Shurangama Sutra Commentary
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- Snippet from Wikipedia: Śūraṅgama Sūtra
The Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Chinese: 首楞嚴經; pinyin: Shǒuléngyán jīng, Sūtra of the Heroic March) (Taisho no. 945) is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra that has been especially influential on Korean Buddhism (where it remains a major subject of study in Sŏn monasteries) and Chinese Buddhism (where it was a regular part of daily liturgy during the Song). It is important for Zen/Chan Buddhism and Chinese Pure land Buddhism (where it is considered a central scripture). The doctrinal outlook of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra is that of Buddha-nature, Yogacara thought, and esoteric Buddhism.
The Śūraṅgama Sūtra was widely accepted as a sutra in East Asian Buddhism, where it has traditionally been included as part of Chinese-language Tripitakas. In the modern Taisho Tripitaka, it is placed in the Esoteric Sutra category (密教部). The sutra's Śūraṅgama Mantra is widely recited in China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam as part of temple liturgies.
Most modern academic scholars (including Mochizuki Shinko, Paul Demieville, Kim Chin-yol, Lü Cheng, Charles Muller and Kogen Mizuno), argue that the sutra is a Chinese apocryphal text that was composed in literary Chinese and reveals uniquely Chinese philosophical concerns. However, some scholars such as Ron Epstein argue that the text is a compilation of Indic materials with extensive editing in China.
The sutra was translated into Tibetan during the late eighth to early ninth century and other complete translations exist in Tibetan, Mongolian and Manchu languages (see Translations).