Sacred Texts: Buddhism

A Buddhist Bible: The Lankavatara Sutra: Chapter VII. Self-Realisation

Dwight GoddardTaoism and ZenZen Buddhism

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This is a philosophical-religious text from the *Lankavatara Sutra*, a foundational Mahayana Buddhist scripture presented as a dialogue between the Buddha ("the Blessed One") and the bodhisattva Mahamati. The text systematically outlines the path to "self-realisation of Noble Wisdom" (Transcendental Intelligence), arguing that ordinary intellectual discrimination must be transcended through a higher intuitive faculty that connects directly to Universal Mind. Four prerequisites for this attainment are enumerated: recognizing the world as mind-only, releasing notions of birth and death, accepting the egolessness of both persons and things, and understanding that true self-realisation is non-discriminative and identity-based rather than subject-object knowledge. A notable distinctive claim is the treatment of the "One Vehicle" (*Ekayana*): the Buddha explains he teaches multiple vehicles (paths) only as skillful expedients for those not yet ready, while the One Vehicle — attainable only in solitude and inner quiet — has never been fully realized even by great masters, only by Tathagatas themselves. The text is distinctive for its psychological depth, particularly its analysis of deep-seated attachments (greed, anger, infatuation rooted in discrimination and habit-energy) and the silkworm metaphor for how the ignorant enwrap themselves in their own discriminations.

A Buddhist Bible: The Lankavatara Sutra: Chapter VII. Self-Realisation

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