DESCRIPTION
This course is a line-by-line reading of the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra (’Revealing the Secret). This is one of the primary texts of the ‘Mind-Only’ School of Buddhism and contains explanations of key Yogācāra concepts such as the storehouse consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) and the doctrine of consciousness-only (vijñapti-mātra). The Saṃdhinirmocana is also considered the foundation of the ‘Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel’ – the final phase of the Buddha’s teaching in which he revealed the Ultimate Truth (Paramārtha).
This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of which is typically considered to be that of Xuanzang. It also was translated into Tibetan. The original Sanskrit text has not survived to the present day.
Primary Reading
Suggested Reading
Reb Anderson, The Third Turning of the Wheel: Wisdom of the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra