Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra

The AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra (TaishÃÂ 120) is a MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhist scripture belonging to the TathÃÂgatagarbha class of sÃÂ«tra, which teach that the Buddha is eternal, that the non-Self and emptiness teachings only apply to the worldly sphere and not to NirvÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âa, and that the TathÃÂgatagarbha is real and immanent within all beings and all phenomena. The sutra consists mostly of stanzas in verse.

The MahÃÂyÃÂna AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra should not be confused with the PÃÂli Canon's Angulimala Sutta, which is a completely different work included in the Majjhima Nikaya.

Origins and history

According to Stephen Hodge, internal textual evidence in the AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra, MahÃÂbherihÃÂraka Parivarta SÃÂ«tra, and the MahÃÂyÃÂna MahÃÂparinirvÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âa SÃÂ«tra, indicates that these texts were first circulated in southern India, and they then gradually propagated up to the northwest, with Kashmir being the other major center. The AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra gives a more detailed account by mentioning the points of distribution as including southern India, the Vindhya Range, Bharukaccha, and Kashmir. Hodge summarizes his findings as follows:

In the 6th century CE, ParamÃÂrtha wrote that the MahÃÂsÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âghikas revere the sÃÂ«tras which teach the TathÃÂgatagarbha.

Central teachings

The AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra consists largely of teachings by AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya on the correct understanding of Buddhist doctrine. According to Michael Radich,

The sutra is most insistent that the TathÃÂgatagarbha and the self (ÃÂtman) are real and that to deny their existence is to lapse into a state of dangerous spiritual imbalance. Thus, to seek out the TathÃÂgatagarbha Ã¢ÂÂ which is equated with the true Self Ã¢ÂÂ is deemed of great value. The Buddha teaches the bodhisattva MaÃÂ±juÃÂrÃÂ« that practicing the spiritual life is meaningful only because there is a 'self principle' (the TathÃÂgatagarbha or 'atma-dhatu' - 'essence of Self') with which the quest can be rewarded. He states:

The sutra is remarkable for the vigor and passion with which AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya teaches the Dharma and for its doctrine that at the heart of all beings is one unified principle: the buddha-dhatu (Buddha-nature) or TathÃÂgatagarbha. The doctrines of this sutra are also strikingly congruent with those of the much longer MahÃÂyÃÂna MahÃÂparinirvÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âa SÃÂ«tra.

According to the AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya SÃÂ«tra (2nd c. CE), tathÃÂgatagarbha has the following fundamental natures:

Neither arising nor ceasing - tathÃÂgatagarbha permanently exists in the world, never arises, and therefore is never destroyed or perished.
Independence - tathÃÂgatagarbha possesses the intrinsic nature of independently existing without relying on other dharmas. Therefore, all worldly phenomena of aggregates, sense-fields, and elements have the nature of arising and ceasing but tathagatagarbha possesses the intrinsic nature of independence. In addition to tathagatagarbha itself, the intrinsic natures of tathagatagarbha also originally exist without increasing and decreasing and do not change owing to the variance of any conditions.
Non-perceptiveness - tathÃÂgatagarbha is not the perceptive mind; it does not have the perceptual functions of seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing regarding the six external sense-objects which the perceptive mind has and therefore does not have the nature to discriminate goodness or badness either.
Invariability - the tathÃÂgatagarbha and its fundamental natures have the quality of permanence, eternity, imperishability, or diamond (vajra) nature. These are sustained everlastingly and do not change according to the variance of time and space. The AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlÃÂ«ya states: "Permanence is the Buddha-nature," "Eternity is the Buddha-nature," "Invariability is the Buddha-nature," "Non-badness is the Buddha-nature," "Non-damage is the Buddha-nature," "No sickness is the Buddha-nature," "Non-aging is the Buddha-nature,"
Storability - tathÃÂgatagarbha stores a sentient being's seeds of all phenomena, including the seeds of good, bad, and neutral karmas.

Notes

References

External links

SÃÂ«tra of AÃ¡Â¹ÂgulimÃÂlika, translated into English by Rulu from GuÃ¡Â¹Âabhadra's Chinese version