Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra

[5] The vision expressed in this work was the foundation for the creation of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which was characterized by a philosophy of interpenetration.

One source claims that it is "a very long text composed of a number of originally independent scriptures of diverse provenance, all of which were combined, probably in Central Asia, in the late third or the fourth century CE.

"[11] Japanese scholars such as Akira Hirakawa and Otake Susumu meanwhile argue that the Sanskrit original was compiled in India from sutras already in circulation which also bore the name "Buddhavatamsaka".

There are two other parts of the Avatamsaka which have survived in Sanskrit, the Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna (The Aspiration Prayer for Good Conduct), and the Anantabuddhakṣetraguṇodbhāvana-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra (Cultivating the Qualities of Infinite Buddhafields).

The single extant Tibetan version was translated from the original Sanskrit by Jinamitra et al. at the end of ninth century.

[9] Identification of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra as a "Bodhisattva Piṭaka" was also recorded in the colophon of a Chinese manuscript at the Mogao Caves: "Explication of the Ten Stages, entitled Creator of the Wisdom of an Omniscient Being by Degrees, a chapter of the Mahāyāna sūtra Bodhisattvapiṭaka Buddhāvataṃsaka, has ended.

The sutra thus teaches that all things are empty of inherent existence and also speaks of "pure untainted awareness or consciousness (amala-citta) as the ground of all phenomena".

[28] The point of all the skillful teachings of the Buddha is to lead all living beings through the bodhisattva stages (Bhūmis) and to final Buddhahood.

The discourses in the sutra version with thirty nine books (or chapters) are delivered to eight different audiences or "assemblies" in seven locations such as Bodh Gaya and Tusita Heaven.

[41] In book 15, a bodhisattva named Dharmamati teaches on how the bodhisattva path progresses through ten abodes (viharas): (1) Awakening the Aspiration to Enlightenment; (2) Preparing the Ground; (3) Cultivating the Practices; (4) Noble Birth (i.e. into the family of the buddhas); (5) Perfection of Skilful Means; (6) Rectification of the Mind; (7) Nonregression; (8) Childlike Simplicity; (9) Crown Prince of the Dharma; and (10) Consecration.

[43] In book 17, Dharmamati teaches about the arousing of the mind of awakening (bodhicittotpāda) and how its merit is greater than any kind of act of worship, no matter how vast.

[44] In book 18, Dharmamati discusses the main practices of bodhisattvas: heedfulness (apramāda), the perfections (pāramitās), the ten "inexhaustible treasuries" and others.

[47] In book 21, one of the bodhisattvas, Guṇavana, teaches the ten practices (carya) of bodhisattvas (which also roughly correspond to the 10 paramitas): (1) Giving Delight (corresponding to dāna); (2) Bestowing Benefits (śīla); (3) Nonresentment (kṣānti); (4) Inexhaustible Practice (vīrya); (5) Transcending Ignorance and Confusion (dhyāna); (6) Skilful Manifestation (upāya); (7) Nonattachment; (8) Veneration; (9) Cultivation of Good Qualities; (10) Cultivation of Truth (jñāna).

[48] In book 22, Guṇavana teaches the "Ten Inexhaustible Treasuries" (which summarize the bodhisattva path in from a different point of view).

In book 27, Samantabhadra teaches on ten types of meditative absorption (samadhi) and the various powers that they bestow on those who master them (such as being able to travel freely to all realms in the universe).

), and in book 29, he discusses ten types of patience (kṣānti), which mainly refers to an acceptance of the illusory and unarisen nature of reality (i.e.

[55] Book 30 is taught by the Buddha himself, and it discusses the incalculable (asaṅkhyeya) and infinite nature of the universe and the number of beings contained in it.

The book's climax comes when Sudhana meets the bodhisattva Maitreya, who guides him to enter a great tower called "Matrix Adorned with the Splendours of Vairocana" (vairocana-vyūhālāṅkāra-garbha).

Within the tower, Sudhana has a grand vision of infinite worlds, each of which contains forms of Maitreya guiding beings to awakening.

[65] This text which concludes the entire Avatamsaka was very popular in India, East Asia and in Himalayan Buddhism, and it is cited in numerous sources.

The Tibetan canon also contains five commentaries on the individual verses, attributed to figures like Nāgārjuna, Diṅnāga, Śākyamitra, Bhadrāpaṇa, and Vasubandhu.

This sutra gives details on the ten stages (bhūmis) of development a bodhisattva must undergo to attain supreme enlightenment.

The last chapter of the Avatamsaka circulates as a separate and important text known as the Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra ("flower-array", or "bouquet";[69] 入法界品 'Entering the Dharma Realm'[70]).

The prayer contains the ten vows of Samantabhadra which encapsulate the core essence of the commitments and actions of all past and future buddhas.

[73] The Tathāgatotpattisaṃbhava sūtra (The Manifestation of the Tathagatha sutra), which corresponds to chapter 32 of the full Buddhāvataṃsaka translation of Buddhabhadra (Taisho Tripitaka no.

According to Imre Hamar, this sutra "is a precursor to the tathāgatagarbha theory, the idea of universal access to buddhahood, as it stresses that all living beings have the wisdom of the Buddha, but due to their defilements, they are not able to see it.

"[1] A version of this text was also translated into Chinese by Dharmarakṣa in 292 CE as an independent sutra, the Fo shuo rulai xingxian jing (佛說如來興顯經; The Appearance of Tathāgata as Related by the Buddha; *Tathāgatotapattisaṃbhavanirdeśa).

The Vajradhvaja sūtra is cited five times by Shantideva in his Śikṣāsamuccaya and it is one of the few texts explicitly recommended in his Bodhisatvacaryāvatāra (chapter 7, verse 46).

It includes the traditionally appended conclusion to Chapter 39, "The Conduct and Vows of Samantabhadra" which was originally translated into Chinese in 798 ce by Tripitaka Master Prajñā).

The publisher Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (BDK) has finished editing and is currently (as of July, 2022) in the process of preparing for publication an unannotated multi-volume edition of Bhikshu Dharmamitra's Flower Adornment Sutra which also includes Bhikshu Dharmamitra's translation of the traditionally appended conclusion to Chapter 39, "The Conduct and Vows of Samantabhadra" originally translated by Tripitaka Master Prajñā.