The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar
15,590 words
The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion’s Roar (Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra) is a Mahayana text no longer extant in Sanskrit but preserved in both the Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist canons. It teaches the doctrines of Tathāgatagarbha and the One Vehicle (Skt. ekayāna), through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā....
Chapter VI - The Unlimited Noble Truths
“O Lord, the disciples and pratyekabuddhas first saw the noble truths with their one knowledge that eliminates the latent stages [of defilement]. With their one knowledge, one of the four wisdoms, they eliminate [the source of suffering, namely, the four latent stages of defilements]; know [suffering]; practice virtue [according to the path]; and realize [extinction]. They understand these four [noble truths] very well. O Lord, they do not have the most supreme transcendental wisdom but are gradually reaching the four wisdoms and the four conditions (i.e., the four noble truths). The Dharma that is not gradually reached is supreme transcendental wisdom. O Lord, supreme wisdom is like a diamond.
“O Lord, the disciples and pratyekabuddhas do not eliminate the stage of beginningless ignorance. Their initial wisdom of the noble truths is [not] supreme wisdom. Lord, because they do not have the wisdom of the two kinds of noble truths, they eliminate [only] the latent stages [of defilement]. O Lord, the Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Enlightened One is not the realm of all the disciples and pratyekabuddhas.
“The inconceivable wisdom of emptiness eliminates the stores of all defilements. O Lord, the ultimate wisdom that destroys the stores of all defilements is called supreme wisdom. The initial wisdom of the noble truths is not ultimate wisdom but is the wisdom that is turned toward supreme, complete enlightenment.
“O Lord, the meaning of ‘noble’ does not refer to all the disciples and pratyekabuddhas. Because the disciples and pratyekabuddhas have perfected limited merits and have perfected ‘partial’ merits, they are called ‘noble.’ The ‘noble truths’ are not the truths of the disciples and pratyekabuddhas nor are they the merits of the disciples and pratyekabuddhas.
“O Lord, these truths are those originally known by the Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly Enlightened One. Later, on behalf of the world, which is the womb of ignorance, he appeared to extensively teach what are known as the ‘noble truths.’”