What are the most important Buddhist scriptures?

If you only look at the practice, any of the Buddhist scriptures is very important, because people have different foundations, and the scriptures have different meanings for people with different roots. In addition, when there are differences according to the purpose of Mahayana and Hinayana practice, the values of the scriptures are also different, and the same is Mahayana, and the sutras that are valued by Sutra and Tantra are different

For example, the two major schools of Mahayana sutra, Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism, which have a wide range of influences, each have representative sutras, and the seven sutras of Zen Buddhism: including the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Lengyan Sutra, the Yuanjue Sutra, the Ranga Sutra, the Vima Sutra and the Six Patriarchs Altar Sutra. The Pure Land Pentateuch:

The Sutra of Amitayus", "The Sutra of Amitayus", "The Sutra of Amitabha", "The Great Trend to the Bodhisattva Chanting the Buddha Yuantong Chapter", "The Bodhisattva of Fuxian Wishes". There are many more major sutras of Sutra, such as the Lotus Sutra.

For example, Southern Buddhism (commonly referred to as Hinayana Buddhism) only studied the Pali Tripitaka and did not study other scriptures.

For example, Tantra is mainly based on the Great Sun Sutra (Vajra Sutra) and the Kalachakra Sutra as the core.

Mahayana classics such as the Lengyan Sutra, the Huayan Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Sutra of the Six Patriarchs, the Dizang Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra.

The Buddha said to Ananda, "If you forget all the scriptures other than Prajna in the future, I won't blame you, but if you forget even one of the Prajna scriptures, I will blame you."

It is well known that there are many Buddhist scriptures, so until now, it is not possible to specify which one or several Buddhist scriptures are representative, and the reason why many sects have emerged in China is largely due to the different positions of the sutras.

However, there is a basic principle in the teachings of Buddhism, and that is also the special enlightenment of the Buddha for the life of the universe, and the realization of a principle of dependent birth.

The so-called dependent generation is the birth of karma, that is, various phenomena arise due to the combination of various relationships. For example, if an article can be formed into an article, it can reach the reader's hands, and it can make the reader understand some questions about Buddhism, and the relationship between them (karma) seems to be simple, but in fact it is extremely complicated. The cultivation of words, the progression and absorption of knowledge, the author's health enthusiasm and opinions, plus the manufacture and use of stationery, the typesetting and printing of manuscripts, the sending and delivery of mail, and finally the reader's own interest, knowledge and spirit, in order to complete the task between the author and the reader. The example of this kind of relationship (cause) is still superficial and obvious, but if we look further, there are many relationships in each unit of relationship, and the phenomenon of this kind of relationship is karma.

The appearance of things is due to the convergence of causes and conditions, and the disappearance of things is due to the dispersion of causes and conditions, which is called the birth of causes and the extinction of causes. (Venerable Sheng Yan, "Righteous Buddhism").

The Sutra of Amitayus is a must-see.

One of the Three Pure Land Classics. This sutra says that the Buddha Amitayus (Amitabha) practiced in the cause and place, attained Buddhahood, became a Buddha, the land was solemn, and received the recitation of the Buddha in the ten directions and all sentient beings to be reborn in other countries. There are 12 translations before and after this scripture, 5 translations, 7 lost translations, and 4 collections and abridged versions.

1] The sutra introduces Amitabha Buddha's great wish to lead sentient beings, the beautiful scene of the world of bliss, and the filth of the world of sampa.

The Sutra of Amitayus is from the Qianlong Tripitaka Mahayana Treasure Collection

Some people put forward the thirteen important classics commonly used in the Buddhist scriptures, and the thirteen classics have several ways to say Qi Xuan, and this mention is basically meaningless, and it has little value, just some people think that some classics are important and common.

I will also say a set of important Buddhist scriptures, and I must read them when I have time: first of all, the Lengyan Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Great Nirvana Sutra, and the Heart Sutra, which must be studied when you have time in this life, which are common and important righteous scriptures, and must be learned; The Huayan Sutra is just too long. The Manjushri Prajna Sutra, the Yuanjue Sutra, the Vimala Sutra, and the Brahmana Sutra are all very important, and the common ones are the Diamond Sutra, the Sutra of the Six Patriarchs, and the Sutra of Amitayus and the Sutra of Mida in the Pure Land.

There are so many Buddhist scriptures, all of them are very important, and there may be some people who have a greater relationship with us and learn more.

That is the "Ahama Sutra" (I myself now mainly study the "Explanation of the Profound Secret Sutra"), and the "Ahama Sutra" explains in detail"The Four Noble Truths": Truth of suffering, truth of concentration, truth of extinction, truth of the path. Suffering is a leaking fruit, collection is a leaking cause, extinction is no leaking fruit, the Tao is no leaking cause, knowing the suffering and breaking the collection, and extinguishing the cultivation path.

The Four Noble Truths"It is necessary to study and study in any sect of Buddhism, so I personally think that it is explained in detail"The Four Noble Truths", and there are more detailed explanations"Cause and effect"，"12. Theory of Dependent Origination", and so on, the Ahama Sutra is the most basic classic.

Just talking about the Four Noble Truths, the truth of suffering, saying that there are many kinds of sufferings in life, great suffering, the heart of people who do not believe in Buddhism is not meticulous enough and often take suffering as happiness, most of us who are not blessed enough, the happiness in life is just gone, and there are far more sufferings than happiness. Even a very small number of people who have amazing blessings have to face the pain of separation from their loved ones, old age and death. It can be seen that knowing suffering is the foundation of learning Buddhism.

"Diamond Sutra", it is said that Tang monks and apprentices retrieved from the West Heaven an important scripture called "Hundred Flowers Sutra", people will not die if they read through. On the way back to be soaked in water, I folded a page and put it on the stone to dry, that knew that a gust of wind was blowing, and the hairy Monkey King messed up the pages and messed up the pages.

Buddhism has not selected the "most important" scriptures. However, the most recited sutras by Buddhist practitioners are the Heart Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra, which are recited daily by monastery monks.

The second is the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Lengyan Sutra, the Jizo Sutra, the Huayan Sutra and so on.

The Five Sutras of the Pure Land refer to the Sutra of Amitayus, the Sutra of Amitayus, the Sutra of Amitabha, the Sutra of the Buddha and the Wishing of the Bodhisattva of the Great Potential. Among them, the Sutra of Amitayus, the Sutra of Amitayus, and the Sutra of Amitabha are devoted to the origin of the Pure Land. The rest of the Mahayana sutras are also closely related to the Pure Land.

The content of the Sutra of Amitayus is to explain the origin of the Western Elysium. How the world came to be, explain its origin, explain the meaning of Western Elysium, and explain the general situation of Western Elysium, so that we have a considerable understanding of Western Elysium, which is equivalent to an introduction to Western Elysium, so it is a very important classic, and it is also the most complete book to explain Western Elysium. And the most important part is Amitabha Buddha's forty-eight vows, which are very, very important, and the forty-eight vows are Amitabha Buddha's conception and blueprint for practicing the bodhisattva path in the cause and building the Western Elysium.

The forty-eight vows are not issued all at once, but are great vows accumulated in the practice of the five eons. Therefore, our confidence in the Pure Land of the West can be said to be based on the 48 vows, and the decision will not be wrong, and we will not lose our way. The specific content is:

The Buddha preached the Sutra of Amitayus and stated the original cause of Amitabha Buddha: to renounce the throne, become a monk and practice, and make 48 great vows to purify all sentient beings. After a long period of practicing according to his wishes, he finally attained the perfection of blessing and wisdom, and attained the Buddhahood.

The Elysium felt was immeasurably majestic and wonderful, and all the Buddhas of the ten directions were amazed. The bodhisattvas of the ten worlds, the sound and hearing of the small to the great, and the ordinary people with sufficient karma, as long as they are willing to die, they will be reborn.

Buddhist scriptures, also known as deed scriptures, are opportunities to practice with sentient beings.

of the classics. That is to say, in the Buddhist scriptures, which one has the most opportunity for sentient beings, that scripture is the most important. For example, for practitioners who like to recite Buddha, then the Pure Land scriptures are the most important scriptures; For those who like to practice meditation, the Zen classics are the most important classics.

The Buddha said that there is no such thing as the most important scriptures in Buddhism.

All the Buddhist scriptures, after being sorted out and compiled, are compiled into a complete book, called the Tripitaka. The Tripitaka has the Tripitaka in Chinese, the Tripitaka in Tibetan, and the Tripitaka in Pali.

There are different versions of the Chinese Tripitaka: "Kaibao", "Chongning", "Yuanjue", "Zifu", "Puning", "Hongfa", "Yongle", "Jiaxing", "Long", "Pingjia", "Wanli", "Fangshan Shijing", "Hong'an", "Tianhai", "Zhonghua", "Dazheng Zang"...Wait a minute.

Among them: 1916 scriptures, Vinayas, and treatises in the "Pinga Collection", 8416 volumes; The Chinese Tripitaka contains more than 4,200 kinds of scriptures and more than 23,000 volumes; There are 3,493 books and 13,520 volumes.

Commonly used Mahayana sutras:

The Great Prajna Sutra, the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Myoho-renge-kyo Sutra, the Great Buddha Sutra, the Vimala Sutra, the Victory Sutra, the Great Collection of the Great Gathering Sutra, the Great Buddha Nirvana? Sutra", "Lengyan Sutra", "Explanation of Profound Secret Sutra", "Ranga Sutra", "Great Nikjing", "Amitayus Sutra", "Amitabha Sutra". "Sanskrit Net Sutra", "Bodhisattva Vows".

The Treatise on Great Wisdom", "The Middle Treatise", "The Mahayana Theory of Belief", "The Mahayana Treatise", "The Twenty Treatises on Wisdom", "The Thirty Verses of Enlightenment", and "The Treatise on the Land of Yogis".

The root vehicle classic "Ahama Sutra" (you probably don't have time to read all four Aham, focus on recommending the "Miscellaneous Ahama Sutra").

The Prajna Sutra (Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra both belong to this category).

There is a classic "Explanation of the Profound Secret Sutra" (known as the theory in the scriptures, clear and tightly structured).

The representative classic of Chinese Buddhism, the Lengyan Sutra

Other influential classics such as the precept classics "Sanskrit Sutra", the Pure Land classics "Amitabha Sutra", "Amitayus Sutra", as well as "Lotus Sutra", "Huayan Sutra", "Ranga Sutra" and so on can be seen.

The Great Prajnaparamita Sutra, referred to as the Great Prajnaparamita Sutra

A compilation of Mahayana Prajna scriptures that proclaim the righteousness of emptiness in all dharmas.

Translated by Tang Xuanzang. 600 volumes.

The Great Nirvana Sutra, referred to as the Great Nirvana Sutra

It is said that the body of the Buddha will always live and will not be destroyed, and Nirvana will always be happy and pure.

All sentient beings have Buddha nature."

One expounds Mahayana ideas such as mentioning harmony and hearing and establishing Buddhas.

There is no translation. 40 volumes.

Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, Vajra Sutra, Huayan Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Lengyan Sutra, any one can be enlightened.

"Heart Sutra", "Jingang Sutra", "Lengyan Sutra", "Myoho-renge-kyo", etc. You read the "Six Patriarchs Altar Sutra" very well, the idea of the "Altar Sutra" has played an important role in the development of Zen Buddhism and even Chinese Buddhism, Chinese Buddhist works are respectfully called "Sutra", only this one, it is recommended that you first take a good look at this book, in reading the others. I just inadvertently saw a very good book "The Four Teachings of Liaofan", which is short and incisive, and I recommend it to you.