The Lankavatara Sutra - D.T. Suzuki
Category: Self-help
Narrator: Ratnadhya
Tags: Self-help, Spiritual & Religious, Misc. Non-fiction
The Lankavatara Sutra, dating from the early years of the Common Era, sometime before 443, is one of the most important Mahayana Buddhist texts, not least because of its influence on later Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. One of its possible early translators in the 8th century was Gunabhadra, who is sometimes regarded as the first father of Zen in China., The Sutra takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha in his cosmic form (as opposed to the historical figure of the Pali Canon) and the Bodhisattva or Great Being, Mahamati. The Bodhisattva, as represented by Mahamati, is the enlightened presence in the world, foregoing the bliss of Nirvana and enlightenment for the sake of oneself alone, in order to lead all beings to that state of liberation, of complete non-attachment, as taught by the Buddha., The Sutra is especially concerned with the teaching of Emptiness, or Sunyata in the Sanskrit, the letting go of all concepts and constructs, through which we label the world aro
