Prajñāpāramitā Collection
Wisdom literature from the shortest (Heart Sutra) to the longest (100,000-line Prajñāpāramitā).
119 texts · page 1 of 2 (texts 1–100)
Toh 8: The Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One In this text, we have opted to translate the epithet bhagavat ( bcom ldan ’das ) as “the Blessed One” when it stands alone in narrative contexts, and as “Lord” when found in dialogue, as in the vocative expressions “Blessed Lord” ( bhadantabhagavan , btsun pa bcom ldan ’das ) and “Lord Buddha” ( bhagavanbuddha , sangs rgyas bcom ldan ’das ). --> was residing on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha, with a large monastic gathering comprising some five thousand monks. All of them were arhats who had attained the cessation of contaminants, free of afflicted mental states, fully controlled, their minds thoroughly liberated, their wisdom well liberated, thoroughbreds, mighty elephants, their tasks accomplished, their work completed, their burdens relinquished, their own objectives fulfilled, the fetters binding them to the rebirth process completely severed, their minds thoroughly liberated through perfect instruction, bka’ yang dag pas , here and in the Twenty-Five Thousand , is one Tibetan rendering in the canonical texts of the Skt. samyagājñā , the other being the more widespread yang dag pa’i shes pas (“by perfect understanding”), as in the equivalent phrase in the Eighteen Thousand , and as recommended in Mahāvyutpatti 1087. See also The Jewel Cloud (Toh 231), and . Vetter, p. 67, n. 53, says it “deviates from the translation” of it as a verb ( kun shes pa , “fully understand”). supreme in their perfection of all mental powers , with the exce
Toh 9: The Noble Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines
The Perfection of Wisdom in 25,000 Lines is the second longest of the six ‘mother’ Prajñāpāramitā texts (yum drug). It comprises three entire volumes of the Kangyur (vols. 26-28) and is divided into 76 chapters relating dialogues between the Buddha and senior disciples, notably Śāriputra, Subhūti and Ānanda. With some exceptions, the text parallels the structure of the other Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, especially the Prajñāpāramitā in 10,000 Lines , yet it has traditionally been regarded as more influential, analyzing the bodhisattvas’ transcendent perfections in considerably greater detail, and showing how bodhisattvas should practise them without ever considering either their practice, or any other phenomena whatsoever, as truly existing. An original Sanskrit version found in Gilgit exists, as well as four distinct Chinese translations. There is also an important recast Sanskrit manuscript, possibly of 5th century origin, which divides the text according to the eight sections of Asaṅga-Maitreya’s famous treatise, the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. The Tibetan text dates from the 9th century. There are several important commentaries on the text in the Tengyur, by Haribhadra, Smṛtijñānakīrti, Vimuktasena and others. Estimated to be completed in 8 years.
Toh 10: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines”
Summary The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines is one version of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras that developed in South and South-Central Asia in tandem with the Eight Thousand version, probably during the first five hundred years of the Common Era. It contains many of the passages in the oldest extant Long Perfection of Wisdom text (the Gilgit manuscript in Sanskrit), and is similar in structure to the other versions of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (the One Hundred Thousand and Twenty-Five Thousand ) in Tibetan in the Kangyur. While setting forth the sacred fundamental doctrines of Buddhist practice with veneration, it simultaneously exhorts the reader to reject them as an object of attachment, its recurring message being that all dharmas without exception lack any intrinsic nature . The sūtra can be divided loosely into three parts: an introductory section that sets the scene, a long central section, and three concluding chapters that consist of two important summaries of the long central section. The first of these (chapter 84) is in verse and also circulates as a separate work called The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities (Toh 13). The second summary is in the form of the story of Sadāprarudita and his guru Dharmodgata (chapters 85 and 86), after which the text concludes with the Buddha entrusting the work to his close companion Ānanda.
Toh 11: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines”
Summary While dwelling at Vulture Peak near Rājagṛha, the Buddha sets in motion the sūtras that are the most extensive of all—the sūtras on the Prajñāpāramitā , or “Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.” Committed to writing around the start of the first millennium, these sūtras were expanded and contracted in the centuries that followed, eventually amounting to twenty-three volumes in the Tibetan Kangyur. Among them, The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines is a compact and coherent restatement of the longer versions, uniquely extant in Tibetan translation, without specific commentaries, and rarely studied. While the structure generally follows that of the longer versions, chapters 1–2 conveniently summarize all three hundred and sixty-seven categories of phenomena, causal and fruitional attributes which the sūtra examines in the light of wisdom or discriminative awareness. Chapter 31 and the final chapter 33 conclude with an appraisal of irreversible bodhisattvas , the pitfalls of rejecting this teaching, and the blessings that accrue from committing it to writing.
Toh 12: The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines
This sūtra takes the form of a series of dialogues between the Buddha Śākyamuni, Subhūti, Śāriputra, and others such as Indra, the king of gods, and a Goddess of the Ganges, and as well as setting out the teachings on emptiness as such it describes the path and practices that a bodhisattva should take to integrate this understanding of phenomena and finally realize it. A special feature of this particular sūtra are the inspirational narratives of Sadāprarudita and his quest for the teachings on the Perfection of Wisdom from the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, contained in the final three chapters.
Toh 13: The Verses that Summarize the Perfection of Wisdom
Toh 14: The Perfection of Wisdom Teachings “The Questions of Suvikrāntavikrāmin”
Toh 15: The Perfection of Wisdom in Five Hundred Lines
Toh 16: The Sūtra on the Perfection of Wisdom "The Diamond Cutter" (The Diamond Sūtra)
Toh 17: The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines
Toh 18: The Illustrious Perfection of Wisdom in Fifty Lines
Toh 19: The Noble Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika”
Summary The Perfection of Wisdom “Kauśika” is a condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtra in which the Buddha summarizes the various meanings of the perfection of wisdom. In particular, the Buddha equates the characteristics of the perfection of wisdom with the characteristics of all phenomena, the five aggregates, the five elements, and the ten perfections. In this way, the sūtra places particular emphasis on the nonduality of conventional phenomena and emptiness.
Toh 20: The Twenty-five Entrances to the Perfection of Wisdom
Toh 21: The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother
Summary In this famous scripture, known popularly as The Heart Sūtra , the Buddha Śākyamuni inspires his senior monk Śāriputra to request instructions from the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara on the way to practice the perfection of wisdom. Avalokiteśvara then describes how an aspiring practitioner of the perfection of wisdom must first understand how all phenomena lack an intrinsic nature, which amounts to the realization of emptiness. Next, Avalokiteśvara reveals a brief mantra that the practitioner can recite as a method for engendering this understanding experientially. Following Avalokiteśvara’s teaching, the Buddha offers his endorsement and confirms that this is the foremost way to practice the perfection of wisdom.
Toh 22: The Perfection of Wisdom in a Few Syllables
Toh 23: The Perfection of Wisdom Mother in One Syllable
Toh 24: The Perfection of Wisdom in Seven Hundred Lines
Toh 25: The Hundred and Eight Names of the Perfection of Wisdom
Toh 26: The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom”
Summary The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom is a condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtra in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and the bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa, who asks the Buddha how bodhisattvas skilled in means should train themselves in the perfection of wisdom. In response, the Buddha explains that a bodhisattva should train in a meditative stability called the sun or the sun skilled in means , elaborating upon the qualities of this meditative stability using the analogy of the sun in terms of seven qualities. He then further describes the training of the bodhisattva in the perfection of wisdom as training concerning the true nature of all phenomena, which is characterized in familiar terms found in the long prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It is also described in terms of the various designations for ultimate truth. Finally, the Buddha enumerates the characteristics of the one who trains in the perfection of wisdom, ending with a verse of instruction.
Toh 27: The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Candragarbha Perfection of Wisdom”
Summary The Candragarbha Perfection of Wisdom is a condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtra that takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and the bodhisattva Candragarbha. In response to Candragarbha’s question about how bodhisattvas should train themselves in the perfection of wisdom, the Buddha declares that the perfection of wisdom lies in the understanding that all phenomena are devoid of entities, using the analogy of the moon to clarify the meaning of this declaration. Candragarbha then asks the Buddha how many kinds of perfection of wisdom exist for bodhisattvas. The Buddha answers by describing two types of perfection of wisdom, “contaminated” and “uncontaminated,” and he elucidates the nature of the perfection of wisdom with reference to the ultimate nature of all phenomena. At the end of this discourse, the Buddha presents a mantra of the perfection of wisdom, followed by a summary verse.
Toh 28: The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Samantabhadra Perfection of Wisdom”
Summary In a retreat place in Magadha, the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, surrounded by many bodhisattvas, perform miracles in a meditative absorption. The bodhisattva Samantabhadra asks the Buddha to distinguish between two levels of the perfection of wisdom. In response, the Buddha gives definitions of these two levels. This sūtra is one of the short prajñāpāramitā sūtras, and it belongs especially to the category related to the five bodhisattvas: Sūryagarbha, Candragarbha, Samantabhadra, Vajrapāṇi, and Vajraketu. Despite its brevity, it echoes other sūtras that feature the figure of Samantabhadra and the distinguishing of two types of wisdom.
Toh 29: The Perfection of Wisdom for Vajrapāṇi
Toh 30: The Perfection of Wisdom for Vajraketu
Toh 1127: Untitled
Toh 1574: Untitled
Toh 1758: Untitled
Toh 1951: Untitled
Toh 2226: Untitled
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Toh 2455: Untitled
Toh 2459: Advice on the Time for Commencing the Wisdom Empowerment
Toh 2640: Untitled
Toh 2641: Untitled
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Toh 2701: Mañjuvajra Who Increases Intelligence
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Toh 3786: Verses called "The Ornament for Clear Realizations," A Treatise of Personal Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom
Toh 3787: Untitled
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Toh 3807: The Long Commentary on “The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines”
Toh 3808: The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines
Summary The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines is a detailed explanation of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, presenting a structural framework for them that is relatively easy to understand in comparison to most other commentaries based on Maitreya-Asaṅga’s Ornament for the Clear Realizations . After a detailed, word-by-word explanation of the introductory chapter common to all three sūtras, it explains the structure they also all share in terms of the three approaches or “gateways”—brief, intermediate, and detailed—ending with an explanation of the passage known as the “Maitreya chapter” found only in the Eighteen Thousand Line and Twenty-Five Thousand Line sūtras. It goes by many different titles, and its authorship has never been conclusively determined, some Tibetans believing it to be by Vasubandhu, and others that it is by Daṃṣṭrāsena.