Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra

The sutra tells of how Kṣitigarbha became a bodhisattva by making great vows to rescue other sentient beings and a description of how he displayed filial piety in his past lifetimes.

The sutra also expounds at length the retributions of unwholesome karma, descriptions of Buddhist hells and the benefits of good merit both great and small.

(Buswell 1990, p. 178) Part of the reason for suspicion is that the text advocates filial piety, which is commonly associated with Confucianism in Chinese culture.

The teaching is presented in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and Kṣitigarbha and takes place in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, located on the top of Mount Meru, in front of a vast multitude of sentient beings.

For example, In the last Chapter 13, Buddha also spoke about 28 kinds of benefits for "any good man or good woman who should see Ksitigarbha's image and hear this Sutra and, furthermore, read and recite it, and who should also donate incense, flowers, drink, food, clothing and precious treasures as offerings, in addition to giving praise and making obeisance to Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha" [3] Those 28 benefits of reciting Kṣitigarbhasūtra are as follows: