Dharma Roadside Dialogue. The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Gold Sūtra”

Dear friends,

Let us meet once more for our monthly dialogue.

Saturday April 26th, 2025  at 1:30 pm East coast time (EST), 

7:30 pm European time (CET).

Join us for a 90mn session of questions and answers by clicking this link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88203132402

This month topic will be:

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Gold Sūtra”

Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time.

The Blessed One was dwelling in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.

At that time Venerable Ānanda asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, how should the mind of awakening be viewed?”

The Blessed One replied, “Venerable Ānanda, the mind of awakening should be viewed as being in nature like gold. Just as gold is pure by nature, so the mind of awakening is pure by nature. Just as a smith shapes gold into a multiplicity of forms, yet the nature of the gold does not change, although the mind of awakening may appear to have a variety of unique attributes, ultimately these never waver from the mind of awakening. Therefore, its nature does not change.”

Then the Blessed One proclaimed the following verse:

“The mind of awakening is pure.

Strive for the benefit of self and other.

Meditate on the insubstantial essence.

Be intent on what causes the birth of wisdom.”

The Blessed One spoke thus, and Venerable Ānanda, the entire retinue, and the world together with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.

This completes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra “The Gold Sūtra.”

Glossary:

Blessed One

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

• bhagavat

  In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).