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.Harvey, Peter; An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices, p. 104.Chang-geun Hwang; A Korean Yogacara Monk in China: Won Cheuk (612-696) and His Commentary on the Heart Sutra, page 137. 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".Lamotte, Etienne (1935), Samdhinirmocana Sutra: L'explication des Mysteres, page 24.
This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of which is typically considered to be that of Xuanzang. It also was translated into Tibetan. The original Sanskrit text has not survived to the present day.
Nomenclature and etymology The Ārya-saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra (; Gongpa Ngédrel) is variously romanized as Sandhinirmocana Sutra and Samdhinirmocana Sutra. The full Sanskrit title includes "Ārya" which means noble or excellent.Powers; Hermeneutics and Tradition in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, p. 28.
The title has been variously translated as:
Unlocking the Mysteries (Cleary) Explanation of the Profound Secrets (Keenan) Elucidation of the Intention Sutra or Unravelling the Thought (Powers) The Explication of Mysteries, L'explication des mystères (Lamotte) Sutra which Decisively Reveals the Intention
History Like many early Mahāyāna sūtras, precise dating for the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra is difficult to achieve. Étienne Lamotte believed that the text was assembled from earlier, independent fragments. Other scholars believe that the apparently fragmentary nature of the early versions of the scripture may represent piecemeal attempts at translation, rather than a composite origin for the text itself. The earliest forms of the text may date from as early as the 1st or 2nd Century CE. The final form of the text was probably assembled no earlier than the 3rd Century CE, and by the 4th Century significant commentaries on the text began to be composed by Buddhist scholars, most notably Asaṅga.
Content The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra is one of the most important texts of the Yogācāra tradition, and one of the earliest texts to expound the philosophy of Consciousness-only. The sūtra 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.
The sūtra is divided into various chapters or sections which vary depending on the translation, the Tibetan version translated by Powers has ten, Xuanzang's Chinese version (trans. Keenan) has eight chapters. The analysis below is based on Xuanzang's version (Taisho Tripitaka Volume 16, Number 676). The first chapter is an introduction and sets the setting, which is a immeasurable and brilliant celestial palace filled with innumerable beings and bodhisattvas.
Chapter 2: The Descriptive Marks of the Truth of Ultimate Meaning
The second chapter focuses on the nature of the "ultimate meaning" (paramārtha) and how it is said to be "ineffable" and non-dual. This ultimate meaning cannot be seen through concepts and language, since all things are empty of any inherent essence (svabhāva) and words and ideas are provisional.Keenan 2000, p. 2. Thus, while ultimate reality is beyond language, "apart from all names and words", noble awakened beings "provisionally invent" linguistic conventions such as "conditioned" and "unconditioned" in order to lead sentient beings to the truth. However these inventions have no absolute existence, they are like the creations of a magician, which only appear to be dualistic, but actually lead to a non-dual transcendent reality.Keenan 2000, p. 11-13. This ultimate meaning is described by the Buddha as follows:The sphere that is internally realized without descriptions cannot be spoken and severs expressions. Ultimate meaning, laying to rest all disputes, transcends all the descriptive marks of reasoning.Keenan 2000, p. 16.Furthermore, the Buddha states in this chapter that "it is not reasonable to say that the descriptive marks of the truth of ultimate meaning are identical with the descriptive marks of conditioned states of being, nor that they are entirely different one from the other."Keenan 2000, p. 19. Rather, ultimate meaning transcends both of these characterizations.Keenan 2000, p. 18. The Buddha also states that "only it is eternal and permanent," and also this ultimate meaning "is of one universal taste," is undifferentiated and is present in all compounded things.Keenan 2000, p. 24.
Chapter 3: The Descriptive Marks of Mind, Thought, and Consciousness Chapter three discusses the ālayavijñāna (store consciousness), also called the appropriating consciousness (ādānavijñāna), or receptacle consciousness, and how it is related to perception and thought. The ālayavijñāna is the "support and ground" for the existence of sentient beings in the various realms. It appropriates the body, images and words, and out of it evolve the various sense consciousnesses (including the mind consciousness, manas).Keenan 2000, p. 28.
The Buddha emphasizes however that these processes are dependent on conditions and are thus not ultimately real. Indeed, it is because bodhisattvas do not see any of these consciousnesses as real that they are said to be skilled in the ultimate meaning.Keenan 2000, pp. 28-29 Thus, the Buddha states: The appropriating consciousness is profound and subtle indeed; all its seeds are like a rushing torrent. Fearing that they would imagine and cling to it as to a self, I have not revealed it to the foolish.Keenan 2000, p. 29.
Chapter 4: The Characteristic Patterns of All Things Chapter four explains the schema of the "three natures" (trisvabhāva): the imagined, the other-dependent and the fully perfected. These are described as follows:The pattern of clinging to what is entirely imagined refers to the establishing of names and symbols for all things and the distinguishing of their essences, whereby they come to be expressed in language. The pattern of other-dependency refers to the pattern whereby all things arise co-dependently: for if this exists, then that exists, and if this arises, then that arises. This refers to [the twelvefold conditions, starting with] 'conditioned by ignorance are karmic formations,' [and ending with] 'conditioned by origination is this grand mass of suffering,' [the last of the twelve conditions]. The pattern of full perfection refers to the universally equal suchness of all things. Bodhisattvas penetrate to this suchness because of their resolute zeal, intelligent focusing, and true reflection. By gradually cultivating this penetration, they reach unsurpassed true awakening and actually realize perfection.Keenan 2000, pp. 31-32.As Keenan notes, "the basic interdependent (paratantra) nature of consciousness is explained as evolving toward illusory verbal imagining (parikalpita), but yet capable of being converted (āśraya-parivṛtti) to the full perfection of awakening (pariniṣpanna)."Keenan 2000, p. 2.
Chapter 5: The Absence of Essence Chapter Five begins with the bodhisattva Paramārthasamudgata, who asks what the Buddha's "implicit intent" is when he taught two kinds of doctrine: doctrines which explain reality by describing it analytically (such as through the schemas of dependent origination, the four noble truths, and the realms of existence), and also those doctrines which state that "all things have no-essence, no arising, no passing away, are originally quiescent, and are essentially in cessation."Keenan 2000, pp. 35-36 In answering this question, the Buddha applies his schema of the three natures to understand the nature of absence of essence. The Buddha states there are three ways in which things are said to have no essence: I have explained that all things whatsoever have no-essence, for descriptive marks have no-essence, arising has no-essence, and ultimate meaning has no-essence. Good son, descriptive marks have no-essence, for all things are characterized by imaginative clinging. This is so because it is names and symbols that establish those marks, and there is no inherent characteristic in things. This then is what I call the no-essence of marks. The arising of things has no-essence, for all things arise in dependence upon others. This is so because they depend upon the causal power of others and do not arise from themselves. Therefore this is what I call the no-essence of arising. The ultimate truth of all things has no-essence, for, from their arising, all things have no-essence. This is what I call the no-essence that is identical with the conditioned arising of things. I also call it the no-essence of ultimate meaning because I preach that among all things, that realm of the purified content of understanding is to be regarded as the no-essence of ultimate meaning.Keenan 2000, pp. 36 37. Thus, these "three no-essences" are said to correspond to the three natures:
The imagined nature (parikalpita-svabhāva) has no essence in regards to its characteristics (lakṣana-niḥsvabhāvatā), for these characteristics are just imaginary. The dependent nature (paratantra-svabhāva) has no essence because all phenomena arise and perish due to conditions (utpatti-niḥsvabhāvatā). The perfected nature (pariniṣpanna-svabhāva) is essenceless since even when consciousness has been fully purified, it has no essence. Since ultimate reality is dependently originated, the ultimate meaning is also essencelessness (paramārtha-niḥsvabhāvatā). The Buddha then explains that understanding this teaching is important because "sentient beings superimpose the pattern of imaginative clinging over that of other-dependency and full perfection", and this leads to rebirth and wandering in saṃsāra.Keenan 2000, p. 38. However, by attending to this teaching and giving rise to "a wisdom not permeated by language," sentient beings are able to destroy this pattern of imaginative clinging.Keenan 2000, p. 40. Those beings that do not understand this teaching however might instead cling to the "view of nihilism and the nonexistence of all marks," and so they "negate all three characteristic patterns."Keenan 2000, p. 43.
This chapter also provides the hermeneutical schema of the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. This is intended to clarify confusing or contradictory elements of earlier teachings by presenting a new teaching that resolves earlier inconsistencies by uniting all previous doctrines. The Sūtra affirms that the earlier "turnings of the wheel of Dharma"—the teachings of the Śrāvaka Vehicle (Śrāvakayāna) and the emptiness (śūnyatā) doctrine found in the Prajñaparamita sutras—are authentic, but require interpretation if they are not to contradict each other.