Text: T2885; 佛性海藏智慧解脫破心相經

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• T2885; 佛性海藏智慧解脫破心相經

The 佛性海藏智慧解脫破心相經 T2885 is known only from Dunhuang and Wofoyuan in Sichuan. Chen studies the Wofoyuan version of the text. He argues, on the basis of its appearance in catalogues, that it dates to the late seventh century. The text begins with the scene of the Buddha's deathbed, between the twin śāla trees in Kuśinagara, and presents a series of rubrics comprising similes in sets that increase stepwise in number: the Three Poisonous Arrows, the Four Poisonous Serpents, the Five Dogs etc. It also incorporates the well-known Prabhūtaratna episode from the Lotus Sūtra.

Chen argues that the compilers of the sūtra intended it as a kind of alternate version of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra (with relations closest to the *Dharmakṣema version of the text, T374). Chen's argument is based in part on the similar mise-en-scène; also on the basis of some similarities in doctrinal content; and also on the fact that the similes in the above list appear in T374 (though with different content). "The sutra was probably formulated in an attempt to appeal to ordinary followers by presenting a rather short, and more intelligible version of the Great Parinirvāṇa Sutra, and by offering a straightforward method to follow the doctrine."

Entry author: Michael Radich

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