The ''Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra'' (;

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 普賢経;

rōmaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Ch ...

''fugen-kyō'';

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: Kinh Quán Phổ Hiền Bồ Tát Hạnh Pháp;

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 관보현보살행법경; Gwanbohyeonbosalhaengbeop Gyeong), also known as the ''Sūtra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue'', is a

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

teaching meditation and repentance practices. The extant Chinese text of the meditation sutra was translated by Dharmamitra between 424 and 442 CE (T09n277). The ''Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra'' is often included in the so-called " Threefold Lotus Sutra," along with the ''

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

'' and the ''

Innumerable Meanings Sutra The ''Innumerable Meanings Sutra'' also known as the ''Sutra of Infinite Meanings'' (Sanskrit: अनन्त निर्देश सूत्र, ''Ananta Nirdeśa Sūtra''; ; Japanese: ''Muryōgi Kyō''; Korean: ''Muryangeui Gyeong'') is a ...

''. It is not known, however, when or by whom the sutra was first recited, but it is considered by many Mahayana sects to be a continuation (an epilogue) of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

's teachings found within the ''Lotus Sutra''. This sutra is believed to have followed two earlier translations, including one by Kumarajiva, which are now lost; no original

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

translation has been found.

Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

According to the sutra itself,

Samantabhadra Samantabhadra (Lit. "All Good", or "Always Auspicious") may refer to: * Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation * ''Samantabhadra'' (Tibetan: ''Kuntu Zangpo''), the name of a Buddha, ...

Bodhisattva ("Universal Virtue") was born in the east Pure Wonder Land and whose form was already mentioned clearly by the

in the ''

Avatamsaka Sutra The ' (IAST, sa, 𑀅𑀯𑀢𑀁𑀲𑀓 𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭) or ''Buddhāvataṃsaka-nāma-mahāvaipulya-sūtra (The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra named “Buddhāvataṃsaka”)'' is one of the most influential Mahāyāna sutras of East Asian B ...

''. In the Threefold Lotus Sutra, the chapter preceding the ''Samantabhadra Meditation Sūtra'', chapter 28 of the ''Lotus Sutra'', describes Samantabhadra as a perfect example of an adherent to the four practices: * He practices the teachings of the ''Lotus Sutra''. * He protects the Dharma teachings from every kind of persecution. * He witnesses the merits obtained by those who practice the teachings and the punishments of those who slander the Dharma or persecute the practitioners. * He proves that those who violate the Dharma can be delivered from their transgressions if they are sincerely penitent. In the ''Meditation Sutra'', the Buddha describes Universal Virtue's body as unlimited in size, and the range of his voice and the forms of his image are also described as unlimited. He possesses divine powers that enable him to come into the world when he wishes and shrink down to a smaller size. Through his wisdom-power, he appears transformed as if mounted on a white elephant to the

people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

Jambudvīpa Jambudvīpa ( sa, जम्बुद्वीप; Pali: Jambudīpa) is a name often used to describe the territory of Greater India in Ancient Indian sources. The term is based on the concept of '' dvīpa'', meaning "island" or "continent" i ...

defiled by the three heavy hindrances: Arrogance, envy, and covetousness. The Buddha Shakyamuni describes in detail the form of the elephant on which Universal Virtue is mounted. Universal Virtue rides the white elephant for the sole purpose of guiding the people of Jambudvīpa, or the ''sahā''-world, through practices that are associated with their environment. The bodhisattva riding on his white elephant is a symbolic image of Buddhist practice, as well as a representation of purity. The purity of the six sense organs is represented by the six tusks of Universal Virtue's white elephant. It is undeniable that the ''Meditation Sutra'' is a continuation of the ''

'', because the sutra itself testifies to the "Dharma Flower Sutra" three times.

Meaning of Repentance

The denotational meaning of the word "repentance" in a general sense, is the confession or remorse of one's own past physical and mental misdeeds, or transgressions. When we repent, we purify our minds and we free ourselves from a sense of sin, and we feel greatly refreshed.

Psychoanalysts PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...

have applied this principle in helping many people who are mentally afflicted.

Contemplation of Reality

In Japan, the text is also called the ''Repentance Sutra'' (

: 懺悔經;

Rōmaji The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as . Japanese is normally written in a combination of logographic characters borrowed from Ch ...

: ''Sange-kyō''). The second chapter of the ''Lotus Sutra'' explains in detail the concept of ''

Tathātā Tathātā (; Sanskrit: तथाता; Pali: tathatā) is a Buddhist term variously translated as "thusness" or "suchness," referring to the nature of reality free from conceptual elaborations and the subject–object distinction. While also use ...

'', or "Suchness". The sutra emphasizes repentance by means of meditating on " the true aspect of reality" and the "Vaipulya sutras." The essence of Buddhist repentance is summed up in the following lines from the verse spoken by the

concerning the purification of the six sense organs: :The ocean of impediment of all

karma Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptivel ...

:Is produced from one's false imagination. :Should one wish to repent of it :Let him sit upright and meditate on the true aspect of reality. :All sins are just as frost and dew, :So wisdom's sun can disperse them.

Notes

Sources

* * *

Bibliography