Ebook: The Surangama Sutra. A New Translation with Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

For over a thousand years, the Siirarigama Siitra - the "Sutra of the Indestructible"
1 - has been held in great esteem in the Mahayana Buddhist
countries of East and Southeast Asia. In China the Sutra has generally
been considered as important and has been as popular as the Lotus Siitra,2
the Avatarhsaka Siitra,3 the Mahayana Mahaparinirvar:ia Siitra,4 the Heart
Siitra,5 and the Diamond Siitra.6 The appeal of the Siirarigama Siitra lies
in the broad scope of its teachings and in the depth and clarity of its prescriptions
for contemplative practice. Because of its wealth of theoretical
and practical instruction in the spiritual life, it was often the first major
text to be studied by newly ordained monks, particularly in the Chan
school. Many enlightened masters and illustrious monastic scholars have
written exegetical commentaries on it.7 To this day, for both clergy and
laity in the Chinese Buddhist tradition, the Siirarigama Siitra continues to
be the object of devout study, recitation, and memorization.