The ''Ten Stages Sutra'' (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
: ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra''; ; ) also known as the Daśabhūmika Sūtra, is an early, influential
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 br ...
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 ...
scripture. The sutra also appears as the 26th chapter of the ''
''.Modern Buddhist studies scholars generally hold that these Mahayana sūtras first began to appear between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE. They continued being composed, compiled and edited until the decline of Buddhism in India.
Contents
In the ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra'', the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...
describes
ten stages of development that a
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
must progress through in order to accomplish full Enlightenment and Buddhahood, as well as the subject of
Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gon ...
and the awakening of the aspiration for Enlightenment.
Commentary
There is a commentary which survives in Chinese called the ''Daśabhūmikavibhāṣā'', it is attributed to Nagarjuna.
Another commentary on the ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra'', the ''Dasabhūmikabhāsya'', was written by
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...
in Sanskrit and translated into Chinese by
Bodhiruci and others during the 6th century CE.
Chinese Daśabhūmikā school
A
Daśabhūmikā school said to have existed in China at one time, which centered on this sutra, but was later absorbed by the
Huayan school
The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based pri ...
, as the Huayan school's principal sutra, the ', already contains the ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra''. The ''Daśabhūmika Sūtra'' can also be found in modified form in the thirty-ninth chapter as part of the journey of the bodhisattva Sudhana. The Huayan school declined in China after the death of its fifth and best known patriarch,
Zongmi
Guifeng Zongmi () (780–1 February 841) was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar and bhikkhu, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze school of Southern Chan Buddhism. He wrote a number of works on the ...
(780–841), but they provided major foundational teachings for the Mahayana schools which exist today, such as
Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
.
See also
*
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
Notes
External links
List of Mahayana Sutras*
{{Buddhism topics
Mahayana sutras
Yogacara
Vaipulya sutras