Lay Buddhism and Spirituality - From Vimalakirti to the Nenbutsu Masters - Michael Pye
5 Outline of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Kegonkyō)
Lay Buddhism and Spirituality - From Vimalakirti to the Nenbutsu Masters - Michael Pye
Beatrice Lane Suzuki † [+]
Beatrice Lane Suzuki (1878-1939) was a very well informed and sensitive expositor of Mahāyāna Buddhism and the American wife of the well-known Zen Buddhist Suzuki Daisetsu. She lived in Japan for many years and came to know the leading temple centres of various Buddhist schools - especially in Kyōto and Kamakura - very well.
Description
In this chapter, the author discusses the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Of Mahāyāna sūtras, the Kegon, the Hokke (Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka) and the Nehan (Nirvāṇa) sūtras are the most outstanding, and among these the Kegon is important because it is considered to be the teaching given out by the Buddha Śākyamuni just after his enlightenment, and in consequence his enlightenment is made the centre or pivot of the sūtra’s substance.