Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra: L'Explication des Mystères

Description

The Ārya-saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra (Sanskrit) or Noble Sūtra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text and the most important sutra of the Yogācāra school. It contains explanations of key Yogācāra concepts such as the basal-consciousness (ālayavijñāna), the doctrine of appearance-only (vijñaptimātra) and the "three own natures" (trisvabhāva). Étienne Lamotte considered this sutra "the link between the Prajñāpāramitā literature and the Yogācāra Vijñānavāda school". The sūtra is divided into 10 chapters or sections and presents itself as a series of dialogues between Gautama Buddha and various bodhisattvas. During these dialogues, the Buddha attempts to clarify disputed meanings present in scriptures of the early Mahāyāna and the early Buddhist schools; thus, the title of the sūtra, which promises to expound a teaching that is "completely explicit" and requires no interpretation in order to be understood. This sutra also affirms the doctrine of "one vehicle" (ekayāna) which holds that "the vehicle of the śrāvakas and Mahāyāna vehicle are but a single vehicle [The Third Turning of the Wheel].