thumb|275px|Copy of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra written in Chinese from [[Dunhuang in the British Library]]
The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (Sanskrit: लङ्कावतारसूत्रम्, "Discourse of the Descent into Laṅkā", , Chinese: 入楞伽經) is a prominent Mahayana Buddhist sūtra. It is also titled Laṅkāvatāraratnasūtram (The Jewel Sutra of the Entry into Laṅkā, Gunabhadra's Chinese title: 楞伽阿跋多羅寶經 léngqié ābáduōluó bǎojīng) and Saddharmalaṅkāvatārasūtra (The Sutra on the Descent of the True Dharma into Laṅkā). A subtitle to the sutra found in some sources is "the heart of the words of all the Buddhas" (一切佛語心 yiqiefo yuxin, Sanskrit: sarvabuddhapravacanahṛdaya). It is notably an important sūtra in Chan/Zen Buddhism, as it discusses the key issue of "sudden enlightenment". The text survives in one Sanskrit manuscript from Nepal as well as in Tibetan and Han Chinese translation. According to Takasaki Jikido, the Lanka "is, as often said, merely a mosaic collection of small parts put at random within the frame of a sutra." In the introduction to the sutra (the nidana), the sutra outlines some key teachings which will be expounded on, "the Five Dharmas and the Three Inherent Natures (pañcadharmasvabhāva), the Eight Consciousnesses (vijñāna) and the Two forms of Selflessness (nairātmyādvaya)." This idealistic view is explained by the Lanka as the view that "what is seen as something external is nothing but one's own mind" (svacitta-drsya-mātram)." According to Gishin Tokiwa, this is not to say that there are no independent external beings conventionally, but rather what it means is that true insight into the nature of reality goes beyond all concepts of internal and external.
The sutra often presents Yogacara theories of consciousness, like the eight consciousnesses and the three natures, as well as the "five dharmas". Furthermore, since, as the sutra states, the whole world "is nothing but a complex manifestation of one's mental activities," all phenomena are empty of self (anatman) and illusory (maya) - "to be regarded as forms seen in a vision and a dream, empty of substance, unborn and without self-nature."
- Nimitta (images, appearances), this is what has characteristics like form (rupa), shape, distinctive features, and images (ākāra).
- Nāma (naming), these are the ideas (saṃjñā) based on the appearances
- Samkalpa, Vikalpa (discrimination), the distinctions and connections between different names and ideas that allow us to distinguish between them
- Samyagjñāna (right knowledge), the knowledge gained by bodhisattvas who understand the true nature of things (i.e. Suchness) and who transcend the discriminations of worldly people
- Tathatā (Suchness), the truth, ultimate reality, which is beyond all words, images and discrimination, beyond all duality and plurality.
The Lanka also closely connects this theory with the Yogacara theory of the three inherent natures. According to the Lanka, image, naming and discrimination correspond to the parikalpita-svabhāva (the "fully conceptualized" nature) and the paratantra-svabhāva (dependent nature), while right knowledge and Suchness correspond to the pariniṣpanna-svabhāva (the fully accomplished nature). Thus, it is the fluctuating (pravṛitti) aspect of the storehouse consciousness that gets caught up in the discrimination and craving of the manas consciousness, while the primitively pure (prakṛitipuriśuddhi) aspect of the storehouse does not. According to Suzuki, the most common terms for this ultimate reality include: Tathatā ("suchness" or "thusness"), as well as "Satyatā, "the state of being true", Bhūtatā, "the state of being real", Dharmadhātu, "realm of truth", Nirvana, the Permanent (nitya), Sameness (samatā), the One (advaya), Cessation (nirodha), the Formless (animitta), Emptiness (śūnyatā), etc."
Meanwhile, liberation and awakening (bodhi) arises when discrimination is brought to an end by a deep intuitive and non-conceptual knowledge (jñana) of suchness (tathata). Awakening is the result of the bringing to an end of various activities of consciousness, such as the discrimination of the egoic consciousness (manas) and the latent tendencies of the storehouse consciousness. Akira Suganuma writes that this "inner wisdom" is "that which all the teachings in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra indicate to us is to realize or accomplish." Suzuki notes that aryajñāna is also designated by other terms, such as pravicayabuddhi ("an insight fixed upon the ultimate ground of existence"), svabuddhi (innate understanding), nirābhāsa or anābhāsa (imagelessness), nirvikalpa (beyond discrimination / concepts). In this passage, the Lanka states that the purification of the mind can happen "by degrees and not all at once. Like the gooseberry, which ripens by degrees," and immediately after it also states that awakening can also happen "all at once":
The Ultimate is beyond words
Another important idea found in the Laṅkāvatāra is how the ultimate reality (dharmata) transcends all language and conventional expressions and is free from verbal discrimination (vāgvikalpa).
History and editions
According to Asanga Tilakaratne, "it is generally believed that the sutra was compiled during 350-400 CE," although "many who have studied the sutra are of opinion that the introductory chapter and the last two chapters were added to the book at a later period." Christian Lindtner argues that some early recension of the Lankavatara influenced the writings of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva (3rd century), basing his conclusion on several close or literal allusions to the sutra in early madhyamaka texts. Thus, the core of the sutra could date to a much earlier time. The Lanka is quoted four times in the Sūtrasamuccaya which has been attributed to Nāgārjuna (but this attribution has also been questioned by some scholars). Lambert Schmithausen has argued that the evidence attributing this text to Nagarjuna is insufficient and that furthermore, a passage from the Lankavatara seems to be a direct quotation from Vasubandhu's Trimsika (4th to 5th century CE). But the issue of the dating of the Lanka is further complicated by the complex nature of Vasubandhu's authorship of various texts and the fact that his Vyākhyāyukti also quotes the Lankavatara.
Four translations of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra were made from Sanskrit into the Chinese language between roughly 420 CE and 704, the earliest being attributed to Dharmarakṣa in the 5th century.
Of these, only three are now extant: This edition by Guṇabhadra is said to be the one handed down from the founder of Chan Buddhism, Bodhidharma, to the Second Patriarch, Dazu Huike. This edition is criticized in the imperial preface to the later translation, which says that it contains extra words and sentences mixed in that detract from the original meaning. Before the final edits to this version had been made, Śikṣānanda returned to India, and another Indian monk called Mitrasena came to China who had studied the Buddhist sutras for 25 years in India, and who knew the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. Fazang and Mitrasena were given the task of revising and completing the translation.
According to Gishin Tokiwa, the Sanskrit edition and Sikṣānanda's translation contain various additions and errors. Tokiwa considers that "the Gunabhadra version conveys the earliest, original Sanskrit text-form whereas the two other Chinese versions as well as the extant Sanskrit manuscripts that include the Nanjio-edition did not go through any kind of appropriate text-critique." Takasaki Jikido likewise argued that the Gunabhadra edition was the closest version available to the early Sanskrit edition.
Indian commentaries
There are two traditional Indian commentaries preserved in Tibetan translations:
- Jñānaśrībhadra (11th century), ʼPhags pa lang kar gshegs paʼi ʼgrel pa (*Āryalaṅkāvatāravṛtti) P #5519; D #4018
- Jñānavajra (12th century), ʼPhags pa lang kar gshegs pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen poʼi mdoʼi ʼgrel pa de bzhin gshegs paʼi snying poʼi rgyan zhes bya ba (*Āryalaṅkāvatāranāmamahāyānasūtravṛtti Tathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra nāma)
These commentaries mainly comment on the sutra by relying on the epistemological tradition of Dharmakīrti. Jñānavajra's commentary presents a unique Yogācāra-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka perspective which was termed ‘cognitive centrism’ (vijñaptimadhyama, rnam rig dbu ma) and he also heavily relies on the works of Kamalaśīla, particularly the Madhyamakāloka. According to John Jorgensen, Fazang's commentary explains ten key themes he finds in the sutra: "1. the emptiness and existence in causation; 2.the fundamental and derived in the vijñānas; 3. the true and false in the substance of the vijñānas; 4. the seeds of the fundamental vijñāna; 5. the universality of the Buddha-nature; 6. the turning around of the minds of the two vehicle (followers); 7. the opening and closing of the stages of practice; 8. the non-obstruction of barrier and cure; 9. the freedom of pro and contrary; and 10. the eternal persistence of the Buddha-result." Kokan draws on the teachings of the Lankavatara on the perfect nature taught by the Dharmakaya to claim that Zen is a unique transmission of the realization of this perfect nature and that this is what Bodhidharma's transmission of “seeing the nature and completing Buddhahood” means.
During the Ming dynasty, various commentaries were written, such as those by the Chan-Pure Land-Tiantai master Ouyi Zhixu (including 楞伽阿跋多羅寶經義疏, Commentary on the Meanings of the Laṅkāvatāra Jewel Sūtra), the Huayan master Tongrun's Lengqie jing hezhe (楞伽經合轍) and Jiaohong's (焦竑 1540–1620) Lengqie jing jing jie ping lin (楞伽經精解評林, Forest of Comments of Detailed Interpretations on Lankavatara Sutra).
English translations
The following are English translations of the Lankavatara sutra.
From the Sanskrit edition: