Tathāgataguhya Sūtra
[1] Péter-Dániel Szántó lists some alternative names for this sutra: Āryatathāgataguhyasūtra, Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa, *Vajrapāṇiparivarta, *Tathāgataguhyanirdeśaparivarta, *Acintyabuddhadharmanirdeśa, and *Apramāṇapuṇyodaya.
[1] According to Tetsutaka Hamano's study, the sutra can be divided into three sections:[5][6] The main teaching of the Tathāgataguhya is the Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in infinite ways (through their magical body, speech and mind).
According to a translator of the sutra, Shaku Shingan, the Tathāgataguhya sees the nature of the Buddha as being like space (Skt.
[10]Thus, according to this sutra, sentient beings do not gain knowledge of the Dharma due to their own efforts, but through the power of the Buddha.
[7] The bodhisattva path therefore is cultivated by giving rise to bodhicitta and by understanding the true nature of a Buddha's Dharma body (which is empty, all pervasive and unlimited).
[23] According to Tetsutaka Hamano, this sutra was also an important source for the ideas of the Buddha found in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra of Sthiramati.
[24] Hamano, also considers the Tathāgataguhya to be related or similar to the tathāgatagarbha sūtras, since its doctrine about the omnipresence of the Buddha and the presence of the Buddha's knowledge within sentient beings seems to prefigure the Buddha-nature ideas found in tathāgatagarbha texts (which are not mentioned in the Tathāgataguhya), including the Ratnagotravibhāga.
[25] The Tathāgataguhya was also influential on Nepalese Newar Buddhism, where it was originally part of the Navagrantha or Navasūtra, a core set of nine Mahāyāna sutras in this tradition.
[26] While the Sanskrit text of the Tathāgataguhya exists only in fragmentary form, there is a full Tibetan translation (by Jinamitra, Dānaśila, Munivarman, and Yeshe de) and two Chinese translations, one (Taisho 310) by Dharmarakṣa of Dunhuang (230–316 CE) and one by a later Song dynasty Dharmarakṣa (died 1058) in Taisho 312.
[27][28] According to Shaku Shingan, the earlier Chinese translation contains various terms that are influenced by Daoist terminology.
