The Bequeathed Teachings Sutra, or the Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching and Bequeathed Sutra (Ch. 佛垂般涅槃略說敎誡經, T.389) is a brief Mahayana sutra containing instructions left by the Gautama Buddha before His said final
nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
. It is reportedly translated by
Kumārajīva
Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; , 344–413 CE) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha (present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China). Kumārajīva is seen as one of the greatest ...
into Chinese around 400 C.E.
Overview
The sutra presents itself as the final teachings of Gautama Buddha, delivered to the disciples assembled around his resting place between two sal trees. In this last sermon, the Buddha urged his disciples to strive for enlightenment through thorough monastic discipline. According to Cleary, "the Buddha teaches here from the perspective of cause and effect: pure discipline is a basic necessity because it allows good qualities to develop."
[Cleary, J.C. (2005). The Bequeathed Teaching Sutra. In: Arai, K.; Bando, S.; Cleary, J.C.; Gregory, P.N.; Shih, H.]
Apocryphal Scriptures
, Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, , p.3 The Buddha warns against seeking material wealth, influence, and discourages monks from earning a living through fortune telling or the performance of healing.
[ The Buddha concludes by declaring the sutra his last teaching.
The sutra "is used as a liturgical text in both Taiwan and Japan, where it seems to be particularly associated with the Soto Zen sect."]Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
, Song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
, and Ming dynasties.[ It was a perennial source of reference and instruction for Chinese ]Chan
Chan may refer to:
Places
*Chan (commune), Cambodia
*Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada
People
*Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田)
*Chan Caldwel ...
communities.[
]
See also
* Buddhist apocrypha
In Buddhist studies, particularly East Asian Buddhist studies, post-canonical Buddhist texts, Buddhist apocrypha or Spurious Sutras and Sastras designate texts that are not accepted as canonical by some historical Buddhist schools or communities ...
* Chinese Buddhist canon
* Buddhist texts
Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...
References
External links
{{Wikiquote
Chinese text from the Taisho Tripitaka, Volume 12, No. 389
CBETA
Mahayana sutras
Mahayana texts