SB43-Avatamsaka Sutra (The Sutra of the Garland of Flowers)—Mahayana

The Avatamsaka Sutra is among the largest and greatest of the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism. It consists of 12 volumes in Chinese, and 1656 pages in the English edition translated by Thomas Cleary. As with most Mahayana scriptures, it treats Buddha not as merely a man of ancient India, but as a cosmic principle. Differing from the austere and non-theist Theravada scriptures, it is full of gods and goddesses, heavens, jeweled trees and heavenly beings. The Avatamsaka Sutra became very influential in Chinese Buddhism and was responsible for the creation of the Hua-Yen school. The Hua-Yen school was founded by Tu-shun (557-640) and Fa-tsang (Hsien-shou 643-712) and reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty in China.

In the Mahayana tradition this sutra is considered the first sermon given by the Buddha after His enlightenment and is centered on the philosophy of interpenetration and mutual containment of all phenomena, often depicted in the image of “Indra’s Net.” It was taught to Bodhisattvas and celestial beings. Its metaphysics were completely assimilated by the Chan School. There are still followers of this tradition in the West within certain Chinese communities.  H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III told us in Learning from Buddha that “If you are a master with disciples, you must at least study in depth some sutras and commentaries as a foundation, such as . . . the Avatamsaka Sutra, . . . and others. Doing so will reduce the possibility of leading others astray in the process of teaching.”

“G02-Spiritual Autobiography” is a requirement for admission into the program and “D35(A)-Buddhism for Beginners, The 128 Evil and Erroneous Views” is a prerequisite for studying all translations of this holy text and used to evaluate the translation itself. 2 credits.