Platform Sutra
Platform Sutra (more fully,
Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch). A
Buddhist sūtra that was composed in
China, which is one of the seminal texts in the
Chan/
Seon/
Zen schools. Chinese title:
Liuzu tanjing; T 2008.48.346a-362b. Centered on the discourse given at Shao zhou temple attributed to the sixth Chan patriarch
Huineng. Modern scholars seriously doubt the historicity of the claim that someone named Huineng wrote the text, but this does nothing to diminish the fact of its widespread influence. The most important topics of the discourse are sudden enlightenment, the direct perception of one's true nature and the unity in essence of
śīla,
dhyāna and
prajñā. The so-called Southern school ("sudden school") of
Chinese Buddhism based their doctrine on this extremely influential scripture. Translated into English by Philip Yampolsky.
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