quotations and whole sutras, such as the Mahāsāṃghika version of theDharmacakrapravartana.[30][31]
The other major type of text aside from the sutras are theVinayas. Vinaya literature is primarily concerned with aspects of the monastic discipline and the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist monastic community (sangha). However, Vinaya as a term is also contrasted with Dharma, where the pair (Dhamma-Vinaya) mean something like 'doctrine and discipline'. The Vinaya literature in fact contains a considerable range of texts. There are, of course, those that discuss the monastic rules, how they came about, how they developed, and how they were applied. But the vinaya also contains some doctrinal expositions, ritual and liturgical texts, biographical stories, and some elements of the "Jatakas", or birth stories. VariousVinaya collections survive in full, including those of the following schools: Theravāda (inPali),Mula-Sarvāstivāda (in Tibetan translation) and theMahāsānghika,Sarvāstivāda, Mahīshāsika, and Dharmaguptaka (inChinese translations). In addition, portions survive of a number of Vinayas in various languages.
Aside from the Sutras and the Vinayas, some schools also had collections of "minor" or miscellaneous texts. The TheravādaKhuddaka Nikāya ('Minor Collection') is one example of such a collection, while there is evidence that theDharmaguptaka school had a similar collection, known as theKṣudraka Āgama. Fragments of the Dharmaguptaka minor collection have been found in Gandhari.[32] The Sarvāstivāda school also seems to have had aKṣudraka collection of texts, but they did not see it as an "Āgama".[33] These "minor" collections seem to have been a category for miscellaneous texts, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early Buddhist schools.
Early Buddhist texts which appear in such "minor" collections include:
Abhidharma (inPāli,Abhidhamma) texts which contain "an abstract and highly technical systematization" of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras.[36] It is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of "ultimate reality" (paramartha-satya) without using the conventional language and narrative stories found in the sutras.[37] The prominent modern scholar of Abhidharma,Erich Frauwallner has said that these Buddhist systems are "among the major achievements of the classical period ofIndian philosophy." Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore, the canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists.[38]
There are different types and historical layers of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma works (like theAbhidhamma Pitaka) are not philosophical treatises, but mainly summaries and expositions of early doctrinal lists with their accompanying explanations.[38][39] These texts developed out of early Buddhist lists or matrices (mātṛkās) of key teachings, such as the 37factors leading to Awakening.[40] Scholars likeErich Frauwallner have argued that there is an "ancient core" of early pre-sectarian material in the earliest Abhidharma works, such as in theTheravadaVibhanga, theDharmaskandha of theSarvastivada, and theŚāriputrābhidharma of theDharmaguptaka school.[41]
Only two full canonical Abhidharma collections have survived both containing seven texts, theTheravāda Abhidhamma and theSarvastivada Abhidharma, which survives in Chinese translation. However, texts of other tradition have survived, such as theŚāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school, theTattvasiddhi Śāstra (Chéngshílun), and various Abhidharma type works from thePudgalavada school.
Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises (śāstra), as commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which include many innovations and doctrines not found in the canonical Abhidharma.
The early Buddhist schools also preserved other types of texts which developed in later periods, which were variously seen as canonical or not, depending on the tradition.
One of the largest category of texts that were neither Sutra, Vinaya nor Abhidharma includes various collections of stories such as theJātaka tales and theAvadānas (Pali:Apadāna). These are moralfables and legends dealing with the previous births ofGautama Buddha in both human and animal form.[42] The different Buddhist schools had their own collections of these tales and often disagreed on which stories were canonical.[43]
Another genre that developed over time in the various early schools were biographies of the Buddha. Buddha biographies include theMahāvastu of theLokottaravadin school, the northern tradition'sLalitavistara Sūtra, the TheravadaNidānakathā and the DharmaguptakaAbhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra.[44][45]
One of the most famous of biographies is theBuddhacarita, anepic poem in Classical Sanskrit byAśvaghoṣa. Aśvaghoṣa also wrote other poems, as well asSanskrit dramas. Another Sanskrit Buddhist poet was Mātṛceṭa, who composed various pious hymns inslokas.[46]Buddhist poetry is a broad genre with numerous forms and has been composed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese. Aside from the work of Aśvaghoṣa, another important Sanskrit poet was Mātr̥ceṭa, known for hisOne Hundred and Fifty Verses. Buddhist poetry was also written in popular Indian languages, such asTamil andApabhramsa. One well known poem is the Tamil epicManimekalai, which is one of theFive Great Epics ofTamil literature.
Other later hagiographical texts include theBuddhavaṃsa, theCariyāpiṭaka and theVimanavatthu (as well as its Chinese parallel, theVimānāvadāna).[47]
There are also some unique individual texts like theMilinda pañha (literallyThe Questions of Milinda) and its parallel in Chinese, theNāgasena Bhikśu Sūtra (那先比丘經).[48] These texts depict a dialogue between the monkNagasena, and theIndo-Greek KingMenander (Pali: Milinda). It is a compendium of doctrine, and covers a range of subjects.
The Theravāda tradition has an extensivecommentarial literature, much of which is still untranslated. These are attributed to scholars working inSri Lanka such asBuddhaghosa (5th century CE) andDhammapala. There are alsosub-commentaries (ṭīkā) or commentaries on the commentaries. Buddhaghosa was also the author of theVisuddhimagga, orPath of Purification, which is a manual of doctrine and practice according to theMahavihara tradition of Sri Lanka. According toNanamoli Bhikkhu, this text is regarded as "the principal non-canonical authority of the Theravada."[49] A similar albeit shorter work is theVimuttimagga. Another highly influential Pali Theravada work is theAbhidhammattha-sangaha (11th or 12th century), a short 50 page introductory summary to the Abhidhamma, which is widely used to teach Abhidhamma.
Buddhaghosa is known to have worked from Buddhist commentaries in the Sri LankanSinhala language, which are now lost.Sri Lankan literature in the vernacular contains many Buddhist works, including as classical Sinhala poems such as theMuvadevāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as King Mukhadeva, 12th century) and theSasadāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as a Hare, 12th century) as well as prose works like theDhampiyātuvā gätapadaya (Commentary on the Blessed Doctrine), a commentary on words and phrases in the PāliDhammapada.
TheTheravāda textual tradition spread into Burma and Thailand where Pali scholarship continued to flourish with such works as theAggavamsa of Saddaniti and theJinakalamali of Ratanapañña.[50] Pali literature continued to be composed into the modern era, especially in Burma, and writers such asMahasi Sayadaw translated some of their texts into Pali.
There are also numerousEsoteric Theravada texts, mostly fromSoutheast Asia.[51] This tradition flourished inCambodia andThailand before the 19th century reformist movement ofRama IV. One of these texts has been published in English by thePali Text Society as "Manual of a Mystic".[52]
Burmese Buddhist literature developed unique poetic forms from the 1450s onwards, a major type of poetry is thepyui' which are long and embellished translations of Pali Buddhist works, mainlyjatakas. A famous example ofpyui' poetry is theKui khan pyui' (thepyui' in nine sections, 1523). There is also a genre of Burmese commentaries ornissayas which were used to teach Pali.[53] The nineteenth century saw a flowering of Burmese Buddhist literature in various genres including religious biography, Abhidharma, legal literature and meditation literature.
An influential text of Thai literature is the "Three Worlds According to King Ruang" (1345) by Phya Lithai, which is an extensive Cosmological and visionary survey of the Thai Buddhist universe.
SeeMahāyāna sūtras for historical background and a list of some sutras categorised by source.
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Around the beginning of thecommon era, a new genre of sutra literature began to be written with a focus on theBodhisattva ideal, commonly known asMahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") orBodhisattvayāna ("Bodhisattva Vehicle").[54] The earliest of these sutras do not call themselves 'Mahāyāna,' but use the termsVaipulya (extensive, expansive) sutras, orGambhira (deep, profound) sutras.[55]
There are various theories of how Mahāyāna emerged. According to David Drewes, it seems to have been "primarily a textual movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination of Mahāyāna sutras, that developed within, and never really departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional structures."[55] Earlydharmabhāṇakas (preachers, reciters of these sutras) were influential figures, and promoted these new texts throughout the Buddhist communities.[55]
Many of these Mahāyāna sūtras were written in Sanskrit (inhybrid forms and in classical Sanskrit) and then later translated into the Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist canons (theKangyur and theTaishō Tripiṭaka respectively) which then developed their own textual histories. Sanskrit had been adopted by Buddhists in north India during theKushan era andSanskrit Buddhist literature became the dominant tradition in Buddhist India until thedecline of Buddhism there.[56]
Mahāyāna sūtras are also generally regarded by the Mahāyāna tradition as being more profound than theśrāvaka texts as well as generating more spiritual merit and benefit. Thus, they are seen as superior and more virtuous to non-Mahāyāna sutras.[57][58] The Mahāyāna sūtras are traditionally considered by Mahāyāna Buddhists to be the word of the Buddha. Mahāyāna Buddhists explained the emergence of these new texts by arguing that they had been transmitted in secret, via lineages of supernatural beings (such as thenagas) until people were ready to hear them, or by stating that they had been revealed directly through visions and meditative experiences to a select few.[59]
According to David McMahan, the literary style of the Mahāyāna sūtras reveals how these texts were mainly composed as written works and how they also needed to legitimate themselves to other Buddhists. They used different literary and narrative ways to defend the legitimacy of these texts as Buddha word.[60] Mahāyāna sūtras such as theGaṇḍavyūha also often criticize early Buddhist figures, such asSariputra for lacking knowledge and goodness, and thus, these elders orśrāvaka are seen as not intelligent enough to receive the Mahāyāna teachings, while more the advanced elite, the bodhisattvas, are depicted as those who can see the highest teachings.[61]
These sūtras were not recognized as being Buddha word by various early Buddhist schools and there was lively debate over their authenticity throughout the Buddhist world. Various Mahāyāna sūtras warn against the charge that they are not word of the Buddha, showing that they are aware of this claim.[59] Buddhist communities such as theMahāsāṃghika school were divided along these doctrinal lines into sub-schools which accepted or did not accept these texts.[62] The Theravāda school of Sri Lanka also was split on the issue during the medieval period. TheMahavihara sub-sect rejected these texts and the (now extinct)Abhayagiri sect accepted them. Theravāda commentaries mention these texts (which they callVedalla/Vetulla) as not being the Buddha word and being counterfeit scriptures.[63] Modern Theravāda generally does not accept these texts asbuddhavacana (word of the Buddha).[15]
The Mahāyāna movement remained quite small until the fifth century, with very few manuscripts having been found before then (the exceptions are fromBamiyan). However, according to Walser, the fifth and sixth centuries saw a great increase in the production of these texts.[64] By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such asFaxian,Yijing, andXuanzang were traveling to India, and their writings do describe monasteries which they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks lived together.[65]
Mahāyāna sūtras contain several elements besides the promotion of thebodhisattva ideal, including "expanded cosmologies and mythical histories, ideas ofpurelands and great, 'celestial'Buddhas andbodhisattvas, descriptions of powerful new religious practices, new ideas on the nature of the Buddha, and a range of new philosophical perspectives."[55] These texts present stories of revelation in which the Buddha teaches Mahāyāna sutras to certain bodhisattvas who vow to teach and spread these sutras.[55] These texts also promoted new religious practices that were supposed to make Buddhahood easy to achieve, such as "hearing the names of certain Buddhas or bodhisattvas, maintaining Buddhist precepts, and listening to, memorizing, and copying sutras." Some Mahāyāna sūtras claim that these practices lead to rebirth inPure lands such asAbhirati andSukhavati, where becoming a Buddha is much easier to achieve.[55]
Several Mahāyāna sūtras also depict important Buddhas or Bodhisattvas not found in earlier texts, such as the BuddhasAmitabha,Akshobhya andVairocana, and the bodhisattvasMaitreya,Mañjusri,Ksitigarbha, andAvalokiteshvara. An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature ofBuddhahood. Mahāyāna texts see Buddhas (and to a lesser extent, certain bodhisattvas as well) as transcendental or supramundane (lokuttara) beings, who live for eons constantly helping others through their activity.[66]
According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna, a Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring for the world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely 'gone beyond' the world and its cares".[67]Buddha Sakyamuni's life and death on earth is then usually understood as a "mere appearance", his death is an unreal show, in reality he continues to live in a transcendent reality.[67] Thus the Buddha in the Lotus sutra says that he is "the father of the world", "the self existent (svayambhu)...protector of all creatures", who has "never ceased to exist" and only "pretends to have passed away."[68]
Hundreds of Mahāyāna sūtras have survived in Sanskrit, Chinese andTibetan translation. There many different genres or classes of Mahāyāna sutras, such as thePrajñāpāramitā sūtras, theTathāgatagarbha sūtras and thePure Landsūtras. The different Mahāyāna schools have many varied classification schemas for organizing them and they see different texts as having higher authority than others.
Some Mahāyāna sūtras are also thought to display a distinctlytantric character, like some of the shorterPerfection of Wisdom sutras and theMahavairocana Sutra. At least some editions of the Kangyur include theHeart Sutra in the tantra division.[69] Such overlap is not confined to "neighbouring" yanas: at least nine "Sravakayana" texts can be found in the tantra divisions of some editions of the Kangyur.[70] One of them, theAtanatiya Sutra, is also included in theMikkyo (esoteric) division of the standard modern collected edition of Sino-Japanese Buddhist literature.[71] Some Mahāyāna texts also containdhāraṇī, which are chants that are believed to have magical and spiritual power.
The following is a list of some well known Mahāyāna sutras which have been studied by modern scholarship:
The Mahāyāna commentarial and exegetical literature is vast. Many of these exegetical and scholastic works are calledŚāstras, which can refer to a scholastic treatise, exposition or commentary.
Central to much of Mahāyāna philosophy are the works of the Indian scholarNagarjuna. Especially important is his magnum opus, theMūlamadhyamika-karikā, or Root Verses on the Middle Way, a seminal text on theMadhyamika philosophy. Various other authors of the Madhyamaka school followed him and wrote commentaries to his texts or their own treatises.
Another very influential work which traditionally attributed to Nagarjuna In East Asia is theDà zhìdù lùn (*Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, The Great Discourse onPrajñāpāramitā). This is a massiveMahayanaBuddhist treatise and commentary on thePrajñāpāramitā sutra in Twenty-five Thousand Lines, and it has been extremely important in the development of the major Chinese Buddhist traditions.[72] Its authorship to Nagarjuna however has been questioned by modern scholars and it only survives in the Chinese translation byKumārajīva (344–413 CE).[73]
TheYogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (fourth century CE) is another very large treatise which focuses on yogic praxis and the doctrines of the IndianYogacara school. Unlike theDà zhìdù lùn, it was studied and transmitted in both theEast Asian Buddhist and theTibetan Buddhist traditions.
The works ofAsanga, a great scholar and systematizer of theYogacara, are also very influential in both traditions, including his magnum opus, theMahāyāna-samgraha, and theAbhidharma-samuccaya (a compendium ofAbhidharma thought that became the standard text for many Mahayana schools especially in Tibet). Various texts are also said to have received by Asanga from the Bodhisattva Maitreya in the Tushita god realm, including works such asMadhyāntavibhāga, theMahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra, and theAbhisamayālamkara. Their authorship remains disputed by modern scholars however.[74] Asanga's brotherVasubandhu wrote a large number of texts associated with the Yogacara including:Trisvabhāva-nirdesa,Vimsatika,Trimsika, and theAbhidharmakośa-bhāsya. Numerous commentaries were written by later Yogacara exegetes on the works of these two brothers.
The 9th Century Indian BuddhistShantideva produced two texts: theBodhicaryāvatāra has been a strong influence in many schools of the Mahayana. It is notably a favorite text of the14th Dalai Lama.
Dignāga is associated with a school ofBuddhist logic that tried to establish which texts were valid sources of knowledge (see alsoEpistemology). He produced thePramāna-samuccaya, and laterDharmakirti wrote thePramāna-vārttikā, which was a commentary and reworking of the Dignaga text.
TheAwakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Dàshéng Qǐxìn Lùn) is an influential text inEast Asian Buddhism, especially in theHua-yen school ofChina, and itsJapanese equivalent, Kegon. While it is traditionally attributed toAshvaghosha, most scholars now hold it is a Chinese composition.[75]
TheDhyāna sutras (Chan-jing) are a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which contain meditation teachings from theSarvastivada school along with some early proto-Mahayana meditations. They were mostly the work of Buddhist Yoga teachers fromKashmir and were translated into Chinese early on.
The early period of the development ofChinese Buddhism was concerned with the collection and translation of texts into Chinese and the creation of theChinese Buddhist canon. This was often done by traveling overland toIndia, as recorded in theGreat Tang Records on the Western Regions, by the monkXuanzang (c. 602–664), who also wrote a commentary onYogacara which remained influential, theDiscourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-only.
East Asian Buddhism began to develop its own unique doctrinal literature with the rise of theTiantai School and its major representative,Zhiyi (538–597 CE) who wrote important commentaries on theLotus sutra as well as the first major comprehensive work on meditation composed in China, theMohe Zhiguan (摩訶止観). Another important school of Chinese Buddhism isHuayan, which focused on developing their philosophical texts from theAvatamsaka. An important patriarch of this school isFazang who wrote many commentaries and treatises.
TheTripitaka Koreana, which was crafted in two versions (the first one was destroyed by fire during theMongol invasions of Korea), is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks during the 13th century. Still intact in good condition after some 750 years, it has been described by the UNESCO committee as "one of the most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world".[76]
Zen Buddhism developed alarge literary tradition based on the teachings and sayings of Chinese Zen masters. One of the key texts in this genre is thePlatform Sutra attributed toZen patriarchHuineng, it gives an autobiographical account of his succession asCh'an Patriarch, as well as teachings about Ch'an theory and practice. Other texts are Koan collections, which are compilations of the sayings of Chinese masters such as theBlue Cliff Record andThe Gateless Gate. Another key genre is that of compilations of Zen master biographies, such as theTransmission of the Lamp. Buddhist poetry was also an important contribution to the literature of the tradition.
After the arrival of Chinese Buddhism in Japan, Korea and Vietnam; they developed their own traditions and literature in the local language.
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The late Seventh century saw the rise of another new class of Buddhist texts, the Tantras, which focused on ritual practices and yogic techniques such as the use ofMantras,Dharanis,Mandalas,Mudras andFire offerings.[77]
Many early Buddhist Tantric texts, later termed "action Tantras" (kriyā tantra), are mostly collections of magical mantras or phrases for mostly worldly ends calledmantrakalpas (mantra manuals) and they do not call themselves Tantras.[78]
Later Tantric texts from the eighth century onward (termed variouslyYogatantra,Mahayoga, andYogini Tantras) advocated union with a deity (deity yoga), sacred sounds (mantras), techniques for manipulation of thesubtle body and other secret methods with which to achieve swiftBuddhahood.[79] Some Tantras containantinomian andtransgressive practices such as ingestingalcohol and other forbidden substances as well as sexual rituals.[80]
Some scholars such asAlexis Sanderson have argued that these later tantras, mainly the Yogini tantras, can be shown to have been influenced by non-Buddhist religious texts, mainly TantricŚaivism and theŚaiva tantras.[81]
InEast Asian Esoteric Buddhism and its Japanese offshoot, theShingon school, the most influential tantras are those which focus onVairocana Buddha, mainly, theMahavairocana Tantra and theVajrasekhara Sutra.
Buddhist Tantras are key texts inVajrayana Buddhism, which is the dominant form of Buddhism inTibet,Bhutan andMongolia. They can be found in the Chinese canon, but even more so in the Tibetan Kangyur which contains translations of almost 500tantras. In the Tibetan tradition, there are various categories of tantra. TheSarma or New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism divide the Tantras into four main categories:
Anuttarayogatantra (Higher Yoga Tantra) is known in theNyingma school asMahayoga. Some of the most influential Higher Tantras in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism are theGuhyasamāja Tantra, theHevajra Tantra, theCakrasamvara Tantra, and theKalacakra Tantra. The Nyingma school also has unique tantras of its own, not found in the other Tibetan schools, the most important of these are theDzogchen tantras.
Tibetan Buddhism has a unique and special class of texts calledterma (Tibetan:gTer-ma). These are texts (or ritual objects, etc.) believed either composed or hidden by tantric masters and/or elementally secreted or encoded in the elements and retrieved, accessed or rediscovered by other tantric masters when appropriate. Termas are discovered bytertöns (Tibetan:gTer-stons), whose special function is to reveal these texts. Some termas are hidden in caves or similar places, but a few are said to be 'mind termas,' which are 'discovered' in the mind of the tertön. TheNyingma school (andBön tradition) has a large terma literature. Many of the terma texts are said to have been written byPadmasambhava, who is particularly important to the Nyingmas. Probably the best known terma text is the so-calledTibetan book of the dead, theBardo Thodol.
Asadhana is atantric spiritual practice text used by practitioners, primarily to practice themandala or a particularyidam, or meditation deity. TheSādhanamālā is a collection of sadhanas.
Vajrayana adepts, known asmahasiddha, often expounded their teachings in the form ofsongs of realization. Collections of these songs such as theCaryāgīti, or theCharyapada are still in existence. TheDohakosha is a collection ofdoha songs by theyogiSaraha from the 9th century. A collection known in English asThe Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa was composed byTibetan Buddhist yogiMilarepa and is especially popular amongst members of theKagyu school.
TheBlue Annals (Standard Tibetan:deb ther sngon po) completed in 1476CE, authored byGölo Zhönnupel (Tibetan:gos lo gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), is a historical survey ofTibetan Buddhism with a markedecumenical view, focusing upon the dissemination of various sectarian traditions throughoutTibet.[82]
Namtar, or spiritual biographies, are another popular form ofTibetan Buddhist texts, whereby the teachings and spiritual path of a practitioner are explained through a review of their life story.
Kūkai wrote a number of treatises onVajrayana Buddhism, and these are influential in JapaneseShingon Buddhism.
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